Deb Nicholson to Join Open Source Initiative as Interim General Manager

[Deb Nicholson]

URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2020/aug/20/debleaving/


Deb Nicholson has been serving as our Director of Community Operations
for just over two years and is now leaving to Conservancy to take on
the role of Interim General Manager at the [Open Source Initiative](
https://opensource.org/)(OSI). Although Deb will no longer be on our
staff, she'll remain part of the Conservancy community, most formally
as a volunteer on our Evaluation Committee that reviews applications
from potential new member projects.

In the two years since she became the [Director of Community
Operations](
https://sfconservancy.org/news/2018/may/01/deb-nicholson-director-community-operations/
), Deb has helped Conservancy welcome six new member projects, put on
two Copyleft Confs, run two fundraising seasons and contributed over 50
posts to our blog.

"Deb has been an important part of Conservancy's growth and successes
over the last two years. While it's hard to imagine Conservancy without
Deb, we look forward to many more collaborations with OSI and are
thrilled to see her step into this important role. I'm happy knowing
that we will continue collaborating towards the betterment of the
software freedom movement across organizations." said Karen Sandler,
Conservancy's Executive Director.

Deb added, "It's been fantastic being part of Conservancy's day-to-day
work and part of the conversation around its plans for the future. As
our relationship to technology becomes ever more deeply entwined, I'm
proud to have been part of the work to empower users here at
Conservancy and look forward to following the organization's progress
as both a Conservancy volunteer and FOSS colleague."

OSI and Conservancy are organizational allies in the promotion of
software freedom. Last year, Conservancy [became an affiliate member of
OSI](https://sfconservancy.org/news/2019/mar/14/joiningOSI/), and in
matters that affect the global free and open source software
communities that both orgs care deeply about, the two non-profits will
continue to work together. Conservancy wants to congratulate both OSI
and Deb on their decision to join forces.

Josh Simmons, Open Source Initiative's President says,"We're thrilled
to welcome Deb as an Interim General Manager at OSI. Her credentials
are top notch, and she's well respected within the free and open source
software communities... I couldn't ask for a better partner as OSI
works through its second major transformation! Deb's roots in the
software freedom community and at Conservancy bode well for our
movements as we strive to present a more unified front to advance our
shared goals."

-- 
Deb Nicholson <deb at sfconservancy.org>
Software Freedom Conservancy