<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Hi Cameron,<div><br></div><div>Replying publicly since you said you didn't mind. </div><div><br></div><div>To answer your question of why I am leaving OSGeo: the short answer is that I no longer wish to be affiliated with an organization that prefers to silence rather than support its minority* voices. A longer answer follows.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Guido did a good job of summarizing much of the context earlier this year (1). As a voting member of the organization, who was and still is passionate about tending the garden of free & open source geospatial software, in mid-2018 I chose to continue asking an OSGeo Partner (2) to publicly share financial information that they previously claimed existed and promised to make available (3). As a volunteer whose efforts directly contributed to the salaries paid to this Partner's employees, I believed that ensuring promises of transparency were kept was important and the right thing to do.</div><div><br></div><div>As a result of my efforts, I was told by various OSGeo members to "let this go", "get over it", and "just drop it". An OSGeo officer told me my "demands" were "not appropriate", and attempted to threaten my employment (4). Ultimately I cared more about my job than about OSGeo and transparency, so I went silent and stepped back from all volunteer efforts.</div><div><br></div><div>To this date, as far as I am aware that promised financial transparency was never fulfilled. No statements were retracted, no apologies were issued. The OSGeo officer who tried to threaten my employment is still listed at <a href="https://www.osgeo.org/about/board/">https://www.osgeo.org/about/board/</a> and remains in good standing among the community. The Partner organization remains a Partner. I was very effectively silenced by an OSGeo officer, the OSGeo community appeared more than happy to allow the issue to fade out of memory, and to carry on as usual. Likewise I carry no hope that the organization can or will change, or that things might transpire any differently in the future. I no longer have anything in common with OSGeo, and the community at large has made my standing clear. Please let me retire my membership and move on to invest my efforts in other, more constructive & more welcoming venues.</div><div><br></div><div>1) <a href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4GNA_Afterward">https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4GNA_Afterward</a></div><div>2) <a href="https://www.osgeo.org/partners/locationtech/">https://www.osgeo.org/partners/locationtech/</a></div><div>3a) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheaClay/status/992394814749577217">https://twitter.com/TheaClay/status/992394814749577217</a></div><div>3b) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheaClay/status/993584128279957504">https://twitter.com/TheaClay/status/993584128279957504</a></div><div>4) <a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2018-June/004774.html">https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2018-June/004774.html</a></div><div><br></div><div>*Although the gender power imbalance in this particular case is worth noting, don't misunderstand me: I'm referring specifically to a voice which amplifies a controversial or unpopular opinion as "minority" here.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 11:24 AM Cameron Shorter <<a href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com">cameron.shorter@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Sara, <br>
</p>
<p>I'm emailing privately, but please do reply publicly if you feel
you wish to.</p>
<p>Companies often conduct exit interviews with employees when they
leave, asking questions like "why did you leave", and "what could
we have done better to retain a passionate person such as
yourself".</p>
<p>I suspect your answers will be difficult for us in OSGeo to hear,
but if approached constructively, we can use your experience to do
a better job of working with passionate people in the future. If
you are answering publicly, I suggest not naming specific people.</p>
<p>If you'd prefer to answer privately, and have me pass on the
message via a message along the lines of "someone who left
provided the following advice ..." or similar, then I'm happy to
support you with this.</p>
<p>If I have personally contributed to your decision to leave, then
I offer you my apologies. Please do let me know how I might
improve in future.</p>
<p>Warm regards, Cameron <br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="m_-4633497843242757643moz-cite-prefix">On 5/12/18 2:54 am, Sara wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">Board elections have come & gone and so I'm
revisiting this request: please change my Charter membership
status to "retired".
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Astrid - I've been told you have the ability to modify
any relevant "master lists". If this isn't true please feel
free to forward this to the right person.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Vicky - similarly, I understand you have the ability to
edit the web content at <a href="http://www.osgeo.org/about/charter-members/" target="_blank">www.osgeo.org/about/charter-members/</a>.
If that's not correct either, please feel free to forward as
needed.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>cc'd board@lists to help facilitate the request.<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>
From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Sara</strong>
<span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sara@sarasafavi.com" target="_blank">sara@sarasafavi.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Tue, Jun 19, 2018 at 12:00 PM<br>
Subject: How to retire membership status?<br>
To: OSGeo Discussions <<a href="mailto:discuss@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">discuss@lists.osgeo.org</a>><br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<div dir="ltr">Hello community,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Can someone point me at the relevant documentation
re: retiring current membership status? Specifically,
related to Charter membership.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I understand the processes to nominate & add
new charter members but not clear on how current
charter members can retire.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>To put it another way: how to edit <a href="https://www.osgeo.org/about/charter-members/" target="_blank">https://www.osgeo.org/about/charter-members/</a>?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks,</div>
<div>Sara Safavi</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="m_-4633497843242757643mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre class="m_-4633497843242757643moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
Board mailing list
<a class="m_-4633497843242757643moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Board@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">Board@lists.osgeo.org</a>
<a class="m_-4633497843242757643moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board</a></pre>
</blockquote>
<pre class="m_-4633497843242757643moz-signature" cols="72">--
Cameron Shorter
Technology Demystifier
Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant
M +61 (0) 419 142 254</pre>
</div>
</blockquote></div>