2026 Community Board Member Candidates
Get to know your 2024 Candidates
Samuel Lubwama
I am honored to be nominated for the OpenMRS Community Board Member seat. Since 2016, I have spent the past 10 years contributing to OpenMRS through development, implementation, and support of digital health systems in Uganda, while also making direct contributions to the OpenMRS community.
Through this journey, I have contributed to UgandaEMR, an OpenMRS distribution that now stands at 1,910 installations. This experience has given me practical insight into the realities of building, deploying, and sustaining OpenMRS in real healthcare settings, and a deep appreciation for the community that makes this work possible.
I believe I would be an effective representative because I bring both technical understanding and real-world implementation experience. I value listening, collaboration, and ensuring that community voices are reflected in organizational decisions. If elected, I will advocate for stronger community engagement, support for contributors and implementers, and a future where OpenMRS remains inclusive, innovative, and community-centered.
It would be a privilege to serve and represent the OpenMRS community on the Board.
Edson Wasswa
My name is Edson Wasswa, from Uganda. For the past two years, I have been part of the OpenMRS community writing code, finding bugs, testing features, and welcoming newcomers like someone once welcomed me
I come from a country where the gap between a patient and good care can be as simple as a system that works or one that does not. That reality keeps me grounded. Every pull request I submit, every bug I fix, every feature I help ship, I do it knowing that somewhere, in a clinic that I may never visit, a health worker is using what we built together to make a decision that matters
I may not know exactly whose life was saved. But I am certain that somewhere in the world, a line of code I wrote made a difference. That thought drives me more than anything else.
Serving on the Board would be my way of giving back to a community that gave me a purpose. I will listen, I will represent the real needs of every community we serve out there, and I will never forget why we are all here.
Ssebaana Suubi Joshua
I am honored to accept the nomination for the Community Representative seat on the 2026 OpenMRS Board of Directors. I am a self taught software developer and consultant. My journey within OpenMRS started in 2021 transitioning from a student of Electrical Engineering, a code contributor volunteer, dev3, to a Release Manager and Community Management Fellow.This has given me a 360-degree view of our ecosystem. I believe that the strength of OpenMRS lies not just in our code, but in the accessibility of our community and the technical integrity of our standards.
I am deeply interested in the daily life of the community, maintaining a consistent presence onOpenMRS Talk (@suubi7) and participating in roadmap discussions, community stand-ups, and virtual showcases. My commitment is to the "human" side of open source mentoring new contributors and facilitating global collaboration.
Perspective & Vision
I believe that the long-term success of OpenMRS depends on a seamless contributor journey and technical accessibility. Focusing on ensuring that the transition to OpenMRS 3 (O3) and modern standards remains inclusive for developers and implementers. I believe in a "community-first" approach, where technical roadmaps are informed by the practical realities of the people building and using the software. I wish to foster a culture of mentorship and transparency, ensuring that OpenMRS continues to empower community members to innovate and solve global health challenges.