OWASP Global Board Elections

The OWASP Foundation was established in 2001 as an open community and software security resource. Since then, OWASP has grown to be globally recognized as a credible source for application security standards (see industry citations). Individuals typically find OWASP when searching the internet for information about software security - and they are happy to find a reliable source of knowledge built by an extremely open and passionate community. OWASP is open to anyone. Anyone can attend OWASP’s vendor agnostic local chapter meetings, participate in regional and global conferences, and contribute to the many OWASP projects. And anyone can start a new project, form a new chapter, or lend their expertise to help an OWASP Global Committee.

The OWASP Foundation Board of Directors currently consists of seven elected volunteers. These unpaid volunteers dedicate themselves to the organizational mission and playing a pivotal role in the software security community. OWASP conducts democratic elections of its Board Members to enable bottom-up advancement of its mission.

Recent Board Elections

General Election Timeline

  • Notify the current board member(s) whose term is up
  • Call for Candidates Opens
  • Submission for Questions From the Community for the Candidate Interviews
  • Email Reminder Call For Candidates
  • Email Reminder Call for Questions from the Community
  • Email Reminder Call For Candidates
  • Email Reminder Call for Questions from the Community
  • Email Reminder Call For Candidates
  • Email Reminder Call for Questions from the Community
  • Deadline for Call for Candidates Closes
  • Deadline for Questions from the Community
  • Verification of candidates
  • Candidates announced via email and social media
  • The 6-7 top questions from the community will be selected & shared with Candidates
  • Email Reminder Membership Required to Vote
  • Email Reminder Membership Required to Vote
  • Candidates to post their videos
  • Email/Social Media notifying the community the recordings are posted
  • Final Email Reminder Membership Required to Vote
  • Membership Deadline
  • Voting opens
  • Voting closes
  • Results shared with all candidates
  • Results shared via email and social media

Global Board of Directors’ Primary Responsibilities

The OWASP Foundation Board of Directors currently consists of seven elected volunteers who serve a two year term. These unpaid volunteers dedicate themselves to the organizational mission and playing a pivotal role in the software security community. Members of the Global Board of Directors are responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organization and ensuring the financial integrity of the Foundation.

Detailed information on meeting requirements, roles and responsibilities within the board, term limits, and elections is found in the OWASP Foundation Bylaws. The Board of Directors Code of Conduct and details of the orientation and on-boarding process are found on our Governance page.

Please reach out to our current Board Members if you’d like additional information on what it’s like to be a Global Board member at the OWASP Foundation.

Additional Responsibilities that the Global Board of Directors must adhere to can be found on the Foundation Governance page

Eligibility Requirements for Board Candidates

You need to be an OWASP individual member in good standing for a twelve (12) month period of time prior to the Membership Deadline above. See Section 3.02 Qualifications of the bylaws for more details.

Candidates are required to submit to the OWASP Foundation: a bio, current membership status, a brief description of why you feel you are the best candidate, and why you would like to be elected at the time of submission. After vetting as a formal candidate for the election, the Foundation will create a candidate page for you with these supplied details from the application form. You will be encouraged to record a short video of your answers to the community’s questions to be posted prior to mid September. Once recorded, please provide a link to the OWASP Foundation so they can be added to your candidate page.

If elected, successful candidates will need to become a paid member prior to taking their seat on the Board. We recommend obtaining sufficient paid membership, such as two year or Lifetime membership, to cover the entire elected term to avoid issues with good standing. See Section 4.02 Qualifications of the bylaws for more details.

If you are interested in running for a seat on the OWASP Global Board please submit your intention along with the requirements listed above. All submissions will be reviewed and verified by OWASP.

Who Can Vote?

OWASP Individual Members, Corporate Members, and Honorary Members registered as of the Paid Membership Deadline will have (1) vote per seat.

If you are not a member yet, we encourage you to join by the deadline, which is usually on or around September 30.

How to Vote?

Eligible voting members will receive an email to their registered email address from [email protected] with subject “BALLOT FOR OWASP [YEAR] Board Election”

This email will include a specific link for you to cast your vote. Please do NOT share this link with anyone.
It is a specific link JUST FOR YOU!

Additionally, eligible voting members will also receive an email from the OWASP Foundation notifying them that their ballot has been sent. In the instance that they did not receive a ballot they are asked to contact us.

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