Annual General Meetings/2025/Personnel committee's report

From OpenStreetMap Foundation

Personnel Committee – Annual Report 2025

Introduction

The Personnel Committee (PC) of the OpenStreetMap Foundation plays a central role in ensuring that the Foundation’s paid human resources are managed in a way that is clear, transparent, and consistent. This means closely monitoring contractors, supporting supervisors in their roles, and coordinating recruitment and hiring processes.

The Personnel Committee for 2024/25 is composed of Craig Allan, Adam Hoyle, Sarah Hoffman, Mikel Maron, Maurizio Napolitano, Héctor Ochoa Ortiz, and Dani Waltersdorfer, who together oversee the Foundation’s paid roles.

Throughout this year, the PC worked in close collaboration with the Board and with various Working Groups to ensure that contractors’ contributions were not only aligned with OSMF’s strategic goals but also well integrated with the volunteer-driven nature of the OpenStreetMap project. Communication and documentation – through GitLab, blog posts, and regular updates – remained the main tools for ensuring that this integration was effective.

Year in Review

In the last year the PC managed six key contractors. Their work spanned administrative support, maintenance of the Foundation’s technical infrastructure, improvements to OSM’s software, financial administration, and facilitation of communication across the technical community.

A turning point came with the support of the Sovereign Tech Fund (STF), which provided resources to strengthen OSM’s technical backbone. With STF support, the Foundation hired a Core Software Development Facilitator in April 2025 and opened recruitment for a new OSM Core Software Engineer in the summer. These hires marked an important step towards building sustainable technical capacity.

At the same time, the PC introduced new administrative rules to improve accountability, such as requiring all invoices to be submitted within 90 days. This change, while simple, was necessary to ensure better financial planning and oversight.

Contract Management

Contract management remained at the heart of the Personnel Committee’s responsibilities throughout the year. The contractors covered areas essential to the operation of the Foundation: infrastructure, software development, facilitation of technical processes, financial administration, and general administration.

  • Michelle Heydon, Financial Administration.

Michelle supported the processing of invoices and other financial administration tasks, helping to ensure smooth financial operations for the Foundation.

  • Dorothea Kazazi, Administrative Support.

Dorothea continued her vital role in administrative support, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations for the Board and the PC. She handled invoices and quotations, coordinated documentation of meetings, and managed internship applications.

  • Minh Nguyễn, Core Software Development Facilitator.

Appointed through STF funding, Minh quickly established himself in his new role. He conducted a listening tour to gather perspectives from developers, engaged with Working Groups to improve coordination, and launched regular updates and newsletters that improved visibility into OSMF’s technical work.

  • Paul Norman, Vector Tiles developer.

Paul oversaw the development and deployment of vector tiles, delivering one of the most visible milestones of the year: the launch of vector tiles on osm.org in July 2025. This achievement marked a significant step forward for the user experience and was well received by both the community and the Board.

  • Martin Raifer, maintainer of the iD editor.

Martin supported the continued development of one of the project’s most widely used tools. If you want to learn about current priorities and future developments, join one of the iD community meetings.

  • Grant Slater, System Administrator.

Grant continued to ensure the stability and resilience of the Foundation’s infrastructure. His work included responding to urgent issues and maintaining the systems that keep OpenStreetMap running.

  • Gregory Igelmund, Security Consultant – contract ended in 2024.

Gregory supported the Foundation by providing expertise on security-related matters, focusing on improving practices for system hardening and security policy. His contract concluded in 2024, and therefore he is no longer an active contractor. Correction (added after AGM):
This description was inaccurate. Gregory’s 2024 contract was for Development Work on the OSM website, which has since ended.

New Roles & Recruitment

The Sovereign Tech Fund not only enabled the hiring of a facilitator but also allowed OSMF to plan for deeper reinforcement of its technical capacity. In April 2025, Minh Nguyễn joined as Core Software Development Facilitator and immediately began to provide coordination and communication support. In the summer of 2025, the Foundation launched recruitment for the OSM Core Software Engineer, a position that will support the long-term sustainability of the project’s technical infrastructure. The process is ongoing and will determine one of the key roles for the Foundation’s future.

In parallel, the PC worked on improving recruitment procedures themselves. It updated its use of NDAs, clarified intellectual property rights considerations, and introduced onboarding checklists. These measures aimed to make future recruitment processes clearer, smoother, and more professional.

Oversight

DDuring this year the Personnel Committee placed strong emphasis on improving how contractors are monitored and supported. The aim was to make processes more consistent, transparent, and effective, so that both achievements and challenges could be addressed in a timely manner.

Several measures were introduced to achieve this. Regular one-to-one meetings between supervisors and contractors were encouraged - where deemed necessary, particularly when the workload was significant - ensuring a more direct and structured channel for dialogue. The Committee also worked on clearer reporting practices, so that progress could be tracked more systematically and compared against agreed objectives.

Key Challenges

During the year the Personnel Committee encountered several challenges that shaped its work. Invoicing emerged as a recurring issue, creating uncertainty in financial planning. This was addressed through the introduction of a clear 90-day invoicing policy, which has already contributed to more predictable processes. Another challenge was the concentration of system administration responsibilities on a single individual. This highlighted the importance of planning for additional capacity to ensure both continuity and resilience in critical infrastructure tasks. Finally, the balance between the contributions of paid contractors and the expectations of the volunteer community required careful attention. By reinforcing transparency and dialogue, the PC worked to ensure that the role of contractors is understood as complementary to community efforts.

Looking Ahead: Priorities & Plans

Looking ahead, the PC will focus on consolidating the oversight framework established this year and embedding it as standard practice. The recruitment and onboarding of the OSM Core Software Engineer will be a top priority, as this role is essential for the sustainability of OSM’s technical infrastructure. The Committee will also continue to strengthen onboarding and supervision for STF-funded positions, ensuring their effective integration. Another goal is to maintain and improve the visibility of contractor work, supporting trust and accountability across the community. In parallel, the PC will collaborate with the Board and the Engineering Working Group to develop a longer-term approach to human resource planning.

Summary & Next Steps

Over the past year, the Personnel Committee ensured continuity in contractor management, introduced improved administrative and oversight processes, and prepared the Foundation for future growth. The support of the Sovereign Tech Fund marked a turning point, enabling the creation of two strategic roles that will reinforce OSM’s technical foundation. The Committee strengthened its position as not only a contract management body but also a central actor for OSMF’s sustainability.

Highlights

  • Continuity maintained across all core contracts.
  • STF marked a turning point with two new strategic roles.
  • 90-day invoicing policy introduced for financial clarity.
  • Greater attention to resilience in system administration.
  • Oversight framework consolidated as standard practice.
  • PC confirmed as a key actor in OSMF’s long-term sustainability.
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