Announcing the Common Space Board of Directors

Common Space is built on a simple premise: satellite imagery should be a global public good, improving trust and transparency for everyone. Turning that concept into something that actually makes an impact takes more than just the idea. We need our community, who have spent careers at the intersection of Earth observation, open data, and humanitarian impact to make this a reality. We need community leaders that have a profound interest in making this happen to help us lead confidently with their expertise. As we grow the mission, and the community, we're beyond lucky to have some incredible leaders join our mission as members of our Board of Directors. This board will keep us on task, on mission, and help ensure the Common Space mission comes to fruition. We're excited to announce the team that will be pushing the mission forward:

Andiswa Mlisa

Andiswa Mlisa is the Digital Earth Pacific Programme Manager at the Pacific Community (SPC), ensuring Earth observations reach the 22 Pacific Island Countries and Territories that need them most. With over 20 years of executive leadership in Earth observations, digital data infrastructure, and strategic partnerships, she previously led the Earth Observation division at the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and served as its Acting CEO. A GEO community leader since 2005, Andiswa has co-chaired both the GEO Programme Board and the Digital Earth Africa Technical Advisory Committee.

Dr. David Saah

David Saah, PhD, is Managing Principal and Co-founder of Spatial Informatics Group, Professor and Director of the Geospatial Analysis Lab at the University of San Francisco, and Chair of the NASA Applied Sciences Advisory Committee. An environmental scientist and global leader in geospatial analysis and remote sensing, he has led initiatives including SERVIR and Collect Earth Online, developing open-source tools that strengthen wildfire resilience and climate adaptation. He holds a doctorate in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from UC Berkeley.

Kate Chapman

Kate Chapman is a technologist, geographer, and farmer who believes in the power of digital commons to change the world. She was the first Executive Director of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, applying open data principles to disaster response across Haiti, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. She previously served as Director of Engineering Enablement at the Wikimedia Foundation and CTO of both the Cadasta Foundation and Open Supply Hub.

Dr. Kumar Navulur

Kumar Navulur is an executive with 30+ years of experience in the remote sensing and geospatial industry. He served as President of the DigitalGlobe Foundation and currently leads Synspective USA Inc., giving him a rare balance of nonprofit mission and commercial space experience that maps directly to what Common Space is building. He sits on the board of OGC, holds several patents in remote sensing and geospatial technologies, and has worked across US government, international defense, NGOs, and commercial markets.

Rhiannan Price

Rhiannan Price is co-founder of Common Space, building the world's first independent, community-governed humanitarian satellite constellation. A Humanitarian Fellow-in-Residence at Taylor Geospatial Engine, she previously led NASA Lifelines, founded Maxar's Open Data Program, and has advised NASA's Applied Sciences Advisory Committee and the International Criminal Court's Office of the Prosecutor. A returned Peace Corps Volunteer and Boren Fellow, she also serves on the Board of Trustees for PLACE's UK Data Trust.

Bill Greer

Bill Greer is co-founder of Common Space, bringing deep experience in satellite mission planning and technical implementation from Esri, Albedo, and Maxar. He has championed the use of open data and spatial tools to drive life-saving decisions in the field, including deployments to Kurdistan during the 2015 Yazidi genocide and to Bamako, Mali in 2018, where he supported counter-trafficking efforts using drones and satellite imagery.

The expertise on this board spans humanitarian response, open data, Earth observation policy, and commercial satellite operations, reflecting exactly the kind of community validation this mission needs to succeed. Everyone is active in the community, and has pushed their visions forward, making huge contributions to our community. We have a shared set of values that we’ve worked together to create. We look forward to working more closely with the board as we make progress towards the ultimate goal of launching our satellites, and shifting the power and control paradigm in our industry. We've also been quietly building an advisory board of technical and industry experts. More on that soon.