Merge pull request #2589 from GregSutcliffe/gb-report

Add GB report for Dec 2024

content/blog/2024/12/2024-12-20-governing-board-first-report.md

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+date = "2024-12-20"
+title = "First report from the Matrix Governing Board" 
+
+[taxonomies]
+author = ["Matrix Governing Board", "Greg Sutcliffe"]
+category = ["Governing Board"]
++++
+
+Hi all,
+
+It’s been 6 months since the first ever Matrix Governing Board (GB) was
+formally elected & announced, and it has recently had its first official
+meeting. As such, we felt it was time that you, our constituents, had a report
+on how things are going and what we’ve been doing. We appreciate that the work
+of the GB is often in the background, and we want to be as transparent as we
+can.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+### What’s been happening?
+
+Since our election in June, the GB has mainly been focussed on internal
+structure. We began with the most basic part of this - getting to know each
+other! We have quite a large group, and we all needed time to understand what
+each of us would like to achieve, and to assist with. We also needed to get to
+know the Foundation better, and time spent with Josh has been extremely
+valuable too.
+
+The other, even bigger, topic to tackle has been structure. We are a new board,
+and as such we need to lay down the processes and hierarchy that will govern
+our work in the near-to-medium future. There is ample inspiration around us in
+the many other communities we are part of, but we do have to write down our
+versions of these.
+
+### What about the recent Governing Board meeting?
+
+The GB had its first official meeting on Nov 15th, and the topic of structure
+took up all of our time - this is key since that structure is blocking the work
+we want to do in various topic areas (which we’re calling Committees). There
+are [detailed minutes available here](/assets/governance/governing-board/2024-11-15-meeting-minutes.pdf) but here is a high
+level summary - you’ll note that these all relate to the structure and norms of
+the GB:
+
+* We elected our first Chair and ViceChair - Greg Sutcliffe (gwmngilfen) and Kim Brose (HarHarLinks) respectively
+* We discussed some of the core elements of the GB - voting processes, quorum, timescales, etc
+* We discussed the organisation layout, Committees, and Working Groups - more detail on that below
+* We talked a lot about norms as well - how we expect members of the GB to behave.
+
+The last point is actually really important - while it sounds quite simple,
+it’s critical for setting expectations for us and also helps set overall policy
+when an explicit rule or process doesn’t exist. The culture that we set out
+with this first board will likely set the tone for the future, and we should
+get it right.
+
+### Committees and Working Groups
+
+Probably the decision with the biggest impact (thought we agreed it fairly
+quickly) was around the hierarchy of the GB, so let’s expand on that a bit.
+
+As we reported in TWIM [at the
+time](https://matrix.org/blog/2024/11/15/this-week-in-matrix-2024-11-15/#first-official-governing-board-meeting),
+we have convened 4 initial Committees (Governance, Trust & Safety, Community,
+and Finance & Fundraising), and these are board-level subgroups with a focus on
+that specific area. Each Committee will have one or more Working Groups (WG)
+that focus on something related to that topic, and WGs must have a board member
+involved - but can (and probably should) involve more people from the community
+who wish to be involved in that effort.
+
+Drawing on my own background in operating systems, this is somewhere between
+the CentOS model (which just has Special Interest Groups under the CentOS
+Board) and Fedora (which has a [detailed & complex org
+chart](https://fedoracom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/orgchart-1024x492.png)).
+As an example, we’ll (probably) have a Website WG under the Community
+Committee.
+
+Each Committee and WG will need a charter - this can be pretty short, but sets
+out the remit of that group. Committees will also need a Chair (and probably a
+Vice Chair, just in case) so that we can ensure things keep ticking along. Those
+positions are open for voting within the GB at the moment!
+
+For the community, you can expect regular reports from the committees once
+they’ve formed, and we’ll bring those to you as we can - how we do reporting
+with transparency is also a topic we're discussing. You can also expect a
+process for people to propose new Working Groups - that is also under discussion!
+
+### Reports?
+
+Yes! So, as said above, the Committees will have an obligation to report on
+their activity. Since most have only existed for 3 weeks so far, there’s not
+yet much to say, but I hope that in the next few weeks we’ll be able to
+announce the Committees are up-and-running, and that we have a proposal system
+for new WGs.
+
+We also have a report from the Spec Core Team which they’ve asked us to share
+with you - you can [read that SCT report here](/assets/governance/governing-board/2024-11-15-spec-core-team-report.pdf).
+
+### What’s next?
+
+Right now, elections are in progress for the people who will run the
+Committees, and we want to finalise the norms and processes - these have had
+significant discussion already, and once we’ve tidied up the last points we can
+vote them in. Then comes the serious work of setting up WGs, and all that
+entails.
+
+We know that this seems a very slow process, especially in today’s world of
+fast moving technology - but the work of discussion, negotiation, and consensus
+can’t be rushed. It’ll be worth it.
+
+If you want to chat with us, we are always happy to chat! You can find us in
+[the Office of the Governing Board
+room](https://matrix.to/#/#governing-board-office:matrix.org), but many of the
+GB will also be [present at
+FOSDEM](https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-6236-matrix-state-of-the-union/)
+as well as being at the [Friday Matrix
+event](https://matrix.org/blog/2024/11/matrix-fosdem-full-force/) - please talk
+to us, bring us your thoughts, tell us your worries. We’ll do what we can to
+help.
+
+Until next time!
+
+Greg (on behalf of the Governing Board)