Board of Directors

Free Geek's 501(c)(3) status requires that we have a board of directors. And that carries with it certain implications, not the least that the BOD is responsible for seeing that decisions are responsible and in the best interest of the corporation. Which also implies that the BOD would have the right/responsibility to last word on any decisions made by Council. There has been an active discussion on the purpose and makeup of the Board.

Active projects

• Obtaining and preserving documentation from previous incarnations of the Board
• Creating Board Orientation materials, including a New Director Agreement to detail the responsibilities of board members
• Working on a Sample Conflict of Interest Policy

Board Meetings

There is a Meeting Template that may be used when setting up a new Board Meeting. (Remember to copy commitments from the previous meeting's minutes.)

• January 11, 2006
• April 18, 2006
• July 12, 2006
• October 11, 2006 - Annual meeting
• January 10, 2007
• April 10, 2007
• July 10, 2007
• October 10, 2007
• January 9, 2008
• April 9, 2008
• July 9, 2008
• October 8, 2008

Occasionally the board will have to make decisions via email: our policy on that is outlined here.

Current Board Members

Board members are elected to two year terms, except where indicated. (When the board re-formed in October 2005, half of the positions were for one year terms to implement staggering of terms.)

Oso Martin, Director

Founder, original incorporator of Free Geek. Former member of staff collective, as Outreach Coordinator.

second term, ends October 2009

Interim Chairperson, July 2007 - October 2007

Marie Deatherage, Chair

Director, Communication & Learning, Meyer Memorial Trust; current volunteer.

Marie (aka Maria Deathstar) aspires to be a geek, but she's only a wannabe at this point. However, she loves Free Geek with all her heart so we pretend like we think she's a geek. A journalist, a geography professor, and a disability rights advocate in former lives, Marie is especially interested in helping Free Geek become better known among people who have the capacity to give money to geeks. Marie wants to be a documentary filmmaker when she grows up.

Initially elected September 2005

Secretary, October 2005 - October 2006

Chair, October 2007 - present

Third term, October 2008 - October 2010

Laurel Hoyt, Secretary

Former Free Geek Education Coordinator; current volunteer. Researcher, Post-Carbon Institute.

Initially elected September 2005

Chairperson, October 2005 - October 2006

Secretary, October 2006 - Present

Third term, October 2008 - October 2010

Seamus Campbell, Treasurer

Current volunteer. Programmer. Xymurgist. Former Free Geek Education-Coordinator Coordinator.

second term, ends October 2009

Treasurer, October 2005 - October 2007

Chair, October 2007 - July 2009

Treasurer, July 2009 - present

Jon Van Oast, Director

Current volunteer. Programmer, code-mercenary.

In order to avoid having to fix bugs in the DOS-based SMTP gateway he wrote for a Novell network, coupled with the fact that perl4 in DOS was frustrating him, Jon built his first linux box in 1992. It ran for 2 years hidden above the acoustic ceiling tiles in sub-basement level B of the university medical center where Jon worked. It ran for 4 more years there after he left, until he showed up in the middle of the night on a trip back home and took it with him back to Portland. Now you know how he and linux fell in love.

first term, ends October 2008

Anne Glazer, Director

Intellectual Property Attorney

A geek about Free Geek. Crypto-hippie. In her spare time, Anne likes to collect, sort, cut and fold used paper.

first term, ends October 2010

Curt Pederson, Director

(bio needed)

Curt Pederson comes to us from the OSU Open Source Labs and is the CIO for the Oregon University system.

first term, ends October 2009

Past Board Members

this is not a full list

• Bob Griggs, October 2005 - March 2006
• Joe Buckmaster, October 2005 - August 2006
• Wren Ng Thornton, October 2005 - August 2007
• Aaron Burt, October 2006 - October 2007
• Tim Collier, ??? - October 2008