Oceania Elections

Candidates

• Nominations (not all confirmed yet)
• Edwin Liava'a (Tonga & Brisbane, Australia)
  • Nomination statement: Edwin has been a passionate advocate for the open geospatial community in the Pacific for many years, starting the Pacific Islands OSGeo Chapter in 2012. He's volunteered on a number of OSGeo Oceania committees and working groups, including the FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020 organising committee and the Travel Grant Program working group. Last year, he was a keynote speaker at the Wellington conference, and more recently, has taken the lead on setting up and managing the 2020 conference website. He's done much to demonstrate his dedication to this community, and would be an effective voice from the Pacific, which to date has been missing from the board.
• Nemaia Koto (Suva, Fiji)
  • Nomination statement: Nemaia was an early volunteer on the FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020 organising team, and quickly stood out as someone who would consistently do the hard work required, taking an active role in the conference communications. When Vasiti Soko's work commitments required her to step back from her role as co-chair of the conference, she put Nemaia forward to fill the role, recognising his dedication and passion for this event and community. Nemaia has proven himself as a sensitive leader and a strong advocate for open geospatial in the Pacific, and would be a valuable asset to the organisation.
• Elisa Puccioni (Wellington, NZ)
  • Nomination statement: Elisa joined the open geospatial community relatively recently, having adopted QGIS in her professional life a few years ago, and as such, represents an important segment of our community. She embraced the community spirit quickly, and has shown a keen interest in sharing that spirit, writing a blog post about her experience at FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2019 in Wellington (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-first-experience-foss4g-oceania-conference-elisa-puccioni). She was an active member of the 2020 Travel Grant Program working group until it was suspended due to COVID, and has contributed to the Aotearoa Indigenous Mapping Wananga as a QGIS trainer. She would bring a positive and productive approach to this organisation.
• Edoardo Neerhut (Melbourne, Australia)
  • Nomination statement: Edoardo has been a major contributor to this community for a long time, taking lead roles in communications and sponsorship at FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2018 & 2019, serving on the board of OSGeo Oceania in 2019, chairing the Membership working group over the last year, and helping to lay the groundwork for the regional chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation. He's played a big role in organising the Melbourne Hub of FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020 (while in lockdown!). He has always shown himself to be a positive and collaborative influence, and carefully listens to all points of view before acting. He clearly has the best interests of this community at heart, understands the importance of transparency in an open community, and is a natural leader.
• Jonah Sullivan (Canberra, Australia)
  • Nomination statement: Jonah stepped up to chair FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020, and when COVID threatened to force the cancellation of the event, he was the originator of the inspired idea to run it as a hybrid in-person/online event, which has successfully activated local communities across the region. In an extremely difficult year, he's calmly kept the event on track, keeping a volunteer committee engaged and working in harmony. Jonah was on the Travel Grant Program working group in 2018 and 2019, and has already served on this board of directors in 2019, so his knowledge and experience will help him "hit the ground running" if he is elected.
• Carrol Chan (Suva, Fiji)
  • Nomination statement: Carrol has been involved in FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020, both as part of the organising committee, and as part of the Suva Hub, which is on track to be a major success. She is an enthusiastic supporter of the open geospatial community in Fiji and the Pacific, in a professional and volunteer capacity. She has been a committee member of the Pacific GIS & Remote Sensing Council since 2017, playing an active role in their annual conference, so she brings very relevant experience. As a relatively early career professional and recent graduate, she can also bring an important perspective from a very important segment of our community.
• Ewen Hill (Melbourne, Australia)
  • Nomination statement: Ewen has been a big supporter of this community for many years, presenting at the Melbourne conference in 2018, and getting involved in organising Melbourne events like Maptime Melbourne. Most recently, Ewen helped organise the Melbourne Hub of FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2020. He's a huge contributor to OpenStreetMap as a hardcore mapper, as an active participant in the community discussion on the talk-au mailing list, and by being a kind, welcoming helper to new people in the community. He has a long record of community volunteering and would bring valuable knowledge and experience to the organisation.
  • Nomination statement: Ewen Hill is one of those people who contributes an enormous amount to the geospatial community while asking little in return. He has been involved in almost all geospatial events since I have been in Melbourne, and I am sure many before. Ewen is the guy who patiently shows people how to get the most out of JOSM or QGIS, working his way around the room to support anyone needing help. He's the guy that spends time putting together a map in QGIS after an OpenStreetMap event to show the results of a mapathon. He's the guy who rocks up at the venue two weeks before to make sure it has everything you need for FOSS4G SotM Oceania. I'm sure he'd bring this same selflessness and attention to detail to the board, while being a strong advocate of the open source geospatial tools we all know and love.
• Kamsin Raju (Nadi, Fiji)
  • Nomination statement: I would like to nominate Kamsin Raju for the OSGeo Oceania board. I feel our community would greatly benefit from fresh faces and perspectives with people who have deep knowledge of their field. Kamsin's personal, academic, and professional experiences in Fiji indicate someone who is passionate about her country and improving it with open source geospatial tools. She shared some of this experience in her talk 'Challenges of Mapping Informal Settlements' at the 2019 FOSS4G SotM Oceania conference. She is currently a Resilience Officer at the United Nations Human Settlements Program. This is the kind of experience and perspective that the OSGeo Oceania board needs to become more representative of Oceania as a whole and the people who call it home.
• Alex Leith (Hobart, Tasmania)
  • Nomination statement: Alex has significant experience on the Board and was one of the founding directors and Conference organizers. Alex stepped up to lead the Board in the middle of a COVID disaster and has navigated through some very extenuating circumstances. His continued presence on the Board will provide continuity to the new Board.