Elections/bod-2024/Florian Rivoal
The 2022–2024 W3C Board of Directors has prepared a self-assessment questionnaire for candidates to this election. Here are the responses for Florian Rivoal. See responses by other candidates at Elections/bod-2024.
Connection to W3C
I have subscribed to a W3C mailing list
Yes, multiple ones.
I have participated in a W3C Community Group
Yes, multiple ones.
I have participated in a W3C Working Group
Yes, multiple ones. Primarily: CSS-WG, Internationalization-WG, HTML-WG.
I have contributed text to a specification that became a W3C Recommendation
Yes, multiple ones.
I have edited a W3C Recommendation
Yes, multiple ones: Media Queries Level 3, CSS Basic User Interface Module Level 3, CSS Containment Module Level 1.
I have chaired a W3C Working Group
No, but I have chaired several Formal Objection Councils.
I have also previously chaired a CG: the Browser Extension Community Group.
I have served on the Team, AB, or TAG
Yes, I have been on the AB since 2018. In that role, among various projects, I've had the opportunity to deliver reforms such as the continuous development update to the Process and Patent Policy, the addition of Registries and W3C Statements, the “Director-free Process”, and the Legal Entity transition—where I not only contributed to Bylaws development, partnership agreements, and financial preparations, but also served as a critical AB-Board Liaison during the transition, and later as a guest on the Finance and Governance committees.
Financial acumen
I have experience in financial oversight (e.g., serving on a Finance committee)
Yes, I have been treasurer of a board of directors & head of the finance committee (and later president) of the APEK, an education non-profit with comparable headcount to W3C and with a revenue in the $2,000,000/year range.
I have had specialist training in finance (e.g., professional development sessions)
No, though I have given some training sessions.
I have undergraduate education in a financial discipline (e.g., accounting, economics)
No.
I have post-graduate education in a financial discipline
Yes, I have an MBA with distinction from INSEAD, where I took a preponderance of financial electives.
I have a professional qualification in a financial profession (e.g., certified public accountant)
No.
I have two or more years of full-time professional experience in a financial profession
No, though as treasurer of the Board of a non-profit I stepped in as de-facto CFO during a period where the formal position was vacant, and assisted a junior CFO into the role. Also I have kept books and filed taxes for my own business and other businesses within my family.
Legal acumen
I have experience in legal oversight (e.g., serving as the secretary of an organization)
Yes, I have been secretary (and later president) of the APEK, an education non-profit established under French Law, operating in Japan, under a convention with the French government.
I have had specialist training in legal matters (e.g., professional development sessions)
Not formally, though over the years I have taken part in multiple projects and activities involving legal matters, often in cooperation with or under guidance from people from legal professions:
- Participated in the W3C's bylaws taskforce which established the bylaws of W3C Inc.
- Participated in the 2020 revision of W3C’s Patent Policy.
- Led and participated in several revisions to the bylaws of a French-law non-profit.
- Led renegotiation and revision of a bilateral convention between a non-profit and the French ministry of foreign affairs.
- Led revisions to work regulations at a non-profit with around 50 employees, oversaw compliance with said regulations and with Japanese labor law, and managed compliant hiring and termination processes (both for performance and disciplinary cases) ensuring adherence to legal standards.
- Drove bespoke commercial agreements as a startup executive.
I have undergraduate education in a legal discipline (e.g., law, public policy)
No.
I have post-graduate education in a legal discipline
No.
I can practice law in at least one jurisdiction
No.
I have two or more years of full-time professional experience in a legal profession
No.
Governance experience
I have experience in governance oversight (e.g., serving on a Governance committee)
Yes, I have been a non-profit board member, including being secretary, treasurer, president, and head of various board committees.
I have had specialist training in governance (e.g., professional development sessions)
I have an MBA from INSEAD, governance is part of the curriculum. Also, as Board-AB liaison, I attended the 2023 W3C Board training session.
I hold a professional qualification in governance (e.g., AAICD, GAICD, ACG, FCG, CMInstD)
No.
I have served on the Board of Directors of a non-profit organization
Yes, several, most significantly the APEK, an education non-profit with around 50 employees and $2,000,000/year revenue, serving on the board for 8 years, successively being its secretary, treasurer, and president.
I have served on the Board of Directors of a for-profit organization
No.
I have served on a Board of Directors of an organization with a budget of at least US$ 5,000,000 (or equivalent)
No. The largest budget I have managed was in the $2,000,000 USD range.
I have served as the Chair of a Board of Directors
Yes, for 3 years at the APEK.
I have served as the Officer of a corporation
Yes. In addition to being secretary / treasurer / president in a French-law non-profit for 8 years, I was also an officer in a Japanese-law startup for 1 year.
Fundraising experience
I have experience in fundraising for an organization (e.g., finding and/or working with donors)
Yes: I participated in raising seed capital for a startup,
as well donations and grants for a non-profit.
The educational non-profit I ran was also the recipient of a scholarship program from the French Government; administrating it implied both working with the government as a recipient of the collective funds, and with individual beneficiaries of the program.
This experience covers seeking out funding,
setting up legal agreements to enable the transactions,
managing the cash-flow,
accounting for the different types funds in the appropriate manner,
investor/donor/grantor relations…
I have experience in fundraising for an organization, involving amounts greater than US$50,000 (or equivalent)
Yes: Seed capital raised was in the $200,000 USD range; donations and grants for the non-profit were typically in the few thousand to low tens of thousands at a time, but are in the $50,000 USD range cumulatively; the scholarship program was in the $250,000 USD per year range.
I have a professional qualification in a fundraising profession (e.g., Certificate in Professional Fundraising)
No.
I have two or more years of full-time professional fundraising experience
No.
Risk management experience
I have experience in risk management for an organization (e.g., compiling a risk register)
Yes, as a board member, and eventually president of a non-profit school in Japan,
I took part in—and in a number of cases, led—risk management for the organization:
natural disaster preparation,
intrusion risk preparation,
terrorism risk mitigation,
political and regulatory risk,
financial risk (cash flow risk, counterparty risk, revenue shortfall risk…) planning,
health and sanitary risk mitigation…
When some risks whose scale had not been anticipated unfolded (e.g., COVID),
I also took part it crisis management,
dealing with the immediate consequences,
reevaluating risks based on updated information,
and adjusting the strategy accordingly.
I have experience in risk management for an organization with a budget greater than US$ 5,000,000 (or equivalent)
No. The largest organization I have managed had a budget in the $2,000,000 USD range.
I have had specialist training in risk management (e.g., professional development sessions)
I have an MBA from INSEAD, risk management is covered in the curriculum.
I have a professional qualification in risk management
No.
Public sector and policy experience
I have written policy briefs or positions
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
However, while I do not have experience working for the public sector, I do have experience working with the public sector, co-running a school as a public-private partnership between a non-profit and the French ministry of foreign affairs. This entailed things such as managing financial flows in both directions, managing a workforce with a blend of local employees and civil servants, handling the interaction between private sector contractual & legal obligations and governmental executive orders and regulations, receiving official visits by and managing relations with senators, members of parliament, ministers, ambassadors, consuls, and other high government officials…
Leadership and strategy experience
I have successfully led a team or project to achieve its goal
Yes, at various scales. Here are a few examples:
- As a W3C WG member, I have taken multiple specifications to Recommendation.
- On the AB, I led the effort to deliver a Director-free version of the W3C Process, an updated Patent Policy, and various other improvements to the Process; I was instrumental to the effort that delivered the transition of W3C from hosted model to Legal entity.
- As a developer, I have lead teams that delivered various software products, notably embedded web browsers to mobile devices.
- As a product manager, I have led conception, development, and commercialization of a SaaS platform for ordering and delivering printed products to 35 countries
- As a startup executive, I've drove the reforms that led to a successful round of seed funding.
- As a non-profit school board member, I led and delivered on multiple projects: growth planning, labor negotiations, curriculum accreditation…
I have been involved in the strategic planning for an organization
Yes: as a board member, and eventually president of the board of a non-profit school, I planned for and delivered growth of over 2.5x in enrollment, leading to full accreditation of the junior and senior high school sections of the school, across a campus relocation and through the pandemic.
I have been responsible for assessing market trends
This was never my primary job, but it was a component of my roles as a startup executive and as non-profit board member.
Global experience
I speak two or more languages
Yes. I am comfortable working (and living) in French, English, and Japanese.
Also, I seriously lack practice, but used to speak Chinese comfortably, and a longer time ago, German.
I really like languages, so I have basic notions in few more.
I write two or more languages
Yes. I am perfectly comfortable in written French and English, and can work in written Japanese, though that takes a little more effort.
I have lived in a country other than the one I was born in for two or more years
Yes. I have spent nearly as much time outside of the country where as was born (France) as inside: Japan (16 years and counting), Norway (3 years) China (1 year), and a few weeks to a few months at a time in a variety of other countries.
I regularly work with people in other countries and from other cultures
Yes. I can hardly recall a time where I worked in a mono-cultural environment. Aside from work, my own household is multicultural.
I have had cultural awareness training or similar
Yes.
Demographics
Optionally, candidates may be prepared to provide in confidence the following information:
The continent where you usually reside
Asia (Japan), though I frequently visit—and grew up in—Europe (France)
Your age (in ten-year brackets; e.g., 50-59)
40–49
The Sub-Industry of your employer
Self-employed, but: IT Consulting & Other Services (45102010)
Your gender identity
Male