Contributing to the Open Organization project provides you with:
- Access to community-supported networks of open organizational experts who can help you address and overcome organizational challenges
- Opportunities to influence the direction of community-produced resources
- Opportunities to meet, interview, and interact with open source and open organization thought-leaders, advocates, and activists across the globe
Ready to make a contribution? Consider:
- Asking your questions or offering your insights about open organizational theory and practice at our hub for community discussion
- Sharing your experience with open organizational practices (the successes and the failures!) with our community of practitioners
- Composing an article, book chapter, or other openly licensed resource for the community (see our open issues!)
- Helping refine, maintain, and translate our materials
- Fixing typos in or suggesting corrections to our written materials, like the Open Organization book series
- Helping organize community activities and events, such Twitter chats and virtual book clubs
Project contributors with a history of beneficial contributions a reputation for effective community collaboration can become Open Organization Ambassadors. Ambassadors are core community contributors who receive:
- Write privileges in GitHub repositories related to the Open Organization Definition and Maturity Model
- Write privileges in GitHub repositories related to community governance
- Write privileges to the community's GitHub wiki
- Invitations to monthly online meetings and annual in-person meetings
- Opportunities to represent the community at events
- Access to ambassadors-only discussion fora for community planning and goal-setting
- Complimentary copies of printed community resources (as available) to distribute to their professional networks
Contributors can become ambassadors by nominating themselves or receiving a nomination from an Open Organization Ambassador in good standing. In the case of self-nomination, the contributor should open a GitHub issue in the project's governance repository. In the case of nomination by an acting Ambassador, the Ambassador should open the issue. In either case, the issue should clearly outline the nominee's history of contributions to the project and explain the nominee's interest in deepening they're investment in the community.
The community will discuss the nomination for a period of no more than one week after the issue is filed. During that time, current Ambassadors can offer their support for the nomination or raise objections to it.
A nomination receiving "net-positive" support from at least two non-nominating Ambassadors is approved. This means that:
- if a nomination receives approval from two Ambassadors, it is approved
- if a nomination receives approval from three Ambassadors, and an objection from one, it is approved
- and so on
Ambassadors pledge a minimum commitment of one year. At the conclusion of their respective terms, ambassadors will discuss plans to renew or complete their commitments.
Ambassadors who hold that position for at least one year and leave the program in good standing are eligible for emeritus status. Ambassadors Emeriti receive all benefits supporters and contributors do, as well as:
- Standing invitation to monthly online ambassador meetings and annual in-person ambassador meetings
- Access to ambassadors-only discussion fora
- Opportunities to network and engage with other ambassadors (in-person meetings, etc.) and to extend their professional connections
Ambassadors expressing interest in leading and maintaining community-driven projects can become maintainers of those projects. For example, a maintainer might act as lead editor of a volume in the Open Organization book series, coordinate revisions to the Open Organization Maturity Model, or launch a brand new project altogether. Maintainers establish project vision, set project timelines, recruit contributors to the project, and coordinate work associated with the project. Descriptions of current maintainer positions and associated responsibilities are available in the community roster.
Ambassadors can become maintainers through repeat contributions to the projects they wish to maintain. An Ambassador wishing to become a maintainer can identify an unmaintained project and volunteer to maintain it. An Ambassador can also identify project whose current maintainer seeks to either share or relinquish maintainership. In this case, the project's current maintainer can choose a co-maintainer or a successor.
Version 1.1
Updated January 2021
The Open Organization Ambassadors