2026 Community Council Transition

Community Governance
1

Hi all,

On behalf of the Community Council, I am reaching out to share the news that we are opening the process of nominating and welcoming new members to the Council. Council members serve two-year terms. As such, we have two members cycling off this year - Sakti Subramanian and Karl Kaddu, the latter of whom was generous enough to stay on for an extra year to help provide continuity throughout the course of this last year.

Previously, transitions to new Councils have been affected through elections. As some may recall, election participation over the last two years has been lower than in previous years, leading to a shift in approach last year. Rather than complete a full election last year, we switched to a nomination-and-Council-review approach.

After consideration and discussion, the Council has decided to opt for a nomination-and-review approach again this year. This decision was made in light of the prior two years’ engagement, and in light of the half-time capacity of my role as Community Coordinator.

This year’s transition will therefore proceed much like last year’s, moving through the following stages:

  1. Transition Plan shared and open for community conversation (via this post and ensuing thread), June 1-5.
  2. Community nomination period, June 22 - July 6. Community members are encouraged to nominate themselves or others for service on the Council
  3. Nomination review period, June 22 - July 6. Current Council members will review and interview interested nominees.
  4. Selections announced for Community input and discussion, July 31.
  5. Selections confirmed (August 18) and seated by September 8.

If you would like to learn more about the process and procedures that have been outlined by the Council for this year’s transition, you can do so by reading the 2026-2027 Community Council Transition Plan and supporting Transition Procedures documents.

Your reflections, comments, and input on this year’s approach are welcome here in this thread. We are dedicating this week (June 1 through June 5) as an open comment period, however your feedback and engagement are welcome at any time at goshcouncil@openhardware.science.

Kind regards,
Jamaica

5 Likes
2

Hello Jamaica,

Thank you for outlining the transition process so clearly. I appreciate the thoughtful approach to balancing continuity and participation. I was wondering whether the Council has identified particular skills, experiences, or regional perspectives it hopes to strengthen with this year’s new members? It is one I look forward to.

1 Like
3

Suleiman,

Thanks so much for your interest, and I apologize for the delay in my response. I have been traveling internationally and encountered some unexpected connectivity challenges while I was away.

The Council’s first step in preparing for the transition was to finalize the documents that I shared last week. The nomination period will open on June 22, in advance of which the Council will be sharing a more detailed invitation. I hope you’ll stay tuned for that, and of course also feel free to reach out to me (jamaica@opensciencehardware.org) or to them (goshcouncil@openhardware.science) directly with any questions you might have along the way.

Kindest regards,
Jamaica

1 Like
4

Hello all!

Today is the day that the Community Council transition period officially kicks off! Today, we are delighted to open nominations for the incoming Community Council cohort, the members of which will serve two-year terms beginning this September and running through the end of August 2028. This year, we are seeking 2-4 new members.

The Community Council is critical to GOSH governance, as its members help steward the community, guide governance decisions, identify emerging priorities, and ensure that GOSH remains responsive to the needs and interests of its global community.

This coming year, we are looking forward to recentering domain focus in the work of Community Council representatives - new and existing Council members will identify areas that they think are of particular importance to the GOSH community and will help direct efforts to advance those as priority areas. They’ll also play a role in shaping the next Gathering following this year’s event in Kathmandu.

Service on the Community Council generally requires about 6 to 10 hours of work per month. This work is largely quite flexible.

Those who accept a nomination (or self-nominate) will be asked to submit a brief statement of interest, which will be shared with the community, and to participate in a one-hour interview with current Community Council members. Interviews are tentatively scheduled for July 6–17. Current Council members will review candidate statements and interview notes before making their recommendations to the community at the end of July. A two-week community comment period will then provide an opportunity for community members to share feedback on the proposed cohort. Any concerns raised during that period will be reviewed by the Council before final selections are confirmed. The incoming Council will be announced on August 18 and formally seated in early September. (A timeline is also provided below, and available in the Governance Plan.)

When I asked the current Council members what qualities they thought would best equip incoming Council members, they highlighted the importance of:

  • A strong commitment to GOSH values, along with the ability to think strategically about the community’s future.

  • The ability to connect and collaborate across different regions, disciplines, and experiences.

  • Reliability, initiative, and a willingness to contribute between meetings and help move work forward.

  • Experience with communication, partnerships, fundraising, volunteer engagement, or community-building

If there is someone you think has some of these attributes, please take a few moments to nominate them. If that person is you, please don’t be shy - self-nominations are encouraged!

As described above, the process this year will be different than it has in many years. Changes implemented this year were tested last year and adopted by the Council more formally as described in the post above. You are welcome to read through this year’s Governance Plan for more details - I am of course always available for questions as well.

Many thanks for your interest, and your ongoing engagement.
Jamaica

2026 Community Council Transition Timeline

Dates Event
6/22 Open nomination
7/6 Close nomination
7/13 Candidate statements shared with the community
7/6 - 7/17 Interview interested nominees
7/31 Recommendations made to the community
7/31 - 8/14 Community comment period
8/18 Selections finalized
8/25 Finalize onboarding materials, send to incoming council members
9/8 First community council meeting with new and outgoing council members
3 Likes
5

Hi all!

Just a quick note here to remind you that Community Council nominations are still open, and we are excited to learn who you think might make a good candidate for the incoming cohort of the Community Council. Perhaps it’s you? We welcome self nominations, and nominations of others through EOD July 6.

Karl wrote a lovely piece in the latest newsletter about some of the value that he’s found in being a Council member. In my role as Community Coordinator, I can say that serving on the Council is an excellent opportunity to get involved at a really vital level, to help advance some of the pressing priorities of the community while also helping to shape the direction of future governance cycles as well.

This coming year, I anticipate that the Council might be engaging a good bit at the Governance level, and will likely see some more active community engagement following the Gathering and given that we’ll be able to fund some projects through the Ambassador Program. It’s a great time to get involved, if you have the time and willingness.

As always, you can review the Governance Plan here, and can always either share questions here or reach out to me directly at jamaica@opensciencehardware.org.

Cheers,
Jamaica

2026 GOSH Community Council Nomination Form: GOSH 2026 Community Council Candidate Nominations

1 Like
6

Hello again - just a quick update to let you know that the nomination period has been extended through July 10, so you have a few additional days to get your are still open, and we are excited to learn who you think might make a good candidate for the incoming cohort of the Community Council. Perhaps it’s you? We welcome self nominations, and nominations of others through EOD July 6.

Karl wrote a lovely piece in the latest newsletter about some of the value that he’s found in being a Council member. In my role as Community Coordinator, I can say that serving on the Council is an excellent opportunity to get involved at a really vital level, to help advance some of the pressing priorities of the community while also helping to shape the direction of future governance cycles as well.

This coming year, I anticipate that the Council might be engaging a good bit at the Governance level, and will likely see some more active community engagement following the Gathering and given that we’ll be able to fund some projects through the Ambassador Program. It’s a great time to get involved, if you have the time and willingness.

As always, you can review the Governance Plan here, and can always either share questions here or reach out to me directly at jamaica@opensciencehardware.org.

Cheers,
Jamaica

2026 GOSH Community Council Nomination Form: GOSH 2026 Community Council Candidate Nominations

ShareBookmarkFlagAssign

Reply

WatchingYou have mailing list mode enabled, so you will be notified of replies to this topic via email.

New & Unread Topics

Topic list, column headers with buttons are sortable.

Topic Replies Views Activity
I-V curve testing for DIY low power generation. Anybody interested? 1 General 8 141
“Community Weaving” concept for community governance Community Governance community,collaboration 1
Doctoral Excellence Award $160k - Open hardware engineering WANTED! General 0 71
Mothbox Deployments in Southeast Asia & Other Updates! Mothbox 0 52
Trademarking question General 4 57

There are 4 unread topics remaining, or browse other topics in Community Governance

Powered by Discourse

Code of Conduct

jamaica

​​​

​​​​​​​​​

Hello again - just a quick update to let you know that the nomination period has been extended through July 10, so you have a few additional days to get your nominations in.

As always, you can review the Governance Plan here, and can always either share questions here or reach out to me directly at jamaica@opensciencehardware.org.

Cheers,
Jamaica

2026 GOSH Community Council Nomination Form: GOSH 2026 Community Council Candidate Nominations

1 Like
7

Dear GOSH Community,

Thank you for your patience as the Council trials the new nomination-and-review process for the 2026 Community Council Transition.

As you may be aware, Sakti Subramanian and Karl Kaddu are cycling off the Council this year, and we thank them for their keen insights and generous support throughout their terms.

After careful consideration and discussion on the different skills and experiences that they can bring to the Council and the wider Community, the current Council has decided to recommend the following two candidates to join the Community Council:

We’re excited to welcome Salman and Suleiman to the Council and look forward to the new ideas and passion that they can bring to the role. We have invited both candidates to post below a brief introduction of themselves and some of their priorities in serving the Community - we encourage you to take a moment to learn more about our recommended candidates.

We invite the Community to take some time over the next two weeks to provide your feedback on our recommendations. If there are no objections, we aim to finalise our selections of Suleiman and Salman by 18 Aug.

Thank you to everyone who has engaged and expressed interest throughout the new process so far! We encourage you to continue engaging with us and let us know if you have any queries or comments on our recommendations - either in this thread or by email to the Council directly.

Kind regards,
Yan Kay, on behalf of the Community Council 2025/26

5 Likes
8

Makes sense given the participation trend and bandwidth constraints. One thing to flag: with nomination-review over elections, self-nominations probably matter even more than usual — might be worth emphasizing in that June 22 invite that people should nominate themselves if they’re interested, not wait to be spotted.

9

@GlynisC46, thank you for sharing this excellent and, honestly, pretty astute recommendation. @YKH’s post referred to a process that is largely complete - the Council encouraged nominations (including self-nominations) through this past June and from those received, arrived at the recommendations that she shared last week. It turns out that self-nominations were critical to the process.

Given recent trends in participation, I imagine that the incoming cohort of the Council will be spending a good bit of time thinking through updates to the GOSH governance procedures. This of course would necessitate the involvement of the broader community, so please stay tuned and keep these ideas and suggestions coming!

1 Like
10

Hi all! Following up on @YKH’s post, I wanted to share the two candidates’ bio statements.

You can read Suleiman’s bio here.

And you can read Salman’s bio here.

2 Likes
11

Hey all! Just wanted to bump this thread, as the community comment period closes tomorrow. The current Community Council invites you to review the two candidates’ bio statements, and weigh in if you have any questions or comments.

After the close of the comment period tomorrow, and provided no critical issues or concerns are raised before then, I will follow up with a more formal report of the Council transition process. The current Council and I will then move forward in onboarding Suleiman and Salman, who will begin their service on September 1.

1 Like
12

2026 Community Council Transition: Final Report

The 2026 GOSH Community Council transition period has now been successfully completed. Two new Council members have been nominated, vetted, and confirmed to fill the seats that will be vacated on September 1.

Outgoing Council members:

Incoming Council members:

At the beginning of this year’s transition, the Community Council recommended continuing with the process piloted during the 2025 transition: an open nomination period followed by interviews and recommendations by the sitting Community Council, rather than returning to the more formal election process used in earlier years.

Four nominations were received during the nomination period. Two nominees declined to move forward. The remaining two nominees, Suleiman and Salman, were interviewed by current Council members and subsequently recommended for service.

The transition also included two community comment periods. The first invited feedback on the proposed nomination, interview, and recommendation process. The second invited community consideration and feedback on the two recommended nominees.

We are grateful for the thoughtful feedback received during both periods. Feedback focused primarily on opportunities to improve the transition process in future years - no concerns were raised regarding the recommended candidates or their suitability for Council service. A complete record of the community feedback received during the transition remains available in this topic for reference.

With the conclusion of the final comment period and confirmation of the incoming members, this report closes the 2026 Community Council transition process.

Thank you to everyone who participated, whether by nominating a community member, nominating yourself, and/or participating in the comment periods.

We will formally welcome and introduce Suleiman and Salman to the community in early September!

2 Likes