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

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

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.

first term, ends October 2007

Marie Deatherage, Director

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.

First term, October 2005 - October 2006 (One year term)

Secretary, October 2005 - October 2006

second term, ends October, 2008

Wren N. G. Thornton, Chairperson

Current ASS, former volunteer. Web developer; Programmer; Student, Portland State University.

Geek of All Trades. Particular trades tend to cluster around art (graphic design, sketches, music), social sciences (anthropology, linguistics, psychology), computers (web design, programming), and points between.

first term, ends October 2007

Laurel Hoyt, Secretary

Former Free Geek Education Coordinator. Student, Portland State University.

First term, October 2005 - October 2006 (One year term)

Chairperson, October 2005 - October 2006

second term, ends October 2008

Aaron Burt, Director

Current volunteer.

first term, ends October 2007 (elected to fill Joe Buckmaster's vacated position)

Seamus Campbell, Treasurer

Current volunteer. Programmer.

first term, ends October 2007

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

Tim Collier, Director

CPA and itinerant bean counter

Tim also brings another "outside the volunteer pool" perspective to keep Marie company and we held a special mid term election to get him on board (January 2007).

first term, ends October 2008

Board Members Selected for 2006-2008 terms

Selection happened at the September 20, 2006 Community Council Meeting. Terms begin at the October Board meeting (currently scheduled for October 11)

Laurel Hoyt

(see above)

Marie Deathrage

(see above)

Jon Van Oast

(see above)

Aaron Burt

Filled in October of 2006. This is a one year term. This is for the remaining part of Joe Buckmaster's vacated position, ending in October of 2007.

Past Board Members

this is not a full list

• Bob Griggs, October 2005 - March 2006 (Director)
• Joe Buckmaster, October 2005 - August 2006 (Director)