|
| 1 | ++++ |
| 2 | +date = "2026-05-02T00:00:00Z" |
| 3 | +title = "Kicking off the nomination period for the 2026 Governing Board elections" |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +[taxonomies] |
| 6 | +author = ["Amandine Le Pape"] |
| 7 | +category = ["Elections", "Foundation", "Governing Board"] |
| 8 | ++++ |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +On Monday we announced the |
| 11 | +[launch of the 2026 election for the Foundation's Governing Board](@/blog/2026/04/2026-04-27-election-announcement.md). |
| 12 | +We have now reached the second milestone and are kicking-off the nomination period! |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +As a reminder, the full election schedule is as follows: |
| 15 | +✅ Announcement on Monday 27th April |
| 16 | +➡️ Nominations from Saturday 2nd May to Friday 15th May |
| 17 | +◻️ Campaigning from Saturday 16th May to Friday 29th May |
| 18 | +◻️ Voting from Saturday 30th May to Friday 12th June |
| 19 | +◻️ Results announced on Monday 15th June |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +Key links: |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +* The [election page](@/foundation/governing-board-elections/2026/index.md) |
| 24 | +* The [nomination form](https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/EV0n4-jfuxdelALG05JSfMM0FL1FiBjj5asZ5AWo-n0/) |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +<!-- more --> |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +The nomination period is when each member of a constituency group can nominate themselves, |
| 29 | +a representative or someone else to be a candidate for the election. |
| 30 | +Each nomination will be approved, announced on 16th May and displayed on the |
| 31 | +[election page](@/foundation/governing-board-elections/2026/index.md). |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +The constituency groups up for election this year are: |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +| Constituency | In or out of cycle | Seats for election in 2026 | Term for the elected member | Notes | |
| 36 | +| :---- | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---- | |
| 37 | +| Guardians | In-cycle | 3 | 2 years | | |
| 38 | +| SCT | In-cycle | 2 | 2 years | | |
| 39 | +| Platinum | In-cycle | 1 (or more) | 2 years | 4 seats total. | |
| 40 | +| Ecosystem | In-cycle | 3 | 2 years | | |
| 41 | +| Individual | Out of cycle | 1 | 1 year | 1 GB member stepped down. | |
| 42 | +| Silver | Out of cycle | 2 | 1 year | 2 GB members stepped down. | |
| 43 | +| Associate | Out of cycle | 1 | 1 year | Empty seat. | |
| 44 | +| Gold | Out of cycle | tbc | 1 year | 3 seats total. | |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +## Who can nominate? |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +You must be a member of one of the constituency groups listed above |
| 49 | +in order to nominate yourself or someone else |
| 50 | +to be a candidate in the election within the same constituency. |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | +## How to nominate? |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +You can nominate someone to be a Governing Board member candidate by filling in |
| 55 | +[this form](https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/EV0n4-jfuxdelALG05JSfMM0FL1FiBjj5asZ5AWo-n0/). |
| 56 | +Remember that all nominees must have consented to nomination *before being nominated*. |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +We will review all nominations and confirm whether they have been accepted |
| 59 | +within 2 working days by emailing the nominee and the person who nominated them if relevant. |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +If you encounter any issues with the form, |
| 62 | +you may fill in [this nomination form](/media/2026-nomination-form.pdf) |
| 63 | +and email it to [elections@foundation.matrix.org](mailto:elections@foundation.matrix.org). |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +## Who can be nominated? |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +All nominees must have consented to nomination *before being nominated* |
| 68 | +and must be a community member in good standing. |
| 69 | +That means they must have a clean track record with respect to our |
| 70 | +[Code of Conduct](@/legal/code-of-conduct.md). |
| 71 | +We want our Governing Board to be a clearing house for a variety of priorities and perspectives, |
| 72 | +and to be able to hold space for each other even when there are disagreements. |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +We will also check that all nominees are indeed a member of the constituency group. |
| 75 | +Note that individuals can only be a nominee in one constituency group. |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +In the case of Individual members, |
| 78 | +the eligibility criteria is whether a member’s recurring donation is active and they donate at least $60/£48/€55 per year. |
| 79 | +Unfortunately Liberapay doesn’t allow us to access personal information from the donors, |
| 80 | +so we will need to cross-check nominees’ details with their Liberapay account. |
| 81 | +So if you are nominating a Liberapay donor, |
| 82 | +please fill in [this form](https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/xb05yE0uV9Jmj69G8iPeD+HbIAstQ7xi20WzDdZKS0E/) |
| 83 | +so we can confirm they are indeed an eligible Individual member. |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +Besides these technical considerations, |
| 86 | +we shared in our announcement blog |
| 87 | +[an overview of the profiles which would fit well as Governing Board members](@/blog/2026/04/2026-04-27-election-announcement.md#what-profiles-are-good-for-the-governing-board). |
| 88 | +The overall summary is that we are looking for people of a diversity of backgrounds |
| 89 | +as we need a variety of view points and skills in our discussions and to support the Foundation. |
| 90 | +However **Governing Board members are expected to spend some time actively participating in the GB’s work**. |
| 91 | +This includes participating in GB discussions, |
| 92 | +being part of Committees and active in Working Groups. |
| 93 | +So nominees need to take this requirement into account before submitting their application. |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | +## What’s next? |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +At the end of the nomination period we will publish the list of nominees on the |
| 98 | +[election page](@/foundation/governing-board-elections/2026/index.md) |
| 99 | +and launch the campaigning period so voters can get to know their candidates. |
| 100 | + |
| 101 | +We are looking forward to receiving your application! |
0 commit comments