How CoB Leadership Drives Growth at GitHub

Unknown Speaker

Hey everyone, welcome back to CoB Elevate. Hope you’re all doing well out there.

Millie Pod

So today, we’re digging into how Communities of Belonging—CoB—leaders actually drive engagement, retention, and innovation here at GitHub. I think most people have this idea that it’s all just “community stuff,” but honestly, it goes so much deeper than that, right?

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, for sure. It’s not just a checkbox or a feel-good thing. And, you know, inside GitHub, I’ve seen CoB leaders organize peer-mentoring sessions, specifically among our developer groups. And I probably sound like a broken record, but those sessions—not only did they spark creative problem solving, but teams saw, like, a real boost in retention. I remember thinking, wow, the folks who got involved just wanted to stick around. The collaboration even spilled over into cross-team projects that wouldn’t have ever happened otherwise.

Millie Pod

That totally tracks with what I’ve seen, too. Actually, one of my mentors here—Priya—she’s incredible at making connections. She helped pull together this partnership between CoB leaders and the GitHub Education group. And what did they do? They started rolling out initiatives where we introduced GitHub’s tools to veterans. That not only got veterans intrigued by what we’re doing but set them up with practical tech skills and career support. Watching Priya navigate building bridges between groups? I always think, “This is what leadership really looks like.” It’s like a training ground for how to solve complex problems while including everyone in the process.

Unknown Speaker

Totally. I mean, leading a CoB is like a mini-lab for the next gen of GitHub leadership. You’ve got to learn stakeholder management, influencing up and sideways, all that stuff—sometimes on the fly. So, when we talk about growth, it’s not just something that happens magically because people care; it really does come from some pretty deliberate organizing and skill-building that spreads all over the company.

Millie Pod

Alright, so let’s pull back and look at measuring what really works—what sort of outcomes do we actually get from all this effort? I remember seeing a stat recently: when C o Bs, like the Octovets, started tailoring programs for veterans, engagement at our nonprofit partners jumped, like, 25%. That’s with veterans who were training up as developers. It’s… not a small move! It says, “Hey, targeted, thoughtful action can literally change someone’s career trajectory.”

Unknown Speaker

Yeah, and I’m glad you mentioned that. There’s always the “what”—so, yeah, we’ve got these numbers, but there’s also the “how.” Like, I often think, how did those results happen? Was it just the right timing, or was it something about the way meetings were run or feedback happened? I know some CoB leaders went as far as making sure meetings were scheduled across tricky time zones so everyone could contribute—no one left out because it’s 3 a.m. for them. Those behaviors—the stuff that doesn’t usually make it onto a PowerPoint—are what create psychological safety and real inclusion, and then you see that reflected in the numbers.

Millie Pod

For sure—for sure. But it can be so hard to capture that, right? Like, how do you measure that sense of belonging or that tiny nudge someone gives to help a peer feel confident? Sometimes it’s in feedback surveys, sometimes it’s those quick “thank you” messages, or maybe just knowing that emotional labor is going on behind the scenes. I guess part of the challenge is figuring out how to acknowledge that in Reflections, and not just the big milestones.

Unknown Speaker

Right, and I think, if we don’t capture the “how” alongside the “what,” we’re missing the story. We can’t just say: “Oh, engagement went up 25%.” Well, yeah, but what did people actually do? Did they bring two groups together? Did they move meetings? Like, what’s the secret sauce? It’s those specifics—documenting that emotional investment—that are sometimes the hardest but most important details to get down.

Millie Pod

So let’s talk practical—how do we take all this and actually get it into Reflections at the end of the year? I think we talked last episode about the power of outcomes-focused storytelling, but what about those day-to-day contributions or cultural shifts?

Unknown Speaker

Right, right, good point. One of the best moves I’ve seen is simply asking: What changed in our team culture because of a CoB effort? Did leadership styles shift? Did people feel safer speaking up? You might not have a chart for that, but you can spot it in people’s stories and feedback. It’s not just about who hosted what event—it’s about what those moves meant for, like, psychological safety and team growth.

Millie Pod

And sometimes that feedback can ripple out across the whole organization. I mean, you’ve got stories like the Octoqueers. They spotted a huge gap in gender-affirming care for Hubbers outside the US—something a lot of people missed. They worked with our Benefits team, shared what the community needed, and now everyone globally has access to gender-affirming care. That started as feedback from one community and ended up making GitHub a better place for everybody. Such a concrete example of how a CoB contribution moves way beyond the group that started it.

Unknown Speaker

Yeah. Actually, this reminds me—I was in a performance review last year and, honestly, things were a bit tense. The vibe shifted completely when we paused to highlight how the CoB leader in question had taken a really strategic approach to bridging team divides. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about deliverables, it was about growth, leadership, and the kind of impact you can’t always measure in metrics. It just shifted the whole feedback loop, and people were more open to seeing strengths they might’ve missed.

Millie Pod

I love that. Sometimes it really is about asking deeper questions—like, how did this person influence culture? Or, what leadership qualities came out of this CoB work? When you set aside a moment to incorporate that in your Reflection, you’re not just supporting the leader, you’re showing everyone what good leadership looks like. And honestly, those stories are kind of the proof that this stuff matters company-wide.

Unknown Speaker

Well, Millie, I think that’s a pretty solid wrap for today—showing that CoB leadership is a clear path to both personal growth and organizational change. We’ll definitely keep looking at ways to surface these stories and tools in future episodes.

Millie Pod

Thanks everyone for tuning in, always good talking this stuff through with you. We’ll be back soon with more on how Communities of Belonging keep shaping GitHub’s future. Take care, everybody!

Unknown Speaker

Take care, and thanks to everyone for joining us on CoB Elevate. See you next time!