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Outreach Working Group

Who We Are​

The Outreach Working Group partners with charities and social impact organisations that would not normally have access to independent, high-level technical guidance. Distinguished Engineers from different firms collaborate through the DE SIG to solve real-world problems and support communities.

Many large enterprises have volunteering programmes, but rarely deploy their most senior technical talent through them. The DE SIG changes this: by organising DEs as a community, we make it practical for them to contribute their expertise where it has the greatest impact — safely, under established terms, and without creating liability for FINOS or their host organisations.

What We Do​

We engage directly with organisations to strengthen their technology capabilities, improve operational resilience, and empower their internal teams. Our support includes:

  • Technology Landscape Reviews — We assess an organisation's existing technology environment, infrastructure, platforms, data management, disaster recovery posture, and approaches to change.
  • Strategic Technical Guidance — We provide independent advice on cost optimisation, reliability, scalability, and longer-term technology strategy. All guidance is non-binding, conflict-free, and rooted in good-faith expertise.
  • Enabling In-House Teams — We help identify skills gaps and capability needs, supporting organisations to manage more of their environment internally and build lasting technical confidence.
  • Open Source Driven Support — We draw on open-source tools, frameworks, and publicly available best practices — and where relevant, encourage contributions back to open-source communities.
  • Organisation-Led, Respectful Partnership — The organisations we work with always define their objectives and own their decisions. We provide support that respects local context, confidentiality, and organisational autonomy.

Why Our Work Matters​

The Outreach Working Group embodies the DE SIG's commitment to:

  • Empowering social-value initiatives with high-calibre engineering expertise
  • Championing inclusive, responsible technology practices
  • Making a positive contribution beyond traditional industry boundaries
  • Providing visible examples of cross-industry collaboration at its best

Through engagements like these, Distinguished Engineers demonstrate practical, pro-bono leadership while supporting organisations that make a real difference in communities around the world.

How Engagements Work​

All engagements are governed by the DE SIG's standard Terms of Engagement, which:

  • Protect the organisation, the DEs, their employers, and FINOS from liability.
  • Ensure all advice is non-binding, conflict-free, and provided in good faith.
  • Establish a clear, repeatable process so organisations know what to expect and how to describe the help they need.
  • Preserve organisational autonomy — the organisation always defines its objectives and owns its decisions.

Get Involved​

Joining the Outreach Working Group gives you the opportunity to:

  • Contribute engineering expertise where it has immediate social impact
  • Collaborate with Distinguished Engineers across firms
  • Develop leadership skills in real-world, purpose-driven settings

Whether you want to mentor, analyse, advise, or lead — there is space for you to make meaningful contributions. See our Contributing guide to get started.