Community-based Governance

NMIND governance is founded on community inspiration that leads to community impact, with Community Members contributing as key stakeholders throughout the decision-making process. The NMIND Governance Structure engages four(4) stakeholder groups: EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP, STRATEGIC COMMITTEE, DEVELOPMENT TEAMS, and the COMMUNITY.

What follows is a detailed breakdown of the Governance model develped by NMIND, which has been inspired by the European Open Science Cloud community.

Governance Model Illustration. The COMMUNITY is the foundation of NMIND, and determines needs of the field. The STRATEGIC COMMITTEE, built from community members, defines the vision. The EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP prioritizes and siphons responsibilities and deliverables among the development teams. The DEVELOPMENT TEAMS make contributions which go back into the COMMUNITY. The small "Banyan" element of the tree represents the give and take between all levels of NMIND, ensuring a cohesive plan.

Democratizing Decision Making Through Engagement

The engagement and decision-flow across these stakeholders is outlined in the Figure.

  • The COMMUNITY identifies needs
  • The STRATEGIC COMMITTEE distills needs and overarching themes for the EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
  • The EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP prioritize advancement of projects to address community needs, and distributes work among DEVELOPMENT TEAMS
  • DEVELOPMENT TEAM leaders work with the EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP and STRATEGIC COMMITTEE to set goals and provision resources.
  • DEVELOPMENT TEAMS, made up of COMMUNITY members, work towards the established objectives and contribute results back to the COMMUNITY.

Each of the layers of the NMIND Governance model can be further defined as:

  • The EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP translates the strategic vision into prioritized action plans with responsibilities and deliverables distributed to the relevant DEVELOPMENT TEAM(S). The EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP is responsible for designating, supporting and managing resources utilized in development.
    • The EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP will be a maximum of 5 members.
    • EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP members have deep experience in institutional research, team building, fundraising, leadership, and communication with policymakers and the community.
    • One member of the EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP will serve as a liaison on the STRATEGIC COMMITTEE. This member will either be fixed or rolling, based on scheduling and interest.
    • EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP term length ranges from 2–5 years.
    • Nominations for membership and selection will be clarified upon anticipated expiration of the Founding EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP team.
  • The STRATEGIC COMMITTEE, comprised of COMMUNITY members, will define and refine the vision and strategic objectives based on the perceived needs of the COMMUNITY.
    • The STRATEGIC COMMITTEE will be comprised of 6–10 "active" NMIND community members, with at least 40% representing early stage researchers.
    • Membership is through election following filtered nominations (self- or other)
    • STRATEGIC COMMITTEE members will be elected by COMMUNITY members with voting privileges.
    • One member of the STRATEGIC COMMITTEE will serve as a liaison on the EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP (either fixed or rolling, based on scheduling and interest).
    • STRATEGIC COMMITTEE term length is 2 years with an option for 1 year extension, to a maximum of 3 years.
  • DEVELOPMENT TEAMS share progress through open communication flow with the EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP, STRATEGIC COMMITTEE, and the COMMUNITY.
    • The EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP establishes 1–2 DEVELOPMENT TEAM leads and confirms progress towards milestones in objective metrics.
      • Team leads are self-nominated with EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP approval.
      • The DEVELOPMENT TEAM Lead term will expire upon milestone or project completion with option to extend to the next milestone or project.
    • The STRATEGIC COMMITTEE provides advice and guidance to facilitate achievement of strategic objectives based on ongoing engagement with the COMMUNITY.
    • The DEVELOPMENT TEAMS provide results and products directly back to the COMMUNITY.
      • DEVELOPMENT TEAMS are comprised of COMMUNITY members who are interested in contributing to and supporting the completion of milestones and projects.
  • COMMUNITY members can engage across each step of the planning and development lifecycle.
    • To propose new projects, they will share needs, goals, and possible paths forward to the STRATEGIC COMMITTEE in the form of structured proposals on the NMIND GitHub.
      • The Structure of proposals is presently deliberately flexible, and will be further restricted based on learned experience.
      • All proposals and projects will be public, and include instructions for how new members may engage with them.
    • To have voting privileges for STRATEGIC COMMITTEE selection, a COMMUNITY MEMBER is required to demonstrate participation in NMIND initiative discussions or monthly hackathons.