Program Committee

At FOSS Backstage, we want to shape a program that truly is “by the community for the community”. To achieve this goal, we are honored to have a dedicated program committee of renowned experts in the field of Open Source.

The program committee is responsible for reviewing the session submissions we receive in our Call for Papers, and are thus instrumental in creating the schedule for FOSS Backstage.

Sharan Foga

Sharan Foga has over 20 years in the IT industry working on the delivery and implementation of IT projects. She is currently based in Stockholm, Sweden and works for Encube Technologies as Head of Operations and Customer Success. Sharan has been involved with the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) since 2008 and has presented at several conferences about the ASF’s unique approach of engaging and empowering communities. She enjoys working actively with projects on open source community management. She is VP Apache Kibble and a PMC Member several Apache projects including Apache Community Development, Apache OFBiz and Apache Training (Incubating). Sharan is an ASF Member and is has been elected to serve Director on the ASF board for the last 3 years.

Sander van der Waal

As Waag’s research director, Sander van der Waal is responsible for its research agenda, working in close collaboration with the four heads of the research groups and leads of the 8 constituent labs. His focus is on ensuring Waag’s research contributes to lasting positive change locally in Amsterdam, nationally in The Netherlands, and on the European level, in line with Waag’s principles of openness, fairness and inclusivity. He maintains and develops a strong network of research partners and represents Waag on stage in debates, events and webinars.

Lina Böcker

Dr Lina Boecker is a well experienced lawyer for information technology (IT) law and one of the few experts in the field of open-source-software (OSS) compliance. She advises a broad range of clients from software developers to international OEMs and public research institutions on all aspects of IT-law.

Lina was admitted to the bar in 2011. After having spent nine years (thereof more than five years as a partner) at a Berlin based boutique law firm for IT law, she joined Osborne Clarke as a partner in 2022.

Myrle Krantz

Myrle is an Engineering Director for Application Observability at Grafana Labs. She has over 20 years of experience as a software developer. Myrle is a member of The Apache Software Foundation, where she has served in multiple ways including through roles in operations and in governance. She’s exuberant about open source and passionate about making software that solves important problems facing humanity.

Eriol Fox

Eriol has been working as a designer for 10+ years working in for-profits and then NGO’s and open-source software organisations, working on complex problems like sustainable food systems, peace-building and crisis response technology. Eriol now works at Simply Secure on design, research, open-source and technology projects.

Stefan Rudnitzki

Stefan worked as a software developer, business coach, and manager with over 15 years of experience in various domains and technologies. He helps people and organizations adapt to change and grow through coaching, organizational development, and strategic management to create customer value. He is passionate about agile and collaborative ways of working. Furthermore, he is also a co-founder of FOSS Backstage.

Shane Coughlan

Shane Coughlan is an expert in communication, security and business development. His professional accomplishments include spearheading the licensing team that elevated Open Invention Network into the largest patent non-aggression community in history, establishing the leading professional network of Open Source legal experts and aligning stakeholders to launch both the first law journal and the first law book dedicated to Open Source. He currently leads the OpenChain community, is an advisor at the United Nationals Technology Innovation Labs, and serves on various boards.

Ana Jimenez Santamaria

Ana is the OSPO Program Manager at the TODO Group, an open source project and community of OSPO practitioners who want to collaborate on best practices, tools, and other ways to run successful and effective Open Source Projects and Programs, under the auspices of the Linux Foundation. Formerly she worked at Bitergia, a Software Development Analytics firm, while she finished her MSc in Data Science, whose final thesis focused on measuring DevRel’s success within Open Source development communities

Paula Grzegorzewska

Paula Grzegorzewska is a Strategic Partnerships Director at OFE. Her expertise revolves around open source software and hardware, artificial intelligence, chips and the digital transformation of European public services. Paula leads OFE’s engagement with European and global partners stemming from government, academia, not-for-profits and international institutions. She is a co-author of the 2021 European Commission’s study on the economic impact of open source software and hardware that revealed their significant potential and influence. Previously, she worked on closing the gender gap in ICT with an NGO in Luxembourg, and she has a Master’s degree in New Media and Communications from Vrije Universiteit Brussel.