I’d like to start this message with a sincere thank you to everyone who submitted interest for participating in the upcoming SHARE election.
For those of you who are not current SHARE Members, let’s start by sharing “everything you need to know” (or “EYNTK”) about the process. SHARE elections are overseen by a Nominating Committee, which I currently chair as Immediate Past President. Our 2021 committee is made up of Scott Fagen, Carla Flores, Preston Rominger, Holden O’Neal, and Arthur Gutowski, who worked to determine each candidate’s qualifications for the two open Director-at-large positions on the SHARE Board of Directors.
Elections are governed according to the SHARE Bylaws. To assist potential candidates evaluating whether they should interview with the Nominating Committee or not is a Board roles and responsibilities guide. And, finally, to understand why you might vote for a given candidate, you must first understand the key areas of focus for individual Board members as a whole. These are:
- Be an ambassador – Board members raise awareness of the organization, promote its benefits, and increase the enterprise IT community’s understanding of the unique value of membership.
- Set strategic initiatives – Board members must establish, review, revise (when needed), and be accountable for the outcomes of the strategic goals and objectives of the organization.
- Govern – Board members must follow processes for making and implementing decisions that will continue to advance SHARE’s principles and mission.
- Fiduciary – Board members have a legal responsibility to manage the organization’s assets and ensure funds are being used for their intended purpose.
- Ensure mission attainment – Board members must certify that all organization priorities align to furthering its mission.
For 2021, we have an opposed election with only two positions open. Get to know the candidates and how to vote by reading on.
Meet the Candidates
In accepting their nominations, the individuals you’ll meet here — and their employers — are making a significant commitment of personal and organizational time, and resources, over and above that made by a typical SHARE participant. Discover a bit about each candidate below, including excerpts from their candidate statements.
Chinedu Ibeh
Chinedu Ibeh is a technology and servant leader at New York Life where he manages critical infrastructure services, like the mainframe. Ibeh has many years of experience collaborating with and leading architects and engineers to scale, optimize, modernize, and simplify compute and automation services, and focuses much of his work on cybersecurity.
I look [forward] to sharing my unique cybersecurity expertise with the organization.
As a diversity ambassador, I have engaged employees at all levels on driving diversity, equity, and inclusion to teams across New York Life. I have participated in successful efforts to bring talented individuals from diverse backgrounds to support mainframe technology. I look forward to bringing the same energy and passion to the SHARE community.
Jeanne Glass
Jeanne Glass is a current member of the SHARE Board of Directors, founder and CEO of VirtualZ Computing, and a founding member of SHARE’s Women in IT initiative. She has over 25 years of experience in mainframe computing.
My first exposure to SHARE was as an individual attendee while at Computer Associates in the 1990s. My most recent experience has been through serving as a first-year member of the SHARE Board of Directors. […] If elected, it will be an honor to continue to serve on the Board, promoting education, networking and influence in enterprise computing.
John Klonaris
John Klonaris is currently responsible for leading all aspects of z/OS systems at Marriott International, and counts himself fortunate to have previously worked for GEICO, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, IBM, CA Technologies, and Sterling Software.
As a lifetime mainframe professional, I know full well what SHARE has achieved and represents. It is quite simply the preeminent user group for our platform since 1955. This is, without doubt, a highly successful organization, both due to the dedication of its volunteers and the support of the broader community. However, no organization can rest on its laurels. Organizations that do not constantly evolve tend to get left behind. Technology in customer organizations is evolving more rapidly than ever, and we must always be at the ready to support them.
How to Vote
Election Time and Location
Election voting will open at 8:00 am CDT on Wednesday, August 4, and closes at 5:00 pm CDT on Wednesday, August 11.
Each Member Installation Representative will receive voting instructions and credentials via email to the Installation Representative. If you are a Installation Representative for your Member company and have not received voting credentials by August 1, please inquire at sharehq@share.org.
Pursuant to SHARE Bylaws 7.3 “Nomination by Petition”, the deadline for submission to the Secretary of nominating petitions and assurances is hereby announced at 6:00 pm CDT on Tuesday, August 3.
What’s Next?
In addition to voting for your picks between this year’s candidates (if you are eligible to do so), I’d like to encourage anyone reading who might be open to serving on a future SHARE Board to keep in mind the positions we will be looking to fill in our next election. In August 2022, SHARE will look to welcome four officers and two directors-at-large. That ballot could include you. If you’re interested in running for a position, reach out me via email between September 1 and April 30, 2022. Don’t be surprised if I reach out to you first!
Lastly, I’d like to extend a genuine thank you to the candidates running, the Nominating Committee, and everyone who expressed interest (or who does in the future).