Governance on The Carpentries

Software Carpentry Governance Committee - Goals for 2026

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Looking for New Committee Members!

The Software Carpentry Governance Committee is excited to share our plans for this year below.

We are looking for a couple of members to join the team, as several of this year’s committee members had to step away due to other commitments. If you are excited about helping to shape the future of the Software Carpentry lesson program and would like to participate, please fill in the application form, or send an email to Toby Hodges to indicate your interest or ask questions.

Join the Data Carpentry Governance Committee

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Join the Data Carpentry Governance Committee and help guide the strategic development of the project!

Following the successful recruitment of new members to Governance Committees for Library Carpentry and Software Carpentry, we are calling for volunteers from the Data Carpentry community to become Lesson Program Governors for the project.

What is a Lesson Program Governor?

LPGCs oversee the strategy of the lesson program, advocate for the project in their networks, and act as a point of contact for the project e.g., liaising with the Board of Directors, the Core Team, and the wider community. Learn more about the powers and responsibilities of the committees in a previous blog post and check out the Lesson Program Governors Handbook for other resources that support this community role.

Introducing the 2026-2027 Carpentries Board of Directors

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Introducing the 2026–2027 Carpentries Board of Directors

We are excited to share an update that reflects both progress and possibility. The past year marked a major inflexion point for The Carpentries as we completed our transition to an independent non-profit and began operating with a new governance model. In the future, our Board of Directors will continue to work alongside the Core Team, community, and our partners to advance our mission and deliver on the strategic priorities outlined in our bridge 2026-2028 Strategic Plan.

Calling for new Lesson Program Governors

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Lesson Program Governance Committees (LPGCs) of Library Carpentry and Software Carpentry are looking for new members. This is an exciting time for both projects as they consider expanding their range of workshops. Joining the community governance body is a great way to guide the development and support the progress of a lesson program.

What is a Lesson Program Governor?

Recap: The 2025 Board of Directors Annual Retreat

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The members of the Board of Directors held their annual retreat from 24 to 27 February 2025. With a comprehensive and well-structured agenda, the Board had time to connect and discuss our strategic planning, governance procedures, and organisational vision.

With a hybrid modality, the Board also had the opportunity to review, discuss, and make decisions about the composition and work of our standing committees while strengthening our collective purpose as a leadership body.

Introducing The Carpentries Board of Directors

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Community,
It is my honour to introduce the Board of Directors, who will work alongside us to advance our mission and guide us through our fiscal sponsorship transition. As we look to the future, we also take a moment to celebrate the invaluable contributions of our outgoing Board members. Their wisdom and dedication have played a pivotal role in shaping The Carpentries into the organisation it is today. With gratitude for their service, we eagerly welcome our incoming Board members. Their fresh perspectives and energy will enrich our vision and propel us forward as we navigate 2025 and beyond.

Happy New Year from The Carpentries

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As we begin the year, we want to reflect on our journey and express deep gratitude for the collective dedication and leadership that have propelled The Carpentries forward. This post marks a significant milestone: On February 1st, The Carpentries will become an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation! We have made substantial progress across our strategic priorities. We remain focused on finalising key projects, exploring new opportunities, and developing a forward-thinking strategic plan for 2026 and beyond. Our work is a testament to our community’s thoughtful collaboration and stewardship, and we are confident it will continue to advance our mission to empower diverse communities through data and software education.

Open Call for Nominations: Join The Carpentries Board of Directors

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries is on an inspiring journey toward greater independence, and we invite passionate leaders to help shape our future. As we transition from fiscal sponsorship under Community Initiatives to becoming an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit, we are onboarding additional members to our Board of Directors who will guide our mission to strengthen the global data science and open-source education community. This is your opportunity to be part of an organisation that has a powerful impact on communities worldwide.

Introducing the new Instructor Trainers Leadership Committee for 2024

Thu, 16 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In February, the Instructor Trainer community held its fourth annual election for the Instructor Trainers Leadership Committee, a Committee that provides governance and development support to our growing subcommunity of Instructor Trainers, and makes decisions on behalf of that community that affect our Instructor Training program and related policies. Previously called the Trainers Leadership Committee during its first 3 years of existence (2021, 2022, and 2023) this Committee will now be referred to as the Instructor Trainers Leadership Committee to emphasise its service specifically to the Instructor Trainer community. In their third year as an elected body, the Instructor Trainers Leadership Committee oversaw two important changes:

Changes to Software Carpentry's Lesson Program Governance Committee and their work

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Hi all!

Like you all, we were surprised, upset, and a little taken aback by the loss of several members of the Carpentries Core Team. Our thoughts and best wishes are with all those who have been affected.

What does a reduction in Core Team support available mean for Software Carpentry Governance and the maintenance and development of lesson materials? These are the most difficult conversations we have had in the past year as the Lesson Program Governance Committee (LPGC).

Revisions to The Carpentries governance structure

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Community,

In August 2023, we announced our plan to operate as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation. Becoming a standalone nonprofit organisation offers our community several advantages, and here we will offer background information, share our current status, and provide you with an update on the future of our governance structure. To learn more about the history of our governance, read our blog posts tagged “governance”.

Benefits of The Carpentries as a Standalone Non-profit Organisation

Independence and greater flexibility

Our current legal structure is called “fiscal sponsorship.” This status has allowed The Carpentries to accept tax-deductible donations and qualify for grant funding by working with our current fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) organisation. As our fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives provides comprehensive administrative services and support, allowing The Carpentries to focus on programming and supporting our community. We have certainly benefited from fiscal sponsorship and are very grateful for Community Initiatives; they share our excitement about becoming a standalone non-profit organisation.

Announcing the results of the 2024 community election

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the results of the community election for the 2024 Board of Directors, which will assume responsibility for governance on February 1, 2024.

Incoming community-elected members

Four candidates were nominated to fill up to four open seats on The Carpentries Board of Directors. Of the 1253 ballots distributed to Voting Members, 199 ballots were submitted (16% turnout). The candidates joining the Board of Directors for three-year terms as community-elected members are:

Election Nominees for the 2024 Board of Directors

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The election for Community-Elected members of the 2024 Board of Directors will be open from 4 December and close on 10 December at midnight, anywhere on Earth.

If you are a Voting Member, you will receive an email from The Carpentries Core Team with the subject “Confirming eligibility to vote in The Carpentries 2024 Board of Directors Election”. If you do not receive it but you feel you have contributed sufficiently to this community, please complete the Application for Voting Membership before 27 November.

Call for Candidates for The Carpentries Board of Directors

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

If you are interested in translating this blog post please email team@carpentries.org.

Carpentries community leaders are needed! If you have experience in:

Auditing (i.e., risk management, financial reporting, audit process, monitoring compliance with laws and regulations)
Finance (i.e., oversight of an annual budget)
Governance and Personnel (i.e., creation and implementation of sound compensation, personnel policies and practices or Board efficacy, composition, onboarding and recruitment)
Programs (i.e., Carpentries Lesson Program governance, advising on metrics for programmatic outcomes or making recommendations to strengthen programs and services)

… The Carpentries needs YOU!

The Carpentries Takes a Giant Leap Towards Independence

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Community,

When I became your permanent Executive Director in April 2020, I knew I wanted to explore what it would mean for The Carpentries to operate as an independent non-profit organisation. Over the last three years, we have streamlined our operations and governance and convened a task force to plan and implement a roadmap to transition The Carpentries out of fiscal sponsorship to independent, tax-exempt status.

We are thrilled to announce this exciting stage in the journey of The Carpentries, especially as we commemorate 25 years of service to our community. Planning for this transition marks a significant step forward in our mission to provide accessible and impactful training in essential data and computing skills. Since its inception, The Carpentries has played a pivotal role in bridging the digital divide and empowering individuals from all walks of life to harness the power of data and technology. With independent, non-profit status, we will be poised to amplify our efforts and drive innovation in the ever-evolving landscape of data science and research.

The Carpentries Executive Council invites YOU to a Community Session

Mon, 12 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Executive Council will host its second Community Session of the year Wednesday, 14 June 2023, at 20:00 UTC. During this discussion, there will be an overview of the EC’s quarter-two meeting and an opportunity for community members to ask questions about our governance. Sign up to attend the Community Discussions Etherpad.

During the quarter-two meeting, the Executive Council discussed challenges with lesson governance and received an overview of The Carpentries’ finances. We encourage you to review the past minutes of Executive Council meetings. Minutes are located on the executive-council-info repository. Minutes include a high-level overview of activities for the EC, including a quarterly review of finances and the strategic plan for 2020-2025. Meet us there, and bring a friend or colleague!

Welcoming the New Lesson Program Governance Committees

Mon, 08 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I am delighted to announce the new Lesson Program Governance Committees for Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Software Carpentry. These committees will provide community leadership for each lesson program, with responsibility to oversee project strategy, advocate for the lesson program and its community, and to communicate with the Executive Council, the Core Team, and the Carpentries community as a whole.

These committees are essential to the long-term health of The Carpentries as a community-led organisation, and I am deeply grateful to the following community members for stepping into the role.

Highlights from the 2023 Executive Council Retreat

Wed, 03 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries Executive Council Annual Retreat 2023

The Carpentries Executive Council (EC) retreat was held on April 20-22 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Once again, its hybrid modality and well-structured agenda allowed the EC to work on strategic issues to support the organisation. The EC retreat followed two additional convenings where Carpentries community members were present: CZI’s Accelerating Open Science in Latin America and csv,conf,v7.

The hybrid agenda included team-building activities for the Council as a whole, Standing Committee meetings, and discussions with members of the Core Team.

Announcing 27 March Community Discussion with The Carpentries Executive Council

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Executive Council will host its first Community Discussion of the year (UTC) Monday 27 March 2023 09:30 a.m. During this discussion, there will be an overview of the EC’s quarter-one meeting and an opportunity for community members to ask questions about our governance. Sign up to attend the Community Discussions Etherpad.

We encourage you to review the past minutes of Executive Council meetings. Minutes are located on the executive-council-info repository. Minutes include a high-level overview of activities for the EC, including a quarterly review of finances and the strategic plan for 2020-2025. Meet us there!

Welcome to the 2023 Trainers Leadership Committee!

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In February, the Trainer community held its third annual election for Trainers Leadership, a Committee that provides governance and development support to our growing subcommunity of Instructor Trainers, and makes decisions on behalf of that community that affect our Instructor Training program and related policies.

In their second year as an elected body, the Trainers Leadership Committee (TLC!) oversaw many important changes. These included:

The first implementation of the Certification Renewal process approved by the Trainer community in 2021. The careful oversight of Leadership made this a successful milestone, balancing goals to maintain a community that is active, sustainable, and inclusive.
Creation of a transparent process for proposal and scheduling of Trainer meetings and topics. This lays a foundation for increased community influence on and support for meetings that provide enriching and timely development opportunities.
Design and approval of recommendations to make changes to the Instructor Checkout process, based on a broad community assessment project implemented in 2022. The 2023 Leadership will be working with Core Team to plan implementation, with some changes tentatively scheduled for June.
Creation of more inclusive procedures for this committee, including use of asynchronous commenting and voting to achieve quorum. The challenge of operating groups with global representation is significant for all Carpentries subcommunities, and this group aims to create a model for procedures that are both effective and manageable for our volunteer participants in all time zones.
Updating community documentation to better reflect policies and procedures, including changes to the Certification Renewal process and documentation for this Committee. These changes were presented to the full community and ratified during the election in February.

Details on these and other accomplishments of this Committee are available in the reports and issues sections on the Trainers repository.

Calling for Volunteers to join a Lesson Program Governance Committee

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This post was updated on 3rd February 2023, extending the deadline for applications to the end of Wednesday 15th February 2023 Anywhere on Earth.

The Carpentries has three lesson programs, Software Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Data Carpentry. In November, I published a post describing the governance structure of each lesson program, and outlining a plan to introduce more community governance in the form of Lesson Program Governance Committees (LPGCs). Today, 24 January we open the call for volunteers to form these new committees. The call for volunteers will remain open until the end of 5th February, and I encourage anyone interested in community leadership and guiding the development of one of the lesson programs to apply.

Announcing the 2023 Executive Council for The Carpentries

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the results of the community and council elections for the 2023 Executive Council, which will assume responsibility of governance from the current Executive Council in February 2023.

Incoming community-elected members

Two candidates stood for the community election held during the first week of December. Out of the 1,386 ballots distributed to Voting Members, 356 ballots were cast (25.7% turnout). The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes and joining the Executive Council for two-year terms as community-elected members are:

Election Nominees for the 2023 Executive Council

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The election for Community-Elected members of the 2022 Executive Council will be open from 5 December and will close on 11 December at midnight, anywhere on Earth.

If you are a Voting Member, you should have received an email from The Carpentries Core Team with the subject “Confirming eligibility to vote in The Carpentries 2022 Executive Council Elections”. If you have not received it, but you feel you have contributed sufficiently to this community, please complete the Application for Voting Membership before 29 November.

Planning for Lesson Program Governance Committees

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In January 2023, The Carpentries will call for community leaders to volunteer to join Lesson Program Governance Committees for Software Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Data Carpentry.

Where We Have Been

The Carpentries was formed in January 2018, after Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry merged to form a single organisation. Our third lesson program, Library Carpentry, joined in November that year, and the structure of the organisation has remained relatively stable ever since. Before the merger, Software Carpentry & Data Carpentry had Steering Committees, which combined into a single entity when the two organisations agreed to merge, and became the first Executive Council of The Carpentries, following an election of new members in late 2017.

Aufruf für Kandidaturen für den The Carpentries Executive Council (Vorstand) 2023

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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Es werden Menschen für die Leitung von The Carpentries gebraucht! Hast Du:

den Wunsch, gemeinsam mit Carpentries-Leitern aus aller Welt die Zukunft von The Carpentries zu gestalten und unseren anhaltenden Erfolg zu sichern?
Möchtest Du Deinen Beitrag zu The Carpentries auf globaler Ebene leisten?
den Wunsch und die Bereitschaft, die gesamte Organisation zu beraten und zu vertreten?
Kenntnisse und Erfahrungen, die den Executive Council von The Carpentries bei der strategischen Führung und Steuerung der Organisation unterstützen?

Wenn ja, dann braucht The Carpentries DICH!

Call for Candidates for the 2023 Carpentries Executive Council

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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Carpentries leaders are needed! Do you have:

A desire to join Carpentries leaders from around the world in shaping the future of The Carpentries and assuring our continued success?
A desire to expand your sense of contribution to The Carpentries by doing it at a global level?
A desire and willingness to advise and represent the entire organisation?
Knowledge and experience that will assist The Carpentries Executive Council in strategically leading and guiding the organisation?

If yes, then The Carpentries needs YOU!!

Convocatoria de candidatos para el Consejo Ejecutivo de Carpentries 2023

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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¡Se necesitan líderes de Carpentries! ¿Tienes:

Un deseo de unirte a los y las líderes de Carpentries de todo el mundo para dar forma al futuro de nuestra comunidad y asegurar nuestro éxito continuo?
¿Deseas ampliar tu contribución a Carpentries llevandola a nivel global?
¿Deseo y voluntad de asesorar y representar a toda la organización?
¿Conocimientos y experiencia que ayuden al Consejo Ejecutivo de Carpentries a liderar y guiar estratégicamente a la organización?

¡Si es así, The Carpentries te necesita!

コミュニティ選出とカウンシル選出のノミネーション開始

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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カーペントリーズのリーダーを募集します！以下をお持ちではありませんか？

カーペントリーズのリーダーシップチームに参加してザ・カーペントリーズの未来とサクセスを築く意欲
ザ・カーペントリーズにグローバルレベルで貢献する意欲
組織全体に提案したり、また組織を代表する意欲
ザ・カーペントリーズエグゼクティブカウンシルのストラテジーや組織をガイドすることがサポート出来る知識や経験

もし答えが YES なら、ザ・カーペントリーズにはあなたが必要です！！

ザ・カーペントリーズエグゼクティブカウンシルに参加するにふさわしい候補者を選出するためのプロセスに、ザ・カーペントリーズのコミュニティの方全員に、自分自身、または的確だと思われる人をノミネートすることによって参加して下さい。

エグゼクティブカウンシルは、ザ・カーペントリーズのガバナンス機関で、組織の戦略や計画に関わっています。エグゼクティブカウンシルのメンバーはコミュニティ、またはエグゼクティブカウンシルのいずれかによって選出され、2 年の任期を務めます。

コミュニティ選出メンバー

カーペントリーズコミュニティは毎年エグゼクティブカウンシルに 2 人選出します。これらの候補者は自分で自分をノミネートする必要があります。また、カーペントリーの投票権を保有していなければなりません。コミュニティ選挙で落選した場合、自動的にカウンシルで選出する枠の検討対象になります。このフォームを使用してご自身をコミュニティ選出枠にノミネートして下さい。あなたの回答は、コミュニティ枠立候補者を発表するブログポストに記載されます。ノミネーションに関するブログポストの例は以前の立候補者のリストから確認できます。また、コミュニティと共有する 3 分間ビデオを作成するオプションもあります。

カウンシル選出メンバー

カウンシル選出枠は、エグゼクティブカウンシルによって決定されます。2023 年度は、3 人が選出されます。カウンシル選出枠には、どなたでもノミネートすることができます。また、過去にカーペントリーズと関わりがなくても大丈夫です。カウンシルは、ノミネートされた候補者に連絡を取り、選出された場合に参加する意思があるかどうかを確認します。このポジションに誰かをノミネートしたい場合は、このフォームを使用してください。

今期でエグゼクティブカウンシルの任期を終えるメンバーは:

Aleksandra Nenadic (コミュニティ選出)
Sarah Stevens (コミュニティ選出)
John Chodacki (カウンシル選出)
Michael Smith(カウンシル選出)
Masami Yamaguchi (カウンシル選出)

以下は、昨年選出されたメンバーなので、次期も継続します:

Konrad Förstner (コミュニティ選出)
Yanina Bellini Saibene (コミュニティ選出)
Annajiat Alim Rasel (カウンシル選出)

コミュニティ選出とカウンシル選出ポジションのノミネーションは世界のどこにいても 2022年10月17日月曜日に締め切られます。

The Executive Council Annual Retreat for 2022

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

During the week of July 17, the members of the Executive Council held their annual retreat. With a full and very well-organized agenda, the EC had time to connect and discuss our strategic plan and governance.

With a hybrid modality, the EC also had the opportunity to learn about governance models and reflect on the model we have and the model we aspire to have. We also reviewed, discussed and made decisions about the work of the standing committees.

Welcome to the 2022 Trainers Leadership Committee!

Wed, 18 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In February, the Trainer community held its second annual election for Trainers Leadership, a Committee intended to provide governance and development support to our growing subcommunity of amazing people who teach Instructor Training.

In their first year as an elected body, Trainers Leadership made great strides towards establishing their role and improving the support structures for the Trainer community. These included:

Establishing meeting procedures, adopting a variation on Martha’s Rules, identifying ways to use public and private channels to prioritize transparency, and creating GitHub templates and other structures to facilitate future work.
Reviewing and planning a replacement for the (former) Trainer Agreement. A new proposal for a Certification Renewal Process for Trainers was presented to the full community and ratified during the election in February.
Detailing governance and management structure for relevant processes, including oversight of Instructor checkout, Instructor Training curriculum maintenance, and the process of scheduling Trainer community meetings.
Overseeing a major update to the Instructor Training Curriculum
Defining a decision-making partnership with the Trainer community. Conversations so far suggest that Leadership is trusted and expected to take responsibility for action, reserving community consultation for focused, impactful choices.
Seeking and receiving approval from The Carpentries Executive Council as a formal Committee! This took time because this group has a governance role, making it different from other Committees, and there were not yet any guidelines for that aspect of their role. Trainers Leadership will continue to report to the EC as a Committee, but they can also now look to the new Lesson Program Governance policies where applicable.

As part of their commitment to transparency, details on these and other accomplishments of this productive group are available in the reports and issues sections on the Trainers repository!

Executive Council Key Activities Report

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Summary Statement

The Carpentries Executive Council is the highest leadership body of The Carpentries, to whom the Executive Director of the Carpentries reports. The work and engagement of the Executive Council is performed via the following committees: Officers Committee, Governance Committee, Finance Committee, Communications Committee, Program Committee.

The members of the Executive council are:

Cedric Chambers, Jump Recruits, USA
John Chodacki, California Digital Library, USA
Konrad Förstner (Secretary), ZB MED - Information Centre for Life Sciences and TH Köln, Germany
Paula Andrea Martinez (Vice Chair), Australian Research Data Commons / Research Software Alliance, Australia
Lex Nederbragt (Chair), University of Oslo, Norway
Aleksandra Nenadic, The Software Sustainability Institute, UK
Michael Smith (Treasurer), D.Eng., The PEER Group, USA
Sarah Stevens, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Masami Yamaguchi (Code of Conduct Committee Liaison), Griffith University, Australia

Officers Committee

Members: Lex Nederbragt, Paula Andrea Martinez, Konrad Förstner, Michael Smith

Announcing 2022 Executive Council Elections

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The first virtual CarpentryConnect South Africa 2021 took place from 6 to 17 September. The event included 2 Carpentries workshops, 1 Carpentries instructor training event, 2 networking events, 1 learning session and 1 opening address.

The main goal of CarpentryConnect South Africa 2021 was to build capacity for workshops through instructor training and bring together newer and more experienced community members to share knowledge, network, develop new skills, and develop strategies for building strong local communities around digital and computational literacy in Africa.

Update to our Privacy Policy

Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the release our new Privacy Policy. This new version follows a more standard structure and spells out your rights and how to exercise them under European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Customer Privacy Act (CCPA). It also includes the legal basis we use to process your personal information.

One thing that has not changed is our commitment to your privacy. We collect as little data as possible, we do not (and never will) sell your data, and we provide you with access to all the data we store about you directly from your AMY profile.

Announcing the 2022 Carpentries Executive Council

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the results of the community and council elections for the 2022 Executive Council (EC). The 2022 Carpentries Executive Council will assume responsibility of governance from February 1, 2022. We would like to give the most welcome greeting to incoming EC members.

Incoming community-elected members

Three candidates stood for the community election held during the beginning of November 2021. Out of the 1,283 ballots distributed to Voting Members, 192 ballots were cast (15% turnout). The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes and joining the Executive Council for two-year terms as community-elected Members are:

Executive Council Key Activities Report

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Cedric Chambers, Jump Recruits, USA
John Chodacki, California Digital Library, USA
Konrad Förstner (Secretary), ZB MED - Information Centre for Life Sciences and TH Köln, Germany
Paula Andrea Martinez (Vice Chair), Australian Research Data Commons / Research Software Alliance, Australia
Lex Nederbragt (Chair), University of Oslo, Norway
Aleksandra Nenadic, The Software Sustainability Institute, UK
Michael Smith (Treasurer), D.Eng., The PEER Group, USA
Sarah Stevens, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Masami Yamaguchi (Code of Conduct Committee Liaison), Griffith University, Australia

The Carpentries Executive Council would like to give an overview of its activities and to make its works transparent to the community. Therefore, it has written a report of what happened between February 2021 and July 2021.

Election nominees for the 2022 Executive Council

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The election for Community-Elected members of the 2022 Executive Council will be open from Nov 03 and will close on Nov 10, anywhere on Earth.

If you are a Voting Member, you should have received an email from The Carpentries Team with the subject “Confirming eligibility to vote in The Carpentries 2022 Executive Council Elections”. If you haven’t received it, but you feel you have contributed sufficiently to this community please contact team [at] carpentries.org before 31 Oct.

Announcing 2022 Executive Council Elections

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Executive Council (EC), the leading governance body for The Carpentries, is pleased to announce the election process for 2022. For information on the roles and structure of the EC, please see the bylaws in The Carpentries Handbook. These elections are for two community-elected seats, which are selected by all voting members of The Carpentries community. In addition, the EC is looking for recommendations to fill two Council-elected seats, which will be elected by the EC. The members whose seats are open for election include Cedric Chambers, Konrad Förstner, Paula Andrea Martinez, and Lex Nederbragt and remaining EC includes: John Chodacki, Aleksandra Nenadic, Michael Smith, Sarah Stevens, and Masami Yamaguchi.

Introducing the new Executive Council Standing Committees

Tue, 20 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

As mentioned in the recent blog post, On the governance of The Carpentries, the Executive Council has established standing committees. This post elaborates further on their roles and responsibilities.

What is the Executive Council and how does it operate?

The Executive Council is the official leadership body of The Carpentries. It is responsible for strategic and organisational planning, selecting the Executive Director and evaluating their performance, financial oversight, identifying revenue streams and resource development, approving and monitoring The Carpentries programs and services, and enhancing The Carpentries public image. Members of the council also serve as advocates and ambassadors for the organisation, leveraging their networks to benefit the organisation’s reputation and fundraising. The Executive Council executes these responsibilities through a combination of monthly Executive Council meetings and regular correspondence and collaboration via email and online platforms.

On the governance of The Carpentries

Wed, 07 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

When The Carpentries was formed in 2018 by the merger of Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry, it was decided that the new organisation should be governed by an Executive Council

Over the years, one of the recurrent discussions between the Executive Council, the Core Team and the wider Community has been what the exact role of the Executive Council is. This blog post summarises some recent discussions and decisions on this topic.

Carpentries Community Conversation with the Executive Council

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

On Friday, 22 February, 2021, two sessions were held for The Carpentries Community to meet and interact with The Carpentries Executive Council (EC) - to hear from about governance in The Carpentries and the work the EC is currently doing.

The hour- long discussion included (i)guided discussion and a (ii) Q&A session. Here is a summary of the conversation.

Questions and answers from the guided discussion

Provide a brief history of the Executive Council in The Carpentries

When Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry merged on January 1, 2018, it was decided to continue the tradition of a community-led steering council that both organisations had. The name chosen was Executive Council. It was decided to have 9 people on the council, 4 community-elected (any community member can stand for EC election) and 5 council-elected. Nominations for Council elected seats can come from the community, the Council, or Core Team, and the nominees do not necessarily have to be community members. This helps to have a wide range of expertise in the EC. See also this blog post from 2018.

Formalising The Carpentries Community Roles & Support Structure

Wed, 26 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Over the past three years The Carpentries has grown in size - we run more workshops, train more individuals to teach, and serve more member organisations. Since our merger, we have also adapted the way we operate to comply with various laws and regulations (e.g. GDPR). What has remained the same is our intention to be transparent and supportive of our community. We are therefore writing this post to provide you with background and motivation for why we are formalising community roles.

Announcing the 2021 Executive Council for The Carpentries

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the results of the community and council elections for the 2021 Executive Council, which will assume responsibility of governance from the current Executive Council in February 2021. We would like to give the most welcome greeting to the following five new members.

Incoming community-elected members

Five candidates stood for the community election held during the beginning of December. Out of the 1182 ballots distributed to Voting Members, 224 ballots were cast (~19% turnout). The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes and joining the Executive Council for two-year terms as community-elected Members are:

Thank You SO MUCH Carpentries Community!

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The image above is a composite of our Core Team’s photos - from left to right,
first row : Zhian, Talisha, Sher!, Angelique, Kelly, Karen, Toby
second row: Serah, Omar, Maneesha, Kari, Erin, François

TL;DR

What a year! As we come to the close of 2020, in all our reflection and retrospectives and reporting and winding-down and planning for 2021 - the most accurate sentiment to sum up how we feel about our community in THANK YOU. There is so much we can collectively say as a team, in fact, we started to co-author our thank you notes to all of you, and seven pages into our collaborative document, we still have more to say, and the wise words of many of you at the back of our minds - short and succinct, that is how all Carpentries posts should be!

Amending the Carpentries Bylaws in 2020

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

One of the tasks of the Executive Council is to “re-approve [the Bylaws] or an amended version every two years.”

What are our Bylaws?

The Carpentries Bylaws are a set of governance rules that describe the purpose of the organisation, how we are governed, how membership is regulated and how we operate.

The Carpentries Bylaws can be found in the Carpentries Handbook.

The first version of the Bylaws were developed, and approved in November 2018, by the first Executive Council of the newly formed The Carpentries organisation. This meant that 2020 marks the first time these bylaws have needed reapproval or amendment.

Election for the 2021 Executive Council

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Edit (2020-12-01): Changes of the open/closing dates and one candidate status.

The election for Community-Elected members of the 2021 Executive Council will be open from December 2, and will close on Thursday, December 10 Anywhere on Earth. If you are a Voting Member, you should receive an email with a ballot and voting instructions from The Carpentries via ElectionBuddy by the end of the day on Wednesday, December 2. For more information on the Executive Council and election process, please see the bylaws and this blog post. If you have questions or concerns about the election process, please contact Juan Steyn.

Call for Candidates for the 2021 Carpentries Executive Council

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In the search for qualified candidates to serve on The Carpentries Executive Council, every member of The Carpentries community is encouraged to participate in the process, by nominating themselves or a qualified individual for one of the seats coming up for election.

The Executive Council is the governance body for The Carpentries, and is responsible for strategic and organisational planning. The members of the Executive Council serve two year terms, and are elected by either the community or Executive Council.

Executive Council Officer Elections for 2020

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries Executive Council has elected officers for 2020 and appointed a liaison to the Code of Conduct Committee. Congratulations to all of our new officers! You can learn a bit about each of them below.

The Executive Council is the governance arm of The Carpentries and is responsible for strategic and organisational planning, selecting and evaluating the Executive Director, financial oversight of the organisation, identifying revenue streams and resource allocation, approving and monitoring our programs and services, and enhancing our public image. The Executive Council is composed of nine (9) members, four (4) of which serve as officers. The Carpentries Handbook has details about the responsibilities of each of the Executive Council officers.

The Carpentries Strategic Plan for 2020-2025

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

As its last major decision, the 2019 Carpentries Executive Council approved the first Strategic Plan for The Carpentries. This plan guides our way forward for the next three to five years. This blog post summarises the Strategic Plan; the full version is published [on the Carpentries website]({{ site.url }}{{ site.baseurl }}/strategic-plan).

Introduction

The Carpentries was founded in January 2018 via the merger of Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry and was joined later that year by Library Carpentry. All three of these organisations have been dedicated to teaching computing and data skills to their various communities. United under The Carpentries we have the opportunity to work together toward a bigger and broader vision of the future.

We are Hiring an Executive Director. Join Our Team.

Wed, 08 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries seeks its next Executive Director to spearhead the organisation’s vision of becoming the leading inclusive community teaching data and coding skills. We bid goodbye to Tracy Teal, the former Executive Director, on December 31, 2019. Senior Director of Equity and Assessment Kari L. Jordan will serve as Acting Executive Director for The Carpentries until the next Executive Director is hired.

The Executive Council is working with the non-profit division of Marcum LLP to conduct the search. You can find the full job description and details about the application process on Marcum’s website.

Announcing the 2020 Executive Council for The Carpentries

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the results of the community and council elections for the 2020 Executive Council, which will assume responsibility of governance from the current Executive Council in February 2020.

Incoming community-elected members

Seven candidates stood for the community election held during the first week of December. Out of the 1248 ballots distributed to Voting Members, 419 ballots were cast (33.6% turnout). The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes and joining the Executive Council for two-year terms as community-elected Members are:

Executive Director Transition

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Announcement from The Carpentries

We are sharing the bittersweet news that Dr. Tracy Teal is moving on from her role as Executive Director of The Carpentries in January 2020 to pursue other opportunities. Dr. Kari L. Jordan, our current Senior Director of Equity and Assessment, will be serving as the Acting Executive Director until the next Executive Director has been identified.

“Tracy’s dedication to the mission and vision of The Carpentries and her embodiment of the values of the organisation have made her an exceptional and inspiring leader for The Carpentries,” said Amy Hodge, Chair of The Carpentries Executive Council. “She has deftly guided The Carpentries through its first years as a larger organisation, as well as through our transition to a new fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives.”

Extending Gratitude to the Executive Council for Governance in 2019

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The Executive Council is the governing body of The Carpentries responsible for its strategy and sustainability. As a community council, they are the true stewards of the organisation, guiding the project, listening to, reflecting on and making decisions on behalf of the community. That is a big responsibility!

The Carpentries Executive Council established in 2018 with the formation of the project. From the onset, it had community-elected and council-elected positions to both represent the community and ensure a set of diverse perspectives and skills necessary for the functioning of this council.

Election for the 2020 Executive Council

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The election for Community-Elected members of the 2020 Executive Council is now open, and will close on Friday, December 6 Anywhere on Earth. If you are a Voting Member, you should receive an email with a ballot and voting instructions from The Carpentries via ElectionBuddy by the end of the day on Monday, December 2. For more information on the Executive Council and election process, please see the bylaws and this blog post. If you have questions or concerns about the election process, please contact Kate Hertweck at k8hertweck@gmail.com.

A Call to Action: Nominate Yourself for the Executive Council Today

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Back in the fall of 2017, Erin Becker reached out to me about putting myself up for election for the new Carpentries Executive Council. For me, this suggestion seemed to come out of the blue. Sure, I had been involved with the Carpentries as an instructor and more intensely as a workshop organiser at my institution. But was I really well-suited to serve on the Executive Council for a non-profit organisation? It was something I had never done before and I will fully admit that I suffered from imposter syndrome regarding the value I would be able to bring to the organisation in this role. I also wondered, quite frankly, if there would be any value in it for me professionally or personally. Time is one thing none of us seems to have enough of these days, and it is important for each person to make careful decisions about how much of themselves they give to “all the things”.

The Carpentries Executive Council 2019 In-person Meeting

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

What have 9 people, one library meeting room, one cat, “Ich schaue nur”, all kinds of great German food and beers, and water “ohne Kohlensäure” in common?

November 4th and 5th the Executive Council and Executive Director gathered in the beautiful German city of Darmstadt, near Frankfurt. Our host, Gerald Jagusch from the Technical University Darmstadt, was so kind to arrange for us to use a meeting room of the University and State Library Darmstadt. for both Sunday and Monday. That library was a big building, with lots of students studying there and thus absolute silence was required in the hallways. Luckily the room we used was sound-proof enough that we could have our meeting there without disturbing the students (it helped that we managed to avoid the discussions becoming too heated :-) ).

The Carpentries Vision Statement

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

In January 2018, The Carpentries was formed as a unifying organisation for Software Carpentry, Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry and other lesson programs. Over time, we have built awareness for foundational coding and data science skills through our workshops, instructor training program, and community events, but we have not yet made clear our vision - What type of organisation do we want to be? Who and what do we represent? Our vision is more than just a statement; it spells out where we see The Carpentries in the future and guides our decision making and priorities in the present. Over the past two years we have developed programs and grown as a community. Today, thanks to everyone’s work co-creating these messages through conversations, discussions, and requests for comments, we are proud to release our vision statement.

Call for Candidates for the 2020 Carpentries Executive Council

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Carpentries leaders are needed! Do you have:

A desire to join Carpentries leaders from around the world in shaping the future of The Carpentries and assuring our continued success?
A desire to expand your sense of contribution to The Carpentries by doing it at a global level?
A desire and willingness to work hard and to represent the entire organisation?
Knowledge and experience that will assist The Carpentries Executive Council in strategically leading and guiding the organisation?

If yes, then The Carpentries needs YOU!!

Catching Up on Executive Council Policy Making

Thu, 03 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries Executive Council has spent a significant amount of time this year fleshing out, finalising, and approving a number of different governing documents and policies for the organisation that will allow us to proceed more efficiently in the future with the more exciting and engaging activities of “being” The Carpentries. This is an update to the community on what we have been working on and where you can find more information.

Financial Updates

Tue, 28 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

We have completed our first year as a joint project, The Carpentries, and now have more concrete information we can use to evaluate and plan for our long-term sustainability. Financial sustainability is a primary consideration in keeping our programs going, as financial resources allow us to pay for people and infrastructure, support our community and Member Organisations, teach workshops, connect with each other and develop local capacity for training, update resources, and develop new programs. You can see more details about our projects and personnel time in this blog post.

Executive Council Officer Elections for 2019

Tue, 26 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

At its recent meeting on March 21, 2019, The Carpentries Executive Council elected officers for the current year and appointed a liaison to the Code of Conduct Committee. Congratulations to all of our new officials! You can learn a bit about each of them below.

The Executive Council is the governance arm of The Carpentries and is responsible for strategic and organizational planning, selecting and evaluating the Executive Director, financial oversight of the organization, identifying revenue streams and resource allocation, approving and monitoring our programs and services, and enhancing our public image. The Carpentries Handbook has details about the responsibilities of each of the Executive Council officers.

Lesson Program Implementation, Governance Group Meeting, and Community Updates

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Library Carpentry website

By Chris Erdmann

Lesson Program Implementation

As mentioned in a recent Carpentries blog post on 1 November 2018, Library Carpentry is now an official Lesson Program of The Carpentries. In the post, we outlined our next steps, in other words, our implementation plan to make this so. We’d like to update the community about where we are at with regard to the plan.

The official Lesson Program language has been integrated into a number of Carpentries resources including our Library Carpentry websites, GitHub organization and instructional repositories, policies, handbook, onboarding material, request forms, surveys, one pagers, slides, badges, trainer/instructor etherpads/documents, and social media profiles. We’ve added collaborators from The Carpentries staff, Library Carpentry Curriculum Advisory Committee and Governance Group to our GitHub organisations. Also, Cam Macdonell (MacEwan University), a longtime member of the Library Carpentry community, has joined The Carpentries infrastructure group.

Announcing the 2019 Executive Council for The Carpentries

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Executive Council elections have concluded! Thanks to everyone who participated in the election as a candidate or voter. The Executive Council is the governance of The Carpentries, and we are fortunate to have so many people engaged in our community governance.. A summary of the results for both community-elected and council-elected seats are described below.

Incoming community-elected members

Out of the 981 ballots distributed to Voting Members, 247 ballots were cast (25% turnout).

2018 Community Service Award Winners

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries Executive Council is happy to announce that Tim Dennis, Margareth Gfrerer and Toby Hodges received the 2018 Community Service Award and Fotis Psomopoulos and Malvika Sharan the special CarpentryCon Community Award. Thank you for contributions to the The Carpentries community!

Community Service Award

The Community Service Award was created to recognise some of the exceptional work by volunteers in our community. These awards are nominated by the community and selected by the Executive Council. “Exceptional work” can mean many things, for example, attending community calls when you have poor internet connection, changing your calendar to attend committee meetings or finding the time to not only teach but help support and coordinate workshops or Instructor training events. Some of this work is more visible in our community and others is more ‘behind the scenes’. All have made exceptional contributions, not just to activities, but to supporting and developing others in the community. The Executive Council is pleased to award the 2018 Community Service Award to Tim Dennis, Margareth Gfrerer and Toby Hodges for their tremendous work that together represents what The Carpentry community is and exemplifies our spirit of ‘further together’.

Election for The Carpentries’ Vision and 2019 Executive Council

Tue, 27 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries will hold an election from December 3-7 for both the 2019 Executive Council as well as The Carpentries’ vision.

The Carpentries Executive Council is hosting two Community Calls this week (on Thursday/Friday depending on your time zone) to discuss the election. Two sessions will be held to accommodate our global community. Connection details are in the etherpad; please sign in if you plan to attend. These community calls will provide an opportunity to ask questions about community governance and the election process, as well as learn more about the candidates for the community-elected Executive Council positions.

2019 Election: Juliane Schneider

Mon, 26 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Who am I?

I am Juliane Schneider, and I’m a restless soul with a flair for boredom and weird career paths. Currently, I’m Team Lead/Lead Data Curator at Harvard Catalyst, Clinical and Translational Science Center. My past jobs have included Database Designer for EBSCO, Metadata Specialist with UCSD Research Data Curation Program, Metadata Librarian for Countway Library at Harvard Medical School, and I once was an insurance librarian on Wall Street despite knowing nothing about insurance (I learned things, though).

2019 Election: Elizabeth Wickes

Sat, 24 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

About me

I am a current Executive Council member and submitting my nomination for reelection. As an elected representative for the 2018 Executive Council, I am eager to continue the work I’ve begun and see it through next year.

I have been active with The Carpentries since 2015. I completed my instructor training as part of a larger independent study on teaching practices for end user programmers. I was one of the first certified instructors at the University of Illinois and have experienced the power of local mentorship to push my skills and deepen my understanding of Carpentries practices.

2019 Election: Amy Hodge

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

About Me

As a current, elected member of the Executive Council, I’m very excited to be putting myself forward for re-election for a two-year term. It’s been a wonderful, engaging, and educational year for me on the Council, but now that we’ve gotten the new organization up and running, I’m eager to participate in more of the building activities I hope to see happening in the future.

I received a PhD in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale, after which I worked for nearly 10 years at science database companies. I’ve now been at Stanford University Libraries for the past six years, where my role is to help researchers, particularly in the sciences, with data management and sharing and with developing the skills they need to perform these tasks efficiently and effectively. Research in all fields is moving rapidly toward intensive data science, leaving many researchers struggling to keep up with learning all the new skills needed for the complex research questions they devise. The Carpentries can help many researchers improve the quality and robustness of their work.

Nominate a member to Community Service Award before 19 November

Tue, 13 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries is receiving nominations for 2018 Community Service Award until Monday, 19 November, 2018 Anywhere on Earth Time. To nominate a member of the community, fill in “The Carpentries Community Service Award 2018 Nomination” (Google) Form.

Who can be nominated?

Any individual who has contributed to The Carpentries and member projects, e.g. Software Carpentry, Data Carpentry and Library Carpentry, in any form who is neither a member of the Executive Council nor a member of staff.

Library Carpentry Is Now Officially a Lesson Program!

Fri, 02 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

By Tracy Teal and Chris Erdmann

Library Carpentry is now officially a Lesson Program!

On 1 November 2018, The Carpentries Executive Council voted to officially approve Library Carpentry as a Lesson Program. It now joins Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry as official Lesson Programs. While the vote was quick, the work to become an official Lesson Program spans across many years involving many community members and their contributions. As noted in a recent blog post, over two hundred instructors and helpers have contributed to hosting, teaching, mentoring, developing, and maintaining Library Carpentry since 2015. Nearly three hundred events have been hosted by libraries since 2015 and interest from libraries in Library Carpentry and The Carpentries continues to grow. The library community’s contributions to The Carpentries is an important piece of our continued success and we too see their strategic value to growing our efforts at organisations across the world!

Announcing 2019 Executive Council Elections

Wed, 24 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Executive Council (EC), which provides governance for The Carpentries, is pleased to announce the election process for 2019. If you would like more information on the roles and structure of the EC, please see this blog post. These elections are for two community-elected seats, which are selected by all voting members of The Carpentries community. You must be a voting member of The Carpentries to self-nominate yourself for a community-elected position. The Executive Council is also looking for recommendations to three Council-elected seats. Anyone may recommend someone, independent of whether or not that person is a a voting member of The Carpentries.

Nominate a Member You’ve Noticed Working Extra Hard in 2018

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

In 2016, Software Carpentry gave Christina Koch, Adrianna Pinska and Jon Pipitone the Community Service Award for their valuable contributions to the project. In 2017, Anelda van der Walt received the award. This year, with the merger of Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry to create the umbrella project known as The Carpentries, the Executive Council decided to continue with the recognition of extra hard work by some volunteers and will choose and announce 2018 award winners in December.

The Structure of The Carpentries Executive Council

Wed, 05 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Executive Council is the main leadership body for The Carpentries. This post introduces the Executive Council’s roles and responsibilities, how the council is structured, and the reasoning behind this approach.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Executive Council

The Carpentries Executive Council is the highest leadership body of The Carpentries organisation. It is responsible for strategic and organizational planning, selecting the Executive Director and evaluating their performance, financial oversight, identifying revenue streams and resource development, approving and monitoring The Carpentries programs and services, and enhancing The Carpentries’ public image. Members of the council also serve as advocates and ambassadors for the organisation, leveraging their networks to benefit the organization’s reputation and fundraising. The Executive Council executes these responsibilities through a combination of monthly Executive Council meetings and regular correspondence and collaboration via email and online platforms.

Help Shape the Governance of Our Community

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, the Executive Council announced an RFC for bylaws for The Carpentries. Bylaws traditionally describe the rules and regulations used to run an organization. As a fiscally sponsored organization, The Carpentries is not required to have formal (legally binding) bylaws. As an organization that is community-driven, though, these bylaws are important for describing the role of the community in governing and guiding the strategic direction of The Carpentries. We have tried to use plain language, rather than legal jargon, to make the document accessible for our diverse community members, while still attempting to provide clear expectations associated with the structure and governance of The Carpentries.

Request for Comment on Carpentries Mission and Vision

Mon, 13 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

As announced two weeks ago, the Executive Council has been working on developing drafts of the mission and vision statements for the new joint organization. These drafts are now available and we request your feedback through two Requests for Comment and related GitHub issues by midnight (in your time zone) Friday August 31, 2018.

Requests for Comment (RFCs, also called Requests for Public Comment) are a tool used to solicit feedback on planned actions that affect a broad community. These RFCs build on those used during the merging of Software and Data Carpentry to ensure that these central guiding statements serve all members of our diverse community.

Mission, Vision, and Bylaws for the Carpentries

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Following our in-person meeting in June, the Executive Council has been working on revising and solidifying the mission, vision, and bylaws for The Carpentries. These three pieces of writing represent the core values and goals of The Carpentries and the manner in which the organization is structured and led by both community and staff. We hope to reflect and honor both the cultures of Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry, as well as the larger, more diverse community which continues to develop.

No More Self-Organised Workshop Fees

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

To bring Software and Data Carpentry Self-Organised workshop fees into agreement with one another, the 2018 Executive Council passed a motion to eliminate the $500 fee charged to host organisations for Self-Organised Data Carpentry workshops.

Why eliminate the Self-Organised workshop fee?

Until 2018, Data Carpentry and Software Carpentry operated side-by-side but independently, each with their own governing bodies and executive directors. While the two organisations shared some processes and staff, decisions about things like workshop fees were made independently. Along with the 2018 merger came a need to unify and streamline operations. Data Carpentry required a $500 fee, while Software Carpentry required no fee for Self-Organised workshop but rather requested an optional $500 donation. To eliminate the confusion this has created within our community and to encourage Self-Organised workshops, we have brought these two policies into alignment by eliminating the $500 host organisation fee from Self-Organised Data Carpentry workshops as well as the suggested $500 donation for Self-Organised Software Carpentry workshops.

Report from 2018 In-person Executive Council Meeting

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The 2018 Executive Council met face-to-face for the first time last week (June 18-19) in Gainesville, Florida in the USA. So, this seems like a good time to give everyone a sense of what we discussed at the in-person meeting, and what is in store for the next several months.

Why an ‘Executive Council’?

First, I want to talk about the name ‘Executive Council (EC)’. Why are we an EC, and not a ‘Board of Directors’? In the US, a ‘Board of Directors’ has a specific meaning, and suggests financial and legal responsibility. Because we are not our own non-profit, but are fiscally-sponsored by Community Initiatives, we do not have our own Board of Directors (noting that CI, which is a non-profit, does have a Board of Directors). We also felt that ‘Executive Council’ better captured the level of commitment and responsibility of the members than ‘Steering Committee’ (thinking about getting credit, often on academic CVs, for the work of the EC).

The Carpentries: A Joint Narrative (January 2017 - March 2018)

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry merged officially on 1 January 2018 to form a new organisation, The Carpentries. In mid-June, The Carpentries held their first Executive Council in-person meeting. A report of that meeting will be published shortly.

In preparation for the EC meeting, Carpentries’ staff prepared a narrative report on the progress we have made as a joint organisation since we began to work together more closely from January 2017. Two key milestones during that time were the creation and launch of both The Carpentries Handbook and the new Carpentries website.

Executive Council 1st 2018 Tertile Report

Fri, 18 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

May 2018 is almost over and The Carpentries Executive Council wants to provide a brief report of their activities during the first four months of 2018. We are slowly getting to know each other, our role as the Executive Council and what it means that we now are a single organisation.

Executive Council members are listed on the Governance page where you can also find links to the minutes of the Executive Council monthly meetings.

Have your say

Fri, 18 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Library Carpentry website

By Belinda Weaver

The Library Carpentry governance group has created a governance repository on GitHub to list members, meeting minutes, and other things relevant to the future of Library Carpentry.

See the minutes of our May meeting.

The group meets monthly on the second Monday/Tuesday of the month (date and time depending on time zones).

Asking for your input

We want to deal with issues of relevance to this community. Feel free to suggest agenda items on our governance call etherpad.

Software Carpentry: Considering the Future

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

When Software Carpentry became part of the merged Carpentries this January, outgoing Software Carpentry steering committee members Rayna Harris and Christina Koch were tasked with continuing the work of the steering committee. For the past several weeks, we’ve been working together with a small group to determine what Software Carpentry needs as a sub-community to grow and thrive in the future, and we have identified two primary goals.

One first goal is a restatement of Software Carpentry’s mission. The Carpentries are growing by leaps and bounds, so this seems like a timely moment to stop and think about what Software Carpentry is doing as a branch of The Carpentries and why. This exploration of mission and identity isn’t just so we can have a nice tagline, but to provide direction and a reference point for future decisions that impact the community.

Library Carpentry Governance - An Update

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Eight of us from Australia, the UK, the US, Canada, and South Africa met last week via zoom to discuss taking the Library Carpentry project forward.

We discussed the creation of a new website to replace this one, talked about what constitutes a Library Carpentry workshop, discussed who can teach the material, and and started thinking about what kind of governance structure we need to lead the work from now on. There was an update on the status of the IMLS-funded Library Carpentry Coordinator role to be based at CDL.

Announcing the 2018 Executive Council for the Carpentries

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Voting in the election for community governance of the Carpentries (Executive Council, formerly named Steering Committee or Board of Directors) closed last week. Out of the 501 members eligible for voting, 147 ballots were cast (29% turnout).

We are pleased to announce the four newly elected members of the Executive Council:

Raniere and Lex received the highest number of votes and will serve two year terms; Amy and Elizabeth will serve one year terms.

Jessica Upani: Nomination for 2018 Steering Committee

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

2018 Election : Jessica Upani

Who am I?

My name is Jessica Upani. I am Namibian and I am a high school teacher. I am also a 4th year Mathematics and Computer Science undergraduate student at the University of Namibia. I am an executive of the Python Namibia society. We run Python workshops, meetups and Conferences all over the country.

Previous involvement.

My involvement with the carpentries started in April 2016 when I was one the instructors that were trained by Aleksandra Pawlik in Potchefstroom, South Africa. I then continued with my training and became a certified Software Carpentry instructor on 7th July 2016. My final checkout was done by Greg Wilson. He gave me my qualification. I did not do this alone. I was mentored by David Perez-Suarez. Since then, I hosted and taught two workshops locally. We paired our first workshop with Bertie Seyffert from South Africa. I also had a chance to meet the new instructors that were trained in Cape Town, May 2017.

Our Steering Committee Candidates

Sun, 26 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Eight people have nominated to serve on the 2018 Steering Committee of the new, merged Carpentries.

The nominees so far are:

Samantha Ahern (UK)
Martin Callaghan (UK)
Auriel Fournier (US)
Amy Hodge (US)
Lex Nederbragt (Norway)
Raniere Silva (Brazil, but currently in the UK)
Juan Steyn (South Africa)
Jessica Upani (Namibia)
Elizabeth Wickes (US)

There is still time to put your name forward. Nominations will close on 1 December.

Amy Hodge: Nomination for 2018 Steering Committee

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

2018 Election : Amy Hodge

A Little About Me

Hi all! My name is Amy Hodge, and I work for Stanford University Libraries. I have a PhD from Yale in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and spent about 10 years working at science database companies, where I discovered the elegance of SQL and the perfect role for me in enabling people to do better science. Since my undergraduate days I’ve been involved in teaching, mentoring, and software training, and my involvement with the Carpentries is a natural extension of these activities and my desire to enable people to do better science.

Samantha Ahern: Steering Committee Nomination

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Samantha Ahern: Steering Committee Nomination

How am I involved with the Carpentries?

I have been involved with Software Carpentry for four years. I participated in a Bootcamp back in 2013 and since then have been a helper for a number of Bootcamps and have taught in three in total - two in the last year.

I am a very newly qualified Instructor, literally completing the sign-off tasks in the last few weeks, but have been involved in Education and this type of learning in particular for a long time.

Moving Forward

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Data Carpentry website
As of January 30th, Greg Wilson has stepped down from his role as Director of Instructor Training to start a new position as Shopify’s Computer Sciences Education Lead.

Instructor training will continue under the guidance of Erin Becker, Data Carpentry’s Associate Director and Maneesha Sane, Data and Software Carpentry’s Program Coordinator. Erin has a strong background for this role from her postdoc at University of California, Davis studying the effectiveness of training methods for transforming instructional practices. She has been involved with the Carpentry community as an instructor trainer, a member of the Mentorship Subcommittee, and leader of the effort to form an instructor mentoring program.

Interim Steering Committee Meeting: Dec 16, 2014

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry Foundation Interim Board Meeting: Dec 16, 2014

Interim Steering Committee Meeting: Dec 2, 2014

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry Foundation Interim Board Meeting: Dec 2, 2014

Interim Board Meeting: Nov 18, 2014

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry Foundation Interim Board Meeting: Nov 18, 2014

Interim Board Meeting: Nov 4, 2014

Tue, 04 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry Foundation Interim Board Meeting: Nov 4, 2014

Interim Board Meeting: Oct 14, 2014

Tue, 14 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry Foundation Interim Board Meeting: Oct 14, 2014

Interim Board Meeting: Sep 30, 2014

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry Foundation Interim Board Meeting: Sep 30, 2014

Interim Board Meeting: Sep 16, 2014

Tue, 16 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry Foundation Interim Board Meeting: Sep 16, 2014