Creative Commons (CC) has—and continues to be—fortunate to have an expert and passionate board of directors, many of whom have been instrumental to the success of CC at both the organizational level, as well as nationally and regionally. A healthy board of directors regularly welcomes new members following its bylaws, which means that we must also say goodbye to board members who have completed their term of service on our volunteer board.

Effective October 30, 2024, Angela Oduor Lungati has been voted by the CC board of directors as CC board chair for a term of two years, replacing Delia Browne who served as chair of the board from late 2022. Glenn O. Brown will continue his service as vice chair of the board. “It has been a tremendous pleasure and privilege to work with Delia and Angela. Their expertise, integrity, global perspectives, and down-to-earth demeanors make them ideal teammates and leaders for the org. I am thrilled to continue to work with Angela in her tenure as chair, with Anna as CEO, and with the great teams they lead,” says Glenn.

Meet Angela Oduor Lungati, CC’s New Board Chair

Angela is a technologist, community builder, and open source software advocate passionate about building and using appropriate technology tools to impact the lives of marginalized groups. She has over ten years of experience in software development, global community engagement, and non-profit organizational management.

Angela is the Executive Director at Ushahidi, a global non-profit technology company that helps communities quickly collect and share information that enables them to raise voices, inform decisions, and influence change. In addition to her service on the CC board of directors, Angela is a member of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap team board of directors. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Data Equity, and was recently named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2024 and a Mozilla 2024 Rise25 Honoree. 

Angela joined the Creative Commons board in 2021. Her tenure as board chair begins at the same time as CC launches its refreshed strategic plan, which charts the path for sustaining and advancing CC’s open infrastructure of sharing, and advocating for and defending a thriving creative commons. As the first CC board chair from Kenya, Angela’s commitment to centering the global community at a time of immense change and innovation will steer CC into a future of sharing in the age of generative AI.

“I’m thrilled to be appointed the chair of the CC board of directors by my fellow board colleagues. I look forward to collaborating with the CC team and, of course, open advocates and all those who contribute to a thriving commons globally. In particular, I’m keen to support CC as it shifts towards a model of movement building alongside a global community as we accomplish more together than we can apart,” says Angela. 

Celebrating and Giving Gratitude to Delia Browne

This is also a bittersweet moment for CC as we celebrate the accomplishments of Delia Browne, who has been the CC board chair since 2022, and a board member since 2018, as she steps down from the board following the end of her term. Delia’s energy, directness, and unwavering commitment to CC will be sorely missed and we are so thankful for her many contributions over the years. For those of you who haven’t had the chance to meet her, Delia is a copyright lawyer and policy advocate who leads the National Copyright Unit (NCU) in Australia, providing specialist copyright advice to Australian Schools and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes with a focus on the rapidly changing digital teaching environment. Delia is a co-founder of Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) and a board director of the Australian Digital Alliance. She is also a member of the editorial board of Media and Arts Law Review and has taught Intellectual Property at the University of New Wales, Griffith University, and the University of Auckland (her alma mater). Delia has also represented Creative Commons at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. Perhaps most significantly for us, though, Delia is a long time member of the CC Global Network.

Delia’s contributions to CC are far too many to list, but we’d like to highlight a few in an effort to capture the powerhouse that is Delia Browne:

• Delia has attended every CC Global Summit since 2007.
• Delia represented CC at the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights and is dedicated to furthering the WIPO Limitations and Exception agenda, particularly with regard to education.
• Delia was a key member of the community team that authored CC’s Global Network Strategy in 2017.
• Delia oversaw and supported a CEO transition in early 2024.
• Delia was CC’s first chair appointed from outside the United States, providing a global lens to CC’s strategy and priorities at the board level.

“Throughout my time on the CC board of directors, we’ve navigated immense change and capitalized on opportunities that drive us towards CC vision. It has been an honor to work with my fellow board colleagues and collaborators over the last seven years and I’m so pleased to hand the baton to Angie who will continue to guide the organization into the future,” says Delia.

Thankfully, Delia won’t be going too far as she will now join the CC Advisory Council and will be actively involved in supporting CC’s strategic efforts with regards to sharing in an age of generative AI. On behalf of the CC global community, board of directors, and team, we wish to thank Delia for her unwavering support, and we look forward to working with you in this new capacity.

Other CC Board Updates

The CC Board’s Governance & Nominations committee is currently wrapping up new board member recruitment and anticipates that we will welcome several new board members in the coming months.