The Community Programs team supports communities that align with GitLab's CREDIT values by executing specific programs that help these communities grow and thrive. Our mission is to help these communities experience GitLab's vision of a world where everyone can contribute.
The Community Programs team is the DRI for establishing community program requirements and benefits. As each of these programs provides free, unlimited seats of GitLab Ultimate to qualifying applicants (in addition to other benefits), the Community Programs team also oversees the entitlement process. As part of this work, the team leads community outreach efforts, marketing activities, and other strategic engagements (which may include serving on foundation boards, building partnerships, creating enablement and marketing content, delivering public presentations and learning sessions, and sponsoring events). We continually strive to be thought leaders in each respective community.
Members of the Community Programs team serve as liaisons to their respective communities, tracking the ways those communities prefer using GitLab and translating that knowledge into insights that help GitLab create a better product. We do this by collaborating across organizational functions whenever possible. We work with Product and Engineering teams to ensure each communities' needs are represented on the GitLab roadmap. We also work with Marketing to regularly showcase our members' success through case studies, blog posts, GitLab Commit presentations, videos, meetups, and live streams. In all that we do, we aim to create and sustain mutually beneficial relationships between members of our programs and GitLab.
Please see the Community Programs Job Family for more details about individual roles on the team.
GitLab's community programs aim to put GitLab's most powerful features in the hands of communities who may not otherwise have the means to access to them. Each program is unique in its organization and execution; however, in general, community programs offer GitLab customers benefits like:
Through these programs, we seek to raise awareness of GitLab in specific markets. We do this by partnering with members of these communities to spotlight (via case studies, articles, webcasts, and videos) ways they're using GitLab to achieve success.
| Community Program | Handbook Page | Marketing Page | Application Page | Program Owner | Email Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitLab for Education | Handbook | Marketing page | Application page | education@gitlab.com | |
| GitLab for Open Source | Handbook | Marketing page | Application page | Bryan Behrenshausen | opensource@gitlab.com |
| GitLab for Startups | Handbook | Marketing page | Application page | startups@gitlab.com |
Please see the GitLab Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) handbook page for details about non-profits.
The Community Programs team is responsible for all processes involved in issuing licenses for GitLab's community programs. The team also maintains the Community Programs Zendesk queue, through which all Community Programs emails are funneled.
Below are details related to various Commuity Programs workflows.
Beginning in FY22 and continuing through FY23, the Community Programs team is adopting an automated application processing workflow. As we transition to this workflow, we will maintain two distinct workflow handbook pages:
Sales team members receiving inbound requests regarding community programs, should adhere to the following workflow and route leads accordingly, using Community Programs' email templates if desired:
| If the lead is inquiring about | Then take this action |
|---|---|
| Whether they qualify for a specific program | Send the relevant marketing or handbook page detailing the program's requirements |
| How to apply for program membership | Send the relevant marketing or application page with instructions and an application form |
| How to renew | Send the relevant marketing or application page with renewal instructions and the application form |
| How to alter some aspect of a subscription | Ask them to email the relevant program for assistance |
| An edge case | Ask them to email the relevant program for assistance |
