Election guidance for members
We have an excess of candidates for the 2021 board election. As part of its role to assist in board development, I think that it would be good if the governance committee were to issue guidance on the selection of candidates. Draft below:
Draft email for members
Dear Foundation Members,
One of the roles of the board's newly formed Governance Committee [1] is to ensure the effective development of the board itself. As part of this, we have been tasked with identifying the skills, experience and expertise that the board needs in order to function and to improve its effectiveness.
In order to support this role, we are sharing the following guidance with members for the current board election.
The Governance Committee encourages members to select candidates on the basis of their experience and competences, as opposed to their personal experience of each candidate, or candidates' existing roles in the GNOME community. This advice reflects the fact that sitting on the board requires specific skills and experience, in particular those required to help run a non-profit organisation.
When selecting candidates, members are recommended to look for the following skills, experience and expertise:
- Personal experience of running and managing organisations and teams
- Financial management experience, including budgeting, accounts, managing cash flow
- Experience of organisational governance, including board experience
- Non-profit sector experience, including fundraising and public-interest programme delivery
- Ability to represent the Foundation as an organisation in high-level contexts (eg. negotiations with funders and CEO-level management, public speaking)
We encourage members to take the time to review each candidate and cast their votes with these skill sets in mind. If you are uncertain about which candidates have these qualities, you can also ask them!
On behalf of the GNOME Foundation Governance Committee,
X
[1] https://wiki.gnome.org/Foundation/Committees/GovernanceCommittee