One of the things that sets the Drupal community apart from other open source projects is our big, amazing, and very diverse community. The Association board is structured to help represent our community with two community elected seats. After an update to our bylaws this May, we now elect one board member per year to a two-year term. These seats are open to all community members, and we need you to fill them! Our next election will be held in early 2015, and we need your help finding great candidates.

As we shared in the 2013 election wrap up presentation at the DrupalCon Prague public board meeting, we have a couple of challenges when it comes to public elections. The first is fielding a diverse candidate pool. We had some great candidates, but very few women, people of color, or candidates from outside the US. In our next election, we'd like to see more diversity in the candidate pool. Secondly, we have very low turn out for the elections. Anyone with a Drupal.org user account created before nominations open and with at least one login in the last year can vote. Yet, we had just 668 votes in the last election - not even a full percent! 

So now we're on a mission to make sure that the community understands the role of the board in the Drupal Project, the work that the board undertakes, and what it takes to serve on the board yourself. On Tuesday, 5 August, we held a webcast that outlines what the board does, how the elections work, and how to run. You can watch the whole thing here, and check out some of the key points, below.

What does the Board Do?

Association board members, like all board members for US-based organizations, have three legal obligations: duty of care, duty of loyalty, and duty of obedience. In addition to these legal obligations, there is a lot of practical work that the board undertakes. These generally fall under the fiduciary responsibilities of the board and include:

• Overseeing Financial Performance
• Setting Strategy
• Setting and Reviewing Legal Policies
• Fundraisng
• Managing the Executive Director

To accomplish all this, the board meets each month for two hours, and comes together for the two-day retreats, usually scheduled to coincide with the North American and European Cons as well as one January or early February meeting. As a board member, you can expect to spend a minimum of five hours a month.

How do Nominations and Elections Work?

The first elections were held in 2012 after a lengthy community discussion was held to determine the specifics of who should be able to run, how voting would work, and who would be eligible to vote (among other details). The planning discussion that surfaced most of these issues is a great background read. The result is a nomination and voting process that is still in use today. 

Nominations are only accepted as self-nominations in our elections. You may not nominate another person. We accept those nominations during a short (two to three week) window, and after much outreach into the community. To nominate yourself, you need only complete a short form that asks for information such as your bio, your interest in running, what makes you a good candidate, as well as a photo and contact information.

For voting, we use the Instant Run Off method. The method of voting ensures that whoever wins is supported by a majority of voters. Voters rank candidates according to their preferences, and do not have to rank every candidate to complete their votes. Voting will be open for a week to two weeks, and any individual with a Drupal.org account before nominations open and who has logged in at least once in the prior year may vote.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, we use the Election Module to make this all happen.

Who Can Run? How do I Run? What do I do?

Anyone can run for the board, and we welcome all candidates. However, we do want to point out that serving on the board is very different than many of the other opportunities to contribute to the Drupal community. The board works at a strategic level, not a tactical one, and is often thinking one to three years out at a time. We want new board members to find ways to contribute and have a voice as quickly as possible, so we recommend that you have (or that you find) experience with any of the following types of areas:

• Other board experience
• Reading financial documents
• Drupal community committee experience
• Strategic planning
• Policy development

However, I want to stress that NONE of these are REQUIRED to run for or serve on the board. There are many great and free resources at BoardSource and the Bridgespan Group about board service and board skills. And because elections are not for six months, you have plenty of time to get some reading under your belt!

All completed candidate self-nomination forms are published at the end of the nomination period. We call this phase "Meet the Candidates" and community members will be able to ask questions of you on your candidate profile page. Additionally, we will set up several webcasts for candidates to address community questions live, in a variety of time zones. 

When are the next elections?

In prior years, we held elections in the fall. This was difficult because it meant that most of the recruitment and meet the candidate work was done in August, when many humans in the northern hemisphere are on vacation. We've switched to a beginning of the year format which allows us to elect and ratify a candidate with plenty of time to get the new Director onboarded and prepped to attend the DrupalCon North America retreat. Here is the schedule for the next election:

• Community Discussion (August/September 2014)
• Technical Setup (December/Jan)
• Nominations (February 1-20)
• Meet the Candidates (Feb 21 - March 6)
• Voting (March 9 - 20)
• Ratification & Communication (March 25)

Have more questions? Never fear! We are always happy to answer them. Leave them in the comments or send me an email.