I first contributed to OpenStreetMap in 2014 in a small town in rural Italy where I briefly lived/worked after finding it wasn’t mapped on any platform. After seeing the small town appear on the map I was hooked. Since 2017, I have led a monthly OpenStreetMap meetup, MapABQ, in Albuquerque, New Mexico focused on contributing to OpenStreetMap in New Mexico, an often overlooked area in the United States. Since the group’s inception we’ve engaged with existing mappers around New Mexico and recruited a number of new mappers, while greatly increasing data coverage in New Mexico on OpenStreetMap. Professionally I am a software engineer focusing on geospatial data. I’ve developed tools around OpenStreetMap with Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and use OpenStreetMap data in my current role with SharedStreets.

I am running for the OpenStreetMap US board of directors for 2021-2022 and I have the following priorities:

Support of local communities

I believe OpenStreetMap thrives best in local communities and supporting the growth and sustainability of local groups is mutually beneficial to OpenStreetMap US. Scholarships to State of the Map US and microgrants for specific projects are great ways to increase participation and engagement from often overlooked regions in the US.

Sustainability of the organization

To ensure the success of the executive director role additional paid positions within OpenStreetMap US may assist in the administration and operations of the organization. Paid roles require consistent funding and long term planning to be fully effective. I seek to promote diverse funding, increase membership, and further cultivate existing donors to ensure financial sustainability.

Increased engagement

A culture of diversity and inclusion is core to a healthy and growing membership and participation within OpenStreetMap US. OpenStreetMap should reflect the full diversity of the areas it maps and this will be only be achieved through deliberate focus and commitment. OpenStreetMap US took an important step implementing a Code of Conduct recently and I support building on this foundation to develop an inclusive and diverse community.

Feel free to reach out with any questions.

• Twitter @russ_biggs
• OSM-US Slack @Russbiggs
• OSM Russbiggs