[OSGeo Oceania] Ex-chair's perspective (OSGeo Oceania 2019-2020)

[John Bryant]

I've been invited to contribute to the upcoming OSGeo Oceania annual
report, as ex-chair. I was the chair of the organisation from its formation
at the end of 2018 until I resigned on 29 May 2020. I'd like to offer a
contribution here, on the public list, relating my perspective on the year.

2019-2020 was a two-act play, and the two halves of the year could hardly
stand in greater contrast from each other.

*Act One:*
At 1 July 2019, we had just recently created the formal entity OSGeo
Oceania Ltd, the Wellington conference team was in full swing, and there
was much to do. In our inaugural Terms of Reference, we had laid out an
ambitious plan for 2019 to deliver a number of key foundational pieces,
while striving to maintain the high level of transparency and
accountability this community expects and deserves. In 2019, we worked at a
furious pace, cooperatively and collaboratively, and I feel we achieved
everything we set out to do, to a high standard. There were many
highlights, and a few low points.

A few highlights:

   - organising a truly wonderful event in Wellington, thanks to a highly
   engaged organising team
   - being recognised as a local chapter
   <https://wiki.osgeo.org/images/7/7d/Face_to_Face_Meeting_2019_Bucharest.pdf>
   by OSGeo at FOSS4G in Bucharest
   - working through a challenging community consultation (on-list
   <https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania/2019-September/002115.html>)
   to produce a robust Membership Policy, so that we could recruit formal
   "members" to keep the board accountable
   - establishing a "Membership Working Group", enabling more people in the
   community to get involved in running the organisation, and running a
   successful membership drive
   - engaging with "Team Pasifika" to develop a successful proposal for the
   2020 conference
   - successfully organising and running our first election, empowering the
   community to elect the board in a clear and transparent process,
   establishing a direct line of accountability

Some low points:

   - realising we hadn't been fully living up to our promise
   <https://drive.google.com/file/d/13aZ6L08ke1-l32I7c00MahyEKgxeZkq8> to
   operate transparently, thanks to those who raised it on the list
   <https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania/2019-August/002047.html>
   - realising our initial constitution had been adopted in haste, with an
   inadequately defined purpose, requiring a major effort to update it
   <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pgwoyjRCwvG6a76u5__rdExrmcidjfaf08RgaQCGjzs>
   (fortunately we had some professional assistance, funded by OSGeo)
   - some internal conflict between directors over transparency and
   process, occasionally working at cross purposes

All in all, I think we ended 2019 on a high point, feeling like we were
moving in the right direction as an organisation, with a renewed board, and
a highly engaged, activated community, with members from across the region
ready and willing to participate.

I had concerns about how we could fully restore our commitments to the
community regarding transparency and accountability. I hoped that early in
2020, we could prioritise an update to our original Terms of Reference to
make them relevant again, renew our commitments, and firm up some board
processes, so that we could reduce conflict and move forward with purpose.

*Act Two:*
The year began well:

   - We held our first meeting of the new board on 9 Jan
   <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tlpx17SNeUpsuP10XorP0YqnZLpknA41>,
   appointed directors to formal roles (ie chair, deputy chair, treasurer,
   secretary), and kicked off a review of the Terms of Reference.
   - We began to look for ways to become more efficient as a board. One
   particularly promising development was the adoption of Loomio, making it
   easier to track decisions, improve clarity, and enhance transparency.
   - The Fiji organisers began to build momentum, forming a team,
   developing good collaborative processes, and empowering new people to step
   up and get engaged.

At the end of February, the Terms of Reference review
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jcBeJQddyVHtNgOokLyKIKlE-MpXxhDSi9GdmFVhMm8>
was completed and brought to the board. It was met with general support,
but our commitment to open-by-default became a point of debate. I would
have loved to resolve this debate, but the timing was poor, with a couple
of other major issues competing for our attention: 1) the looming prospect
of a global pandemic, and 2) an internal board matter causing deep conflict.

As COVID captured everyone's attention, we agreed to pause board activities
for a while. The new Terms of Reference never made it to a board vote, and
we missed the opportunity to clarify a significant sticking point.

When we returned from the pause in mid May, we had a positive board
meeting, where Jonah brought forward the idea of a hybrid in-person/online
conference
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qBSFrj_m6u7nYk4uMuZWGj5ZmOdxfE_f2dUooodH3Fs>,
meeting with support from the board. This was the last board meeting
with published
minutes <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i1OP74QsTx0wh1FskCK_4vKUkRFQPZUW>.

Unfortunately, the internal board matter from before the pause hadn't gone
away, and couldn't be resolved. I felt deeply conflicted, I couldn't
persuade the board to take action, and I found myself ethically unable to
continue to participate. On 29 May, with profound regret, I handed in my
resignation.

*Epilogue:*
In my opinion, transparency itself isn't the goal, but a vital tool to
promote community health. When organisations operate transparently, the
communities they serve can more easily find ways to engage, contribute, and
hold leaders accountable. It's a fundamental part of how open communities
work, and we can look at OSGeo and OSMF for examples of how openness can
help a community thrive.

In the last several months, we've seen an overall decline in board
transparency, but some mildly positive moves to improve the situation, such
as the creation of a public board mailing list
<https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania-board/>. This (read-only) list
offers a small peek behind the curtain, revealing some apparently broken
processes, which is helpful because if we know they're broken, we can fix
them.

I'm hopeful that a major board renewal at the upcoming election will help
move things back in the right direction. After the election, most of the
board will be made up of new directors. It may be challenging for them to
navigate the gap between OO's policies and practices, which hasn't been
explained. But if the discussion is brought back into the open, there will
be a whole community ready to support them. This is a wonderful community,
full of positivity, made up of passionate people who want to see this
organisation succeed in its mission.

I encourage the community to vote thoughtfully, hold OSGeo Oceania
accountable, and help it evolve into the organisation it needs to be.
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