On December 2, 2020, in conjunction with Endless, we announced the winners of Phase Two of our inaugural Community Engagement Challenge via live stream. These five projects are invited to participate in Phase Three, the final round of the competition, with the winners announced in early 2021. Phase Two project winners include:

• BOSS: Big Open Source Sister – With a focus on women, this Brazil-based organization aims to reach underrepresented groups in tech to work and be mentored on open source projects.
  For more information: https://github.com/BOSS-BigOpenSourceSister
• Broadening Participation through Scaffolded Sustained FOSS Engagement in an Undergraduate Computing Curriculum – Redesigns an undergraduate computing curriculum, infusing it with FOSS and computing for the greater good.
• First Contributions – Helps beginners contribute to open source projects through hands-on tutorials, a project database and an online forum.
  For more information: https://github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions/issues/33422
• Leapcode – A gamified platform that rewards and motivates first-time open source contributors.
  For more information: https://Leapcode.io (invite code: awesome-early-leapers-536)
• OpenUK Kids’ Courses and Associated Digital Camps – Courses that teach children both to code and to learn about open source, via short and fun animated lessons.
  For more information:  https://openuk.uk | https://openuk.uk/openkidscamp/

“All of the projects we received were fantastic but we felt that these five best demonstrated the   Challenge goal of creating dynamic projects that will inspire young coders and help them connect with the FOSS community,” said Neil McGovern, GNOME Foundation Executive Director. “We hope by running the Challenge we can strengthen the open source community and ensure that free software is available long into the future.”

The Community Engagement Challenge launched in April 2020. Twenty entries were chosen to participate in the second phase of the Challenge and were required to show proof of concept. Phase Three calls for a deliverable end product, with the winner receiving $15,000 and the second-place finisher receiving $10,000. The winner of this final round is currently scheduled to be announced in the spring of 2021. For more information on the Community Engagement Challenge or to view the entire list of Phase two participants, visit www.gnome.org/challenge.