Alliance of Digital Humanities OrganizationsCall for ADHO Executive Board Chair-Elect
ADHO, the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, is seeking a new Chair-Elect for its Executive Board (EB), starting at the end of July 2026. As with all ADHO Offices, it is an unremunerated position appointed by ADHO’s governing body, the Constituent Organization Board (COB). Appointment as Chair-Elect is for one year, after which the appointed officer becomes the Chair.
The ADHO Executive Board Chair oversees the EB in carrying out the vision and policies set by the COB; the Chair has ultimate responsibility for all ADHO organization operations. To do this, the EB Chair collaborates closely with the COB President and President-Elect and supports EB members in their work. The Chair sets the agenda and runs EB meetings and generally ensures that the work of ADHO gets done. The Chair is appointed by the COB and reports to the Executive Board (EB). The Chair-Elect works with the Chair to support the EB and to develop good working relationships with the COB President-Elect.
Executive Board Chair is a three-year non-renewable position, with the first year (2026-2027) in the role of Chair-Elect, beginning immediately after the DH2026 conference. The term is then followed by a further two-year term as Chair (2027-2029), beginning at the end of the DH2027 conference and concluding at the end of the DH2029 conference.
The Executive Board works remotely, communicating via email, online chat, video calls, etc. ADHO is a global organization and officers and committee chairs may be based in any country. Both the EB and COB meet regularly. Due to international coordination, meetings may occur outside of standard working hours. Time required for the role is generally around 5 hours per week, with a larger time commitment required leading up to and during the annual ADHO conference.
Chair Responsibilities
- To work with the EB to carry out the activities of ADHO in a strategic and timely fashion (e.g. website and communication updates, conference management, awards, financial and infrastructure management)
- To work with the COB President and President-Elect to take ADHO’s strategic vision and policies and bring them into action
- To work with the EB Secretary to schedule and create agendas for regular meetings, and to run the meetings.
- To work with the COB President and Secretary to schedule and create agendas for annual joint meetings of EB and COB and to co-run the meetings with the COB President.
- To represent the EB and communicate about its work at regular COB meetings.
- The EB Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer also act as Trustees and Officers of Stichting ADHO, a charity registered in The Netherlands which is ADHO’s legal body.
Chair-Elect Responsibilities
- To support the Chair with the responsibilities above and to act in the Chair’s capacity when they are unavailable.
- To attend regular meetings of EB, COB, and ADHO generally.
- To attend annual COB-EB joint meetings.
- To become familiar with the documentation, ways of working, and systems used by ADHO, and the EB in particular.
- In consultation with the Chair and Secretary, to document information gained during their onboarding process and suggest improvements to ADHO and EB processes and systems.
Background
ADHO is governed by two complementary bodies:
- The Constituent Organizations Board (COB) is composed of one representative from each of the Constituent Organizations (COs) and a liaison to the Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Its role is to establish and develop vision, strategy, and policy for ADHO.
- The Executive Board (EB) is appointed by the COB, and its role is to enact the decisions made by the COB, to administer the day-to-day running of the organization, and to ensure that ADHO abides by all applicable laws.
- ADHO is a global organization and the Chair may be based in any country. The EB meets regularly (twice monthly) online. All ADHO Officers (including the Chair) are required to make reasonable allowances to meet with colleagues in other time zones.
For further information, please see a full description of ADHO’s governance structure.
Eligibility
- Any active member of the ADHO community is eligible to apply for this role, and some familiarity with this community is highly desirable.
- The post holder must be a member of an ADHO Constituent Organization.
Deadline for submission:
Please consider the position and apply before 1 May 2026.
To express your interest, please fill out the Application form and upload a CV (2 pages long).
Please contact the ADHO Secretary at [email protected] with any questions.
Mitchell Whitelaw
John Overholt
Christof Schöch
Knowledge Commons
Global DH Symposium
dh+lib
MSU Digital Humanities