Charter

Owned by Jake Watson
Last updated: Jul 28, 2022 by Nora Hauptmann
5 min read

GovStack Governance Committee Charter

Primary Functions and Approval Responsibilities

The primary function of the GovStack Governance Committee is to take responsibility for the definition, pursuit, and achievements of the GovStack Initiative. The Governance Committee is also responsible for approving major actions within the Initiative. The Committee will monitor and review the progress and status of current requirements and activities, share information on potential opportunities, and provide guidance for the overall direction of the GovStack Initiative. The Governance Committee works in conjunction with the Product and Technical committees, which have separate activities and functions within the GovStack Community.

 

The Governance Committee provides a stabilizing influence so organizational concepts and directions for the Initiative are established and maintained with a visionary view.

 

The Committee provides insight on long-term strategies in support of agreed-upon mandates and acts as a final review and approval body for major proposals or recommendations made by the Product or Technical Committees.

 

Members of the Governance Committee ensure that project objectives are being addressed and developed and that the direction of the initiative remains under control and effective. In practice these responsibilities are carried out by performing the following functions:

General

  1. Monitor and review major activities within the Initiative at regular Governance Committee meetings;

  2. Provide assistance to partners and members of the community through coordination and collaboration;

  3. Reach consensus on the scope and direction of the Initiative as emergent issues force changes to be considered, ensuring that the scope aligns with the agreed vision of the Initiative and key stakeholder groups;

  4. Identify teams required to implement the aims of the project and empower those teams as required with a clear scope of their work;

  5. Maintain a public list of current and potential implementations;

  6. Vote as necessary on issues requiring Governance Committee approval;

  7. Review and approve role definitions, staffing needs, and running contracts of experts across committees and working groups;

  8. Review and manage overall organizational structure

GovStack Brand Management

  1. Branding oversight;

  2. Set and revise Vision & Mission

  3. Engage with third party organizations on trademark hosting and copyright management;

  4. Oversee and maintain guidelines for minimal community standards for implementations and contributions to software development and initiative artifacts.

Internal Community Coordination

  1. Approve product roadmap and work plans as presented by the Product Committee;

  2. Resolve Community conflicts and disputes, reconcile differences of opinion and approach;

  3. Approve proposals to revise Community processes or make changes to existing Community structure.

Communications

  1. Utilize Governance Committee communication platforms to maintain transparency for meeting agendas, notes, and voting results;

Business Development

  1. Identify potential new funding opportunities for core and implementation projects;

  2. Coordinate responses to implementation inquiries;

  3. Develop and maintain business plans for the long-term sustainability of GovStack Initiative;

  4. Review and approve appropriate legal structures needed to further GovStack Initiative needs;

  5. Identify resources to provide guidance on proposals for GovStack implementations;

  6. Approve new relationships and partnerships with other organizations (both open source and commercial);

  7. Approve requirements for and requests from new organizations (open source and commercial) to join the GovStack Community.



Governance Committee Roles & Responsibilities

Membership

GovStack Governance Committee meetings are open to the public and notes from the calls are publicly available on the GovStack wiki.

An organization or participant may be removed as a voting member of the committee if they are determined to no longer be an integral member of the GovStack Initiative. This decision will be determined by the Governance Committee when necessary, and the organization or participant will be informed of their removal from the voting structure in writing.

A list of current GovStack Governance Committee members may be found on the GovStack Governance page.

 

Role of Governance Committee members

It is intended that the GovStack Governance Committee leverage the experiences, expertise, and insight of key individuals at partner organizations within the GovStack Community. These partners should be committed to building professionalism and collaboration within the Community.

 

Governance Committee members should:

  1. Understand the strategic implications and outcomes of proposals and initiatives being pursued through various partner organizations;

  2. Appreciate the significance of the Initiative for some or all major stakeholders and represent their interests;

  3. Regularly participate in, and contribute to, discussions, forums, proposals, and activities within the Community;

  4. Be genuinely interested in the Initiative and be an advocate for broad support for the outcomes being pursued.

 

In practice, this means they:

  1. Ensure that the Initiative's outputs meet the requirements of key stakeholders and partners;

  2. Contribute regularly to the Community by actively assisting other members with time, resources, and networks;

  3. Provide guidance to the other Community committees and partners involved in GovStack projects;

  4. Submit meeting agenda items to the Governance Committee chair

  5. Keep the Governance committee informed about new GovStack implementation(s) that the member undertook through other funding mechanisms, provide periodic status updates, and contribute code for the benefit of the Community.

  6. Foster positive communication within and outside of the Governance Committee regarding the Initiative and its outcomes.

Governance Committee Chair

The Governance Committee elects a rotating chair on a quarterly basis. The chair will facilitate Governance Committee meetings during that time period. The Committee will follow modified Robert’s Rules of Order (12th edition) in the conduct of meetings, motions, discussions, and voting.

 

The Chair will also:

  1. Document and follow up on action items from calls and discussions;

  2. Manage notes from calls and meetings;

  3. Facilitate the voting process and ensure communication amongst Committee members;

  4. Coordinate with the Product and Technical Committees to ensure clear and transparent communication between committees;

  5. Set up the agenda for Committee meetings by requesting input from the other members

Governance Committee Facilitator

The Governance Committee Facilitator role is responsible for compliance with the Charter by assisting the Chair in facilitating discussion, documentation of Committee meetings.

In practice this means that the Facilitating role is responsible for

  1. Ensuring handover between chairs are taking place

  2. Ensuring consistency in note taking and documentation of decisions



Committee Meetings

Meeting Schedule and Process

The Governance Committee meets on a weekly basis. Agendas and notes from past meetings can be found here.

 

In order to cover all the above-mentioned topics within the framework of the governance committee meetings, one of the weekly meetings per month shall take place in a smaller group (voting members) and will be dedicated to strategic questions, specifically in the following areas:

 

  • Provide assistance to partners and members of the community through coordination and collaboration;​

  • Review and manage overall organizational structure​

  • Identify teams required to implement the aims of the project and charter and empower those teams as required with a clear scope of their work;​

  • Develop and maintain business plans for the long-term sustainability of the GovStack Initiative; ​

  • Review and approve appropriate legal structures needed to further GovStack Initiative needs;.

 

Voting and Agreement Process

  • The main responsibility of the GovStack Governance Committee lies in the management of the GovStack Initiative.

  • The decision-making process is based on reaching consensus through discussion and voting.

  • Changes to the GovStack Governance Committee Charter take place based on consensus during a Governance Committee meeting instance.

  • The Governance Committee should review the charter on an annual basis (last revision: December 2021)

 

 

Changelog