2019 HOT Board Candidates Q&A

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J
1	Voting Member	Question	Candidates Response
2	Voting Member	Question	Pete Masters	Rob Baker	Tasauf A Baki Billah	Adam Rowlands	Matseliso Thobei Letsie	Celina Agaton	Ben Abelshausen	Miriam González

3	Matt Gibb	What do you see as the biggest challenge that HOT as an organization needs to overcome over the next year? ...and as a follow up: What actions can HOT take to meet these challenges?	Priority 1: The relationship between HOT, HOT and HOT. It's been discussed a fair amount before, but I think we are now at a point where we have to get serious about how we as voting members engage with HOT as an organisation and what role the HOT board should play in that. I apologise in advance that this sounds critical - it's not a criticism but it is a concern... In this election, we are electing five board members (easily a majority of a seven-person board) to take responsibility for HOT, an organisation that we all care about (unless people have other reasons for being members). Also, as a membership, we are now more than 100 people. How many questions do we have for the eight potential board members, so that we can make a meaningful choice when we vote and that we are confident that we have the right mix of people? Just three questions! I think this is concerning for a few reasons... Firstly, it means we are electing people to a position of power (myself included) with very little examination of their experience, their skills, their commitment, their motivation etc. Secondly, I think it is a cultural phenomenon. Our community used to be small enough that everybody knew at least a handful of other members. Conversation is easier when you know the people you are talking to... Now, we have a larger group and much more diversity. This is a great thing for so many reasons, but it does make communication and engagement harder and we have not really put the necessary effort in to work out how to do it effectively. Whilst none of the above is the board's responsibility exactly, I feel that the board should be an active part in leading on this and we have largely failed to do that (the exception being Meli's work with the strategy working group which made me optimistic that we still can). In answer to Rebecca's question, I feel that I am a good person to contribute to this for two main reasons. Firstly, I care that this organisation remains community-led and it has been at the centre of my decision making as a board member these last two years. Secondly, I have experience working on governance and community culture through my professional work. For governance, leading the Missing Maps collaboration for the first three years, which required finding pragmatic, but adaptable models that worked for quite disparate organisations and individuals with very different needs, ambitions and red lines. For organisational culture, at MSF where a large part of work isdeveloping an ecosystem that aims to make everyone in the organisation feel like they have the mandate to innovate in the way they do their work, as long as they do it rigorously and responsibly and promoting cross-organisational collaborations in an organisation that works in more than 70 countries and includes more than 40,00 staff. Priority 2: Strengthening critical aspects of the HOT board's capacity As I mentioned in my statement [2], this is an area where I think we have a duty to improve. As you put it, fiscal and legal oversight are two fundamental responsibilities of the board. We know we are weak in these areas. We have already voted to take on an advisory board, but the process of making that happen has stalled (and this is an initiative that was first raised years ago). If I were to be voted in to serve another term on the board, I would like to make sure that we quickly get good people into the right positions and work out how to incorporate their skills and experience and enthusiasm effectively. What experience do I have in this area? Firstly, I'll admit, I have little recruitment experience - for this I will need to lean on experience that exists in the membership or on the board. What I have much more of is leadership experience and a track record for bringing people together to work well in an interdisciplinary way and being able to translate between different disciplines. I have done this through various projects and functions within MSF, including coordinating Missing Maps, managing an innovation fund, providing mentorship and organising an international scientific conference. I have also done this extensively as a shop steward for a labour union in a previous organisation, where it was necessary to work with the entire staff to align on objectives, develop strategy and negotiate on their behalf in a particularly hard time for the organisation. This work included working with experts in labour law and finance and then dealing confidently with the senior management and the board of trustees.	Getting into some specific challenges: Onboarding I think is a crucial area of improvement; HOT’s volunteer intake is up but what more can we do about retention. Appointing onboarding stewards to identify and spend 10-15 minutes with new volunteers to explain the ropes and point them in a new direction would save them hours of hunting through the docs and listservs themselves. Data quality is an issue I’d like to address. We have so many new contributions but ensuring areas are up to the standards if not the requirements of organizations big and small is necessary to not only making sure it’s valuable but that volunteers are valued for their contributions. Evaluating communications channels is something we could also work on, running random sample polls among the active community to understand what they want to use or use because they must. With a global community, it helps to have people using the tools they enjoy most.	As far as I have seen how HOT has been evolving throughout the time towards a vast & dynamic organization, it seems one of the biggest challenge is to keep the community engaged in supporting the decision making & operational planning process. We should more focus on making the membership more active through working groups. For example, in last 03 years I haven't seen more than 10/15 people attending the working group meetings where we have almost 200 members alone in the membership. Community should be given more responsibility on HOT operational Support rather than just helping out in mapping the task out.	HOT is an amazing organisation with community and open source at it's heart, but throughout my engagement with HOT I've heard the same challenges - that it can be difficult to navigate and engage with. I feel we need to clarify core: roles, processes, tools to lower barriers to engaging so you free passionate, talented people to focus on adding most value to the community. It feels like many components make sense to people who've been around a while, but are overly compex for newer people, creating an unhelpful divide and frustrations on both sides. There are also other ways that people could engage if we clarified current challenges and made it easier for people to support e.g. how do we better enable the community/members/supporters to advocate for HOT/Open Data principles or fundraise to support. I think the board have a role in helping support and prioritise, but it will be about all the key parties working together to address it.	I'm aware that HOT is expanding, thus there fact that there are new viting members appointed each year. But their involvement is not well managed, and one will find that in as much as a person may want to be involved they end up losing interest or mot even finding at necessity to attend meetings. What I think has to make the roles of voting members prominent and each year maybe have a poll tosee if all the voting members still want to be involved or not. I'm sure at the moment HOT is aware of the numbers of viting numbers it has, but as whether they all consider themselves as such the organisation is not certain.	We have enough case studies to support the institutionalization of HOT across local and international governments and communities, the challenge is to stabilize HOT funding and establish procedures to leverage the learning and experience across HOT communities. Several HOT communities have shared food security, disaster and conflict risks, so I would like to see these experiences quantified so we can strengthen knowledge, tools and funding sources to address these issues at the local, regional and global level. With the number of emergency deployments, we need to strengthen the capacity of local communities. This includes recruitment and retention of new mappers. I would love to help create a warm supportive environment for new and old mappers alike. I’d like us to identify high risk areas and prioritize those communities so that they have good OSM coverage and a system in place for emergencies. There are several funders that are focused on the above risks, but there is poor awareness of OSM. I’d like OSM to be seen as the blue print for development planning and OSM apps and satellite imagery as standard practice for monitoring and evaluation.	I think HOT has come to a point where it has to make a descision about what kind of organization it wants to be. There used to be few members, many of them really active. Now, a lot of the activity has changed, some of it has moved to staff, some has become part of Missing Maps and it's hard to stay involved in the day-to-day ongoings of what HOT is today as a voting member. If the membership is less active as volunteers in HOT activities, it also reduces interest in governance, something I think should be the primary task of every HOT member. This is a concern because the members are at the heart of the HOT governance model.	I believe there are two main challenges: a. How to keep the people engaged and motivated and b. how the achievement can be communicated in an easy way with facts and a way to replicate it in other countries or regions. As I mentioned in the live conversation for the voting member part I suggest to have a minimum number of activities that will define an active voting member vs. a community member. This will mean responsabilities that should be covered in a specific period of time. The second point is about having someone responsible for doing infogram or something very visual with charts, text and images explaining what went right and wrong in certain project and what can we learn from that experience to help other people to solve their problems with maps.
4	Rebecca Firth	As others have mentioned, the HOT Voting Member and Board model is something that is much-discussed. Adaptations have not recently been made to the model. What governance-related experience do you have that might aid this discussion?		I very much support the recent decision to form an Advisory board. As it’s been noted, HOT has had excellent growth, and that new capacity would only benefit from a broader diversity of skill, especially in what is already identified: the need for more legal and financial assistance. I would look forward to welcoming and working with the Advisory Board, pro-actively and consistently leveraging their guidance. I currently Sit on the advisory board of N Square DC and other boards in the past, including ones in which I was a member of the Advisory Board, so I’m not only aware of the format but of how to make this work best for all parties.	Roles of the Board should be more inclusive in operations and have a very good communication in the working groups & membership forums. If we want to keep HOT as a community Led organization, it is needed to have more community inclusion not only in project implementation but also decision making ecosystem. As for myself, I have been leading a community initiative for last 03 years & have succesfully evolved it into a organizational structure. The model I drafted came to be a successful one till now as I have focused on utilizing the divers potential of the community members & empowered them to innovate & take ownership of the organization itself.	I think we need to clarify the roles of the community, members, board, advisory board, external partners and key groups e.g. those involved in activations. It feels like the systems, processes and roles have grown organically and a lot of institutional knowledge sits with a small core. This is both a risk for the organisation and can be a bit difficult for new members to engage with. I think HOT is reaching the point where it needs to focus on sustainability as well as increasing scale of impact. The board is one of the key mechanisms to ensuring there is suitable governance and priority put on addressing these issues which could impact the future of HOT. I don't think it's a cross-roads per se, but rather a key time when we need to ensure that there is concious design of the nuanced route to take, aligned under a common purpose, vision and strategy.		While I’m new to voting member and board discussions, I’ve been on the board of the Telus Foundation for almost four years and have been able to help shape our decisions based on data, prioritization and impact and hope to shape similar results with HOT. I enjoy and specialize in helping improve civic and community engagement, so I’m excited to be helpful in this aspect.	I worked on similar issues with OSM Belgium and setting up the membership/governance model there but that's on a much smaller scale. I was also part of the board at Open Knowledge Belgium where we've been pretty succesful in supporting an active community with a small staff. Apart from that I have experience with managing budgets, staff and the general direction of the company I co-founded. These experiences are quite different from some other candidates but I see different here are something positive. Any expertise that is lacking in the new board we should try and compensate with advisory board.	As a co- founder of the Geochicas initiative I have been very active as an advisor. I believe the current community and voting member model is not useful anymore and we need to define more active roles spacially in the Voting members
5	Rebecca Firth	One reason the board exists is to fulfill a critical function of governance, fiscal and legal oversight, strategic guidance and risk management. What experience can you speak to, to help Voting Members understand how you might approach these challenges?		I’ve been in positions in companies in the past, such as Ushahidi, where we were beholden to a Board ourselves. Their input was invaluable, and they knew when – rarely but admittedly – we were glossing over certain subjects that were not 100% of what we wanted. And they knew the gaps, too. They knew this because they didn’t wait for just our quarterly reports, instead they engaged with the community. From what I’ve seen and read, I think HOT leadership has absolutely lived up to the tenets of the organization and OSM itself: transparency, accountability, community. If elected, I’m committed to making sure I also fulfill this by checking in on working groups, team/projects leaders, and keeping a close eye on the lists so I can come to meetings prepared with multiple perspectives.	Have to admit I have a very little fiscal & legal oversight myself. Still with good collaboration from the experienced membership, advisory board & staff members will be the key to have a solid strategic guidline on that. My focus will be on pushing for that to happen.	So, I'm of the opinion that the board shouldn't be expected to fulfill all these roles in their entirity - recognising that the role is around broader governance and as such am very supportive of the move towards exploring an advisory board which brings specific deep expertise which can be drawn on by HOT. That said, I believe the board ideally brings a range of experience (mapping, community initiaitives, fundraising, organisational strategy/governance). One of the areas you've highlighted is general experience of strategy, organisational/ project management - which I'll address below highlighting some of my relevant experience. I've spent years working across large and small organisations - helping to develop strategies and drive large transformational projects. At the British Red Cross I current manage the Digital Estate team (the 25+ web sites, apps, voice skills etc), Digital Transformation team, Innovation Team and GIS - managing budgets, contracts with vendors etc. as well as supporting with strategic vision and implementation. I also play a broader role in the organisation supporting the broader strategic development to help th organisation be fit for the digital age (e.g. more product centric, agile, digital). After years of supporting NGOs, corporates and governments on this capacity building, it's been fantastic to experience this in-house helping to drive the change from within a large NGO.		While I’m new to voting member and board discussions, I’ve been on the board of the Telus Foundation, (a Canadian organization with offices in the Philippines) for almost four years and have been able to help shape our decisions based on data, prioritization and impact and hope to shape similar results with HOT. I enjoy and specialize in helping improve civic and community engagement, so I’m excited to be helpful in this aspect. The board structure should focus on the organizational and operational structure and I have worked with and served as an advisory consultant for several mult-national boards over the last 11 years.	As mentioned above I have been on the board of other orgs (but they are a lot smaller compared to HOT) and my experience in managing a company is also relevant here. I do think of the boards responsability a bit differently; I don't think it's manageable with a board of volunteers and an org the size of HOT to follow up on everything. We need to rely on HOT staff and ask the right questions so the board can make informed descisions in name of the membership. The advisory board also should have a supporting role here. I think I have enough experience to take on this role but obviously as a potential new board member I probably have a lot to learn and would need to reply on others.	At this moment I don't have fiscal or legal experience in a board.
6	Rupert Allan	Legal, risk and fiscal governance experience is necessary, but it is important to make these work with interventional flexibility. What are the biggest issues around field deployment?		As with any field deployment, what is planned versus what is required and/or capable when you're actually on the ground can become two very different scenarios. I've found that bring up-front and proactive about complexities on the ground -- with our partners and with ourselves -- is the best course. Being adaptable is great but being open about this work is, I think, the path toward organizations taking HOT seriously as a partner. This work is really, really hard. We all know that. Being honest about our field work, from successes to failures, is actually the best and most opportune path toward organizational and repetitional growth for HOT.	I have been involved in numbers of field deployments within the country itself. From that experience I would say the biggest challenges are equipped personnel from the local community & ensuring Data accuracy. Only a solid & diverse community inclusion with capacity can help overriding the challenge.	This is something we wrestle with at the British Red Cross - how to ensure best practice and duty of care while still deploying as efficiently as possible. There is a trade off, but in my experience, the biggest barrier is having unclear positions/processes in advance - which can flex if needed. I'm not close enough to the specific challenges of HOT's deployments to answer this specifically. Apologies Rupert		My professional and cultural experience thrives in the necessity of finding flexible solutions to challenges. I’ve only been involved with physical OSM deployments in the Philippines, my work in Toronto involved working with 7,000 NGOs 200 corporate funders and the volunteer community. In Colombia we had to manage political risks, violence and corruption prior to elections. Usually it’s managing risk with the protection of progressive local leaders across the sectors that helps initiatives continue to move forward.		I have been involved and managing field deployment in the private sector and as a HOT volunteer, my first thought is that reality is very different than what you plan before, As an organization we need to review in advance all the challenges we might have in an specific region (corruption, hierarchies, governments, among many others) to be able to have options and being flexible about the way things will be done to achieve the objective of the field deployment.
7		Intercultural understandings. People join HOT for different reasons. Apart from tech interest, what is your experience with conflicting interests and cultural diversity?		This question is something endemic of the humanitarian sector writ large: we don't take care of ourselves and each other in this work. So that's not something unique to HOT but HOT is certainly not exempt. Nearly all of my professional experience is working with diverse and often remote teams, meaning there's not just a lot of timezones involved but cultural norms and expectations. The first step is identifying that can be the root cause of disagreement, not intentionally trying to hurt others. Second is making sure everyone has an equal space to be heard. Third is inviting mediation where it's required so that neutral parties can help guide us to solutions for everyone when we can, but compromise when we can't. Let's make sure HOT is equipped with enough tools and methods that our community is confident that where there is friction, if the result isn't their first choice, at least they can be confident the process was an equitable one.		I've had a very varied career as a consultant. WOrking with several of the world's largest NGOs as well as small social impact organisations, UN agencies, governments and before this large multinational corporations. I've also been lucky to work with teams around the globe (S.E Asia, Latin america, East Africa and across Europe) including teams which consisted of members based in different locations. It's something I've always found incredbly rewarding and valuable for diversity of thought. It's about ensuring everyone has the space to contribute meaningfully. Some of the most complex challenges I've faced have actually been within the same organisation - with different team cultures clashing despite a shared vision and purpose so I think this goes beyond typical cultural boundaries. My roles have often sat between tech teams/business/marketing/beneficiaries and donors, given the nature of digital and ICT4D.		I grew up in Jakarta, Manila and Toronto across very diverse communities and enjoy this in my work. I enjoy helping communities move forward to improve civic and community engagement, and have run my international consultancy for over 11 years. My work methodology involves working across all sectors so I am comfortable working in rural areas, political and academic settings and corporate boardrooms.		My career and experience has been taking place in different geographies. I grew uo in Mexico and I had lived and participate in projects and lived in USA, The Netherlands, UK, China, France. For me it is easy to adapt and integrate myself into cultures. In the private sector I have managed cross functional and cross cultural teams in Rumania, USA and China. Being in a multicultural environment is one of the things I enjpoy the most because you have som many different approaches and you can have better solutions to local problems.
8		Communications and belonging. HOT have a debate on pay transparency. What is your understanding of both data and institutional transparency?		I'm 100% for transparency. My work at USAID was drafting and launching the agency's open data policy and, at the World Bank, running a campaign for open data around government's use of funds, aligned with the SDGs and OGP standards. That said, I've also seen where transparency without review and action lets people and organizations off the hook; that transparency was the goal itself rather than the means for greater equity, equality, and/or inclusion. I'd like to work to make sure these aren't just available but the greater HOT community is proactively informed about this information and asked for their opinion.		I think the recent blog by Tyler was a very positive step towards increased transparency. I think it's important to do it in a way which brings people on the journey rather than isolating people and to find a suitable balance rather than aiming for a specific goal due to a purist view of the most appropriate end state.		I helped launch Toronto’s Open Data policy to the NGO community and consulted for think tanks on open data, civic technology and transparency. My current work involves leading open data and transparency initiatives for World Bank, Asian Development Bank and International Finance Corporation.		Having a transparent organization will lead to have more people aware about how HOT is using their resources and how these resources are turned into benefits and help to solve challenges. I want HOT to be open and transparent about the Data that is created and how project X or Y is supporting and changing people's lifes.
9		Long term partnerships, cultural trends, and development strategy. Do you have experience to bring to this?		Long-term partnerships and cultural trends: Most of my professional experience is working at government and civil-society levels on programs that begin with transition plans to local or at least in-country partners, not building something in a silo and then hoping its adopted later. I'd like to push HOT further into making sure deployments have at least addressed to some level a functional, plausible exit strategy and handoff at the onset, and, as I've institutionalized elsewhere, make that as much a part of the assessment to deploy as the apparent need. Development strategy: I'm managed several multi-million dollar budgets and teams from a few to about 50 people. I am currently finishing up my MBA, something I think is unique to this space. I believe we can approach our work as a business without becoming callous to our missions and goals as humanitarians -- not int the sense of increasing profits but in setting key performance indicators and benchmarks, and that's about keeping ourselves efficient, responsible, and accountable first.		In both my previous role and current role at the Red Cross I've lead the initiaitives looking at major trends/disruptions towards the sector and how organisations are reacting. This includes: tech, organisation, user expectations, supporter engagemet, fundraising, cultural. I think the real benefit comes in looking at which of these are most relevant and how. In my experience, there is benefit to both looking at trends (short term), future scenario planning (long term) and current disruptions/ Case stuidies (what are others doing today - how ae none traditional actors causing disruption e.g. gov, corporates, start ups) but they need to be done in a meaningful way - using tools such as design thinking to explore and unpick them, rather than in isolation. Great question!		I was a global advisor to Netsquared under the Techsoup international organization and co-organized Netsquared Toronto and Manila so I enjoy creating and sustaining partnerships. My 11-year international consultancy specializes in strategy and sustainability for development organizations and fortune 500 companies and very much enjoy my work.		yes, I have experience in Partnerships, in my jobs that is usually part of my activities, create partnerships to have a succesful launch or achieve my bussiness development goals. As a volunteer I have been supporting partnerships in Governments, Activist organizations, Geography Institutions such as INEGI among others.
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