While 2021 was a year of continued uncertainty around a pandemic that still hasn't quite managed to end, for many it was also a year of contemplation. The trend has many different names, including the "Great Resignation," but the name that seems most apt to me is the "Great Reprioritization." One silver lining in the pandemic cloud has been a chance to put the daily grind on hold, opening up a bit of headspace for strategic thinking, for reflecting on who we are, where we want to go, and how we'll get there. This is not only true for individuals, but also for organizations and projects.

After launching as the Open Infrastructure (OpenInfra) Foundation in 2020, last year has been about fully embracing our new identity, combining healthy doses of both welcoming the new and cleaning out a few dusty corners of the old. We spent time thinking about the support our projects need, and how we can get better at delivering the "long-term care & feeding" that sustains projects and helps them to grow and succeed, including how we fund project-specific needs. We spent time thinking about how to recognize the diverse contributions of a broader array of organizations in our community, and added two new classes of membership to help with that: Associate Members (non-profit and educational organizations) and Silver Members. We're all looking forward to gathering in person again as soon as it's safe, but in 2021 we got better at virtual communication, engaging within our community and reaching out to other communities, through regular thought-provoking topics on OpenInfra Live and OpenInfra Live Keynotes, project coordination and planning at the Project Teams Gatherings (PTGs), and informal strategic discussions.

Successful open source isn't automatic or trivial; it requires strategic focus, a dedication to best practices in community governance, open collaboration, and technical excellence, and active engagement from all involved. Like most worthwhile endeavors, successful open source takes persistence and hard work. It is awe-inspiring to look back on what we've accomplished in open infrastructure over the past decade, through shared effort for shared benefit, and I can't wait to see what we'll do in the next decade.

It has been an honor to serve the OpenInfra community as Board Chair in 2021. My personal thanks go out to every person in our staff, board, project leaders, and participants, for all you contribute to open infrastructure and open source.

You can read the full 2021 OpenInfra Annual Report here!