At Creative Commons, sharing and gratitude go hand in hand. We empower the sharing of knowledge and creativity, as well as celebrate the collaborative creativity and gratitude that sharing engenders.

As Chair of the Creative Commons Board of Directors, I am ending 2019 with a special sense of gratitude for the CC community. This has been a year full of challenges and opportunities for CC. Our staff has risen to the occasion with remarkable energy, collegiality, and grace. Interim CEO Cable Green deserves special recognition for taking on new responsibilities with his typical insight, steadiness, and dedication. He is backed by an outstanding team that includes the rest of the CC staff, our Board of Directors, and the Advisory Council. The CC community also includes the CC Global Network and the millions of educators, librarians, technologists, creators, and activists who use our tools to help grow the global commons. And of course, it includes the generous donors—including visionary foundations and individual CC community members—who make our work possible. (Not a donor yet? Please contribute here!)

At our most recent Board meeting, we recognized two extraordinary members of the CC team. 

Johnathan Nightingale and Tom Rubin have completed their terms of service as members of the CC Board of Directors and will now join our Advisory Council. 

Johnathan Nightingale has served on the CC Board of Directors since 2015, including as Chair of the Development Council. Among the many highlights of his service, Johnathan provided key technical and management expertise as we built the team and the technology behind CC Search, and served as a trusted mentor to our technical and project staff.

Tom Rubin has served on the Board of Directors since 2013, including as Vice-Chair. Tom contributed critical legal expertise and strategic guidance in support of CC’s mission and vision, always holding the organization to the highest standards of performance and professionalism.  

We extend our deepest appreciation and gratitude to Johnathan and Tom for their outstanding contributions, dedicated service, and steadfast devotion to CC’s mission and vision. We look forward to continuing to rely on them as they take their new roles as members of our Advisory Council. 

If you are reading this, then you too are a member of the Creative Commons community. Thank you for sharing our commitment to open knowledge and creativity, and for supporting our work. 

We end this year with gratitude and excitement for continuing our work in 2020!

Molly Van Houweling | Creative Commons Board Chair