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+++ title = "Governing Board Elections 2024" template = "governing-board/elections.html" aliases = ["/governing-board/elections/2024"] extra.summary = """ The list of candidates and their information. """ weight = 2 +++

Announcements are posted on our blog, our social channels, as well as in the Office of the Matrix.org Foundation room and the Matrix News room.

We encourage you to read our membership page and announcements:

Read on for our election schedule, our current elected representatives, all of nominees, and a brief overview of the Governing Board.

What is the Governing Board

The Governing Board is an advisory board that is made up of elected representatives from all across the Matrix ecosystem. The role of the Governing Board is to offer guidance and support to the Guardians, Foundation staff, and Spec Core Team. It is organized under these bylaws (v1.2, last updated April 2024).

There are nine different constituency groups that are allocated seats on the Governing Board, across three categories:

  • Community representatives
    • 4 seats for Individual Members – these are people who currently provide financial support to the Foundation.
    • 3 seats for Ecosystem Members – these are FOSS projects and communities around Matrix.
    • 2 seats for Associate Members – these are FOSS foundations, academic institutions, and other communities that are aligned with key parts of our mission.
  • Funder representatives
    • 4 seats for Platinum Members – these organisations sponsor at the highest level.
    • 3 seats for Gold Members — these organisations sponsor at a high level.
    • 2 seats for Silver Members — these organisations sponsor at a level commensurate with the size of their organisation.
  • Foundation representatives
    • 3 seats for Guardians – these are the members of the Foundation's board of directors.
    • 2 seats for the Spec Core Team – these are the members of the Spec Core Team that looks after the spec.
    • Managing Director – this is the Foundation's head of staff.

Schedule

A visual election timeline for this year: Announcements on April 15, Nominations begin April 20, Campaigning begins April 27, Voting begins May 18, and Results announced on June 3.

Announcement (April 15)

We announced last December that we were adding a new body, the Governing Board, to the Foundation, delivering on earlier promises of increasing open governance. This April, we kickstarted the Elections the election process in a blog post announcing the schedule, eligibility, and conditions of the vote.

Nominations (April 20)

Nominations for the 2024 elections are complete, and you can find the nominees below.

You must be a member of one of the constituency groups in order to nominate yourself or someone else to be a candidate in the election. By far our largest constituency group are Individual Members, who number in the 100’s. If you have donated at least $60 USD to the Foundation since April 20, 2023, on any of Donorbox, Patreon, or Liberapay, then you are eligible to nominate and vote.

Eligible members can proceed to nominations using the Cryptpad below, or download this PDF nomination form and send it to elections@foundation.matrix.org.

All nominations are subject to review in accordance with our bylaws. We will email you to confirm receipt within 2 business days, and we will publish our elections landing page with all of the nominees, and other details, on April 27th.

If you want to be a candidate in the election, there are a few things you should know:

  • All candidates will be listed on our website, grouped by the constituency group.
  • We do not require people to use their “legal name.”
  • Candidates who are nominated by an organizational member will have their affiliation listed.
  • We expect candidates to provide a short bio and a short statement, collectively covering qualifications and priorities.
  • You are encouraged to make yourself available for conversation with members of your constituency group.
  • The period for campaigning runs from April 27th to May 17th. Please note our community Code of Conduct while campaigning.

Campaigning (April 27)

The campaign period is an opportunity for candidates to share more about themselves and their priorities. We encourage candidates to engage with the rest of the ecosystem, and in particular those who are part of the same constituency group.

Voting (May 18)

Voting is complete and ran till May 31. All eligible voters should have received an email from OpaVote – the election system we have chosen for this year’s elections.

All members of each constituency group are entitled to vote on the candidates within that constituency group. If you believe you are eligible to participate but have not heard from us, first check the inbox and spam folders of the email address you have on file with us (such as through Donorbox or Patreon). Please email us if you have any questions.

We will hold an election for every constituency even if a given constituency has fewer candidates than there are seats allocated for them on the Governing Board. This is, effectively, as a vote of confidence.

All of the candidates are listed below.

Results (June 3)

All of the winners were announced on June 3rd.

All elected representatives will be added to a private mailing list and Matrix room so that they can introduce themselves and communicate in between meetings. I will be reaching out to every elected representative to meet one-on-one, get acquainted, and answer questions before we convene for our first Governing Board meeting. Given the size of the board and the international nature of our ecosystem, those one-on-one meetings will likely happen over the course of a couple months.

The Governing Board will meet as a full board twice a year, for at least 90 minutes each time, and our first 1-2 meetings will have a professional facilitator to help us collectively put our best foot forward. Expect one meeting before the end of the year, and another before the next election.

You are likely to receive a packet of materials before each meeting which you will be expected to have reviewed. Most meetings will be held online, though we may convene meetings in-person, such as at the (soon to be announced) annual Matrix Conference. We will make every effort to make in-person meetings accessible to remote participants, and no official business will ever happen without appropriate notice, quorum, and minutes.

While the Governing Board is an advisory board, members are encouraged to play a role in helping to carry out the activities that support the staff in delivering on the Foundation’s collective remit, such as coalescing priorities to share with the Spec Core Team and connecting with contributors and funders to implement proposals.

We intend to charter committees – such as for finance, which would review our annual budget in detail – who will meet in between Governing Board meetings and present their assessments and recommendations to the Governing Board. These committees are where the bulk of the activity will take place since the board, which may have up to 24 members, is quite large.

Elected representatives

These are the candidates who are now elected representatives:

  • Andy Balaam (he/him), Individual Member
  • Greg Sutcliffe (he/him), Individual Member
  • J.B. Crawford (they/them), Individual Member
  • Sumner Evans, Individual Member
  • Bram van den Heuvel (he/they), Elm SDK, Ecosystem Member
  • Kim Brose (he/him), Matrix Community Events, Ecosystem Member
  • Nicolas Werner (he/him), Nheko-Reborn, Ecosystem Member
  • Cleo Menenez Jr. (he/him), GNOME Foundation, Associate Member
  • Tobias Fella (he/him), KDE e.V., Associate Member
  • Neil Johnson (he/him), Element, Platinum Member
  • Brad Murray (he/him), Beeper, Gold Member
  • Kevin Boos (he/him), Futurewei Technologies, Gold Member
  • Jan Kohnert (he/him), Gematik GmbH, Silver Member
  • Thor Arne Johansen, Verji Tech AS, Silver Member
  • Amandine Le Pape (she/her), Guardian
  • Matthew Hodgson (he/him), Guardian
  • Ross Schulman, Guardian
  • Richard van der Hoff (he/him), Spec Core Team
  • Travis Ralston (he/him), Spec Core Team

And these elected representatives are joined by the Foundation's Managing Director, Josh Simmons (he/they), who represents the Foundation in an ex officio capacity.

Nominees

We are honored to present the nominees for the first ever Governing Board elections, and are grateful to everyone who has raised their hands. We are positively overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and vision expressed by our nominees.

There may be a few updates to the list of nominees, pending a few outstanding questions.