Coders for Humanity
⌘ Shared context. Human contribution.
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INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE

Authority with accountability.

A proposed governance structure for a public-interest institution. No board members or stewards have been appointed in this platform.

Roles and responsibilities

Roles establish responsibility for stewardship; they do not confer ownership.

  • Board: fiduciary oversight, institutional purpose, and conflicts of interest.
  • Institutional maintainers: platform operations, policy implementation, and security.
  • Program stewards: coordinate research and projects within a human problem area.
  • Project and technical maintainers: review, releases, documentation, and succession.
  • Domain advisors and reviewers: assess evidence, safety, accessibility, and technical quality.
  • Contributors: undertake agreed work and participate in transparent decisions.

Project acceptance

An acceptance decision should identify a public need, evidence, an appropriate license, maintainers, review capacity, operating resources, and success measures. Research may conclude that building software is not warranted.

Decision records

Record the context, options considered, decision, consequences, responsible reviewers, date, and any conflicts. Publish institutional and technical records, with a documented exception for private or security-sensitive details.

Conflicts, appeals, and change

Disclose relevant financial and organizational interests before decisions. A conflicted reviewer should recuse. Record objections and provide an appeal to unconflicted institutional stewards. Governance changes must be published with rationale and a review period.