Giza chapter appeal

[Andrew van der Stock]

Hi Board,

The Giza chapter leadership wishes to appeal my decision to terminate the Giza chapter and potentially merge with the Cairo chapter, a decision which the Chapter Committee also backs. Since its formation in April, Giza has had 21 meetup participants and one meeting. Cairo has had 36 events since 2020 and has 2800 meetup participants.

Please meet Adham Elmasry and Muhammad Nasef. They will better explain their side of the argument. I would encourage you to meet with them, and please invite Sherif Mansour, former Board chair. As an Egyptian expat, he understands Egyptian norms and culture while not having any conflict of interest in the outcome.

The OWASP Foundation view:

Under existing and draft Chapter policy, chapters are supposed to be 50 miles / 80 km apart or have more than an hour travel time. Giza's city center is located 5 km from Cairo's city center. The travel time during peak hour is 20-30 minutes by car. So, we should have rejected it. We have other chapters in a similar situation, so we should look at them as well. I will be reviewing our chapter creation process to see if we can ensure that both distance and time checks are occurring so this won't happen again.



https://maps.app.goo.gl/iLkK1WrbSJuCZbrL8

Unfortunately, our standard chapter creation process distance check failed to identify that Giza, while being its own governorate, lies wholly within the greater Cairo area, where we already have a Cairo chapter. Giza is where many of the IT firms and developers are located. 

For now, nothing has been deleted, it has just been hidden. If the Board decides to not take up or reject the appeal, I will remove the Meetup group and GitHub page. If you decide to reverse my decision, I will reinstate Adham and Muhammad. 

Although the Foundation made a mistake in creating the chapter, that's not a reason to keep it going, as there's an active chapter that is affected by the mistake. 

thanks,

Andrew

[Adham Elmasry]

Dear Global Board and Andrew,

I hope this email finds you well.

I would like to formally request that the OWASP Foundation and the Global Board reconsider the decision to terminate the Giza Chapter. I believe there are key factors that justify allowing the Giza Chapter to continue its operations independently:

1. Proximity Policy Clarification

The distance between the furthest points in Giza and Cairo can exceed 150 kilometers, with the furthest points being more than 500 kilometers apart. These distances suggest that Giza serves a distinct geographical area under OWASP’s distance guidelines. Given this separation, we believe the Giza Chapter should be allowed to operate independently, as it provides unique value to its local community.  [check egypt.png, giza.png, cairo.png, and distance giza and cairo.PNG]

2. Precedent of Existing Chapter Exceptions

There are existing OWASP chapters in other regions where cities are geographically close but have been allowed to operate independently. Examples include:

• Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. (7.8 miles apart)  [check virginia-washingtondc.png]
• Birmingham and Warwick (26.8 miles apart) [check birmingham-warwick.png]
• Cambridge and Peterborough (43.2 miles apart) [check cambridge-peterborough.png]
• San Jose and San Francisco Bay Area (43.6 miles apart) [check sanjose and sanfrans.png]
• Philadelphia and Princeton (45 miles apart)  [check phili and princeton.png]

Given these precedents, we believe the same model can work between Giza and Cairo, especially considering the distinct communities they serve. During our meeting with Dawn, we were assured that as long as we focused on Giza, we would be allowed to operate without overlapping with Cairo’s region.

3. Significant Efforts and Time Invested

The Giza leadership team has invested a great deal of time and effort into building the chapter. Some of the key milestones include:

• Booking the calendar for the remainder of 2024, securing speakers and scheduling events.
• Recording our first event featuring an industry expert.
• Building a strong social media presence with over 850+ followers.
• Creating a chapter logo that reflects Giza’s 7,000 years of history, incorporating symbols such as the blue river, green grass, pyramids, and yellow sands.  [check logo.png]
• Printing stickers and merchandise at our own expense to build local awareness and strengthen ties between the Giza community and OWASP.
• Publicly building the chapter, encouraging others to start their own local chapters in different regions.

Closing the Giza Chapter now would undermine the significant efforts we’ve made to build a thriving local OWASP community.

4. Unique Community Engagement

Our first session attracted over 80+ participants, with a 4-hour event that saw strong engagement on social media and 4k+ views on youtube within 6 days only. The Giza Chapter serves a distinct community that may not otherwise engage with the Cairo Chapter due to logistical challenges. The positive response from the local community further demonstrates that Giza deserves its own representation under OWASP.

We also proposed that Cairo can still hold events in Giza, but keeping Giza’s chapter independent would allow us to continue enhancing local engagement while inspiring others to start their own chapters across Egypt.

5. Challenges Faced

Since the announcement of the Giza Chapter, we have faced various challenges. For five months, two of us worked almost part-time to get the chapter off the ground. After a meeting with Dawn on July 1st, we understood the proximity concerns and agreed to operate exclusively in Giza, not Cairo.

However, following this agreement, we announced our plans and had a successful first event, only to receive the email about the chapter's closure shortly afterward. The back-and-forth decisions about opening, then closing, and reopening have caused disruptions to our planning, and we’ve had to apologize to speakers and reschedule events.

6. Our Mission and the Impact on Future Chapters

Our primary goal in Giza is to spread cybersecurity knowledge and foster communication between beginners and professionals in alignment with OWASP’s mission. We aim to build a strong local chapter that engages with the community, introduces OWASP’s initiatives, and helps individuals develop in the cybersecurity field.

Egypt is vast, with over 111 million people and many regions that would benefit from local chapters. The logistical challenges of attending events in Cairo prevent many people from creating local communities. By building the Giza Chapter, we have already motivated others to consider starting their own chapters, which we believe will contribute to OWASP’s broader mission.

Since we have built the chapter publicly, many in the local cybersecurity industry have witnessed every step of its creation and attended our first event. We’ve garnered interest from industry leaders, with some eager to speak at future events and others interested in joining the chapter. Closing the Giza Chapter would discourage people from starting local OWASP chapters in Egypt and could diminish the enthusiasm we’ve worked hard to generate.

Conclusion

Given the unique circumstances and significant efforts invested in establishing the Giza Chapter, I respectfully ask the OWASP Foundation and the Global Board to reconsider their decision. Giza serves a distinct community, has already demonstrated its potential for growth, and has inspired others to start their own chapters. Allowing Giza to continue would strengthen OWASP’s presence in Egypt and foster the development of cybersecurity initiatives across the region.

Thank you for considering this request, and I look forward to your response.

Best regards,
Adham Elmasry
OWASP Giza Chapter Leader

[Bil Corry - Treasurer]

Can we discuss this at the open board meeting next week?

And does the Cairo chapter have a statement they want to add to this discussion?

- Bil

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[avi.d...@owasp.org]

Hi Adham, Muhammad,

Are you able to join the public board meeting this week? It will take place on Wednesday, 17:30 PDT.

I know that is rather late for you folks, but the next board meeting is another month away.

 

Avi D

https://maps.app.goo.gl/iLkK1WrbSJuCZbrL8

 

Unfortunately, our standard chapter creation process distance check failed to identify that Giza, while being its own governorate, lies wholly within the greater Cairo area, where we already have a Cairo chapter. Giza is where many of the IT firms and developers are located. 

 

For now, nothing has been deleted, it has just been hidden. If the Board decides to not take up or reject the appeal, I will remove the Meetup group and GitHub page. If you decide to reverse my decision, I will reinstate Adham and Muhammad. 

 

Although the Foundation made a mistake in creating the chapter, that's not a reason to keep it going, as there's an active chapter that is affected by the mistake. 

 

thanks,

Andrew

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[Adham Elmasry]

Hello Avi and Global Board,

Thank you for the invitation.

While the meeting time will be 3:30 am for us, we are happy to accept with pleasure. We look forward to participating and discussing the Giza Chapter with the board.
We will be waiting for the meeting invitation.

Best regards,
Adham Elmasry
Owasp Giza Chapter Leader

[Avi Douglen]

Oh that would be great, Adham. We will try to prioritize and make this one of the first topics, but do have some standard topics that need to be covered first. 

Thanks! 

Avi D 

[Muhammad Nasef]

Hello Andrew, Avi, Bil, and the whole Global Board,

I hope you are doing great today

I want to thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to express our thoughts and to answer your questions, We appreciate it.

We are highly committed to OWASP values and will immediately comply with your decision either by ceasing operations or continuing operations depending on your final decision.

Thank you again for giving us the opportunity.

Best Regards,

Muhammad Nasef