[OSGeo-Discuss] Some good mojo thoughts

[Adam Steer]

Hi OSGeo Oceania

First, its great to see that microgrants and other small project
funding initiatives are getting momentum :)

I wanted to hopefully suggest a clearer path for the Good Mojo funding
idea, since that seems to create some confusion [1].

My first suggestion is to rename it. It is aimed specifically at
JDEI[2] initiatives - so perhaps it can be named that - the
inclusivity fund, or similar (please avoid the other acronym about
lightsaber users [3]). Good Mojo was a label of convenience, it would
be amazingly great to give a more purposeful name. It's not really
about us feeling good about ourselves.

The initial intention of the fund was that no money is held back ever
- in the original vision the JDEI (or whatever) fund has no need to be
saved for the future, instead we actively ask for contributions all
the time - or fill it from the general budget.

So the next suggestion is this: if a conference is run the LOC should
be able to spend the entire JDEI fund, for things in its remit - for
example extra travel grants outside the normal program, targeted at
specific groups, inclusivity initiatives at events, basically helping
people enter and feel welcome in the community.

Importantly, the JDEI fund should not mean 'things only travel grants
and only conferences'. As a random example if it means a geospatial -
oriented street art workshop to engage a specific community that would
otherwise feel "other'ed", then that is also fair game to me.

Outside of events, it could be open for anyone to call on. My
suggestion here is that the decision to spend it could be handed to a
funding committee (grants), or if the board wants to do it they could.
If it has $0 left, that means we did some great stuff, and need to
work on ways to fill it up!

At the end of the day, it was not conceived of as a fund to be meted
out conservatively, or be financially self sustaining. It is a
commitment in money to how we want the community to be. Importantly,
the intent is that the fund is conserved for JDEI purposes, it should
not be drawn back into the general budget.

I don't know on reading back over this whether it actually helps - and
I realise we didn't leave much practical guidance in the original
docs[4].

If I can help to actively clarify the idea, or get better guidelines
working, great!

FInally, it also doesn't have to be there at all. Nothing in OO
outside legal obligations is dogma - so if there is a better way to
fill the intention of collecting and generously dedicating resources
for useful JDEI programs, I think it'd be great to hear those also.

Cheers, and thanks

Adam

[1] thread here:
https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania-board/2021-November/000228.html
[2] Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
[3] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-term-jedi-is-problematic-for-describing-programs-that-promote-justice-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/
[4] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F0hgEyBPJ2EL0jZtqn0Av88Zmg6eTS7mUCEdEALujOg/edit#heading=h.95t0ev3wjads