Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Congratulations to the new Board of Directors!

Board Election Results
The PSF annual Board members' election was just completed, with voting closed at end of day (AOE) on May 31, 2015. Thanks to all who took part, including candidates, PSF Directors, staff and volunteers, as well as all members who participated by voting in the election. A special thanks to Ian Cordasco who undertook the daunting task of administering this election at a point of upheaval and controversy last month.
The slate of candidates for the eleven Directors' seats was the strongest ever, with 23 people, each of whom brought a high level of skill and experience in tech and open source, and who collectively represented several countries, ethnicities, gender identities, and varied experiences. (Candidates' statements can be reviewed on the wiki.)
We are very excited and proud to see such strength and diversity in our new Board and extremely grateful and proud of the work of our outgoing Directors, who pushed very hard and intentionally toward opening the Board to this new diversity. 
Please join me in thanking the outgoing Board members:
Brian Curtin, Kushal Das, Selena Deckelmann, Jessica McKellar, David Mertz, and Travis Oliphant.
Congratulations to the new PSF Board of Directors:
Nick Coghlan, Diana Clarke, Van Lindberg, Lynn Root, Alex Gaynor, Marc-Andre Lemburg, Carol Willing, Naomi Ceder, Anna Ossowski, Carrie Anne Philbin, and Ashwini Oruganti.
There has been a lot of growth and discussion of new ideas in the past couple of months, in the halls at PyCon, on the membership lists, and over emails. It is time to put those ideas, along with a new optimism and a renewed commitment to the mission of the PSF, to work.  I believe that this moment is the beginning of a new stage in the PSF adventure and I look forward to working with the new Board and all of the membership!
In my next post, I will be writing about some of what we’ve learned during this election process and how we’re channelling this learning via the new Elections Work Group, and posting an interview with our new Elections Administrator.
I would love to hear from readers. Please send feedback, comments, or blog ideas to me at msushi@gnosis.cx.