---
tags: osmf
---

# 2023 on the OSMF Board: Our individual views

The new Board met together earlier this month for our informal mid month chat. The first item we discussed was the work each of us wanted to drive forward in 2023. What emerged was a quick and rough edge work in progress agenda for the year, with good distribution of focus areas. We're going to keep developing and refining our ideas, including we hope in a short half day screen to screen soon. Here is a few rough sentences from each of us about where our heads are at and where we want to contribute in 2023. We welcome your input and participation: [contact us](https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Officers_%26_Board) or if you are an OSMF Member, join our [monthly Board meeting](https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Monthly_Board_Meetings).

### _Mikel_:

Fundraising is my top priority, to support our core staff and infrastructure in a sustainable way. We will have a dedicated fundraising campaign across diversified sources including community small donor campaign, public and private grants, and with the corporate sector. Second, I will focus on making OSMF a great place to work, continuing to implement the necessary process and structure, and supporting them to be successful. Finally, as secretary give OSMF a professional, responsive communication tone. The more I think about it, excellent communication is the key to so much -- from our fundraising, reputation, and community growth.

### _Sarah_:

I'd like to focus this year on making the daily operations of OSMF run more smoothly, so that the board has more time in the future to focus on strategic matters. This includes yearly planning and budget, smoothly running communications to and from the board and a financial plan where the majority of our operational cost is covered through regular income. I also hope to get some wisdom from our working groups to understand how we can help each other to spread the work more efficiently on more shoulders.

### _Guillaume_:

* moving to EU
* better communication
* liquid democracy process for tagging
* financial planning and budgeting
* fundraising diversity
* with Grant, increase infrastructure reliability

### _Arnalie_:

For my first year at OSMF Board, I would like to focus on:
* Building more local chapters
* Diversifying OSMF membership including membership at OSMF Working Groups
* Ensure financial sustainability and fundraising (an aspect I need to learn more/develop personally)

### _Roland_:

Fundraising is the most important thing to do right now. We need money both for long-awaited improvements and daily operations, and our traditional sources of income from individual and corporate members do not even cover daily operations. At the same time, the Overture announcement has made clear that some data consumers are willing to spend money on reliable map data. So one building block is to adjust the corporate membership levels.

The other is to raise money for improvement projects or even completely new projects. The past has shown that it is more viable to get money for concrete ideas than for an abstract fund. As the board works on behalf of the community, I will bring project ideas into discussion and listen for existing project ideas in the community that are concrete enough for a cost estimation such that we have a list of project ideas to excite potential donors for. I do not expect that every project gets funding, but I do want that every potential funding finds an impactful project to be spent on.

### _Craig_:
Now, a month in, I'm getting some traction on my [election promises](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/AGM2022/Election_to_Board/Answers_and_manifestos/Q03_What_would_you_personally_like_to_achieve_when_on_the_board).

I want to help OSMF build up the mapping community and support and encourage existing community leaders. My special effort will be in Africa.

I'm keen to prioritise the OSMF diversity and inclusion programme. I have some ideas, but it must be done as a collective effort.

For tech I'd like to support OSMF documenting its computer operations, updating and improving the software, look at data structures, promote vector map tiles and keep the hardware up to date and reliable.

I'm making an effort to support the administration in a professional way. I'll work on Strategic Planning, Budgeting, Fundraising, Communication.

### _Mateusz_:

For start, it is necessary to keep basic things running - applies to OSM as community, servers and critical software. Hopefully only routine activities will be needed here.

I am working on human-readable budget summary - needed for both OSMF board, transparency reasons and people interested in what OSMF is actually doing. Especially ones that would potentially donate.

GDPR handling is stuck in limbo - and it is responsibility of OSMF board to organise handling of this annoying task.

I also want to take action on enforcing attribution requirements.

# 2023 board programme (draft!! -- for future communication)

##### Objective:

To ensure the sustainable growth and success of the OpenStreetMap project by focusing on fundraising, improving operations, and fostering a positive work environment while increasing staffing, setting up predictable frameworks and improving communication with the community.

##### Actions:

* Fundraising: Implement a dedicated fundraising campaign across diversified sources including community small donor campaign, public and private grants, and corporate sector to support the staff, projects and infrastructure of OSMF.
* Work Environment: Make OSMF a great place to work by implementing necessary process and structure, and supporting staff to be successful.
* Communication: Adopt a professional and responsive communication tone as secretary to give OSMF a professional, responsive communication tone.
* Operations: Improve daily operations of OSMF to run more smoothly, including yearly planning, budgeting, and efficient communication to and from the board.
* Financial Plan: Develop a budget and financial plan based on to cover majority of operational cost through regular income.
* Wisdom from Working Groups: Gain wisdom from working groups to understand how to spread work more efficiently among more people.
* Staffing: Increase staffing to cover day-to-day work, to increase operations reliability, allow the board to focus on strategic planning, and let working group volunteers concentrate on community work. The new staff will include an executive director.
* Project Frameworks: Set up predictable frameworks to support and fund both internal and external projects.
* Data Model: Discuss what the next steps of modernising our data model should be.
* Community Communication: Communicate better and more often with the community, allowing it better input in the strategic planning process.

Add (?): strategic plan, overture, visual budget, what else did I miss?

No unanimity: attribution, what else?