Ambassadors project structure

This page exists to explain the structure and organization of the Ambassadors sub-project within the Fedora Project

Definitions

 * Ambassador is a member of the Ambassadors Group in the Fedora Account System (FAS). See https://admin.fedoraproject.org/accounts/. More pragmatically, an Ambassador serves the purpose of being a representative of Fedora.


 * Fedora Ambassadors Steering Committee (hereafter "FAmSCo") is the governing body of Fedora Ambassadors Project (hereafter Ambassadors Project).


 * Ambassadors Membership Administrator is the person, nominated by FAmSCo, are responsible for maintenance and overseeing Ambassador FAS membership, Ambassadors FAS Sponsors and Ambassadors Mentors in accordance with directives issued by FAmSCo.


 * Region - Fedora has divided the world into geographical regions to push responsibility and authority out. Currently those regions are Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM), and North America (NA).


 * Regional Leadership - Leadership appointed or elected by the geographical regions that direct the happenings going on in the region, provide budget oversight, and generally get things done


 * Mentor - An Ambassador who the has been nominated by Mentors in their region, and approved by FAmSCo to mentor potential and new Ambassadors.

Composition
FAmSCo is composed by seven (7) members elected annually from around the globe. Following the election rules, a Chair and Vice-Chair are elected.

Duties and functions

 * 1) organizes the general structure of Ambassadors project;
 * 2) distributes resources globally;
 * 3) organizes global initiatives;
 * 4) coordinates membership management and the mentoring initiative.
 * 5) promotes the cohesion between Ambassadors and Regions;
 * 6) nominates the Ambassadors Membership Administrator;
 * 7) promotes the diffusion of the Fedora Project's principles.
 * 8) resolve any disputes brought before it

The other functions, if not required by the situation, are managed by the regional leadership.

Ambassadors Membership Administrator
To deal with the large influx of Ambassador membership related administrivia, FAmSCo routinely appoints several Ambassadors to serve as Membership Administrators. These individuals have been delegated the responsibility of handling membership details on behalf of FAmSCo.

Regional Leadership
Each region, due to geographical and cultural differences, largely manages activities and budget within it's region. Some regions have a highly structured local organization, while others are more ad hoc. Leadership, whether de facto, elected or appointed is responsible to transparently operate within the community.

Mentors
Realizing the tremendous learning curve that is present upon becoming an Ambassador and the requirement that Fedora's guiding principles be properly represented, FAmSCo setup a process whereby potential Ambassadors are teamed with established mentors to ensure they have the requisite knowledge and experience to begin working effectively. Mentors are given wide leeway in determining if applicants are to be approved.

Ambassadors
Ambassadors are the representatives of Fedora to the public, and the larger F/LOSS community. Ambassadors have the purpose of ensuring that those audiences understand Fedora's principles, and know of the work that Fedora is doing. Additionally Ambassadors are responsible for helping to grow the contributor base, and to act as a liaison between other F/LOSS projects and the Fedora community.