Board Meeting Minutes, June 2024
A meeting of the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) Board was held via video call on Wednesday 11th June 2024 from 18:30 - 20:30.
Board members who dialled in: Vanessa Barnett (VEB) (Chair), Helen Turvey (HT) (Vice Chair), Ira Bolychevsky (IB) , Tim Hubbard (TH), Johnny West (JW)
Observers: Renata Avila (RA) (CEO), Cassandra Woolford (CW) (DOF)
Guest: Edward Finch (EF) Buzzacott Accountants
Welcome & review of minutes & actions [Chair]
VEB welcomed everyone, and confirmed that the board minutes from the February meeting were approved.
Finance Update [CW]
CW provided the finance overview from YE2023, reporting on the outcome of the audit and the final closing position and requested sign off for the audited accounts. Final approval to take place via an email thread.
The budget, forecast and finance update for 2024 was reported on, with a detailed overview of budget lines in response to various questions raised.
An indepth narrative of the cashflow and finance position was delivered, as well as the status of expected future projects and the impact on the finance position of the organisation.
The board discussed the finance patterns of the organisation that have emerged over the last few years and the change in business and funding models and the impact of those changes. A board director who specialises in modelling suggested that we carry out modelling activities to provide an outline of those patterns and kindly offered support to map out the data, this suggestion was supported by the rest of the board directors. An exercise to understand where the money is coming from, would provide insight into where the gaps are and how OKFN should be funded. Currently the organisation is losing money and without core funding to support the activities that are not funded by clients, the current model is not sustainable.
Accountants update [EF]
EF reported on the YE2023 Accounts, pointing out that the Directors report narrative is above and beyond requirements but useful as a non profit organisation for external supporters to view our activities. The narrative provides a fair and balanced view of the organisation according to the numbers and includes everything required for legal reasons.
The accountants audit report is a legal opinion which explains how the audit carries out checks for fraud and irregularities and EF clarified that the judgement for going concern is the responsibility of the Board Directors.
The subject was raised about net zero and reporting requirements for the next few years, it was confirmed that there is currently no formal method for small business’.
The purpose of the post audit report is observations about the audit, and they are required to report on any worrying factors. The audit was clean and they found no factors that required reporting and confirmed that they consider the accounting policies appropriate. The change in VAT reporting resulted in a post audit VAT adjustment, which is highlighted in the report. The board thanked EF for attending the meeting and continued OKFN support and his team for the work delivered through the annual audits.
CEO Update [RA]
RA’s first update was confirmation of securing a Long Term Agreement with a client that OKFN has been engaged with for a long time and has spent considerable time cultivating the relationship, the result was positive and the LTA should enable OKFN to work with other agencies off the back of the LTA. It is valid for two years.
A small contract with a historical client was delivered, the client discovered a technical issue, OKFN diagnosed and provided the solution to fix the issue.
RA is planning with the tech team how we can grow and scale, ready for further service contracts.
The prototype pilot scheme of regional coordinators started and the team were onboarded. They will engage and have interaction with the network chapters, they will map and understand better the broad open knowledge panorama in the regions as well as activate and coordinate opportunities to bring more network members to the space. The scheme runs until March next year coinciding with Open Data Day 2025. It is hoped that the scheme will inject some renewed enthusiasm into the network and spark activities as well as help to establish what is needed and help bring new connections and alliances.
Open Knowledge Ghana was onboarded as a new chapter and the final team member was recruited for the Open Data Editor development. A diverse team who will execute the grant project until the end of the year.
Open Data Day 2024 was a huge success, but very difficult to fundraise for, many organisations want to be involved and the retrospective is very positive, however funds are limited and therefore the number of mini grants is shrinking. OKFN is currently providing match funding. A suggestion was to approach governments for ODD funding, RA agreed to share the list of stories as well as the list of potential funders that we are in dialogue with.
RA shared the Service packs for review and feedback and updated the directors on the partnership cultivation taking place which has resulted in a side event taking place alongside Wikimania in Poland at the start of August. The Network F2F also takes place during this time. Once the schedule is formalised it will be shared with the Board. This cultivation was fully supported by the board who expressed interest and excitement to know more.
Another initiative taking place is a series of webinars called OPEN GOES COP, a movement advocating for openness in the UN Climate Change Conferences.
It was suggested by a board director that OKFN reflects on its own behaviour and reporting in relation to these issues to ensure we have good hygiene practices.
OKFN is the cochair of the privacy expert group for Digital Public Goods Alliance. Fourteen different experts will be brought together to focus on the deployment of open infrastructure. The results will be published at the end of the year.
RA updated the directors with information surrounding core support challenges, who OKFN is engaging with and the relationships that are active. It was suggested that for the next meeting on the 11th September, a discussion takes place during the board meeting regarding AI recent developments and the desirable OKFN involvement.
It was also suggested a F2F takes place for the December board meeting due to take place on the 4th December 2024. Board directors present were favourable to the idea.