Mary Gardiner is an Australian Linux programmer who was director of operations at the Ada Initiative, described as a "non-profit organization dedicated to increasing participation of women in open technology and culture".[1] She was a council member of Linux Australia until September 2011.[2] [3] In 2012, Gardiner and Ada Initiative co-founder Valerie Aurora were named two of the most influential people in computer security by SC Magazine.[4]
Gardiner was a co-founder of AussieChix, which later became Oceania Women of Open Tech.[5] She is a former coordinator of LinuxChix. She speaks out against "the social norms and beliefs of a minority of contributors who are not interested in women as colleagues or who do not believe women have the capability to successfully contribute".[6] Gardiner has been involved with drafting and adopting anti-harassment policies for technology conferences.[7] Gardiner was the winner of the 2011 Rusty Wrench award given by Linux Australia for service to Linux programmers in Australia.[8] She was commended for her work to improve gender diversity and oppose sexual harassment in the open-source software community.[9] She was the keynote speaker at Wikimania 2012, which was held 12 - 15 July 2012 in Washington, D.C.[10] In 2012, Gardiner was listed as one of the 10 Women in Tech Who Give Back by Datamation and one of the most influential people in computer security by SC Magazine.[4] [11]