Leadership

W3C was founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web; and is led by President & CEO Seth Dobbs and a Board of Directors.

W3C Staff

Collage of W3C Team profile pictures

A staff of experts coordinate technology development and manage the operations of the Consortium. Read more about the W3C's functional internal organization.

W3C Board of Directors

Diagram explaining the standards development process on one side, and the reporting structure on the right. Web standards work is driven by W3C Staff, the community, W3C work groups and the W3C Director. The W3C TAG makes architecture choices that impact Web standards. The W3C AB updates the W3C Process with help from the community. The reporting structure is layered so that W3C Staff reports to W3C Management which reports to the Board of Directors in charge of finance, legal, HR matters and long-term strategic transactions.

The W3C Board of Directors is the governing body of the World Wide Web Consortium public-interest non-profit organization. The Directors have ultimate authority on W3C's strategic direction, have a legal obligation to ensure that W3C implements its mission to lead the Web to its full potential, and have fiduciary responsibility over W3C as a whole.

Visit the Board of Directors homepage

W3C Membership

W3C Members drive the development of web standards and work with technology leaders in a transparent, open, vendor-neutral forum. W3C members collaboratively create royalty-free standards that make the web work for everyone.

The W3C Process Document sets out member organization's rights and responsibilities. These include reviewing plans for W3C work, electing the Advisory Board and the Technical Architecture Group participants, as well as a portion of the W3C Board of Directors.

Permanent groups and work groups

A variety of groups enable the World Wide Web Consortium to pursue its mission through the creation of Web standards, guidelines, and supporting materials. Key leadership groups include:

  • The Advisory Committee, composed of one representative from each W3C Member. The Advisory Committee has a number of review roles in the W3C Process, and they elect the Advisory Board and TAG.
  • The Advisory Board, an advisory body elected by the Advisory Committee.
  • The Technical Architecture Group (TAG), which primarily seeks to document Web Architecture principles.

The W3C work groups are chartered by W3C Members, and populated by Member representatives and Invited Experts. They produce most of W3C's Web standards, guidelines, and supporting materials, according to the steps of the W3C Process.

Discover W3C groups