The OTW is pleased to announce the following candidates for the 2015 Election (in alphabetical order by given name):
- Alex Tischer
- Aline Carrão
- Andrea Horbinski
- Atiya Hakeem
- Daniel Lamson
- Katarina Harju
- Matty Bowers
- Nikisha Sanders
Because we have 2 seats to be filled and 8 candidates, the 2015 election will be contested--that is, the members of OTW will vote on which candidates fill the seats.
The Elections Committee is excited to begin the process of introducing the candidates to all of the members of the OTW! Included in this post are links to short bios and manifestos written by the candidates. This post also marks the beginning of our Q&A period, during which we invite the public to submit questions for the candidates. Additionally, we will be holding a series of live chats - dates and times for those are to be announced based on candidate availability. Information on the voting period and how to vote will also be posted shortly.
In the meantime, there is a timeline of Elections events available here for your reference. Read on to learn more about our candidates and how you can submit questions for them!
Manifestos and Bios
We asked each candidate to provide us with a bio that sums up their professional and fannish experience, as well as to write a manifesto about their goals for their term on the Board by answering the following questions:
- Why did you decide to run for election to the Board?
- What skills and/or experience would you bring to the Board?
- What goals would you like to achieve during your term?
- What is your experience of the OTW’s projects and how would you collaborate with the relevant committees to support and strengthen them? Please include AO3, TWC, Fanlore, our Legal Advocacy work and Open Doors, though feel free to emphasize particular areas you’re interested in.
- Choose two topics/issues that you think should be high priority for the OTW, both internally and externally. What do these topics mean to you and why do you value them? How will you make them a part of your service?
- What do you think the key responsibilities of a/the Board are? Are you familiar with the legal requirements for a US-based nonprofit board of directors?
- How would you balance your Board work with other roles in the OTW, or how do you plan to hand over your current roles to focus on Board work?
You can read both the candidates' answers to these questions and their bios by following the links below.
- Alex Tischer's Bio and Manifesto Questions
- Aline Carrão's Bio and Manifesto Questions
- Andrea Horbinski's Bio and Manifesto Questions
- Atiya Hakeem's Bio and Manifesto Questions
- Daniel Lamson's Bio and Manifesto Questions
- Katarina Harju's Bio and Manifesto Questions
- Matty Bowers's Bio and Manifesto Questions
- Nikisha Sanders's Bio and Manifesto Questions
Question & Answer (Q&A)
Candidates will also answer questions from the public. Anyone may submit questions via the Elections form. Please submit all questions by 11:59pm UTC on September 21. (What time is that where I live?) All 8 candidates will answer each question submitted, subject to the following restrictions:
- Questions must not be repeats of questions from the manifestos. This is to allow candidates to spend their time answering new questions.
- Similar questions will be grouped together so candidates don't have to repeat themselves. Elections staff will decide which questions are similar enough to group.
- If you have a follow-up to a manifesto question, please specifically mention that it is a follow-up so it isn't treated as a repeat.
The posting date for answers will be chosen depending on the number of questions received.