Meeting Minutes: Board and TAC Monthly (2026-03-09)

Below are the minutes from the recent Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) kickoff meeting. The discussion introduced the committee’s structure, responsibilities, and expectations for members. The TAC serves as an advisory body representing community perspectives and providing technical feedback to the OpenSSL leadership. Members are encouraged to engage with their communities and bring relevant topics and concerns to the committee.

Attendees

@Aditya Koranga, @Anton Arapov, @Dmitry Belyavsky, @Kevin Micciche, @Lenka Luklova, @Nikolas Gauder, @Simo Sorce, @Tim Hudson

High-level topics covered

• Committee purpose, governance, and alignment with OpenSSL mission and values

• TAC composition, elections, and representation of communities

• Community-driven workflows and backlog management

• Resources, tooling, and discretionary budget for committee activities

• Upcoming events and engagement opportunities

• Team communication and expectations for member participation

Detailed points and discussion

1) Committee purpose, governance, and mission alignment

Anton provided an overview of the relationship between the OpenSSL Foundation and the OpenSSL Corporation, and how advisory committees help represent community interests to the boards. Members discussed the importance of ensuring that TAC activities align with the project’s mission and values. Tim emphasized that these values should guide decisions and provide a framework for evaluating priorities. The committee agreed that transparency is important, and that communications and meeting minutes should be documented and made publicly available.

2) TAC composition, elections, and responsibilities

New members (including Simo, Nikolas, and Kevin) were introduced alongside returning participants. The committee structure is intended to represent different communities, such as academics, committers, and large businesses, with members acting independently of their employers. Anton and Tim explained that election terms are now staggered so that only half of the seats are renewed at each cycle, ensuring continuity in committee participation. Members are expected to stay connected with their communities and act as liaisons by surfacing relevant topics or concerns to the TAC or boards.

3) Community workflows and backlog management

The discussion emphasized that community issues and requests should originate within community channels rather than through a separate TAC-maintained backlog. The committee’s role is to elevate community needs and provide recommendations on technical policies, roadmap priorities, and feature feasibility. Participants also discussed the importance of enabling broader participation from non-developer communities, such as compliance, packaging, and academic groups.

4) Resources, tools, and committee support

Leadership confirmed that the OpenSSL Corporation will support TAC activities by providing meeting facilitation, documentation assistance, communication channels, and tools when required. Internal communication currently uses Matrix, although alternatives such as Discourse were briefly discussed and would require additional setup and onboarding. Tim clarified that the TAC has a discretionary budget that the committee may use for community outreach or activities. Decisions on how to allocate this budget are made by TAC members themselves.

5) Events and community engagement

Regular monthly TAC meetings will take place on the second Monday of each month. The next meeting was noted as April 13. Leadership also highlighted opportunities for in-person collaboration during the week of May 25–29 at the OpenSSL headquarters. In addition, the OpenSSL Conference is scheduled for October 13–15 in Prague. The Corporation may provide travel and accommodation support for TAC members who need it in order to participate in these activities.

6) Team dynamics and communication

Leadership encouraged members to complete a personality profile to help improve communication and collaboration across the committee. Participation in this exercise is optional for members outside the Corporation. Anton and Tim reiterated their availability to support TAC members, both through private discussions and group conversations, while also emphasizing that the committee should operate with autonomy in its advisory role.

Next meeting

Monthly TAC meetings are scheduled for the second Monday of each month. The next meeting is planned for April 13 (UTC).

Additional in-person collaboration is expected during the week of May 25–29 at OpenSSL Corporation headquarters, with further engagement opportunities during the OpenSSL Conference, October 13–15 in Prague.