Roles
Area Champions and committees.
Area Champions
What an Area Champion is
Each shop area at Waukesha Makerspace has an Area Champion: a volunteer member who looks after that part of the shop. The areas are:
- Wood Shop
- Metal Shop
- Digital Fabrication (3D printing, laser, CNC)
- Electronics Lab
- Fiber Arts (textiles, sewing, leatherworking)
- Flex Space (vehicle and bike work, plus the paint and spray booth)
Champions are volunteers, like everyone else who runs the space. The board sets direction and policy; champions are the people who know their area best day to day.
What Area Champions do
- Keep the area's knowledge current. Each area has its own book in this knowledge base with an Overview, Equipment SOPs and Maintenance chapters. The champion keeps the area overview accurate and makes sure each tool that needs one has an SOP page (see the SOP Page Template in the Editor's Handbook).
- Be a first contact for check-offs. Members get checked off on tools before using them, and check-offs are recorded in Journeyman (https://journeyman.waukeshamakers.com). If you are not sure who can check you off in an area, the champion is a good person to ask. See Training and Certification: Becoming a Trainer or Check-off Volunteer.
- Approve donations for the area. Donations of tools, equipment or materials must be approved by the area's champion (sometimes called the area coordinator) or by the board before they are delivered. Members should not drop off unapproved items.
- Watch over equipment. Keep an eye on tools that are tagged out of service, and help get them repaired. See Shop Safety: Tagging a Tool Out of Service and Reporting It.
- Work with the Space Improvement Committee. The committee coordinates improvement work and Barnraising work days; it works with Area Champions rather than replacing them. Champions are a good source of tasks for work days.
- Share news at open houses. Shop updates, new equipment and area improvements are part of every open house agenda. See Hosting an Open House.
Area projects the champions own
Some open items in the knowledge base wait on Area Champions:
- Safety data sheets. Collecting safety data sheets for the finishes, resins, solvents, gases and adhesives used in each area. See Shop Safety: Chemical Safety and Safety Data Sheets.
- Spray booth SOP. The Flex Space champion owns writing the paint and spray booth SOP.
Who the champions are
The current champion for each area is listed on that area's Overview page.
To be confirmed: the current Area Champion for each area, and how champions are chosen or appointed.
Becoming an Area Champion
If you know an area well and want to help look after it, talk to a board member or ask in #general on Discord.
To be confirmed: whether champions are appointed by the board and whether there is a term.
Committees and How to Join One
Why committees exist
Waukesha Makerspace is run entirely by volunteers. Beyond the Board of Directors, the space relies on volunteers and committees to support day-to-day operations, events and community outreach. Committees take on a defined piece of work, give the board feedback, help with programming and keep the facility accessible and well equipped.
Some committees are standing (they keep going year after year). Others are ad hoc: formed for one job, such as planning an event, and wound down when it is done.
How a committee works
The board creates a committee and decides what it may and may not do. The Space Improvement Committee is a good example of how this works:
- The board appoints a committee chair.
- The chair recruits committee members, and the board confirms them.
- The committee works inside a written scope. It can plan and coordinate work, but spending money, structural changes and anything that changes member access or hours need board approval.
- The chair reports to the board regularly, and the board reviews the committee's work.
- Committee positions are appointments, not entitlements. The board can change or dissolve a committee.
The full description of each standing committee is in Organization and Board: Committees.
Current committees
To be confirmed: the list of active committees and how to contact each one. Committees named in 2026 board records include the Space Improvement Committee (Project Barnraising), the Membership Tier Planning Committee and the governance committee for board nominations (Project Groundswell).
How to join
- Find the committee. Check Organization and Board: Committees, or listen for calls for help at the monthly open house (committee openings are a standing agenda item).
- Say you are interested. Ask in #general on Discord or talk to a board member at the space.
- Talk with the chair. The chair decides who joins, and the board confirms committee members.
You do not need to join a committee to help. Many jobs, such as leading orientations, giving tours at open houses, cleanups and Barnraising work days, are open to any member in good standing. See Running a New Member Orientation and Hosting an Open House.
Starting a new committee
If you think WMI needs a committee that does not exist, write it up as a board proposal. See Organization and Board: Submitting a Board Proposal.