The OpenStreetMap US board has seen quite a few people come and go since it was founded in 2009. There are elections at the end of every calendar year, which always mark the departure of some board members, and the introduction of new voices. It is important for the board to always have that balance. The OSM US members have always provided this by electing new members as well as re-electing folks who bring continuity.
Usually, there are no changes in the configuration of the board between elections, but elected board members can step down, creating a vacancy. That just happened, which is why we say goodbye to Martijn van Exel, board member since 2011, and hello to Brian DeRocher, who was the runner-up in the last elections.
Martijn decided to step down to allow him to bring more focus to other things that are also benefiting the OSM community: his OSM related work at Telenav, as well as his work on the OpenStreetMap Foundation board. He will remain closely involved with OSM US as well as the State of the Map US organization. We wish Martijn all the best!
Brian decided to step up to bring a new perspective to the Board. He’s been mapping with OSM since 2009 in the Washington DC area. In 2012 he became the organizer of MappingDC. Brian intends to support local communities across the US and represent them on the Board.
