Leadership

It is with great pride and with many, many thanks that we acknowledge the thousands of volunteer moderators worldwide. Each local group generally has two to six local moderators who, in turn, are helping over four million members to keep good stuff out of landfills and to develop stronger community ties.

Some 80 of these moderators volunteer further time to approve new groups for their state, province or country. In addition, there is a committed crew of some 20-30 moderators putting in countless hours for Group Outreach and Assistance, helping existing groups with day-to-day problems.

Another 2-3 volunteers take care of info@freecycle.org questions, 4-5 lead the worldwide moderator group called the ModSquad, and there are 6-8 team leaders who do a great job in helping teams do their jobs. (There are also a few adhoc committees set up to deal with issues at hand.) There are a few more volunteers who help administer the Web site and our extensive database.

Wow! Hats off to ALL these wonderful people!!

Deron:

The founder & Executive Director is Deron Beal. Clocking in at 6'6", he heads up the Freecycle basketball team and is a sucker for black & white cats. He is blessed to be able to work with all these good people from his base at the Freecycle HQ -- which looks more like a guest bedroom to me, but so be it -- in Tucson, Arizona.

Nan:

Helping Deron is Nan, the Hub Coordinator. She works with all the team Coordinators and team leaders of the various areas to keep things rollin' along. Nan takes the TFN blue ribbon for the amazing amount of canning she does. If it stays in one place more than 10 seconds, Nan will can it. She brings this same enthusiasm to all her TFN duties. (nan@freecycle.org)

Simon:

The TM Team assists groups and the general public in using the Freecycle(TM) mark correctly; works to educate the press about proper use of the mark; and pursues infringement. At the helm of this team is Simon who, thankfully, is probably the most organized person within Freecycle. Thank you, Simon! If you have any questions about the trademark or for help making your group trademark-compliant, please contact him at Trademark.

Ann:

Ann is the Coordinator for the Moderator Resource Assistance team. She and her team helps keep the groups for moderators humming along smoothly. Ann brings to his role her business experience, her longevity and experience in TFN, and her love for sci-fi movies (which often zoom over the heads of many of her teammate's heads). If you see someone wandering around here wearing a ring and a pirate hat, that will be her...

Dona:

The Group Outreach & Assistance (GOA) Team, Mentor Mod (MM) Team and Interim Mod (IMod) Team are all headed up by Dona, the Outreach Coordinator with the help of some wonderful Team Leaders. Dona puts a tremendous amount of time into unschooling and just being a Mom.

Jackie:

Also in each American state, Canadian province, and country worldwide, there is a New Group Approver. The NGAs evaluate the need for, assist and approve new Freecycle groups. Jackie is the [ngacoordinator@freecycle.org NGA Coordinator]. Handling her TFN duties are a piece of cake since the experience with her children has helped her develop a get-to-the-point working mentality and much provided her with much experience on handling temper tantrums. She keeps the tech boys hopping because anytime she sees an error from the NGA POV, she lets them know.

Amy:

The Back Office Team Coordinator is Amy. She brings with her the skills she utilizes in administrative nursing. Here, Amy tends to various administrative duties that fall under this umbrella. Let's just hope her pups don't get a hold of this umbrella and do to it what was done to her set of headphones...

Richard (web guru):

Richard spends a lot of his free time coding away on the next version of the Freecycle website. He also heads up a couple of testing and development teams here all doing his part at home, including that of being husband and dad. If you talk voice to him, you're likely to hear the new baby singing in the background.

Nigel (web guru):

Nigel is responsible for the technical side of everything Wiki, offering support to Richard, Ash, and every fair maiden that begs for help with all things Freecycle.

Ash(web guru):

Ash is responsible for the daily operation of our website. He lives in London and more than walks the walk; he's amongst a growing number of people following the Freegan lifestyle. When not coding, poking around in skips or playing with Linux, he'll often be found taking extended bicycle tours.

Gordon (web guru):

Dedicating enormous amounts of time to maintaining the Freecycle FAQs, in addition to his other tech duties here at TFN is Gordon. Gordon hails from NZ and has a very interesting story to tell involving a box of glass bookmarks.

John (web guru):

Our newest teammate, John is working hard on the messagemaker so we can all send clear and concise messages to the board, each and every time!

Nikki:

Nikki, better known as the midwest maven of My Freecycle; she holds the title of Info Team Lead. She shows her brilliance by heading up the teams that answer all questions "My.Freecycle". These teams include the Ambassador Team, the Info Team, Wiki Team and the FAQs. She also works with the mailbox team (see Penny's description below) for member inquiries on the site and runs the [[1]] addy. When does she sleep? Only the warring Mafias know...

Penny:

Penny helps members with any My.Freecycle issues they may be having, whether it's something that can be resolved easily or something that needs input from Richard. Any member's issue is followed up on and resolved as soon as possible. Technical issues are tracked and members informed once resolved. Penny 9and the admin team) can be contacted at myfreecycleadmin@freecycle.org Don't worry about a thing as Penny does all this with a cat perched by the keyboard making sure she's doing it right!

Bex:

The insomniac, obsessive, compulsive maniac of the team who talks with her hands more than you will ever know, Bex leads up the Wiki team and Ambassador teams. Heaven help those that work with her, but at least they can scream and she won't hear it!