My journey with the OpenStack project has been a very rewarding one. I have had the good fortune of meeting some wonderful people and being part of a very dynamic and vibrant community. I am the founder and the lead organiser of the OpenStack Indian User Group. I am also an OpenStack Ambassador, one of the few people around the world nominated into the post by the OpenStack Foundation. I have also been elected by the OpenStack community as an Individual Director to the OpenStack Board of Directors for two consecutive terms. I take these roles very seriously and do my best to live up to responsibilities that come with them.
The community has been kind enough to nominate me again as a candidate for this years Board of Directors Election. This is a great honour for me and a very humbling experience. I would welcome the opportunity to represent my community and my region again at the OpenStack Board of Directors. I feel that the Asian region generally, and India specifically, are under represented. India has one of the largest user communities in the OpenStack ecosystem. Due to the community support I have been able to highlight several key issues at the Board and with the Foundation. I have been critical in ensuring diversity and inclusivity are given due importance. I hope to continue to represent the user community at the Board. My experience in working with the Board for the past two years has taught me a lot about the need for open and transparent governance. I have also realised there is an unwavering need for inclusivity within the ecosystem. I find that the project stands at a crossroads and the right vision, leadership are required to ensure that OpenStack remains relevant in the ever changing IT ecosystem. I hope the community places their trust in me again to provide that leadership.
I have worked hard to ensure that the Indian community gets the correct exposure to the right mentoring and to that end I have organised several OpenStack Days in India. Last year’s OpenStack Days were a great success with representatives from the PTLs and the OpenStack Foundation in attendance. I hope I can keep organising these days and other events in India to keep providing the local community with the correct exposure.
Finally, I would also like to remind the voters that this is an election of the directors selected from amongst the individual members. Most of the companies that support the OpenStack Foundation have already or are in the process of voting in Board members along company lines to represent their interests. I would urge the voters to not vote for their employers but to vote in true democratic fashion: for who they think would best represent the interest of the individual members and their region.
Thanks,
Kavit Munshi
