Thank you for staying engaged as we move forward together. We value your feedback and encourage your input at every step. Next week, we will share one more Friday update, after which our Open Source and README newsletters will resume on their previous schedule.
Your questions, submitted via the asynchronous Q&A form, will continue to guide our content and conversations. We are excited about next year’s live events and look forward to sharing all the details in the coming weeks.
Applications Open: Ruby Central Board of Directors
We are inviting applications for two open Board of Directors seats, starting with the new year. Our board guides the strategic direction of both Ruby Central and the broader Ruby community, overseeing conference planning, open source stewardship, and year-round programs that support Rubyists everywhere.
If you’re passionate about Ruby and excited to make a meaningful impact in our community…
Apply Now!
Applications will be open until November 21, 2025.
Help Shape Ruby Central’s Future: Feedback Survey Coming Soon
Ruby Central’s renewed vision for community development and growth will be built together with input from across the Ruby community.
Earlier this year, Executive Director Shan Cureton’s Listening Tour and our Let’s Build Together: Ruby Central Community Feedback Form surfaced important perspectives, challenges, and hopes from community members. Now, we’re taking the next step by relaunching the form, which will support our strategic planning in the coming days.
Your voice is essential: survey feedback will directly inform a “Community Blueprint” that guides the direction of governance, programs, and initiatives, all with the goal of advancing Ruby to new and experienced members alike.
Watch your inbox and Slack for the survey link. We encourage members to participate and be part of program development and decision-making.
Compliance and Administration: Transparent Governance
Ruby Central is required to complete annual independent financial audits. These audits are not mandated by the IRS for all nonprofits, but are required by many states, certain grantmakers, and our own bylaws to help ensure accountability and financial transparency. The audit process examines our financial statements and internal controls, verifying that our work and stewardship are aligned with our charitable mission and regulatory standards.
The annual audit is nearing completion, followed soon by our required IRS Form 990 tax filings. The documents will be available to the public.
Additionally, we are preparing our first-ever Annual Impact Report, which will be released to the community. This comprehensive report will cover the period from 2022 through the end of fiscal year 2024, providing a clear account of Ruby Central’s activities, achievements, and organizational impact during this period.
Sharing our audit outcomes and impact analysis ensures the community has insight into the scope and effectiveness of our stewardship. We believe making these documents public affirms our dedication to inclusivity, transparency, and a collaborative approach to governance.
Regional Meetup Grants - Cycle 2!
We’ve launched our 2nd cycle of regional meetup grants this year for our global Ruby meetups, thanks to the generous support of Github. This program has awarded 35 grants this cycle empowering local Ruby communities across 6 continents!
There are a few grants left available in this cycle. By reducing barriers for community leaders, we hope to grow the Ruby ecosystem, strengthen local communities, and help Rubyists discover new opportunities. We are thrilled to know that this program has exceeded our expectations and has been able to be a pillar of support for all of our diverse communities around the world.
Open Source Updates
On-Call: As previously mentioned, we’re looking to expand our on-call rotation beyond six engineers. The goal is twelve engineers for redundancy in different geographic regions such that all eight-hour shifts can be scheduled during normal working hours (no one on-call gets woken up). We are still filling out the membership of the EMEA and APAC rotations. Interested companies and engineers can get more information on helping by contacting contact@rubycentral.org.
Operator agreements: We’ve received some questions about the operator agreement. This is a key aspect of having the proper legal structures in place to allow volunteers access RubyGems.org production service and its data. These agreements protect our volunteers by explicitly stating Ruby Central assumes insurance for volunteers acting within the scope of their duties, and protect RubyGems.org users by explicitly prohibiting volunteers from downloading and using privileged gem download data. We’ve linked the volunteer agreement and data processing addendum for the community to view.
Support: In addition to maintaining the RubyGems.org infrastructure, Ruby Central also responds to support requests submitted through the Help link on RubyGems.org. This week, the team spent some time resolving several older requests from our backlog. Going forward, we expect response times to be dramatically improved.
Open Source Committee additions: The Open Source Committee recently onboarded two new members, Bruno Miranda and Richard Schneeman. This committee oversees the management of the staff on matters relating to open source (as opposed to conference or education initiatives). Here's a little about our newest members:
Richard has been a Heroku employee for over a decade and is the current Puma maintainer. Richard also maintains `ruby/syntax_suggest` and a platform, https://www.CodeTriage.com, for helping turn aspiring coders into contributors. Here's what he had to say on joining the committee:
"When I saw the RubyGems and Ruby community fracture, I wanted to find a way to help pick up the pieces. I've worked with Terence Lee (former Bundler maintainer) at Heroku for many years, and worked alongside Evan Phoenix (former RubyGems maintainer) on the Open Source webserver Puma (please upgrade to 7.1.0+). Before this happened, Deivid Rodriguez helped me get a `bundle list --format=json` feature merged. I have immense respect and gratitude for the open source maintainers who keep our weird and wonderful language ecosystem up and running. I want to help find a path forward."
Bruno is a Board Member at the Rails Foundation and SVP of Software Engineering at Doximity.com. Doximity is the company behind clinical software used by millions of U.S. doctors, where Bruno has been building software and advocating for Ruby there for over 15 years. In his own words:
“Before Doximity, I wrote C++ full-time, where installing dependencies meant installing OS packages and running `make`. In contrast, Ruby's package management ecosystem provides unmatched reliability. I work in healthcare and understand the importance of building critical infrastructure that people rely on. I got involved to apply my leadership experiences to help bring stability to the community.”
Welcome to the team Bruno and Richard!
Asynchronous Q&A
Question 1: If the community strongly disagrees with Ruby Central’s decision to platform DHH at RailsConf 2025, and views it as a conflict of interest given the overlapping roles, would Ruby Central consider asking the involved board member to resign to rebuild trust?
A: We appreciate the opportunity to address this directly. As stated previously, sponsors do not have governance or program authority at Ruby Central. Conference programming decisions are made independently by the co-chairs and program teams. The board maintains clear conflict-of-interest policies, and all members are required to submit annual disclosures and recuse themselves from any vote where a conflict exists. The 2025 program team was guided by these same standards. We understand that some community members disagreed with this programming decision, and we take that feedback seriously. We are using this moment to strengthen communication, clarify our policies publicly, and reinforce the shared values that shape our events moving forward.
Question 2: Does Ruby Central have a formal Conflict of Interest policy, and if so, how are potential conflicts managed?
A: Yes. Ruby Central maintains a formal Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form for all board members. A potential or actual conflict exists when commitments or obligations may be compromised by other material interests or relationships, especially financial ones.
As stated in the form:
“A potential or actual conflict of interest exists when commitments and obligations are likely to be compromised by the Director’s other material interests or relationships (especially economic), particularly if those interests or commitments are not disclosed.”
Board members are required to disclose any organizations in which they have an economic interest, or where they act as an officer or director, as well as any personal, business, or volunteer affiliations that could give rise to a real or apparent conflict of interest. Those with a conflict must refrain from participating in related board decisions, as outlined in Ruby Central’s bylaws.
These disclosures are collected annually and housed in our governance records. While the form itself is not yet published online, it is available upon request for transparency.
Question 3: Why does Ruby Central continue to hold conferences if they no longer generate surplus revenue? Was this an intentional shift in strategy or the result of changing circumstances?
A: We continue to hold conferences because they matter deeply to the community, regardless of whether they generate net revenue. Since 2020, Ruby Central conferences have generally broken even or operated at a small loss. This was not an intentional shift but the result of broader changes in travel patterns, sponsorship budgets, and event economics after the pandemic. Despite this, Ruby Central conferences remain vital spaces for collaboration, learning, and connection. They foster mentorship, innovation, and growth across the Ruby ecosystem.
While the financial model has evolved, the mission behind these events has not. They remain an investment in community health rather than a profit center. RubyConf also holds historical significance as the birthplace of RubyGems in 2003, and we are proud to continue that tradition. More context about how we are evolving our event model can be found in our detailed post, “A New Era for Ruby Central Events”.
Question 4: How does Ruby Central ensure that conference programming remains independent and transparent when individuals hold multiple roles within the organization or the broader community?
A: Each of Ruby Central’s conferences is guided by a clear separation between sponsorship, governance, and program decisions. Program committees are made up of volunteers who represent a broad cross-section of the Ruby community, while conference chairs oversee selection processes in coordination with staff. The board does not select speakers or keynotes. To further reinforce transparency, Ruby Central has been strengthening its internal documentation, codifying policies for future conference planning, and updating our governance materials to make these distinctions easier for the community to see and understand.
Closing and Next Steps
We will continue to respond to community questions and release updates that reflect both operational transparency and collective progress. Please continue submitting your questions through our official form so we can address them in future updates.
Thank you for your engagement, your patience, and your ongoing partnership as we strengthen, improve, and grow together.
This was a collaborative effort from all of the Ruby Central Board and Staff.