The Association for Software Testing is having its annual elections to their board of directors and I am running for re-election. I have served for the last two years as an Executive at Large, and hope the AST membership has benefited from my participation. Having been loosely affiliated with the context driven testing community for years, I have found through serving my term, that there is a great need for the AST and its leadership in the software testing industry.
During my tenure as a member of the board of directors for the AST, I have personally started AST tester meet ups in Singapore, India and New York and as well, have been the chair of the AST Grant Committee which has supported the testing community through workshops and meet ups in California, New Zealand, Australia, Michigan, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. I am also the co-chair of the 2014 AST conference, CAST, which this year is in New York and has attracted multiple new sponsors, new speakers, and sold out for the first time in AST history.
I have a deeply held belief in education and activism in the context driven community, which led me to start the STEP training program with Per Scholas, and involve the AST through providing free student AST memberships for the graduates. I also started the AST STEP mentoring program, which pairs senior testers in the community with graduates of the program.
If re-elected to the board of directors, I will continue to push for excellence in the testing community, bridging gaps between testing and its clients, and continuing to build a vibrant, international CDT community through my experience, voice in the industry and leadership, specifically:
- Increasing international participation in AST membership and events
- Sponsoring more frequent and local AST events
- Building relationships with organizations aligned to AST principles
- Expanding the AST Mentoring Program
- Continuing the Per Scholas relationship
- Increasing the AST publishing presence
- Developing the next generation of BBST courses
It has been a great experience working with the current AST BOD and if reelected, I look forward to continuing our mission with Michael, Markus, Pete and the new members. All I ask for is your vote! Thanks!