Elections & Governance @FOSSUnited : Why, How, & When

Ram Iyengar put it eloquently at the Fifth Anniversary meetup of FOSS United in Bengaluru a few weeks back– It’s not about why governance is necessary for a community like FOSS United, it’s about why now. FOSS Communities naturally evolve to establish community-based governance mechanisms as they mature and this step is a natural progression for FOSS United. Join us in shaping the future of open-source software in India and driving our movement forward.

Submit Your Nomination

The Why

Over the past five years, FOSS United has grown rapidly—expanding city chapters, student clubs, tech policy initiatives, event and project grants, and FOSS advocacy. The keen-eyed (and actively engaged) among you might have noticed the growing lack of capacity at the Foundation to keep driving the Community while maintaining transparency, accountability, and community-driven decision-making. The Foundation needs all the help it can get to share responsibility in making decisions that are critical to the future of our Community and enable us to relentlessly execute our various initiatives for the Community. For over two years now, the members of the FOSS United community have been discussing the logistics and need to establish governance mechanisms, you can check out the forum threads here.

The How

Communities can govern themselves in numerous ways and the path we have chosen is to elect a Governing Board. The Governing Board will be made up of members from the Community and no preferential treatment is given to Industry Partners/Financial Supporters of the Foundation.

Any member of the Community can run for elections by submitting their nominations here. Once they submit a nomination, their candidature can be endorsed by members of the Community. The Community will vote for the candidates using Ranked Choice Voting (particularly using the Single transferrable vote method. Once elected, the Governing Board will serve as the representatives of the Community. Please see the Governance Charter here

The When

Starting February 1st, we are inviting interested members of the Community to consider running for Election. The deadline to send in your nominations has been extended to March 2nd, and we start announcing the candidates from February 23rd. Elections will be conducted on the March 15th. On April 1st, (we’re serious), we will be announcing the results of the election and the new Governance Board.

Submit Your Nomination

If you have any questions regarding the process, please join our weekly open call on Governance on Saturday at 11 AM. If you have significant experience with the FOSS ecosystem in India and around the world, we request you to consider running for election. If you know someone who fits this profile, please ask them to consider submitting a nomination.

Last update: February 19th, 2025