Election Nominees for the 2024 Board of Directors

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.

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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.

All Voting Members will receive a personal ballot and voting instructions from The Carpentries via ElectionBuddy by 4 December. For more information on the Board of Directors and election process, please read Call for Candidates for The Carpentries Board of Directors. If you have questions or concerns about the election process, please contact the Board of Directors.

The self-nominated candidates for the four Community-elected seats were asked to submit statements about their previous work with The Carpentries and their specific interests for Board of Directors participation. Candidate responses are presented below in the order in which their applications were received.

Nisha Ghatak

New Zealand eScience Infrastructure

What is your previous involvement with The Carpentries?

Executive Council Member.

What would you do as a member of the Board of Directors to contribute to the growth and success of the Carpentries community?

As a member of the Board of Directors for the Carpentries community, I will be deeply committed to advancing its growth and success. I believe that my diverse background and skill set can make a significant contribution in several key areas. As a current Executive Council member, I have gained insight into the structure and implementation of Governance policies within the organisation. I believe this has been an incredibly helpful learning curve as the experience enabled me to develop and execute strategic initiatives that align with the organisation’s goals, ensuring sustainable growth and impact. As a Board member, I’d actively engage in strategic planning, ensuring alignment with our 2020-2025 goals. I will foster collaboration, advocate for inclusivity, and leverage my network to secure resources. Additionally, I will prioritise transparency and accountability to drive the Carpentries community’s growth. My passion for promoting equity in digital skill development aligns perfectly with the Carpentries mission. I aspire to continue applying the knowledge I gain from my role within a national supercomputing facility and utilise my position as a Carpentries regional coordinator to effectively represent and address the needs of my community. I am enthusiastic about collaborating with my fellow Board members to drive the Carpentries community towards success in advancing data and computational literacy. I’m thrilled about the prospect of continuing the work I’ve undertaken with the Executive Council earlier in the year, further advancing our efforts to build a more robust global Carpentries community through enhanced diversity and inclusivity.

Which of the following experiences will you offer as a Board member for The Carpentries? Check all that apply.

• Governance and Personnel (i.e., creation and implementation of sound compensation, personnel policies and practices, and 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).

Jannetta Steyn

Newcastle University

What is your previous involvement with The Carpentries?

Certified Instructor and Trainer and taught at least two official workshops of The Carpentries in the past two years. Contributed to The Carpentries through participation on a Committee or Task Force, serving as a Maintainer, or otherwise making a significant contribution to any Lesson Program or The Carpentries in the past year. I lead the CarpentriesOffline sub-community.

What would you do as a member of the Board of Directors to contribute to the growth and success of the Carpentries community?

As an active member of the Carpentries community, I believe I’ll bring insight into the heart of the community. I am an Instructor, an Instructor Trainer, develop and maintain lessons, and also lead a sub-community, CarpentriesOffline (which supports instructors in low-resource environments). In less than 4 years, I have been an Instructor at 44 workshops and self-organised 34 workshops. As such, I believe I understand what the community wants, what they need, and the diversity of contexts and constraints within which Instructors work.

I am constantly improving my skills and experience in terms of both the technical and community underpinnings of The Carpentries. I was one of the early participants in the Lesson Development Course, and I have personally submitted multiple new Carpentries Lessons to the Incubator. I have taken a Community Manager course through the Centre for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement (CSCCE). I also have a background of management experience in a software engineering team, as well as many years of experience in evaluating new hires on a technical level, which would be of use in evaluating the Carpentries processes around effective and ethical recruitment.

I would be interested in improving metrics for programmatic outcomes, for example, through experimenting with more intensive quizzes as a source of feedback (which may also be helpful for attracting more funding and members). I have a particular interest in making The Carpentries better known internationally and would like to ensure that the Board strategically develops programs and services that attract new Member institutions.

Which of the following experiences will you offer as a Board member for The Carpentries? Check all that apply.

• Governance and Personnel (i.e., creation and implementation of sound compensation, personnel policies and practices, and 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).

View Jannetta’s Video

Mark Crowe

Skills Development Manager, QCIF

What is your previous involvement with The Carpentries?

Certified Instructor or Trainer and taught at least two official workshops of The Carpentries in the past two years. Contributed to The Carpentries through participation on a Committee or Task Force, serving as a Maintainer, or otherwise making a significant contribution to any Lesson Program or The Carpentries in the past year.

What would you do as a member of the Board of Directors to contribute to the growth and success of the Carpentries community?

I have represented the Carpentries Trainer community by serving on the Trainers Leadership Committee for the past three years, two of these as Chair. During this time, the Committee has supported the Core Team in delivering several major initiatives, including a status renewal scheme for Trainers and the recent significant changes to Instructor Checkout requirements. I will be stepping down at the end of my term this year and would like to contribute further towards the continued growth and success of The Carpentries.

In my day-to-day role, I coordinate and run an extensive program of Carpentries training, hosting 25 workshops and training nearly 1,000 learners in 2023 alone. I oversee a training team containing 21 Carpentries Certified Instructors, with at least 20 more Instructors who have trained with my group and now moved on to new roles elsewhere.

Over my career, I have served in a variety of senior management roles in academic, not-for-profit, and commercial settings, and have a strong background in strategy development and operational implementation, and in achieving business growth and increased service uptake. I have a long track record in research service roles, as well as having run my own business for nearly five years.

I believe my combination of management expertise, experience as an active Trainer and committee member, and extensive involvement in organising and delivering Carpentries workshops, gives me the skills to make a valuable contribution towards the work of the Board, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue supporting and enhancing The Carpentries work in a new capacity.

Which of the following experiences will you offer as a Board member for The Carpentries? Check all that apply.

• Finance (i.e., oversight of an annual budget).
• Governance and Personnel (i.e., creation and implementation of sound compensation, personnel policies and practices, and 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).

Paola Corrales

University of Buenos Aires

What is your previous involvement with The Carpentries?

Certified Instructor or Trainer and taught at least two official workshops of The Carpentries in the past two years. I have been part of the Trainers Leadership Team since 2022.

What would you do as a member of the Board of Directors to contribute to the growth and success of the Carpentries community?

In 2020, I started my journey as part of The Carpentries. That year, I became an Instructor and a Trainer and taught my first Instructor Training workshop completely in Spanish, where 19 of 20 participants finished their certification and became Instructors. Since then, I kept getting more and more involved with the community. I contributed to the translation of different lessons and terms into Spanish. I taught 3 Instructor Trainings in Spanish, and I am helping in the organisation of this year’s event. I actively collaborate in the development of materials in Spanish (demo videos on how to teach among other things). I also organise demos and community discussions in Spanish so trainees can finish their checkout process in their language, helping the community grow in the region. Since 2022, I’ve been part of the Trainers Leadership Team, supporting the work of the Trainers community.

I believe I have the necessary experience to be in this role as:

• I have extensive experience with strategic planning, finances, and fundraising for non-profits. I’m part of Expedición Ciencia, a non-profit based in Argentina, serving as a treasurer from March 2013 to March 2024. I’ve also been involved in the planning and execution of outreach activities for K-12 students, teachers, and the general public.
• I also have experience as a member and organiser of several communities of practice. Besides The Carpentries, I’m also part of R-Ladies, from 2017 to 2021, as organiser of the R-Ladies Buenos Aires chapter and now as part of the Global Team. I co-founded the LatinR conference and community in 2018, and I co-founded MetaDocencia in 2020 during the pandemic.
• I’m passionate about The Carpentries mission and vision as I’ve seen how it can improve the way we teach, learn, and nourish a community.

As I approach the end of my second year as part of the Trainers Leadership Team, I’m ready to continue contributing to The Carpentries in other ways. I’ve learned many things so far, and I hope to keep learning while contributing to this new role. If I am elected to the Board of Directors, I hope to:

• share my experience on the development and growth of non-profits and other communities,
• share my experience as a Trainer and Instructor in Latin America, and
• bring a different perspectives to the table while keeping an open mind and listening to the community.

Which of the following experiences will you offer as a Board member for The Carpentries? Check all that apply.

• Finance (i.e., oversight of an annual budget).
• Governance and Personnel (i.e., creation and implementation of sound compensation, personnel policies and practices, and 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).