The TOC would have 12 seats, each having a two year term
- 6 elected by the FINOS Governing Board
- 6 elected by the existing TOC members
Nominations are encouraged from both the community and the Governing Board. Nominees must either be active contributors or an employee of a member organisation.
Candidates are expected to be:
- Engaged, and active - committing time to both formal meetings and various other activities. They should actively engage with FINOS Projects.
- Knowledgeable and professional
- Active advocates for FINOS
- Neutral - first-and-foremost representing the needs of the members
- Be present - at a minimum they are expected to prioritise and attend the TOC meetings.
- Serve a 2 year term on the TOC
A TOC member publicly opens candidacies by sending a notice using the email template provided here.
Similarly to Governing Board elections, the voting process is carried out by FINOS staff using the Linux Foundation Project Control Center Voting feature, utilizing a ranked-choice Instant Runoff process for single winners or Meek STV when electing multiple winners.
If there are both Board and TOC elected seat open, the voting process will follow this order:
- The FINOS Governing Board vote is conducted based on the full pool of candidates
- Following this, the TOC vote to conducted to fill the remaining seats based on the remaining pool of candidates
The Governing Board vote is conducted via the member voting contacts, with one vote per member.
In case an existing TOC member submits their candidacy for a second term, the member is allowed to vote in the election during TOC voting.
The TOC elects a Chair (serving a 2 year term or until the end of their TOC membership), who will have a seat on the Governing Board. It is their responsibility to act as a liaison between the TOC and GB, and manage the TOC activities effectively.
When a Chair finishes their term, they must nominate a replacement Chair. The rest of the TOC members must agree via a "silent consensus" on the TOC public list (if there are no objections, the nominee assumes the role of Chair).
The same process is followed for a Vice Chair, who nominates their own replacement.
In the event that the Chair seat is not occupied, the nomination will be made by FINOS Staff. If the Vice Chair seat is not occupied, the nomination will be made by the sitting Chair.
In the case there is an objection to a nominee any TOC member can nominate a candidate (including self-nominate) and voting process is held.
There is a minimum participation threshold for TOC members, with the expectation that they attend at least 50% of the scheduled TOC meetings, over a rolling quarter. If a member fails to meet this threshold, it triggers a discussion with the Chair, who will use their discretion to determine whether that member should release their seat, by making a recommendation to the GB.
TOC elections happen at most twice per calendar year (e.g. Q1 and Q3). Note, the composition of 6 seats filled via Governing Board vote and 6 via TOC vote is maintained through the aforementioned voting process, with the exact number of seats being determined based on vacancies.