This page lists publicly nominations, as they are made, for the election for the Board of Directors of W3C, Incorporated. Each person has been nominated by at least one W3C Member.
The W3C Membership elects a majority of the voting seats of the Board of Directors of W3C, Incorporated, to bring a diverse multi-stakeholder perspective from the W3C Membership. For this election, W3C Members will fill seven seats.
Timeline:
The election results have been announced on 23 September 2022.
The following nominations have been made (listed in random order):
The following nomination statements have been made (listed in random order):
I have been involved with W3C and web standards throughout my career and in a wide variety of roles. I’ve been the Advisory Committee Representative of one of the largest tech companies in the world (Facebook) and of one of the smallest (my own consultancy). I have created and co-chaired one of W3C first and largest community groups (Coremob). I have edited multiple specifications (Web IDL, Generic Sensor API) and contributed to many others at W3C and in other standard bodies. I leveraged my open source background to help accelerate and open up the spec editing process by moving it to GitHub, producing documentation to help editors get started and open source tools that you most probably still rely on today if you’re contributing to a spec.
As a W3C fellow, I led the effort that built the foundations of Web Platform Tests, working in close collaboration with W3C staff and the community to create the infrastructure, governance, process, and culture for the membership to embrace this effort and turn it into the incredibly successful initiative it is today.
More recently, I relied on the expertise in governance acquired through my consulting work and advisory roles with a number of nonprofits (notably OASIS Open, the OpenJS Foundation, the Organization for Ethical Source, and the Interledger Foundation), to prepare pro bono a report for the Advisory Board on what setting up W3C’s legal entity in Geneva, Switzerland, would look like.
To my surprise, Geneva ended up being the only alternative location presented to the Advisory Board.
That caught my attention. Why weren’t other alternatives proposed?
As I started looking more into the transition process, I noticed that this critical effort for the continuity of W3C was seriously underfunded, lacked clear leadership and direction, and wasn’t well communicated to the membership or to the broader web community. To make matters worse, not only was W3C staff stretched thin, so was the Advisory Board. And volunteers from the community well versed in governance and financials were few and far between.
In heavily member-driven organizations, leadership positions often require a significant time commitment. As Advisory Committee Representatives of smaller organizations are generally keenly aware, it’s never easy to carve out enough time to contribute meaningfully in such roles, doubly so when you’re also running a business or are a caregiver. This creates a real conundrum: what if you get elected but end up contributing far less than another, just as knowledgeable, candidate would have? I have avoided running for the TAG or the AB for this reason so far, despite many members reaching out over the years to suggest that I should.
This felt different. I was seeing W3C really struggle in areas where I have significant expertise: a lot of my consulting work involves governance and financials of US and Swiss nonprofits; not to mention running my own consulting firm. I decided to step up. And in order to provide this effort with the needed attention, I sought and secured initial funding from a nonprofit in order to support my work should I be elected.
I have a track record of collaborating effectively with W3C staff and the broader community, rolling my sleeves up, and not shying away from unglamorous infrastructure work that underpins the community; I have highly relevant expertise for this role; and I will be able to dedicate substantial time to move this effort forward.
If you have questions, want to find out more, or would like to chat with me, you’ll find all of the relevant information on my website.
It is my honor to nominate Chris Wilson from Google to the W3C Board of Directors. Chris has been involved with the Web since even before the W3C was formed. He is a valued member of the web community, having worked with many companies and groups incubating and standardizing various works.
In the past few years on the AB, I have collaborated with him on many complicated issues. I will attest to his gravitas and work ethics. Our debates, sometimes passionate and late in the evenings, challenged all of us and resulted in better work products. I respect and trust Chris implicitly. He cares deeply about the Web, the W3C and the community. Members should know that he is committed to ensuring that the W3C is sustainable for the future and that it works for the entire community.
Finally, Chris is an avid champion of the W3C. He has the credibility and connection within Google and with other organizations to help rally needed resources. If elected, he would be an asset to the community and a productive member of the board.
I have worked on the web since 1993; I have held a wide variety of technical and leadership positions, from engineer writing the first browser implementation of CSS to Web standards tech lead on Chrome, as well as serving as chair of various Working Groups and Community Groups along the way. This has given me a broad perspective of technology as well as community.
The W3C is long overdue to reformulate itself. I have been elected for multiple terms on the W3C Advisory Board since 2013, including serving as co-chair for the past year-plus in order to begin this complex process, and have played a key role in leading the AB to where we are today. I look forward to continuing my efforts to make the W3C a great place for all those who participate in the Web to work together.
I have a strong track record of partnership with others, including my own experience building and leading teams. I have a very strong pragmatic focus, and care deeply about the sustainability of the Web and the W3C organization. I have experience in running several side businesses, as well as a strong understanding of accounting, which will be necessary on the Board of Directors.
Finally, I am conscious of the impact and role of my employer on the web; I believe it is important for Google to fulfill our responsibility to the community of Web.
It has been a pleasure to consult with Gonzalo recently on W3C questions, and a greater pleasure to see his service to the industry over the years. He has recently stepped down from being Chair at the Internet Society (ISOC), an important sister organization. At the IETF and ISOC he was instrumental in setting up both the ISOC Foundation and IETF LLC (where he served on its initial Board), paying particular care to their financing models. You can find a summary of his work here.
He has also worked to ensure good technical alignment between the IETF and W3C, most notably being one of the leaders who initiated the successful WebRTC joint work.
This combination of his technical, governance, and financial experience, coupled with his hard-working nature, means that I am delighted to nominate him.
I've known Léonie as a friend and colleague for many years and I can't think of a better person to be on the Board of Directors for the new W3C. I don't need to explain why, because her track-record speaks for itself - she was a Director for two of the most successful accessibility agencies in the UK and the USA, and has since demonstrated her capabilities once again by founding a thriving small business without external funding, and bringing together a diverse but highly effective team of people who have established a reputation for (in Léonie's own words) "being the best we can be".
I know Léonie understands the challenges that lie ahead for the W3C, and I know she is not afraid to do the hard work it will take to overcome them. Having participated at the W3C together for 15+ years, I also know Léonie understands the W3C and believes in it being the best it can be too!
The W3C is about to become a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME). SME is a term used in the UK and Europe to describe an organization with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of €50 million or less. The W3C also intends to file for 501 (C) (3) status as a non-profit organization.
It is critical that the W3C Board of Directors includes people with experience of both SME and non-profit organizations. It is also important that smaller member organizations are represented on the W3C Board.
I have been a director of two SME since 2009 (Nomensa and TPG), and I am now founder and owner of a third (TetraLogical). All three organizations are members of the W3C.
Nomensa was a “bootstrap startup” that became a successful agency without the benefit of seed funding, private equity, or venture capital. By the time I left in 2013 it had around 40 employees and a multi-million Pound turnover. My time as Director at Nomensa gave me experience of financial planning and accountability, human resources policy, legal due diligence, risk analysis and organizational resilience.
TPG, now TPGi, is an accessibility agency with its HQ in America and teams based in the UK, Europe, Asia, and Australasia. It was acquired by an investment company in 2017, and by the time I left in early 2019 it had around 35 employees and an annual turnover comparable to that of the W3C. My time as Director at TPG gave me experience of international employment contracts, multi-cultural human resources policy, and reaching consensus with a diverse range of stakeholders.
I founded TetraLogical in 2019 without funding or investment. We currently have 9 employees (soon to be 10), and last year we achieved an annual turnover of more than £1 million for the first time. My time as Director at TetraLogical has given me experience of every aspect of running an SME – including cashflow, payroll, benefits and pensions, insurance policies, job descriptions, recruitment, personnel management, commercial contract negotiation, operational reserves, and good governance.
I was also on the Board of Directors for a non-profit organization (the British Computer Association of the Blind (BCAB)) from 2005 to 2010, and its Chair from then until 2014. My time as Director and Chair of BCAB gave me experience of the laws, policies and fiduciary responsibilities relevant to non-profit organizations, management of a volunteer workforce, and achieving results with limited funding and resources.
I have also served on the W3C Advisory Board since 2016, which means I have a detailed knowledge of everything that has brought us to this point – and everything that remains to be done!
In other words, I have served on the Boards of organizations like the W3C for more than 15 years. I understand the challenges and I recognize the solutions, because I've done it time and time again.
Most of all I’m prepared to do the hard work that will be needed of all Board members because I believe in the future of the W3C.
My statement has been translated into French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Hindi: https://misc.tetralogical.com/w3/2022-board/
I am pleased to nominate Eric as a candidate to the W3C board of directors. In my experience working with Eric, he has strong business acumen, financial expertise, and the extensive business experience that we need to help guide the W3C forward. Eric has also demonstrated a clear ability to work across both emerging and existing technologies, with both startups and industry leaders. Additionally, he brings a diverse perspective and background to the table and has demonstrated a clear ability to bridge global concerns and perspectives among our diverse membership.
It is an honor to be considered for the W3C board of directors. My background in business management, corporate finance and launching multiple new entities, including consortia allows me to contribute meaningfully to the board. See my LinkedIn Profile for my background.
The W3C is at an inflection point. The pending spinoff from MIT on 12/31/22 will be the beginning of a long process. Moving forward, the W3C will continue to face challenges as it evolves from four separate hosts to a single standalone legal entity. These numerous challenges include financial, legal, operational, cultural, political, and other complicated issues. If we fail to help the organization transition successfully, we risk future work being incubated outside the W3C. It will be detrimental to both the W3C as an organization and the broader web community surrounding it.
Over the last few years on the AB, I have been hands-on working and contributing to the restructuring effort. I co-chair the Finance Taskforce to help with accounting, financial and funding issues. I have been pushing for more accuracy, realism, and transparency in financial reporting. It is extremely important that W3C financials be reliable and stand up to scrutiny by all stakeholders. To be self-sustaining, the new organization will need to learn to operate without the financial cushion of the Hosts. I am committed to drive a transformation towards fiscal discipline, accurate financials, and transparency. This is imperative to enable the organization to make informed decisions based on reliable and objective data.
In addition to the Finance Taskforce, I am also actively involved with the Bylaws and Governance Taskforces.
Many of you have read my concerns about the stress fractures percolating beneath the surface of this organization. The competing interests of the sub-communities, real and perceived, have caused mistrust and divisions among stakeholders. A cultural transformation is urgently needed. We need board members who understand that they have a fiduciary duty and responsibility to the entire global community not just their own respective sub-communities. The board must set the tone for the management team and the membership to put partisan interests aside to work as a team. As a director, I will serve and put the interest of the entire membership ahead of sub-groups.
Serving on this board will require a full commitment, significant time and effort. The W3C and W3M have limited resources. We need board members who are influential and connected to help muster needed resources from their respective organizations and from other external partners to augment the W3M’s capabilities. Management at Intel fully supports investing my time to ensure the success of the W3C community in this transition.
I encourage W3C Members to be diligent in evaluating the candidates and thoughtful in casting their votes to ensure that we have a strong and capable board. If elected, I will devote my energy, experience, and ability to rally the resources to help W3C, Inc. navigate through the transition and beyond.
Thank you for your kind consideration and support.
NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.) is delighted to nominate Mr. Koichi Moriyama at NTT DOCOMO, INC. for the election of a Board of Directors at W3C. (NTT DOCOMO is an affiliate of NTT.)
Mr. Koichi Moriyama is Chief Security Architect (a Corporate Evangelist) at NTT DOCOMO, INC. He acts and plays some roles in industry organizations, such as FIDO Alliance, JSSEC (Japan Smartphone Security Association), and FeliCa Networks, Inc. He has been playing some roles at FIDO Alliance as a member of the Board of Directors since May 2015 (8th year), Chairman of FIDO Japan WG since October 2016 (6th year), and an Executive Council Member at Large since January 2019 (4th year).
He has deep knowledge and understanding of technology in mobile devices, security, the Internet, and the Web. He studied and experienced the early stage of the Internet and Web at Keio University from 1988-1994, took the leadership of creating and developing various innovative products at Sony and Sony Ericsson (a joint venture of Sony and Ericsson) until 2011, and drove migration toward the smartphone era at NTT DOCOMO as a Senior Director.
One of his remarkable and outstanding contributions is the FIDO adoption for DOCOMO's ID platform (d ACCOUNT) with multiple devices. It includes the world's first Iris scanner-equipped device in 2015 and has spent many years accelerating FIDO/WebAuthn deployments for internal company and industry ecosystems through activities at FIDO Alliance. His presentation and exhibition of demo booth on biometric authentication using WebAuthn/FIDO specification at TPAC 2019 in Fukuoka, Japan were a part of them.
"Once I am elected as a Board of Directors at W3C, I'll work hard for such a critical period of migration toward the future and people using the Web on the planet," said Koichi Moriyama. "I spent many years at FIDO Alliance, a global association but a U.S.-based legal entity for standardization, and made efforts to realize things created there together with W3C to resolve reliance on passwords in the real world. Roles at such a standardization body are not limited to technology, but respecting memberships, encouraging contributors, and users with a sense of diversity and inclusion."
He recently started an academic research project in addition to his roles at NTT DOCOMO, and his first paper was accepted to IEEE Blockchain 2022 (August 22-25). He addressed Self-Sovereignty Identity and uniquely approached utilizing hardware-assisted security, and refers to W3C's contributions of Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 and Verifiable Credentials Data Model v1.1 in his paper. His energized and humble mindset for making things happen through learning day-to-day must fit the role.
His unique profile has been developed at multi-company through communication and collaboration globally. He spent many years in Sony, Sony Ericsson, and NTT DOCOMO and worked at worldwide offices in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. He graduated from Keio University and received a Bachelor's degree in Electronics in 1992 and a Master's degree in Computer Science in 1994. He is now a doctor course student at Institute of Information Security.
His profile is also available on LinkedIn.
I am pleased to nominate Robin Berjon to the W3C Board of Directors. Robin has held multiple technical and governance positions in the W3C and other organizations. His familiarity with all parts of W3C around the world makes him an excellent candidate. Robin’s ability to find consensus in challenging areas will help him bring his vision for the future of the W3C as the steward of a well-governed web to the Board.
The W3C is going through a major change and I want to contribute my experience to make sure that this evolution is successful. I have a deep understanding of many parts of the Consortium: I have worked for members in Asia, Europe, and the US, and I have also worked for the Team, both with MIT and Keio. I have chaired five working groups covering topics in XML, Web APIs, and device APIs areas. I have represented several companies in the Advisory Committee over the past twenty years and have edited numerous specifications, including shepherding W3C HTML5 to Recommendation. I was elected to the TAG in 2012 and am still engaged in architecture work, currently serving as editor for the TAG’s Privacy Principles. In addition to this more conceptual work, I have made many hands-on contributions, notably starting the Web Platform Tests (WPT) project which all browser engines use for testing today, inventing ReSpec which is used by many editors to produce standards, and building Specberus, the system that validates all of the W3C’s Technical Reports.
Outside of the W3C, my focus has primarily been on companies that use Web technologies and rely on it for their products. I have operated multiple small businesses, notably around Web development. I have consulted for all kinds of companies from innovative small businesses like IGEL in Japan or SpinTank in France to large household names such as Vodafone, Canon, or Samsung. I have worked at startups on a variety of topics including SVG mobile app frameworks, interactive video streaming, or building a scientific knowledge graph with JSON-LD. More recently I have focused on privacy, adtech, and ethical uses of technology at The New York Times.
This background has given me a clear understanding both of how the W3C operates across many of its different communities and of the needs of those who rely on Web technology. The Web is a marvel and the W3C, for all its warts, has led Web standards more successfully than not over the decades. But we need the W3C to change for two reasons. First, to ensure that it can remain the custodian of the powerful technologies that we have built. And second, the W3C needs to evolve to meet the needs of today’s Web, which are quite different from those of previous eras.
I believe that my history of opinionated consensus-building and of productive participation across the Consortium, as well as my clear comprehension of the challenges we face in making the Web free, open, and thriving put me in a good position to serve on the Board of Directors.
The Web is not done. In fact, we are still in its early days. I look forward to working with all of you toward a flourishing Web built on common governance, on capture-resistant infrastructure, and with the interests of people at heart.
I am delighted to nominate Tzviya Siegman for election to the W3C Board of Directors. Tzviya’s leadership of the Advisory Board and Governance Task Force has clearly demonstrated that she knows how the W3C needs to evolve and that she can build consensus in the difficult discussions we need to have. I am excited to see her continue her important work and invite you to join me in voting for her in this election.
I have been co-chairing W3C’s Governance Task Force since its inception. This puts me in the position of leading the group that has served as the de facto board along with its Steering Committee. I have become intimately familiar with the way that W3C works and what steps the Board needs to take to make W3C, Inc successful. I attended every Steering Committee meeting in 2022 and worked to bring proposals and swift consensus to these meetings.
I have co-chaired the W3C Advisory Board (AB) for the last year and a half and served on the AB since 2018. During this time we laid the groundwork for the shift to the Legal Entity and began to shift focus to work on issues such as the Mission of W3C. We came to many difficult decisions in both the AB and Governance Task Force. I pride myself in my ability to highlight priority issues while maintaining a positive work environment and drive consensus while respecting and fostering a diversity of voices at the table.
I have chaired the W3C’s Positive Work Environment Community Group for three years. We published a revised Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct in 2020. We continue to work on revamping W3C’s ombuds program and documenting a conflict de-escalation protocol that will be implemented by chairs as well as the Team and Board.
I served on the board of the International Digital Publishing Forum and was involved in its merger with W3C. I have been involved in NISO, BISG, and 1EdTech (formerly IMSGlobal) for 15 years. I have been called upon repeatedly to help bring consensus when parties cannot agree.
My work style, as mentioned, is consensus-building. But it’s perhaps more important to know that I am not afraid of conflict — there is often real creativity there, after all. I understand well the coherence and organizational fortitude that come from following process. I am undaunted by the task of calling out suboptimal behavior. Where I really shine is at calling people in, at playing to their strengths to build teams, boards, and committees that are goal-oriented and successful.
My experience on W3C’s AB and Governance Task Force and my familiarity with the world of standards positions me well to help bring W3C into its next era.
See this statement in:
We honorably nominate Ms. Hongru (Judy) Zhu to be the candidate of BoD. As the Vice President responsible for standardization management in Alibaba Group, Hongru (Judy) Zhu is leading the Standardization Department and responsible for Alibaba Group’s standardization strategies on international regulation standards, technical standards, etc., and activities in various international standard organizations including W3C, ISO, ITU-T, IEEE SA, IETF, 3GPP, etc. With 21 years of professional standardization experiences, Hongru (Judy) Zhu has served as a number of leading positions in various international and national standard organizations, such as W3C AB, ISO TC154 Chair, FIDO Board Member, CCSA TC11 Vice Chair, and 3GPP SA3 Vice Chair, etc.
With great passion and strong sense of responsibility, Judy has served as W3C Advisory Board member from 2015 till now. During these seven years, she has been actively engaging and contributing to the strategic discussions, especially about the W3C legal entity transition and governance structure design, Vision and Mission of W3C, Next Big Things, so as to make W3C a better place to lead the Web to its full potential.
Judy believes in the values of diversity and inclusion that can be brought to an international organization. Ever since she joined the W3C community, Judy has been devoted to improve the global participation, especially the participation of the less-represented groups in W3C. She works closely with the Internet communities in Asian regions such as China, Japan, India and South East Asia countries and sets up channels to facilitate their participation. One typical example is that Judy has been actively working with the Chinese industry to initiate the standardization of MiniApps, and contributed considerable resources to support the launch of the MiniApps Working Group, which has great potential to trigger another wave of Web-standard-based innovation.
This is a critical moment for W3C. There are lots of work that need to be done to maintain and enhance the new W3C legal entity as a good and stable platform for the global Web community to collaborate on Web standards. Judy understands it is a very serious commitment to join the election for the Board of Directors of the new W3C Inc., and is ready to diligently fulfill the required responsibilities with great passion and a strong sense of responsibility.
Judy hopes her experiences about organizational strategic planning and execution, services in the governance bodies of international standard bodies as well as an inclusive heart to work with a global Web community could contribute to the work of the first Board of W3C. If elected as Board of Directors member, Judy could have the opportunity to contribute her efforts to ensure smooth transition to new W3C with united governance, to help W3C to become more diverse, inclusive and globalized, to increase collaboration between W3C and various industries in the globe, and to ensure that the Web becomes more open, accessible, and interoperable for everyone around the globe.
If you have any questions, please contact Judy via email.
I've worked with Mike Prorock for years, outside of W3C, at W3C and at IETF. He has an excellent grasp of the role technical standards play in supporting industry and governments. Even more importantly, he has demonstrated an ability handle political and social issues associated with technology adoption skillfully, specifically addressing issues of privacy, energy use and sustainability in both the Machine Learning and Cryptography fields as the related to emerging standards.
I am nominating David for election to the Board of Directors of the W3C because he is exactly the kind of person I want to govern the Consortium as it takes its first few steps into the future. David and I have served on the Advisory Board together for many years, and in that time, I have come to trust his judgement, recognise his experience, and admire his inexhaustible energy.
David is a committed champion of the W3C and everything it stands for, and someone who prioritises the needs of the organisation over those of any single constituency. Although he and I work for organisations that are about as different as it gets within the W3C, and although we do not always agree with each other, I know David listens to other points of view and works hard to achieve consensus.
Furthermore, David has the analytical and strategic capability needed to rapidly grasp complex legal and fiduciary matters, and to identify the realistic solutions that will be so critical in the coming time for the W3C.
My promise to the W3C Community is that if elected to the Board, I will work hard to support W3C and its members, and work to give it the governance and stability it needs, setting it on course for the next 25 years of its life. My vision is for a W3C that is attentive to all its members, and to the fundamental position and importance of the world-wide-web to all of humanity, world-wide. I would also like to return in gratitude to W3C, to those who define, build, and use the web, and to humanity, some of the support I have been blessed to receive.
In my position on the Advisory Board I worked to improve our operations, and the link between membership and staff; now I offer myself to take the opportunity to help with governance. I have experience with non-profit governance: I currently sit on the Board of one of our sister organizations, The Unicode Consortium, and I have previously served on other Boards including the Executive Board of INCITS, and the Blu-ray Disc Association.
Until recently I chaired the Process Community Group, where I worked on modernizing the processes under which we develop our specifications and run our technical community. However the heavy load of Advisory Board work over the last few years (as we tried to prepare for the legal entity) meant that I felt I should pass that chairing on, and I previously also served as Apple’s Advisory Committee representative. I will continue to evaluate which positions I serve in.
Re-founding the W3C for the next phase of its life, so that it can continue to change the world for good, is no small task – indeed, it may be a greater task than founding a new consortium for a new initiative would be. If elected, I promise I will work with the Board, the team, the leadership, and the membership, to forge a revitalized Consortium, with renewed vigor for the tasks ahead, a Consortium that is a stronger vehicle to help deliver on a stronger vision for the web and its service to all.
Translations of this statement in a number of languages are available.
Mozilla is pleased to nominate Mark for the W3C Board of Directors. Mark's resume speaks for itself: he has been hugely influential in the development of the the Web, having done foundational work on HTTP, Web services, URLs, and QUIC. He has held nearly every major position in the W3C and IETF, having chaired multiple working groups, served on the AC, the TAG, and the Internet Architecture Board.
Mark is ideally suited to help lead the W3C through this difficult period. He has thought deeply about the difficult issues around transitioning to community governance and was one of the first people to realize the risks of a poorly managed transition to a legal entity and a directorless future. Mark has long been a strong supporter of member & community run standards work, e.g., championing use of permissive licensing to provide maximum flexibility & agency to editors & contributors to web standards, which is a critical step in mitigating those risks. We are confident that as a board member he will continue to play a key role in building the W3C we all want and need.
If elected to the Board, I will work with my colleagues there, you the Members, W3C Management, and the Team to successfully transition the organisation to a single legal entity with an appropriate governance model and sustainable finances.
In doing so, my ultimate aim will be to preserve and strengthen the W3C as the long-term venue for developing and maintaining what has become critical global infrastructure. That may call for difficult decisions, and I believe those decisions should be made with broad community consultation, alignment to well-stated principles, and respect for the unique culture and history of the W3C and the Web.
In addition to the technical leadership roles I've held over the years, I've been a member of the Board of Directors of the Web Services Interoperability Organization. To prepare for the possibility of taking on this role, I'm also planning to take a non-profit governance course at the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
You can see my full resume. If you have any questions or thoughts I'd be happy to discuss them with you.