Hi 👋, I’m Amanda McCann, I’m an current OSMF Board Member, and I’d like you to vote №1 to re-elect me to the OSMF Board. 🙂 Here’s my manifesto.

So who am I?

I’m a (craft) mapper. I’ve loved maps for a long time, and hence was drawn to OSM. I try to edit every day, and I’m doing pretty well that way. hdyc tells me I have mapped 2,700 days. For the last several years, I have mapped for 300+ days per year. I love the term “craft mapper”. I view my mapping contributors to OSM with pride, like a craftsperson of old would look at their work.

We must remember what’s important. If you don’t like maps, what are you even doing here? A board member that keeps mapping will be more aware of what most OSMers are experiencing, and will have insight into what is important, what’s easy, what’s hard, for lots of OSMers. That will make them a better OSMF Board members. OTOH I do lots of contributions which cannot be included in my OSM edit count.

I’m a hacker. I’ve been using linux for 15+ years. I’m a free software programmer. Computers & the internet are wonderful tools for the good in the world. We can use them to make our lives & our society better. You should be able to understand the computing machines around you, and to control them and make them better. In my day job I’m a regular sysadmin for the small OSM consultancy company Geofabrik, so I’ve installed lots of OpenStreetMap software & map styles. I’m pretty good at writing bash scripts, and I can write long PostgreSQL queries to work with your OSM data.

I’m a queer trans woman. I came out as trans & transitioned in mid-2021. (So you might see references to my old name, which started with “R”). Everyone in OSM has been wonderfully supportive about this. Honestly, it’s surreal how anti-climactic it has been in the OSM space. OSM is pretty cool. I founded the RainbOSM telegram group. for LGBTQ+ people & allies in OSM. I guess sometimes OSMers can adjust to a new tagging scheme quickly.

I don’t like “leadership” or “hierachy”. I think all OSMers are equal. While there are issues with the term “do-ocracy” in practice, the theory is very good. If you do the work, you have a right to decide how that work is done. If you don’t do the work, you don’t get to make decisions for other people. This is important for the OSMF Board. There are no legions of OSMF employees who will implement your clever policies. If you come up with an idea, you have to implement it yourself. Roll up your sleeves and do the work yourself, and organise with other OSMers to help you do things together. All well meaning OSMers should feel empowered to make OSM better.

The OSMF has a duty to “support the OSM project”. I view a board member’s role like a gardener, or forester; caring for & tending to the garden/forest. But unable to “direct” it explicitly. I don’t think you can tell a tree how to grow. OSMF should try to provide material support when needed (e.g. “hosting” SotM, which gives people a chance to talk about tagging issues, and hosting mailing lists for this discussion are 2 ways of doing that). A gardener has to weed the garden, and buy fertilizer. You can plant certain things, and see if they grow. That’s how I view being on the board of directors.

I’m on the Communication Working Group, and am responsible for the OSM sticker programme. I also set up the En.OSM.Town Fediverse/Mastodon server.

I’ve been on the board for 2 years now. I’ve attended nearly every meeting we’ve had, and I’ve written 11,000 words on my OSM diary of what I do in OSM every month. I try to ensure the OSMF operates transparently, and properly by following our Rules of Order, and ensuring board members get a vote on things. I think this is good for the Foundation.

If you re-elect me, I’ll keep doing that sort of work for OSMF. You can find me on twitter @lalonde mastodon @amapanda@en.osm.town, IRC (am{ap}anda on OFTC), a.mᵃᵖ.anda (or a.mᵃᵖ.thonk) on Discord. If you want to talk anymore, just find me there, or email me: amanda@technomancy.org

This is copied from the OSMF AGM page with all manifestos, where you can also read all my answers to the official curated questions.