October 2023 – GNOME Foundation

Registration Now Open for GNOME Asia 2023

Registration is now officially open for GNOME Asia 2023! This year’s summit will take place from December 1-3, 2023, in the vibrant city of Kathmandu, Nepal, and online.

GNOME Asia 2023 promises an exciting lineup of presentations and workshops focusing on the latest developments in the GNOME ecosystem and the GNOME Asia community. Attendees will be able to participate in person at our venue in Kathmandu or join virtually from all over the world.

This year’s conference will have two keynote presentations. The first is from Justin Flory, an advocate for open source software and community engagement, and the second is from Ravi Bhattarai, a technological enthusiast with a passion for free and open source software.

The full conference schedule is available on the event website with details about each session and speaker.

Registration is open to everyone, whether you’re a seasoned developer, a newcomer to the open-source community, or simply someone curious about the latest developments in GNOME. We look forward to seeing you in person and online on December 1-3!

Register Now

Become a GNOME Asia 2023 Sponsor!

We’re still looking for sponsors for this year’s summit. If you or your company are interested in sponsoring GNOME Asia 2023, please find more details and our sponsorship brochure on the event website or reach out to asia@gnome.org.

A Letter from our Executive Director

Hello, GNOME community! I am ecstatic to be joining the GNOME Foundation as the organization’s new executive director. I have been searching for a leadership position with a creative, forward-thinking, revolutionary nonprofit. My main goal was to find a place where I could apply my 32 years of nonprofit management and fundraising experience to advance a great mission, and I know I have found the right place—the right home—in GNOME.

I’m entering the GNOME community as a humble newcomer, with an open mind and a desire to learn from all of you. At the same time, I also bring lots of knowledge and experience to strengthen the GNOME Foundation so it can advance its mission effectively and have even more impact. I have an extensive and wide-ranging background in nonprofit management and fundraising. I worked for 25 years as a documentary film producer and filmmaker. I am an artist through and through. I also have lots of practical nonprofit organizational experience.

In addition, I am a passionate champion of democracy, collaboration, creativity, openness, and human unity. I also have direct experience with the open source world—from a biotechnology vantage point—from my time as the executive director of the BioBricks Foundation, an international science nonprofit whose mission is ensuring bioengineering is done in an open and ethical manner, and which developed open source legal tools and open source data-sharing for bioengineers. I am a fervent believer in open source!

I am impressed by the international reach of the GNOME community and the diversity of the individuals involved in creating all of this amazing output. Together, you have created something so powerful that can be further harnessed to create even more social benefit. I see many opportunities for the GNOME community to do even more incredible work, create even more products, solve even more problems, and leverage GNOME as a tool for social justice and human evolution at a pivotal time for all of us.

Now that I have shared a little bit about myself and my excitement about joining the GNOME Foundation, I invite you to reach out to me to introduce yourself, tell me about your passion for GNOME, and share your ideas for what the GNOME community needs at this point in its journey. I look forward to our collaboration!

Join us for a meet and greet with Holly!

Please join us online for a meet and greet with Holly on November 14th at 18:00 UTC (10:00 AM PST)! This is a fantastic opportunity to get to know our new Executive Director, hear about her vision for the Foundation, and ask questions. Please let us know if you plan to join the meet and greet by registering online: https://events.gnome.org/e/HollyMillion.

To ensure that Holly addresses as many questions as possible, we ask you to submit yours in advance. To submit your questions please visit https://events.gnome.org/event/172/surveys/81.

We look forward to chatting with you on November 14th!

Register Now

GNOME Foundation Welcomes Holly Million as Executive Director

We are thrilled to announce a significant milestone for the GNOME Foundation as we welcome Holly Million to our team as the new Executive Director. Holly is a multi-talented individual with a diverse background in nonprofit leadership, filmmaking, teaching, public speaking, and writing. Her commitment to empowering individuals to make a positive impact aligns perfectly with the values and goals of the GNOME Foundation.

“Holly’s unique blend of passion for empowering individuals and organizations and depth of experience fundraising at a diverse set of non-profits is precisely what the GNOME Foundation is looking for as we enter this new chapter.”
Jonathan Blandford
GNOME Foundation Hiring Committee

Holly brings three decades of invaluable experience in nonprofit management, having served as a consultant, director of development, executive director, and board member for numerous organizations. Notably, she founded the nonprofit organization Artists United, dedicated to empowering individual artists and fostering collaboration across artistic disciplines for the collective good. Additionally, Holly served as the Executive Director of the BioBricks Foundation, an international, open-source biotechnology nonprofit.

Holly holds a Master of Arts in Education from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Harvard University. Her academic background, combined with her extensive professional journey, equips her with a unique perspective that will undoubtedly contribute to the growth and success of the GNOME Foundation.

“I am impressed by the international reach of the GNOME community and the diversity of the individuals involved in creating all of this amazing output. Together, you have created something so powerful that can be further harnessed to create even more social benefit.”
Holly Million
GNOME Foundation Executive Director

We are confident that Holly’s visionary leadership and wealth of experience will guide the GNOME Foundation to new heights. Her passion for fostering self-sufficiency and empowering individuals to create positive change aligns seamlessly with our mission to create a free and open source desktop environment for all.

“We are delighted to welcome Holly to the GNOME Foundation. With her experience managing nonprofits, and passion for working with diverse communities of creators and technologists, she can strengthen the Foundation’s unique position as a partner and collaborator at the heart of the GNOME community. And, as an experienced communicator and fundraiser, she can tell our story to the outside world and position the Foundation in the wider ecosystem of nonprofits to raise the profile and impact of our incredible work.”
Robert McQueen
GNOME Foundation Board President

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Holly Million as she takes on the role of Executive Director. We look forward to working together under her guidance to continue advancing the GNOME Foundation’s mission and creating a vibrant, accessible computing experience for users worldwide.

Exciting times lie ahead for the GNOME community, and we are grateful to have Holly Million leading the way.