CHARTER.md

SPIFFE Steering Committee Responsibilities and Charter

The SPIFFE Steering Committee (or SSC) is a group of volunteers that oversee the strategic direction and growth of all projects falling under the SPIFFE umbrella. It is the only group that presides over the full spectrum of SPIFFE-related work - a posture necessary for SSC success. For our purposes, we define any software project residing in the SPIFFE GitHub organization as falling under the SPIFFE umbrella.

This document defines the SSC mission and charter, as well as the responsibilities of members of the SSC.

Mission

To ensure the long-term success of SPIFFE by providing leadership, guidance, and communication channels to SPIFFE project users, maintainers, and contributors.

Charter

• Actively engage with the SPIFFE community (users, contributors, and maintainers) to ensure that their needs are being met
• Curation of the scope and set of projects under the SPIFFE/SPIRE umbrella
• Define, track, and publicize progress against yearly goals for the SPIFFE projects and community
• Define, evolve, and promote the non-technical vision/mission and values of the SPIFFE projects
• Define and evolve the SPIFFE project governance, SSC role and structure, and code of conduct as needed
• Receive and handle reports about code of conduct violations and maintain confidentiality
• Act as the final escalation point and decider for any disputes or issues within the SPIFFE projects

SSC Member Responsibilities

• Act as SPIFFE project ambassadors both within the cloud native community and the industry at large
• Be generally available for SPIFFE community members, maintainers, and contributors
• Attend all SSC calls and meetings
• Faithfully uphold the SSC charter, acting in the best interest of the SPIFFE projects
• Abide by the SPIFFE and CNCF Code of Conduct

SSC Seat Election and Term

The SSC comprises five seats, each of which carry a two year term. All seats are equal in their capacity and requirements. Terms are staggered to avoid a majority churn in any one election cycle.

SSC seats are assigned to individuals and not companies. Incumbents retain their SSC membership in the event that their affiliation changes. If the affiliation change results in a violation of the corporate diversity policy as defined by the SPIFFE project governance, then a vacancy shall be forced. All incumbents must disclose their affiliation.

Election and Term Mechanics

Elections shall take place once every six months. SPIFFE community members and contributors demonstrating active engagement in the project(s) are invited to both nominate and vote on new SSC members. For the purpose of SSC seat nomination and election, active engagement is defined as:

• Any individual that has opened a GitHub Issue or PR against a SPIFFE project in the last 12 months
• Any individual holding an official project seat (e.g. project maintainers) at the time of the election
• Any individual that has attended the majority of calls held for any given Special Interest Group (SIG) in the last 6 months

The definition of active engagement is purposefully a loose one, and it is recognized that the bar may be met without adhering to the spirit of the rule. As such, individuals who meet the requirements in letter but not in spirit may, at the discretion of the SSC, not be invited to nominate or vote in any given election.

Conversely, it is also recognized that the stated definition is not perfect, and that there may be individuals with contributions to the community and/or projects that do not meet these requirements. The SSC is happy to consider such cases, and will make exceptions when fit. Please email ssc@spiffe.io for more information.

Each voting community member may choose up to two nominees per seat, and cast one ranked vote. The process to elect a new seat is as follows:

• 21 days prior to election: a call for nominations is distributed to each voting community member
• 14 days prior to election: call for nominations close
• 7 days prior to election: a ballot is distributed to each voting community member
• 0 days prior to election: ballots are counted, and results announced

Nominee Qualification

SSC nominees must meet a minimum set of qualifications before they're eligible to appear on the election ballot. Each nominee will be evaluated by the existing SSC members for eligibility, wherein a nominee must receive support from a majority of the SSC to be considered eligible. Prior to ballot distribution, nominees will be contacted by an SSC member (or a representative thereof) to discuss the qualification criteria and ensure that the nominee is willing to serve a full term. The SSC nominee qualification criteria are as follows:

• Nominee must commit that they have the available bandwidth to make the time to invest in the SSC and carry out their duties
• Nominee must be able to operate neutrally in discussions and put the goals and success of the SPIFFE projects in balance with the interests of any affiliation they may carry
• Nominee must thoroughly understand the problem space and the goals of the SPIFFE project
• Nominee must demonstrate experience and seniority sufficient to access additional staff or community members to assist in their SSC preparations

There is no term limit. Existing SSC members are eligible for nomination and re-election at the end of their term.

SSC Right to Amend

The election process described in this document is intended to meet the needs of the SPIFFE project and community in a way that is concise and lightweight. It is not intended to be a legal document in which every eventuality is accounted for - project and community members are expected to act in good faith. As such, the SSC reserves the right to modify or alter this process, as they see fit and through a majority vote, in response to any perceived abuse.