Name: Regina Nkenchor
E-mail:nkemregina@gnome org
Corporate Affiliation: IKEA IT AB, OpenKids Africa
Dear Foundation Members,
I’m writing to formally announce my candidacy for the GNOME Foundation Board of Directors in the June 2024 elections.
With over a decade of experience in the technology industry I have had the opportunity to interact with a diverse spectrum of stakeholders. I am currently a software engineer at IKEA, where I also advocate for open source as an OSPO Ambassador. In addition, I am the founder of the non-profit OpenKids Africa, which provides technology lessons to children in rural African schools. I am also a maintainer of the GNOME Africa project, a community of GNOME contributors in Africa.
My background includes non-profit work, developer relations, marketing and advocacy, program management, and OSPO.
As a GNOME Foundation member for over five years, my goal has been to raise awareness and promote diversity within the GNOME project. I have also worked to encourage cross-community interaction and enhance the project’s appeal to funders from a diversity perspective. I believe that broadening the GNOME project’s reach to a diverse audience will increase its visibility, attract contributors, and make it more appealing to potential funders. After conducting internal research in 2022, I have continued to focus on these efforts and would love to extend this work in the next board term.
During this board term (2022-2024), one of our primary goals was to create a strategic direction for the GNOME project that caters to the diverse needs of the foundation. I worked with the board and the Executive Director to develop this strategic direction, which is currently under review by the community. This strategic plan will enable the board to set clear goals and metrics for the Executive Director, ensuring that initiatives are delivered with accountability and efficiency.
My priorities for the foundation are:
Diversity and Internship Community:
My goal is to support the internship community in creating cross-community programs that promote diversity in the GNOME project, leverage GSOC and outreachy initiatives, and encourage contributions from underrepresented groups. In support of the internship community, I will promote the GNOME Pathways Initiative (“Pathways”), an education program that recruits, mentors, educates, engages, and elevates as leaders new creators from all parts of the world, building on the previous work of our Engagement Committee and mentoring efforts.
I will support the less expensive and decentralized GNOME event and conference to help develop a more diverse and inclusive GNOME event while also reducing carbon emissions from frequent travel.
GNOME Awareness Initiative:
In my last term, I have been committed to the GNOME Awareness Initiative, with the aim to bring exposure of the GNOME project to the African open source ecosystem. Last year, I spoke to over 2k members on the GNOME project, organized booths, and helped onboarding new contributors. In this term, I will continue on these efforts and work on projects like scalable onboarding, which will enable us to improve our onboarding system, especially for new contributors. This would also assist in promoting the GNOME pathways programs and increasing funder visibility for the project.
Governance and Sustainability:
Strengthening our governance structure is crucial for the long-term sustainability of the GNOME project. I aim to work on redesigning our governance practices to enhance transparency, accountability, and effective decision-making. It’s imperative that the board continually review these processes to ensure they remain in line with the dynamic needs of the community.
Fundraising Efforts:
For fundraising efforts and increasing funding for the GNOME project, I will support from the perspective of marketing and advocacy, and assist in grant making and applications. By leveraging my marketing expertise, I will support marketing campaigns that highlight the impact of GNOME to diverse groups and engage our community through effective outreach. I am glad the STF project has opened a way for expanding the areas that require funding within the GNOME project, and I will continue to support the expanded work for the project through the development initiative.
Being part of the GNOME community and serving on the board has been an opportunity to help and support underrepresented contributors. This has been possible thanks to the support I have received from the GNOME community. There have been improvements in these areas, especially in our internal programs like GSoC and Outreachy. I am always grateful for the opportunity to serve the community.
Best Regards,
Regina
