Personal Statement

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to read my personal statement. For those who don’t know me, my name is Daniela Waltersdorfer, but most people call me Dani. I work for a Transportation Consultant Firm as a Transportation Analyst, meaning I do a lot of transportation planning and GIS spatial analysis. I always had a fascination for the movement of people and goods, and I suppose it all started with my love and appreciation for maps… which started at a young Age as I devoured atlases and would spend hours talking to my grandpa about his time surveying and mapping the Amazon for the Peruvian Air Force (imagine that!). I made my first OSM edit about five years, ago, some months before I attended my first ever State of the Map US. I had heard about the project, but was a bit intimidated. At first I thought it would be too “Techy” for me, and that I could not become a member of the community. Thankfully, I was exposed to some active OSMers in Miami and a love story began. After my first edit I learned the power of OSM, the power anyone from anywhere in the world has to help complete our map, to help during natural disasters, to help build open-source transit applications, to just have fun. I cannot say I am a super active editor, but I am passionate about the project and the community. I am incredibly grateful for my first State of the Map US, where I had the pleasure of meeting some of my best friends. I like to stay active and give my time to various communities, especially the mapping one. As the former leader of Maptime Miami, I ran OSM mapathons and always, even if it was not a schedule mapathon-day, spoke about OSM so that our members could be aware of this awesome resource. While a grad student, I led an OSM Education class for some of the Obama Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) winners and taught a class on GIS Principles and the Basics of Mapping on OSM at The Metropolitan Center ( a South Florida Think Tank) to some members of the South Florida Community. Now, I am one of the co-organizers of Maptime Boston.

As a member of the OSMUS Board, I would like to work on making the community even more welcoming. I don’t want anyone to think they have to be a developer, a transportation engineer, or a cartographer to be part of OSMUS. This project is for everyone, and we have the tools and resources available to help new comers. I would love for others to get to know us, to meet us, and hopefully make new friends. Although I do push for more OSMUS education, whether it be in the workplace or thru the running of Maptime Boston, I would dedicate more of my time and energy to start outreach initiatives to let all OSMUS users they have the support and appreciation of the Board. I am well aware that I don’t have such an extensive history and experience as my fellow candidates, but I promise to learn, listen from you, and give it my all. I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Please feel free to reach out: OSMUS Slack: @Dwaltersdorfer Twitter: @Dwaltersdorfer

Thank you for your time!

Questions Posted on Wiki Page:

*Do you support the proposed amendment to the OpenStreetMap-US Bylaws (extending board terms)?

I believe extending the terms of Board Members would be beneficial so get change/things done. A year sounds like a long time, but it sure does go fast!

*What will you do on the board that you couldn’t do as a regular member of the OSM community?

Have more exposure to get some fundraising and outreach done.

*The OSM US website could use some refreshing, show our mission and goals and list our sponsors. Even incorporate a vector tile slippy map. Who wants to step up with a plan?

Happy to help with as much as I can!