Board of Directors

Structure, seats, nominations and proposals.

Organization Structure and Current Board

Waukesha Makerspace Inc. is a volunteer-run nonprofit. A Board of Directors sets policy, strategic direction and financial oversight. Day-to-day operations are handled by the Executive Director. Volunteers, Area Champions and committees do much of the work that keeps the shop running.

Current Board of Directors

As of July 21, 2026, the board has nine directors:

Name Board role Contact
Walter (Wally) Meyer Chairman chairman@waukeshamakers.com
Casey Kerr Vice Chairman (also Executive Director) vicechairman@waukeshamakers.com
Brian Lizotte Secretary secretary@waukeshamakers.com
Carrie Zerjav Treasurer treasurer@waukeshamakers.com
Tom Slater Member-at-Large
Renee Love Member-at-Large
Brian Oswald Member-at-Large (Secretary Designee)
Erik Helgestad Member-at-Large
Will Spears Member-at-Large

For general questions, email info@waukeshamakers.com or admin@waukeshamakers.com.

Officer roles

All directors, officers or not, are voting members of the board with the same fiduciary duties.

Chairman

Vice Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer

Member-at-Large

Executive Director

The Executive Director manages daily operations: members, the facility, systems and operational partnerships. The Executive Director gives reports to the board but does not call or preside over board meetings. Casey Kerr currently serves as both Vice Chairman and Executive Director.

Board Advisors

The bylaws allow the board to invite Board Advisors: people who share expertise, contacts or mentoring and may help on committees or projects. Advisors do not vote and have no fiduciary duties or decision-making authority.

How the board works

Volunteers and committees

Beyond the board, WMI relies on volunteers and committees for operations, events and outreach. See the Committees chapter, and Area Champions and Committees and How to Join One in Volunteer Runbooks.

Board Seats, Designations and Succession

These are the standing rules for how many seats the board has, what designations are, and how officer succession works. They come from Project Continuum, a board capacity and succession framework the board approved 5-0 at its January 6, 2026 meeting.

Board size

The current Bylaws still cap the board at seven directors. Project Continuum called for a bylaws amendment to match the nine-seat structure, and the board is preparing that amendment.

Designations

A Member-at-Large may be given a functional designation tied to one officer role, such as Secretary Designee, Treasurer Designee or Vice Chairman Designee. A designee trains alongside the officer and helps with the role. Designations are optional; the board decides when they are useful, and some Members-at-Large have none.

Designations follow five rules:

  1. Officers stay accountable. The officer keeps full responsibility and authority for the role. The designee helps under the officer's direction and has no independent authority beyond what the officer or board delegates.
  2. No automatic succession. Being a designee does not guarantee becoming the officer. Officer appointments always take a board vote.
  3. One designee per officer role at a time.
  4. Written scope. Each designation should have a written description of what the designee does and what stays with the officer.
  5. Reviewed regularly. The board reviews designations annually and may reassign, remove or leave them vacant. Removing a designation does not remove the person from the board.

The board, not the officer, assigns and removes designations.

When an officer is away or leaves

What this framework does not do

Current designations

Designation Held by Since
Secretary Designee Brian Oswald February 11, 2026

How to Nominate a Board Candidate

Any member in good standing can nominate someone, including themselves, for a Member-at-Large seat on the Board of Directors. This process comes from Project Groundswell, the member nomination framework the board approved at its January 6, 2026 meeting, when it also set up a Governance Committee to run it.

Nominations are advice to the board, not a vote. The board keeps full authority over who is appointed and may also find candidates in other ways.

To be confirmed: whether the Board Skills Matrix and evaluation criteria have been published and nominations are open. Under the framework, both must be published before the first nomination is accepted. Until this page links to them, ask the Secretary (secretary@waukeshamakers.com) before submitting.

Who can nominate

You can nominate if you are a member in good standing:

Each member may submit up to two nominations per calendar year. Self-nominations count toward the two. Nominating the same person twice is not accepted.

Who can be nominated

A nominee must:

Before you nominate

  1. Read the Board Skills Matrix: the skills and backgrounds the board needs right now. A strong nomination matches a real need.
  2. Talk to the person you want to nominate and make sure they want to serve.
  3. Make sure they receive and read the Nominee Expectations Packet. It covers a director's legal duties, the time commitment, the meeting schedule, the evaluation process and confidentiality.

How to submit

Send the nomination in writing (email or online form) to the Board Secretary at secretary@waukeshamakers.com. Include:

Nominations are accepted all year.

What happens next

  1. Receipt. The Secretary checks that the nomination is complete against a published checklist and acknowledges it within 7 business days. The Secretary's role is administrative only.
  2. Review. The Governance Committee reviews complete nominations against the published evaluation criteria and holds screening interviews with qualified nominees, normally within 60 days.
  3. Candidate pool. Vetted candidates stay in a pool. When a seat is opening, the committee recommends candidates to the full board.
  4. Decision. The full board interviews recommended candidates and votes on appointments.

Several members nominating the same person is treated as a good sign of member confidence. Skills fit remains the main consideration.

What to expect

Joining the Board

Interested in serving on the Board of Directors? This page explains how a candidate is considered and includes the candidate questionnaire the board uses. To put someone else's name forward (or your own), see How to Nominate a Board Candidate.

The process

  1. Express interest or be nominated. Talk to any board member, or follow How to Nominate a Board Candidate.
  2. Complete the candidate questionnaire (below). You can answer in writing or, if you prefer, talk through your answers with the committee on a call; they will write down your responses.
  3. Conversation with the committee. The committee meets with you to discuss your answers and to answer your questions.
  4. Skills summary and proposal. The committee writes a short skills summary and a proposal recommending you for a seat and, where it fits, a designation.
  5. Board vote. The full board votes on the appointment at a regular or special meeting.

Questions? Ask any board member, or email the Vice Chairman at vicechairman@waukeshamakers.com.

What board service involves

Board Candidate Questionnaire

Thank you for your interest in serving on the Waukesha Makerspace Board of Directors. This questionnaire helps the committee understand your interests, skills and vision so it can recommend the best role fit. There are no wrong answers; we want your honest perspective. Take your time and answer as thoroughly as you like.

Section 1: About You

  1. How long have you been a member of Waukesha Makerspace?
  2. What initially drew you to the makerspace? What keeps you coming back?
  3. What areas of the shop do you use most? What projects are you currently working on or interested in?
  4. Do you have any prior board or committee service experience? (nonprofit, corporate, civic, HOA, etc.)
  5. What is your current profession or occupation? (Brief description of your role and relevant skills)

Section 2: Board Interest and Motivation

  1. Why are you interested in serving on the board?
  2. What do you think you would bring to the board that isn't currently represented?
  3. What does Waukesha Makerspace's mission mean to you personally? For reference, our mission: "Waukesha Makerspace Inc empowers individuals, enriches our community, and supports environmental stewardship by fostering hands-on learning, innovation, and collaboration through skills and technology in a supportive, healthy environment."
  4. Where do you see Waukesha Makerspace in 2 to 3 years? What role would you like to play in getting there?

Section 3: Board Roles and Responsibilities

Our board has four officer positions and Member-at-Large seats. Under the Project Continuum framework, new board members may be assigned as a "designee": they train alongside a current officer to learn a specific role, without automatic succession.

  1. Which of these roles interest you? Check all that apply and briefly explain why.
    • Chairman Designee: learn board leadership, meeting facilitation, organizational strategy
    • Vice Chairman Designee: support the Chair, step in when needed, lead special initiatives
    • Secretary Designee: meeting documentation, record-keeping, member communications
    • Treasurer Designee: financial oversight, budgeting, financial reporting
    • Member-at-Large (general): governance participation without a specific officer track
    • Other or not sure: describe
  2. Are there specific responsibilities you'd be excited to take on? (Examples: leading a committee, organizing events, managing a shop area, training coordination, community outreach)
  3. Are there any roles or responsibilities you'd prefer to avoid? (No judgment; this helps us find the right fit.)

Section 4: Committee and Leadership Interests

The board works through committees. Some existing and potential committees:

  1. Which committees would you be most interested in joining or leading?
  2. Do you have experience leading teams, committees or projects? If so, describe briefly.
  3. Is there a committee or initiative that doesn't exist yet that you think should?

Section 5: Availability and Commitment

  1. Board meetings are currently held quarterly (with additional meetings as needed). Can you commit to attending these meetings?
    • Yes, in person
    • Yes, but may need a virtual option occasionally
    • Other
  2. How many hours per month could you realistically dedicate to board or committee work, beyond meetings?
  3. Are there times of year when your availability is limited? (travel, seasonal work, etc.)
  4. Do you have any potential conflicts of interest to disclose? (financial interests, competing organizations, family relationships with members, etc.)

Section 6: Skills and Strengths

  1. Rate your comfort level in each area (1 = not comfortable, 5 = very comfortable):
Area 1 2 3 4 5
Public speaking and presentations
Written communication and documentation
Financial and budgeting
Strategic planning
Conflict resolution
Teaching and mentoring
Project management
Fundraising and grant writing
Community outreach and networking
Technical and hands-on shop skills
  1. What professional skills from your day job translate well to board service?
  2. Is there anything else you'd like the committee to know about your background, skills or interests?

Section 7: Vision and Values

  1. What do you think is working well at Waukesha Makerspace right now?
  2. What's one thing you'd change or improve if you could?
  3. How do you handle disagreement in a group setting?
  4. What does "community" mean to you in the context of a makerspace?

Submitting a Board Proposal

Big changes at WMI (a new policy, a new committee, a change to board structure or membership, a significant purchase) go to the Board of Directors as a written proposal. A proposal lays out the problem, the specific change, its cost and risks, and the exact motion the board is asked to vote on. Approved proposals so far include Project Continuum (board seats and succession), Project Groundswell (member nominations) and Project Barnraising (the Space Improvement Committee).

To be confirmed: how a member who is not on the board should submit a proposal (for example, through a sponsoring board member or by email to the Secretary).

How a proposal moves

  1. Draft. The author or a committee writes the proposal and gathers supporting material.
  2. Under review. The proposal is formally submitted and included in the board packet so directors can read it before the meeting.
  3. Board consideration. It is presented at a board meeting, discussed, possibly amended, and voted on.
  4. Final status. Approved, rejected, deferred (stays active for a later meeting) or withdrawn.

Each proposal gets a number in the form P-YYYY-NNN (for example, P-2026-001 is the first proposal of 2026) and is tracked in the board's proposal registry. Proposals are also grouped by category: Strategic, Policy, Budget, Personnel, Program or Governance.

What to include

Use these sections. Keep each one as short as it can be while still being clear.

Section What goes in it
Header Title, proposal number, category, who is submitting it, date submitted, status
Executive summary Two or three sentences a director could understand without reading further
Background Why this is coming up now; what problem or opportunity it addresses
Proposal details The specific changes or actions, listed as clear components
Financial impact Costs, funding sources and any ongoing commitment, in a small table. If none, say "This proposal has no direct financial impact."
Implementation plan Phases, target dates and who owns each phase
Risks and mitigation Each risk with its likelihood, impact and how you will handle it
Alternatives considered Other approaches and why this one was chosen
Stakeholder input Who was consulted and what they said
Board consideration history Each meeting where it came up and what happened
Approval Decision date, vote and resolution number (filled in by the board)
Appendices Supporting materials

Tips for a proposal that gets a clear decision