# Communities and Programs

The Communities and Programs feature lets users who are part of the Google Developer Program
join membership groups. These groups enhance the developer journey by offering
users a community where they can get resources, make connections, and see
personalized content for topics that interest them.

Each community or program has a default membership badge and can have multiple
other [badges](https://developers.google.com/profile/help/badges) that users can earn by taking actions such as completing
learning content or attending an event. These badges can be awarded to members
and non-members.

## Join a community or program

To become a member of a community or program, you must be signed in and be a
member of the Google Developer Program. If you haven't joined the Google Developer Program, you are prompted
to join.

There are two ways to find and join a community or program:

- The Google Developer Program [My Communities \& Programs](https://developers.google.com/profile/u/me/my-community) page

  This page contains all of the communities and programs that are available to
  join. You can click the button on the group you want to join and fill out the
  information required for sign-up.
- The community or program's site

  Visit the community or program's page to join directly from their site.

### How to sign up

Each community or program can require members at sign-up to fill out information
such as profile fields, email preferences, and a policy acknowledgment. The
information required varies according to the needs of each group, but can
include the following:

- **Profile fields**

  Fill out the required and optional fields for membership such as experience
  level, gender, and location.

  These fields are added to your profile; however, you can choose to remove them
  once you gain membership.
- **Email preferences**

  Select email preferences to opt in or out of communications such as
  newsletters or marketing emails related to that group.

  Opting in or out of emails doesn't affect membership eligibility. You can
  unsubscribe from emails in the future and remain a member of the group.
- **Acknowledgment**

  Check the box to acknowledge the terms and conditions of the group. The
  acknowledgment ensures you have seen and consent to the legal and privacy
  requirements.

### Example

The following example shows the required information to become a member of the
[Women Techmakers](https://developers.google.com/womentechmakers) program:

![WTM fields](https://developers.google.com/static/profile/images/wtm-fields.png)

### Membership badge

Upon joining a community or program, you are awarded the Google Developer Program default
membership [badge](https://developers.google.com/profile/help/badges) associated with that group. If you choose to leave
the group, this badge is automatically removed from your Google Developer Program profile.

The following is an example of what you see when joining the Women Techmakers
program:

![WTM badge](https://developers.google.com/static/profile/images/wtm-badge.png)

## Leave a community or program

You can leave a community or program at any time by doing either of the
following:

- Removing the default membership badge from your Google Developer Program [profile](https://developers.google.com/profile/u/me).
- Locating the group on the [My Communities \& Programs](https://developers.google.com/profile/u/me/my-community) page and clicking **View settings** , followed by **Leave group**.

The membership badge awarded upon joining is removed from your profile, along
with any other membership-dependent badges earned. Badges that are not dependent
on membership remain on your profile unless you choose to remove them.

The profile fields specified during sign-up remain on your profile, but any
program-specific fields are removed. For example, if you leave the Women
Techmakers program, your email opt-in data is removed; however, the general
profile fields such as experience level, gender, and location remain unless you
remove them.