Membership

Open-source foundations face a structural risk: membership capture, where a single organization gains voting control by flooding the membership rolls with employees. The Terrene Foundation’s membership structure is designed to prevent this from the outset.

The Foundation has two categories of membership. Only natural persons may be members. Organizations participate through Corporate Sponsorship (Constitution Part V), not through membership.

Membership categories

Community Member (non-voting)

Open to any individual who registers an interest in the Foundation’s work. No fee.

Rights:

• Participate in public RFC processes
• Attend community events
• Contribute to Foundation projects
• Attend General Meetings as an observer (without voting rights)

How to join: Register an interest by contacting jack@terrene.foundation or opening an issue on any Foundation repository.

Committer Member (voting)

Open to individuals who have demonstrated sustained, meritorious contribution to one or more Foundation-stewarded projects or specifications. No fee. Each Committer Member has exactly one vote at General Meetings. There is no weighted or differential voting.

Qualifying contributions include (Constitution Clause 11):

• Code contributions
• Specification drafting
• Documentation
• Testing
• Community mentorship
• Translation
• Sustained engagement in working groups

Admission process:

1. Nomination from an existing Committer Member
2. Seconded by at least one other Committer Member
3. Approved by majority vote of existing Committer Members

The Board publishes and maintains objective criteria for evaluating contributions (Clause 11(b)). The Board may refuse membership only if the applicant does not meet published criteria, membership would create an unmanageable conflict of interest, or the applicant was previously expelled (Clause 11(c)). Refusal must be accompanied by written reasons and may be appealed.

Emeritus Member

A former Committer Member who has not contributed for 36 continuous months transitions to Emeritus status (Clause 14(d)). Emeritus Members retain all Community Member rights and may be reinstated to Committer Member status upon resumption of contribution.

Safeguards against capture

The constitution includes structural protections against membership-based capture of the Foundation:

Membership Growth Safeguard (Clause 12): In any 12-month period, Committer Members may not increase by more than 100% or 20 new members, whichever is greater. This prevents membership flooding as a capture tactic.

Employer Diversity Safeguard (Clause 15): No single employer (including affiliates) may have its employees constitute more than 33% of voting Committer Members at any General Meeting. If this threshold is exceeded, the most recently admitted excess members are non-voting for that meeting. This prevents any single organization from controlling Foundation governance through employee membership.

Acting in Concert (Clause 15(e)): Persons acting in concert are treated as employees of a single employer for the purposes of the diversity safeguard, preventing circumvention through contractor or subsidiary structures. The Board determines whether persons are acting in concert based on factors including common direction, coordinated nomination patterns, and shared financial interests.

Current status

The Foundation is in Phase 1 (Seed) as defined in the constitution (Clause 76).

Current members:

• Dr. Jack Hong, Founder, sole Director and Chair

During Phase 1, the Founder may admit the initial Committer Members directly, subject to meeting the published contribution criteria (Clause 10(b)). No Committer Members beyond the founder have been admitted as of March 2026.

Path to Phase 2

Phase 2 (Growth) begins when either 10 Committer Members are admitted or the Foundation receives its first Corporate Sponsorship or Institutional Partnership (Constitution Clause 76). Phase 2 introduces:

• At least one Independent Director (growing to at least three)
• A Technical Steering Committee
• Formal governance committee structures

The transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2 represents the Foundation moving from a founder-led seed stage to a community-governed organization. The constitution is designed so that the founder’s authority diminishes as the community grows.

How to become a member

During Phase 1, contribute to Foundation projects or specifications. When the contribution criteria are met and Phase 2 begins, the nomination process under Clause 10(b) will be the standard admission path.

Contribution opportunities:

• File issues and submit pull requests on Foundation repositories
• Participate in specification review and RFC processes
• Contribute documentation, testing, or translation
• See the contribution guide for details

Constitutional references

The membership provisions are defined in the Foundation’s constitution:

• Clause 8: Liability of Members (company limited by guarantee)
• Clause 9: Members’ Guarantee (S$1.00 maximum)
• Clause 10: Membership Categories
• Clause 11: Merit-Based Admission
• Clause 12: Membership Growth Safeguard
• Clause 13: Register of Members
• Clause 14: Cessation of Membership
• Clause 15: Employer Diversity Safeguard