[Owasp-leaders] OWASP Board Candidates - What are your strategic goals?

Thu Oct 8 18:40:37 UTC 2015

Hi Jonathan & Fabio,

I appreciate your interest in the board elections.  Mark Miller did a 
great job with the interviews but there's a lot of information for 
listeners to absorb.  I didn't add it up but I'm guessing between 
3-4hrs.  If board candidates wanted to provide a position there was 
ample opportunity to present it in the interviews.  I feel like I 
communicated my positions.  As an improvement for the future, I like the 
idea of a small set of questions with a 3-5 sentence response by each 
candidate.  Listening to all the interviews take some time and it's easy 
to miss the details.

For those interested, my interview and a blog post I made on the subject 
for more detail.
Article, 
http://www.securitycurmudgeon.com/2015/08/owasp-board-candidate-interview-on.html
Interviews, 
http://www.sonatype.org/nexus/2015/09/03/owasp-2015-board-candidate-interviews/

Transparency and accountability is positive but keep in mind OWASP board 
positions are not paid positions.  It's not like running for the White 
House. ;o)  We are a bunch of security geeks like yourself.  Most of us 
are strong leaders within industry and we don't always agree on security 
as Jim mentioned.  We all share a passion to improve security throughout 
the industry and respect one another.  Somewhere we meet in the middle 
and I believe OWASP improves as a result.  OWASP is not perfect but I'm 
proud to be a member.  I'm pleased with the many improvements made by 
others to date.  If I don't get elected I would still like to help this 
organization somehow.  I hope you find this information helpful.

An aside, can someone add me to the OWASP leaders list?  Or maybe send 
me some instructions?  I think I'm missing some traffic.

Regards,
Milton Smith

On 8 Oct 2015, at 9:11, Jonathan Carter wrote:

> On a related note, it would be good to have a series of questions / 
> answers that each candidate must respond to in writing so that 
> everyone can see what the perspectives / goals are.
>
>> On Oct 8, 2015, at 3:48 AM, Fabio Cerullo <fcerullo at owasp.org> wrote:
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> It is good that you have expressed a public view on your preferred 
>> candidates, although you will have to pick 4, not 5 as currently 
>> stated ;-)
>>
>> Joke aside, I think is extremely important to ask the board 
>> candidates what are their strategic goals for their mandate so those 
>> could be measured/evaluated by the community.
>>
>> I have listened to the audio interviews and besides Tom who provided 
>> a clear view on his top 3 goals through various channels, 
>> irrespective if you agree with them or not, to me is not clear what 
>> are the priorities for the next two years.
>>
>> Tom's goals are:
>>
>> Shift from a 501(c)3 to a 501(c)6 under the United States, IRS Tax 
>> Code
>> Launch a new website for OWASP to provide simply navigation to the 
>> most commonly used features of the organization and clean up the 
>> wiki.
>> Bring gamification to the global community with a array of perks and 
>> rewards
>>
>> So I would like to open this question to the board candidates and let 
>> the community know which are their top 3 goals for their mandate if 
>> they get elected.
>>
>> I think it will add a lot of weight & transparency to the process and 
>> help the electorate in choosing their right candidates.
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> Fabio Cerullo
>> Global Board Member
>> OWASP Foundation
>> https://www.owasp.org
>>
>>> On 7 Oct 2015, at 8:59 p.m., Jim Manico <jim.manico at owasp.org> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Leaders and Community,
>>>
>>> I've been asked by many what my opinion is on the upcoming board 
>>> elections. Please note, my current term ends Dec 31, 2016 and I will 
>>> not be running for the board again. Four years is plenty in this 
>>> position and I want to give room for others to lead in this regard. 
>>> The choices I made are because of the following values I care for in 
>>> board members. Commitment to the fiduciary duty to make decisions 
>>> that support the foundation above personal interest. Vendor 
>>> neutrality and non-commercialism. Work hard and be committed to 
>>> being an active and vocal member of the community.  Have your heart 
>>> soul and mind deep into application security. Be committed above all 
>>> else to serve the community. Be transparent in all OWASP dealings.
>>>
>>> So here are my votes....
>>>
>>> Josh Sokol:  Without any doubt, I feel Josh is the most instrumental 
>>> board member when considering the future of OWASP governance. Josh 
>>> has dove head first into some of the most difficult issues that face 
>>> the board. He is vocal, he is active in our community on multiple 
>>> levels and he never shies away form the fire. And when it comes to 
>>> activities around board governance, I feel that Josh is the hardest 
>>> working board member of us all. He's been pushing "legislation" to 
>>> fund new chapters and projects as well. I'm a big fan and feel wee 
>>> *need* Josh on the board.
>>>
>>> Michael Coates: Michael and I have very different styles of 
>>> communication around dealing with conflict. We are often on 
>>> different sides of various issues. But I see Michael as a very 
>>> mature and calm member of the board who brings a lot of 
>>> sophistication to our actives. Even when I disagree with him, I 
>>> think he always brings the right intention to OWASP and he has my 
>>> vote, no question. I also think he has been a strong supporter of 
>>> vendor neutrality and similar values, which is a top tier concern of 
>>> mine. Not to mention his hard work on AppSecUSA while refurbishing 
>>> his home while welcoming a new baby into his life while taking on a 
>>> new job, etc. I do not know how he does it, but he certainly  puts a 
>>> lot of blood, sweat and tears into OWASP.
>>>
>>> Milton Smith: Milton is one of the kindest souls I've met in our 
>>> community. He has incredibly high standards around communicating 
>>> with people with respect, he is incredibly astute and caring around 
>>> ethical issues an in general we would be lucky as a community to 
>>> have him as a board member. Again, what Milton brings to the table 
>>> are things we need desperately on the board - experience leading an 
>>> organization of this size as well as an outstanding sense of ethics. 
>>> I also think it's fair to disclose that Milton is a friend and we 
>>> have worked closely together in the past - and always, even under 
>>> stress, Milton is always a kind hearted and helpful soul.
>>>
>>> Bil Cory: Bil Cory is someone who has advised me on multiple 
>>> occasions regarding difficult board matters. He is (very) well 
>>> versed in our bylaws and has provided (excellent) feedback regarding 
>>> some of the most difficult issues to the board. He is an active 
>>> member of our governance list. We would be lucky to have him.
>>>
>>> Tobias Gondrom : Tobias tends to vote in favor of issues that serve 
>>> the European and non-US community. Since we are a global community, 
>>> this kind of representation is critical. Tobias has also been our 
>>> chair of the board this year. He has kept meetings on track with a 
>>> very calm demeanor even in the face of stress. He shows up to 
>>> meetings in the middle of the night for him and has weekly meetings 
>>> with Paul regarding operational issues. He has also respected the 
>>> power of the  chair of the board and has not abused that power. This 
>>> demonstrates excellence leadership which I feel we need.
>>>
>>> These are just my opinions as a "lame duck" board member. If I was 
>>> running again, I would not have stated my opinions so bluntly. But 
>>> my opinions aside, I think it's important to hear out *all*     
>>> candidates. Their interviews can be heard here. 
>>> https://soundcloud.com/owasp-podcast
>>>
>>> Last, I am grateful that all of our candidates are considering 
>>> running. It's a great deal of work and time and is often fraught 
>>> with conflict. I hope all candidates consider continued service to 
>>> the foundation, regardless of who wins.
>>>
>>> Aloha,
>>> -- 
>>> Jim Manico
>>> Global Board Member
>>> OWASP Foundation
>>> https://www.owasp.org
>>> Join me at AppSecUSA 2015!
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Owasp-community mailing list
>>> Owasp-community at lists.owasp.org
>>> https://lists.owasp.org/mailman/listinfo/owasp-community
>>