Hi all, There is a current discussion about the need for a financial manager but at the same time there is a lack of clear vision for the technical direction for the Sugar Labs project.
As in free software, in organizations, one should follow what works for others and incorporate and/or adapt good practices and smart decisions. So, I would like to share and study the Debian case with all of you, as we explore the idea of following Debian's example of appointing a Project Leader, a Project Secretary, and a team of auditors, of course keeping the functions of Oversight of the Board. The Debian Project Leader (DPL) is the official representative of the Debian Project. They have two main functions, one internal and one external. In the external function, the Project Leader represents the Debian Project to others. This involves giving talks and presentations about Debian and attending trade shows, as well as building good relationships with other organizations and companies. We can add fundraising here. Internally, the Project Leader manages the project and defines its vision. They should talk to other Debian developers, especially to the delegates, to see how they can assist their work. A main task of the Project Leader therefore involves coordination and communication. :D About the tasks and need for the Project Secretary: The most visible task performed by the secretary is conducting votes for the project -- notably the Project Leader elections, but also any other votes that are run (General Resolutions, for example). Running a vote also entails determining the number and identity of the people eligible to vote, for the purpose of calculating quorum. The Project Secretary can also stand in for the Leader-- but only when absolutely necessary and only when consistent with the consensus of the Developers. The secretary is also responsible for adjudicating any disputes about interpretation of the constitution. Although we don't have a constitution, we do have a governance document. About the Debian Auditor(s) tasks: keep track of Debian project financial assets, income, expenditures and any other financial information keep track of hardware resources and any other physical assets of the Debian project keep track of domain names, trademarks, and any other intangible assets of the Debian project periodically publish public reports about changes in assets and resources including (but not limited to): money coming in via donations, money being spent with DPL approval, new hardware bought, etc. keep track of organizations holding assets in trust for Debian and propose to the DPL changes in the list of trusted organization For reimbursement: Overview of the process 1. Before making the expense, ask for pre-approval: mail leader, Ccing auditors AND (treasu...@rt.spi-inc.org OR ka...@ffis.de OR i...@debian.ch) -- depending on the Trusted Organizations involved in the reimbursement. in our case SFC. provide a rough estimate of the expense (+/-10%) 2. Wait for pre-approval 3. Make the expense 4. Ask for reimbursement. Refer to your previous pre-approval What do you think? Laura V. I&D SomosAZUCAR.Org Identi.ca/Skype acaire IRC kaametza Happy Learning!
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