Governing Board Elections 2026

Announcements are posted on our blog, our social channels, as well as in the Office of The Matrix.org Foundation room, the Office of the Governing Board room, and the Matrix News room.

We encourage you to read our membership page and announcements:

2026-04 Announcing the 2026 Governing Board elections

Read on for our election schedule and more information about the election process. This page will be continually updated over the course of the elections to list all of the nominees and eventually elected representatives.

What is the Governing Board

This page is focused on the 2026 election cycle. We encourage you to learn more about the Governing Board itself here.

Schedule

Announcement on Monday, 27th April
Nominations from Saturday, 2nd May to Friday, 15th May
Campaigning from Saturday, 16th May to Friday, 29th May
Voting from Saturday, 30th May to Friday, 12th June
Results announced on Monday, 15th June

Announcement (27th April)

We kickstarted the election process in a blog post announcing the schedule, eligibility, and conditions of the vote.

This year, we are running elections for the following constituency groups:

Guardians (in cycle)
Spec Core Team (in cycle)
Platinum (in cycle)
Ecosystem (in cycle)
Silver (out of cycle, both seats)
Individual (out of cycle, one seat)
Associate (out of cycle, one seat as the other one is filled)
Gold (out of cycle, one seat)

Nominations (2nd May)

You must be a member of one of the constituency groups in order to nominate yourself or someone else to be a candidate in the election within the same constituency.

All nominees must have consented to nomination before being nominated and must be a community member in good standing. That means they must have a clean track record with respect to our Code of Conduct. We want our Governing Board to be a clearing house for a variety of priorities and perspectives, and to be able to hold space for each other even when there are disagreements.

We will share a link to a nomination form and a template document on Friday, 1st May. We’ll be reaching out to everyone who is eligible and whose contact information we have to let them know. We’ll also be announcing it on our social channels.

All nominations should be submitted through the form, though anyone who has technical difficulties can fill out the template document and email it to [email protected].

We will publish all of the nominees, and other details, here on this page on May 16th.

If you want to be a candidate in the election, there are a few things you should know:

All candidates will be listed on our website, grouped by the constituency group.
We do not require people to use their “legal name.”
Candidates who are nominated by an organizational member will have their affiliation listed.
We expect candidates to provide a short bio and a short statement, collectively covering qualifications and priorities. Candidates may also provide a link to an extended statement or platform on their personal blog or website.
You are encouraged to make yourself available for conversation with members of your constituency group: campaigning rooms will be available for each constituency.
The period for campaigning runs from 16th May to 29th May. Please note our community Code of Conduct while campaigning.

For reference, you can find previous years' nominations in our election center pages.

Expectations: what to consider before accepting a nomination

You can familiarise yourself with the Terms of Reference, Bylaws, expectations and other processes on the Governing Board page of the website. Many current members of the Governing Board are also available for questions via the Office of the Governing Board Matrix room.

The Governing Board exists to support the project. The role of the Governing Board is to offer guidance and support to the Guardians, Foundation staff, and Spec Core Team: this can only be achieved if Governing Board members are actively involved.

A seat on the Governing Board of the Foundation is not an overseeing one, and there are some expectations. We have summarised them here, so please consider whether you are ready to fulfill them before signing up for a nomination.

All in all, we expect a GB member to spend a few hours a week on average in Governing Board activities, including Committee and WG involvement.

Campaigning (16th May)

The campaign period is an opportunity for candidates to share more about themselves and their priorities. We encourage candidates to engage with the rest of the ecosystem, and in particular those who are part of the same constituency group.

We have a dedicated Matrix space with rooms for candidates and constituents to communicate with one another:

Voting (30th May)

All members of each constituency group are entitled to vote on the candidates within that constituency group. We will be reaching out to everyone we have contact information for, to ensure we have our voter rolls together before voting begins at the end of May. Anyone who has signed up to be a member to one of the constituencies before 15th May is eligible to vote for it.

We will hold an election in each of the constituencies that are up for election this year, even if a given constituency has fewer candidates than there are seats allocated for them on the Governing Board. This is, effectively, a vote of confidence.

If you believe you are eligible to participate but have not heard from us or OpaVote – the election system we have chosen for this year’s elections – by 23rd May, please email us promptly. We cannot change our voter rolls after voting begins on 30th May!!

All of the candidates will be listed below starting 16th May.

Results (15th June)

Congratulations!
All of the winners will be announced on 15th June, but since the elections conclude on 12th June, you may get an email with the results of the election you participated in before 15th June.

All elected representatives will be added to a private mailing list, Discourse forum, shared calendar and of course Matrix room so that they can introduce themselves and communicate in between meetings. I will be reaching out to every elected representative to meet one-on-one, get acquainted, and answer questions before we convene for their first Governing Board meeting.

Elected representatives

All of the winners will be announced here on 15th June.

Nominees

All of the candidates will be listed here starting 16th May.