[OSGeo Oceania] Nominations - OSGeo Oceania board election

[John Bryant]

Hi, I would like to nominate some outstanding members of this community to
stand as candidates in the upcoming OSGeo Oceania election.

I'm sharing this to the public mailing list, so that the community can get
to know these candidates. If you don't already know these people, please
know this: they are all engaged and passionate individuals who care deeply
about this community, have made positive contributions to the open
geospatial community in Oceania, and are ready to step up and do their best
to provide strong leadership for this organisation.

If you're a member of this community, but not yet an official voting member
of OSGeo Oceania, you may still be able to apply for membership in time to
vote (I haven't heard otherwise, and last year applications were solicited
and accepted up to 26 Nov). It's easy to join. Learn more, and apply here:
https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Oceania#Membership

Thanks,
John

*** Nominations below ***

*Edwin Liava'a (Tonga & Brisbane, Australia)*
Edwin has been a passionate advocate for the open geospatial community in
the Pacific for many years, starting the Pacific Islands OSGeo Chapter in
2012. He's volunteered on a number of OSGeo Oceania committees and working
groups, including the FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020 organising committee and the
Travel Grant Program working group. Last year, he was a keynote speaker at
the Wellington conference, and more recently, has taken the lead on setting
up and managing the 2020 conference website. He's done much to demonstrate
his dedication to this community, and would be an effective voice from the
Pacific, which to date has been missing from the board.

*Nemaia Koto (Suva, Fiji)*
Nemaia was an early volunteer on the FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020 organising
team, and quickly stood out as someone who would consistently do the hard
work required, taking an active role in the conference communications. When
Vasiti Soko's work commitments required her to step back from her role as
co-chair of the conference, she put Nemaia forward to fill the role,
recognising his dedication and passion for this event and community. Nemaia
has proven himself as a sensitive leader and a strong advocate for open
geospatial in the Pacific, and would be a valuable asset to the
organisation.

*Elisa Puccioni (Wellington, NZ)*
Elisa joined the open geospatial community relatively recently, having
adopted QGIS in her professional life a few years ago, and as such,
represents an important segment of our community. She embraced the
community spirit quickly, and has shown a keen interest in sharing that
spirit, writing a blog post about her experience at FOSS4G SotM Oceania
2019 in Wellington (
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-first-experience-foss4g-oceania-conference-elisa-puccioni).
She was an active member of the 2020 Travel Grant Program working group
until it was suspended due to COVID, and has contributed to the Aotearoa
Indigenous Mapping Wananga as a QGIS trainer. She would bring a positive
and productive approach to this organisation.

*Edoardo Neerhut (Melbourne, Australia)*
Edoardo has been a major contributor to this community for a long time,
taking lead roles in communications and sponsorship at FOSS4G SotM Oceania
2018 & 2019, serving on the board of OSGeo Oceania in 2019, chairing the
Membership working group over the last year, and helping to lay the
groundwork for the regional chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation. He's
played a big role in organising the Melbourne Hub of FOSS4G SotM Oceania
2020 (while in lockdown!). He has always shown himself to be a positive and
collaborative influence, and carefully listens to all points of view before
acting. He clearly has the best interests of this community at heart,
understands the importance of transparency in an open community, and is a
natural leader.

*Jonah Sullivan (Canberra, Australia)*
Jonah stepped up to chair FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020, and when COVID
threatened to force the cancellation of the event, he was the originator of
the inspired idea to run it as a hybrid in-person/online event, which has
successfully activated local communities across the region. In an extremely
difficult year, he's calmly kept the event on track, keeping a volunteer
committee engaged and working in harmony. Jonah was on the Travel Grant
Program working group in 2018 and 2019, and has already served on this
board of directors in 2019, so his knowledge and experience will help him
"hit the ground running" if he is elected.

*Carrol Chan (Suva, Fiji)*
Carrol has been involved in FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020, both as part of the
organising committee, and as part of the Suva Hub, which is on track to be
a major success. She is an enthusiastic supporter of the open geospatial
community in Fiji and the Pacific, in a professional and volunteer
capacity. She has been a committee member of the Pacific GIS & Remote
Sensing Council since 2017, playing an active role in their annual
conference, so she brings very relevant experience. As a relatively early
career professional and recent graduate, she can also bring an important
perspective from a very important segment of our community.
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