Creative Commons is delighted to welcome Cable Green as the organization’s interim Chief Executive Officer. As we recently announced, Ryan Merkley has stepped down after five years of service as CEO to start a new position at Wikimedia. We are thankful to Ryan for his leadership at CC and excited for him and the Commons that he will continue as a leader in the open knowledge community.

Interim CEO Cable Green has been a key member of the Creative Commons staff for the past eight and a half years. As CC’s Director of Open Education, he has been one of the world’s most effective advocates for open licensing policies, and has worked extensively with the global open education community to improve access to effective open educational resources. Cable will continue to spearhead our efforts to advance open education as he takes on this new interim leadership role at CC.

The rest of the Creative Commons board of directors and I are very grateful to Cable for stepping into this new role. He is the perfect person to lead CC during this crucial transition period. He knows and understands the organization, the community, and the important work we do better than anyone. We couldn’t be more confident in him and the rest of the CC staff.

We are also excited to announce that we have launched a CEO search process to identify our next permanent CEO. This process will include outreach to the global Creative Commons community for insights about the future of CC and its leadership.

The Commons is ever-changing and resilient. It is my great honor to cultivate it along with Creative Commons staff, our global network, and supporters.

Share alike, friends!

Molly Van Houweling
Creative Commons Board Chair

The post CC Names Cable Green as Interim CEO appeared first on Creative Commons.

Creative Commons gets letters and phone calls and emails from all around the world. People write to share their work, call to get advice on how to use the licenses, and email to complain and to say thank you. Recently, we got a series of hand-written letters from a number of students in a US-based 5th-grade class, including this one:

We get letters. "I want to congratulate you on the drastic changes you've made to The People's Republic of Copyright. As a 5th grader, what can I do to help?"

Clearly we have to make People's Republic of Copyright t-shirts. pic.twitter.com/njwOz7UX7k

— Ryan Merkley (@ryanmerkley) June 10, 2019

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“I want to congratulate you on the drastic changes you’ve made to The People’s Republic of Copyright. As a 5th grader, what can I do to help?”

The Wikipedia article on “Republic” says, “A republic (Latin: res publica, meaning “public affair”) is a form of government in which the country is considered a “public matter”, not the private concern or property of the rulers.”

The commons is definitely a “public matter,” and we thought the idea deserved a little creative expression. As some of you may know, today is my last day as CEO at CC, and as a bit of a parting gift, CC’s Creative Director Eric Steuer and I collaborated with Toronto designer Cat Wood to turn the letter into a t-shirt. Available in grey, blue, and red.

In Solidarity,
Ryan Merkley
Former CEO, Creative Commons
Citizen, The People’s Republic of Copyright

The post New CC T-Shirt Inspired by a Letter from a 5th Grader appeared first on Creative Commons.

Over the past year, we’ve expanded our tech team at CC, welcoming four new staff members to help support the global commons through CC’s licenses and tools. Timid Robot Zehta joined us in October of 2018 as CC’s Core Systems Manager; Hugo Solar signed on in January as CC’s Web Developer; Bruno Ferreira also began in January as CC’s Front End Engineer; and our newest member, Anna Tumadottir joined us this week as CC’s Director of Product. We’re very excited to be able to work with these incredible individuals!

Timid Robot Zehta, Core Systems Manager

Timid Robot brings 15 years of professional experience empowering others’ use of technology and digital infrastructure. Timid Robot loves cats, open source, systems and giving back to the communities around them. They have a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College.

 
 
 

Hugo Solar, Web Developer

Hugo brings more than 10 years of experience as a web developer. He spent the last four years as a full stack developer and interface designer, working with local NGOs and institutions supporting social movements and labor unions. He lives in a quiet and small town in Chile with his lovely son; cooking, drinking coffee, and taking care of his orchard. In his free time, he likes to achieve a zen-like state by practicing Karate and Kickboxing.

 

Bruno Ferreira, Front End Engineer

Breno has 10 years of experience in software development working in various industries, from investment banking to oil engineering, to payment systems. Outside work, Breno spends his time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he enjoys running, eating açaí, and paying an occasional visit to the beach. Breno can sometimes be spotted in other corners of the globe on his travels.

 

Anna Tumadottir, Director of Product

Anna spent a decade building out all aspects of the operations of three distributed performance marketing start-ups. She is constantly considering opportunities for expansion and improvement. Anna grew up in Iceland, Scotland, and Malawi, and now calls Austin, Texas her home. Sharing information and resources is central to how Anna operates, as she is convinced it leads to a better existence for everyone.

 

Please join us in welcoming the newest members of our tech team!

The post Meet Our Growing Tech Team! appeared first on Creative Commons.

Jeffrey Epstein used his position of power, influence, and wealth to abuse young women and girls. The brief message that follows relates to matters that are inconsequential in comparison to the pain of the survivors, although it connects to broader issues about the society in which that pain was inflicted and persisted.

Like many members of the Creative Commons community, I learned about MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito’s fundraising from Jeffrey Epstein when Ito posted his public apology on August 15. Since then, Ito has resigned from MIT, from several boards, and also from the Creative Commons advisory council. In light of Ito’s history with CC, members of our community may have questions about his role and about our own fundraising practices. The FAQ below aims to answer those questions.

Did CC raise money from Jeffrey Epstein?
No. We have reviewed our donor database and can confirm, based on that review, that CC never received any funding from Epstein or his foundations or companies. Nor did CC ever identify Epstein as a possible donor. In addition, Ito has informed us that he had no contact whatsoever with Epstein on behalf of CC, which is consistent with our internal investigation.

What was Ito’s involvement with CC, past and current?
Ito was a CC board member from 2003-2014, CC’s board chair from 2006-2008 and from 2010-2012, CEO (part-time, unpaid) from 2008-2011, and on CC’s advisory council from 2014-2019. He resigned his advisory council position on September 7, 2019, effective immediately. The council is an ad-hoc group of individuals who provide advice to the organization on an as-needed basis. It is customary for directors who term off the board of directors to join our advisory council.

How do CC’s values shape its fundraising and what more could be done?
CC identifies and evaluates potential major donors using philanthropy databases and publicly available information. We also follow a gift acceptance policy that articulates the principles that constrain our fundraising efforts.

This episode provides a sobering opportunity for all groups who rely on donations to reflect on good practices for responsible fundraising. We are evaluating our policies and considering whether there is more we can do to ensure that we do not pursue or accept donations from sources that do not reflect our values.

This episode also raises bigger and more profound issues about who is included in and excluded from institutions that shape knowledge production and dissemination in our society. I won’t try to do justice to those issues of equity and inclusion here. But I do want to acknowledge their centrality to the mission of Creative Commons, an organization dedicated to empowering shared creativity and knowledge to build a more equitable, accessible, and innovative world. I look forward to engaging with our community as we reflect together on how we achieve those goals.

The post Message to the Creative Commons Community Regarding Joi Ito appeared first on Creative Commons.

We’ve added two new awesome staff members to the Creative Commons team. Whitney Valentine-Wafer joined us earlier this year as CC’s Director of Finance and Treasurer. And just this past week, Victoria Heath began her new role as CC’s Communications Manager. We’re very excited to be able to work with these two very fine folks.

Whitney Valentine-Wafer, Director of Finance and Treasurer

Whitney brings 17 years of finance and accounting experience to CC, having worked extensively in both the nonprofit and private sectors. Prior to joining us, Whitney was the CFO for 4505 Meats. Whitney currently lives Alameda, CA with her husband, children, and cats. In her spare time, she enjoys preparing recipes from her sizeable cookbook collection. 

 
 
 

Victoria Heath, Communications Manager

Victoria brings experience in knowledge translation and content creation—using effective communication tools and techniques to increase accessibility to global issues and policies. Before joining CC, Victoria was the Digital Communications Officer for the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto. Victoria can usually be found wandering around Toronto with her Nikon in one hand and a mocha in the other, listening to BBC radio and talking to strangers.

Please join us in welcoming Whitney and Victoria!

 

The post Welcome to the Newest Members of the Creative Commons Team! appeared first on Creative Commons.