January 2026 Election of Officers Videoconference

Meeting Details

  • Date: 05 January 2026
  • Time: 12PM US Eastern Standard Time, UTC 1700 convert
  • Location: Remote
  • Recording

Agenda

CALL TO ORDER

Board Members

  • Ricardo Griffith
  • Steve Springett
  • Harold Blankenship
  • Sam Stepanyan
  • Kelly Santalucia
  • Marisa Fagan
  • Ashwini Siddhi (slightly late, but present shortly after roll call)

Guests

  • Andrew van der Stock
  • Dawn Aitken

CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ANTI-TRUST STATEMENT

As the Board consists of individuals from many competing organizations, OWASP and its Board shall abide by all applicable anti-trust and competition laws. To avoid any perceived or actual conflict of interest, or anti-trust concerns under US federal, state, or regulations, only the published agenda shall be discussed or voted upon, or amended as below. If there are any conflicts of interest, Board members are expected to disclose the conflict of interest and must recuse themselves from discussion and voting.

Kelly Santalucia disclosed that she was a former employee of the OWASP Foundation, and is an Executive Director of Nomad Futurist, which is an digital infrastructure non-profit organization.

All Directors have submitted their Director’s Commitment Agreement and Conflict of Interest forms for 2026. Andrew van der Stock and Dawn Aitken to review the conflict of interest forms for 2026 to ascertain if any conflicts exist.

CHANGES TO THE AGENDA

Changes to the agenda - unless otherwise prohibited by anti-trust or competition laws - including adding, altering, or tabling of motions is permitted by following Roberts Rules of Order (RONR 12th Ed) 41:63, which requires an affirmative two-thirds vote.

No changes to the agenda were made.

PRE-READING MATERIAL

NEW BUSINESS - Election of Officers for 2026

This is a closed Board meeting for the purpose of electing officers for 2026, as required by the OWASP Bylaws, Section 6.3:

Section 6.3 Election The Board of Directors at its first meeting after each annual election of Directors shall choose a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and a Secretary. Other Officers may be elected by the Board of Directors at such meeting, and any or all Officers may be replaced, at any other meeting of, or by written consent of, the Board of Directors.

Motion to Elect Chair

Background The previous Chair will conduct nominations from the floor for the position of Chair. The Chair will then call for a vote. Once elected, the new Chair will assume the role of Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

Motion: “Resolved, that the 2026 Chair of the Board of Directors is elected as follows: Steve Springett”

Sponsor: Ricardo Griffith Second: Sam Stepanyan

Vote

  • Steve Springett: YES
  • Ricardo Griffith: YES
  • Harold Blankenship: YES
  • Sam Stepanyan: YES
  • Ashwini Siddhi: YES
  • Kelly Santalucia: YES
  • Marisa Fagan: YES

In Favor: 7-0

At this point, the acting Chair (Ricardo Griffith) will hand the meeting over to the new Chair, Steve Springett, who ran the rest of the meeting.

Motion to Elect Vice Chair

Background The Chair will conduct nominations from the floor for the position of Vice Chair. The Chair will then call for a vote.

There were three nominations for Vice Chair: Ricardo Griffith, Harold Blankenship, and Sam Stepanyan. After a short discussion, Marisa Fagan brought up a point of order asking for a short five minute speech from each nominee per Roberts Rules of Order. Each nominee spoke for a few minutes on why they would like to be Vice Chair. To resolve the candidate, a viva voce vote (RONR 46:37) was held using Zoom’s polling feature (anonymous poll results), with the following results of two rounds of viva voce voting:

  • First Round: Ricardo Griffith - 3 votes, Harold Blankenship - 3 votes, Sam Stepanyan - 1 votes. As no candidate received a majority, Sam Stepanyan was eliminated.
  • Second Round: Ricardo Griffith - 4 votes, Harold Blankenship - 3 votes. As Ricardo Griffith received a majority, he moves forward to a vote.

Motion: “Resolved, that the 2026 Vice Chair of the Board of Directors is elected as follows: Ricardo Griffith”

Sponsor: Steve Springett Second: Ricardo Griffith

Vote

  • Steve Springett: YES
  • Ricardo Griffith: YES
  • Harold Blankenship: YES
  • Sam Stepanyan: YES
  • Ashwini Siddhi: YES
  • Kelly Santalucia: YES
  • Marisa Fagan: YES

In Favor: 7-0

Motion to Elect Treasurer

Background The Chair will conduct nominations from the floor for the position of Treasurer. The Chair will then call for a vote.

Only one nomination was made for Treasurer, Harold Blankenship. Vote was held:

Motion: “Resolved, that the 2026 Treasurer of the Board of Directors is elected as follows: Harold Blankenship”

Sponsor: Steve Springett Second: Ricardo Griffith

Vote

  • Steve Springett: YES
  • Ricardo Griffith: YES
  • Harold Blankenship: YES
  • Sam Stepanyan: YES
  • Ashwini Siddhi: YES
  • Kelly Santalucia: YES
  • Marisa Fagan: YES

In Favor: 7-0

Motion to Elect Secretary

Background The Chair will conduct nominations from the floor for the position of Secretary. The Chair will then call for a vote. Once elected, the new Secretary will assume the role of Secretary for the remainder of the meeting, collecting minutes from the previous Secretary as necessary.

Initially, no nominations were made for Secretary. After a short discussion, Marisa Fagan stepped in to become the Secretary, with the OWASP Foundation to assist in the preparation of minutes. Vote was held.

Motion: “Resolved, that the 2026 Secretary of the Board of Directors is elected as follows: Marisa Fagan”

Sponsor: Steve Springett Second: Ashwini Siddhi

Vote

  • Steve Springett: YES
  • Ricardo Griffith: YES
  • Harold Blankenship: YES
  • Sam Stepanyan: YES
  • Ashwini Siddhi: YES
  • Kelly Santalucia: YES
  • Marisa Fagan: YES

In Favor: 7-0

COMMENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND OTHER BUSINESS

ADJOURNMENT

Adjournment motion

There is a Board Summit scheduled to be in person on January 26-28, 2026 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The next general Board meeting is on January 28, at 4 pm Central European Time.

“It is moved, and seconded to adjourn. Those in favor, say “aye””

Sponsor: Chair Second: Harold Blankenship

The meeting adjourned at 12:53 PM US Eastern Standard Time.

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