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nominations-elections-policies/README.md

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+This direcotry containst policies regarding the nominations process, and board member seleciton and attendance policies.

nominations-elections-policies/tldr_key_points_for_new_bods.md

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+# DRYAD: Key Points for Board Members
+
+## History and Milestones
+
+* **2007**: Conceived as a result of meetings hosted by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center
+* **2008**: First data-publishing platform launched, funded by NSF
+* **Original Name**: DRIADE (Digital Repository of Information and Data for Evolution); renamed "Dryad" to allow a broader data scope
+* **2011**: Release of the Joint Data Archiving Policy (JDAP), stating that journals should require data supporting their papers to be archived publicly; has been adopted by many journals
+* **2012**: Dryad incorporated as a U.S. non-profit (501(c)(3))
+* **2025**: Dryad hosts over 50,000 data publications from 200,000+ researchers, connected to more than 70,000 institutions and 1,000+ journals, comprising over 50M individual data sets
+
+## Mission
+
+* Provide a trusted repository for open, accessible, and well-documented scientific data
+* Make data freely available to researchers, enabling reproducibility, sharing, and long-term data preservation
+* Support a wide range of disciplines
+* Promote transparent science by ensuring that datasets are linked to published research and can be easily discovered and reused
+
+## By-laws Overview
+
+### Membership
+* Organizations that support Dryad's mission can become Members, subject to dues/fees and adherence to governance documents
+* Members have governance rights such as electing the Board of Directors and voting on major organizational changes
+
+### Board of Directors
+* Details about composition, appointment, terms, duties, powers, meetings, quorum, vacancies, and removal
+
+### Officers
+* Bylaws define roles (e.g., Chair, Treasurer, Secretary), how they're selected, and their responsibilities
+
+### Committees
+* The Board may create committees, define their scope, membership, and powers
+
+### Meetings
+* Annual meeting, special meetings, notice requirements, quorum and voting rules are laid out
+
+### Financials
+* The bylaws cover fiscal year, audits, budgets, indemnification, and records, ensuring accountability and transparency
+
+### Amendments
+* The process by which the bylaws can be amended (typically via Board and/or Member approval) is defined
+
+### Dissolution and Assets
+* If Dryad is dissolved, assets must be distributed consistent with its nonprofit purpose (e.g., to another 501(c)(3) or charitable entity)
+
+### Risk Management
+* Conflict of interest policy, indemnification of directors/officers, and record-keeping requirements are included to manage risks