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Mapping the process of the new board nomination and review process

by Free Software Foundation Contributions Published on Jul 20, 2022 12:58 PM

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) board of directors has drawn up a detailed diagram showing the procedure that the FSF is using to solicit advice from the community about possible new board members. The diagram details the roles of all parties directly involved in the process, as announced on January 18, 2022.

The board has settled on a rigorous and thoroughly considered process designed to be transparent and engage members, while still also ensuring the FSF's core principles are protected. Recently, the FSF published the board matrix, which lists the three fundamental requisites for board members. It also lists other qualities considered valuable for board members to have when it comes to expertise, capacity, relationships, and diversity, as well as skills and experiences. The board matrix highlights some desirable attributes in new potential board members to help guide nominations. With this in mind, the board member nomination process has started by following the steps outlined in the diagram.

All associate members can nominate potential board members, along with FSF staff and voting members. Once nominations are received, the selected nominees are moved to a discussion process. Eligible associate members will be invited to join a discussion forum to then evaluate and comment on those nominees, with the goal of providing a community recommendation to the board. Eligible associate members are the current associate members who were associate members or donated a comparable amount at some point between 5 years ago and 3 months ago, plus other individuals explicitly invited by the FSF board.

The process of adding new directors started by opening nominations on November 29th 2022, with a closing date of XXX, and the FSF will continue to publicly announce each stage in the process. Work to put the necessary infrastructure for supporting the discussions in place is underway. For more information, please also review the January 18 announcement of the process and visit the FSF's Web page dedicated to the organization's governance work from the last fifteen months at https://www.fsf.org/about/staff-and-board/board. If you have any questions or comments about the flow chart, or the steps in the process, please don't hesitate to contact campaigns@fsf.org.

FSF Board Nomination and Review Process The graph is series of nodes (rectangle-like shapes) with short text labels inside, arrows connecting them, and text labels on the arrows. It starts with a label grouping first 4 nodes: Nomination Process. FSF announces nomination dates. (Nominations are currently open until December 31st 2022.) The first node is labeled "FSF associate members", an arrow links it to a node labeled "potential nominees". The arrow label says "The FSF associate membersnominate potentialboard members. Note: Self-nomination is allowed." The potential nominees node has an arrow pointing to a node labeled "nominees". The arrow label says "Nominees accept nomination and fill out a questionnaire." The nominees node has an arrow pointing to a node labeled "announced nominees". The arrow label says "The FSF voting members review and select nominees to move forward. The list of selected nominees is announced publicly. After this step, each nominee will advance through the following steps, but not all at the same time. For example, the first discussion may be of a single nominee so that the FSF can learn how to improve the discussion process. The voting members decide at each point to carry out a discussion step, or carry out a voting step. If a nominee receives less than a majority of any vote, the process ends for them. The voting members can also vote to end the process while some nominees have not finished going through it. For example, if they decide the board has become too large to benefit from an additional member. In that case, the remaining nominees retain their place in the process the next time a nomination process is run." The announced nominees has an arrow pointing to a node labeled "nominee(s) under discussion". It is grouped with a node labeled "eligible associate members" and the group is labeled "Discussion Process." The arrow label says "The FSF voting members select one or more nominee for a discussion process." The nominee(s) under discussion node has an arrow pointing to a node labeled "discussed nominee(s)". The arrow label says "The discussion period ends." The discussed nominee(s) node has an arrow pointing to a node labeled "a vote by FSF voting members." The arrow label says "The FSF voting members select a nominee to interview and then they vote for the nominee to join the board as a trial member or leave the process." The "a vote by FSF voting members" node has an arrow pointing to a node labeled "trial board member." The arrow label says "A majority vote in favor. The trial is intended to last for three months but may be extended or shortened. During the trial period, the trial member is invited to all meetings but they do not vote." The trial board member node has an arrow pointing to a node labeled "board member." The arrow label says "The trial ends. The FSF voting members vote for the trial board member to become a board member or leave the board." FSF Board Nomination and Review Process Nomination Process FSF announces nomination dates. (Nominations are currently open until December 31st 2022.) Discussion Process FSF associate members potential nominees The FSF associate members nominate potential board members. Note: Self-nomination is allowed. nominees  Nominees accept nomination and fill out a  questionnaire. announced nominees  The FSF voting members review and select   nominees to move forward.   The list of selected nominees is announced   publicly. After this step, each nominee will   advance through the following steps, but not all   at the same time. For example, the first   discussion may be of a single nominee so that the   FSF can learn how to improve the discussion   process. The voting members decide at each point   to carry out a discussion step, or carry out a   voting step. If a nominee receives less than a   majority of any vote, the process ends for   them.     The voting members can also vote to end the   process while some nominees have not finished   going through it. For example, if they decide the   board has become too large to benefit from an   additional member. In that case, the remaining   nominees retain their place in the process the   next time a nomination process is run. nominee(s) under discussion  The FSF voting members select one or more nominee   for a discussion process. eligible associate members discussed nominee(s)  The discussion period ends. a vote by FSF voting members  The FSF voting members select a nominee to  interview and then they vote for the nominee to  join the board as a trial member or leave the  process. trial board member board member  The trial ends. The FSF voting members vote for  the trial board member to become a board member or  leave the board.  A majority vote in favor.   The trial is intended to last for three months but   may be extended or shortened. During the trial   period, the trial member is invited to all   meetings but they do not vote.


This nomination process has been newly developed by the FSF in the interest of including our associate members more directly in the nomination and selection of candidates appointed to the FSF's board and voting members. As such, it may be necessary to revise the process at times. This graphic reflects the latest version of the process dated XXXX

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