Leadership

It is with great pride and with many, many thanks that we acknowledge the thousands of volunteer moderators worldwide. Each local group generally has two to six local moderators who, in turn, are helping millions of members to keep good stuff out of landfills and to develop stronger community ties.

Some 80 of these moderators volunteer further time to approve new groups for their state, province or country. In addition, there is a committed crew of some 20-30 moderators putting in countless hours for Group Outreach and Assistance, helping existing groups with day-to-day problems.

Another 2-3 volunteers take care of info@freecycle.org questions, 4-5 lead the worldwide moderator group called the ModSquad, and there are 6-8 team leaders who do a great job in helping teams do their jobs. (There are also a few adhoc committees set up to deal with issues at hand.) There are a few more volunteers who help administer the Web site and our extensive database. Also, feel free to have a look at our org chart which is here.

Wow! Hats off to ALL these wonderful people!!

Deron:

The founder & Executive Director is Deron Beal. Clocking in at 6'6", he heads up the Freecycle basketball team and is a sucker for black & white cats. He is blessed to be able to work with all these good people from his base at the Freecycle HQ in Tucson, Arizona.

Dona:

Are there words enough to describe the global volunteer "VP" of The Freecycle Network? Dona is our Hub Coordinator globally which means she organizes the global leadership team of The Freecycle Network [i.e. all these other coordinators are on her team]. Deron couldn't do it without her. She brings with her the institutional memory and skills from having most recently been the Outreach Coordinator along with many other hats she has worn such as local group moderator which she continues to be as well. Dona doesn't just care for our Freecycle garden, but also puts a tremendous amount of time into her own garden, some "unschooling" and just being a Mom as well. Let it be noted that she also has other critters in her barn that she also manages to keep under her impressive wing, in addition to her hubbie (who is hopefully not in the barn)!

Simon:

The TM Team assists groups and the general public in using the Freecycle(TM) mark correctly; works to educate the press about proper use of the mark; and pursues infringement. At the helm of this team is Simon who, thankfully, is probably the most organized person within Freecycle. Thank you, Simon!

Ann:

Ann is the volunteer Coordinator for the Moderator Resource Assistance team. She and her team help keep the groups for moderators humming along smoothly. Ann brings to this role her business experience, her longevity and experience in TFN, and her love for sci-fi movies (which often zoom over the heads of many of her teammates). If you see someone wandering around here wearing a ring and a pirate hat, that will be her...

Janice:

The Group Outreach & Assistance (GOA) Team, Mentor Mod (MM) Team and Interim Mod (IMod) Team are all headed up by Janice, who volunteers as our Outreach Coordinator, with the help of some wonderful Team Leaders.

Bev:

In every state or region there is a Group Outreach and Assistance (GOA) volunteer. Each GOA team member works with existing volunteer group moderators when they are having issues with the local group. Bev volunteers as our head for this devoted international team.

Lynne:

Also in each American state, Canadian province, and country worldwide, there is a New Group Approver. The NGAs evaluate the need for, assist and approve new Freecycle groups. Lynne volunteers as our NGA Coordinator.

Steev (Senior Engineer):

Steev is our full-time tech staffer, based out of the "Global HQ" here in Tucson with Deron. Steev's other main project is raising a three-year old daughter.

Nigel (Tech Infrastructure Architect):

Nigel is a UK tech guru who moonlights for us on important server maintenance and planning.

Penny:

Penny volunteers as the Info Team Coordinator to help members and mods with any on-site Freecycle.org tech issues they may be having, whether it's something that can be resolved easily or something that needs input from Steev. She shows her brilliance by heading up the teams that answer all such questions. These teams include the Info Team, Wiki Team, Spam Control Team and the FAQs. Any issue is followed up on and resolved as soon as possible. Technical issues are tracked and members informed once resolved. Don't worry about a thing as Penny does all this with a cat perched by the keyboard making sure she's doing it right!

Michael: Michael is the powerhouse who volunteers to head up the Interim Moderator Team (the "IMods"). This team steps in and moderates local groups when a local volunteer steps down and they look after that group until new local volunteers can be found. Michael runs a tight ship and it's an amazing team that he keeps going as they juggle the numerous transitional groups for Freecycle. Yay and go, team, go!

Wullie:

Wullie keeps his team of fellow volunteers in the know as he heads up the Mentor Moderator Team (the "M-Mods"). This team is there for new moderators who have requested some training on how to moderate their local groups effectively. They'll generally provide training and support for a few weeks until the new local moderators get some firm ground under their feet. And, then they don their white hats and ride on to the next new mod(s) in distress...