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More answers in the LF proposal FAQ
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blink1073 authored Mar 22, 2024
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Expand Up @@ -180,7 +180,33 @@ discuss and approve an official mission statement.

# Other Questions (FAQ)

## How would this change our relationship with NumFOCUS?
## What is the proposed timeline?

The EC anticipates community discussion in March 2024 leads to a formal
governance change proposal in April 2024 to move from NumFOCUS to LF
Charities 501(c)(3), creation of an LF 501(c)(6) foundation, and the
operational details of how these entities will be managed (e.g.,
creation of a budget process). The EC anticipates this proposal will be
voted on by the newly-elected EC and SSC by the end of April 2024. If
approved, the EC anticipates that the effective date of a move to LF
could be 60 days later, by the end of June 2024.

## How would the 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(6) legal entities work together for Project Jupyter?

The Project Jupyter EC continues its current authority over funds and
grants that go to the 501(c)(3). As explained above, the corporate
funders to the Jupyter Foundation would have input, along with the
Project Jupyter EC, into how Jupyter Foundation funds are allocated for
the sustainability and growth of Project Jupyter.

## What Jupyter assets would be maintained by the 501(c)(3) LF Charities?

Project trademarks, domain name registrations, and GitHub account access for
Project Jupyter GitHub organizations will be maintained by the 501(c)(3) LF
Charities. Additionally, any 501(c)(3) contributions to Project Jupyter will be
maintained by LF Charities and controlled by the Project Jupyter EC.

## How would this move to LF change our relationship with NumFOCUS?

Once the transition is concluded and assets (such as trademarks) are transferred, Project
Jupyter would not have a legal relationship with NumFOCUS. However, we
Expand All @@ -196,35 +222,39 @@ will minimize disruption to the projects. For exampe, there may be some funds th
are simpler to wind down through NF and some that are easier to move to
the LF Charities.

## How would the 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(6) legal entities work together for Project Jupyter?

The Project Jupyter EC continues its current authority over funds and
grants that go to the 501(c)(3). As explained above, the corporate
funders to the Jupyter Foundation would have input, along with the
Project Jupyter EC, into how Jupyter Foundation monies are allocated for
the sustainability and growth of the Project Jupyter.

## What is the process for Jupyter leaving NumFOCUS and whose authority/approvals does it require?

Jupyter's current governance model requires any changes to Jupyter's
governance to be approved by the Jupyter Executive Council and Software
Jupyter's current governance model requires any [changes to Jupyter's governance](https://jupyter.org/governance/executive_council.html#shared-responsibilities-with-the-software-steering-council)
to be approved by the Jupyter Executive Council and Software
Steering Council. Once these two bodies have voted to leave NumFOCUS and
transfer the project to LF Charities 501(c)(3), the NumFOCUS FSA
Committee will formally notify NumFOCUS of our plans. The current FSA
requires us to give NumFOCUS a 60-day notice before moving. The NumFOCUS
FSA Committee currently consists of Matthias Bussonnier, Benjamin
Ragan-Kelley, Fernando Pérez, Ana Ruvalcaba, and Thomas Kluyver.

## And similarly, what will be the process for Jupyter potentially leaving the Linux Foundation in the future?
## What will be the process for Jupyter potentially leaving the Linux Foundation in the future?

When requested by the governing body for a project, the LF has moved
projects out of its stewardship to the governing body's designated
entity. The Project Jupyter EC would decide that. The Project Jupyter
entity. In our case, this would be considered a [governance change](https://jupyter.org/governance/executive_council.html#shared-responsibilities-with-the-software-steering-council)
that requires approval from the EC and SSC. The Project Jupyter
assets in the 501(c)(3) would transfer to another 501(c)(3) and
501(c)(6) assets could be transferred to another 501(c)(6) or to the
501(c)(3). Similarly, there will be a notice period, and wind-down
501(c)(3), in accordance with tax rules and subject to grant agreements
then in effect. Similarly, there will be a notice period, and wind-down
component related to employees, IP, etc.

## What happens to our IP if LF Charities dissolves?

Upon dissolution of any entity (LF Charities, NumFOCUS, etc), the entity would
have to either transfer assets or identify the entity taking them over.
Hypothetically, in a dissolution scenario, LF Charities would have to plan out
the path with the project governing body to see where the LF Charity project
assets would go. There may be complications or other factors depending on the
reason for any dissolution (e.g. bankruptcy). To be clear, there are no plans to
dissolve LF Charities.

## How does corporate membership work in terms of levels and dues amount?

The details need to be finalized and we welcome input from the community
Expand All @@ -242,17 +272,6 @@ organizations. Given the importance of these types of organizations to
the mission of Jupyter, the EC would like to work through how they can
be included.

## What is the proposed timeline?

The EC anticipates community discussion in March 2024 leads to a formal
governance change proposal in April 2024 to move from NumFOCUS to LF
Charities 501(c)(3), creation of an LF 501(c)(6) foundation, and the
operational details of how these entities will be managed (e.g.,
creation of a budget process). The EC anticipates this proposal will be
voted on by the newly-elected EC and SSC by the end of April 2024. If
approved, the EC anticipates that the effective date of a move to LF
could be 60 days later, by the end of June 2024.

## Did we consider the Apache Software Foundation (ASF)?

Yes. In our due diligence process, we considered several potential homes for
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -280,3 +299,31 @@ resources is to have a vote in how the funds they donate will be spent for the
benefit of Project Jupyter and the goals that are set by the EC and the SSC. To
ensure this, our agreement with the Linux Foundation will be to explicitly leave
intact our current governance model as it is.

## How will a transition to LF affect grant funding that community members may seek?

The EC believes that the Jupyter community needs a diverse set of funding
mechanisms to be sustainable and scale. In the past, grant funding that
benefited Jupyter has included academic grants managed directly by universities,
grants from private foundations that flowed through Jupyter's 501(c)(3) fiscal
sponsor, and grants managed through other entities and foundations. We expect
that these sorts of funding arrangements will continue to be possible under the
LF umbrella, with community members able to seek grant funding themselves for
Jupyter's benefit. We expect the central roles that we hire, such as an
executive director, program manager, etc., will be active in raising central
"backbone" funding for Jupyter and will help in the strategic coordination of
community members seeking additional funding.

The Linux Foundation and LF Charities have both received and managed
grant-making programs. Under the LF umbrella, if you are writing a grant and
desire the grant funding to flow through the LF Charities Jupyter 501(c)(3)
account, we will have a process to approve the request. The LF staff would work
with you on the budget for the grant and any other details for the transaction,
but would rely on you for the grant writing and reporting requirements. Each
grant-making organization usually has terms and reporting requirements that the
LF and the grant recipients will need to work together on. The [Tazama
project](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-launches-tazama-for-real-time-fraud-management)
is an example of a recent grant LF Charities is administering from the [Bill and
Melinda Gates
Foundation](https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/open-source-financial-inclusion-tazama).

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