I agree that this is very valuable. I would want them to be explicit about this role, and be clear to community builders talking to them that they should treat them as if talking to a funder.
To be clear, in the cases where I have felt uncomfortable it was not “X is engaging in sketchy behaviour, and we recommend not giving them funding” (my understanding is that this happens fairly often, and I am glad for it. CHT is providing a very valuable function here, which otherwise would be hard to coordinate. If anything, I would want them to be more brazen and ready to recommend against people based on less evidence than they do now).
Is more cases like “CHT staff thinks that this subcommunity would work better without central coordination, and this staff is going to recommend against funding any coordinators going forward” or “CHT is pressuring me to make a certain choice such as not banning a community member I consider problematic, and I am afraid that if I don’t comply I won’t get renewed” (I’ve learned of situations like these happen at least thrice).
It is difficult to orient yourself towards someone who you are not sure whether your should treat as your boss or as neutral third party mediator. This is stressing for community builders.
I agree that this is very valuable. I would want them to be explicit about this role, and be clear to community builders talking to them that they should treat them as if talking to a funder.
To be clear, in the cases where I have felt uncomfortable it was not “X is engaging in sketchy behaviour, and we recommend not giving them funding” (my understanding is that this happens fairly often, and I am glad for it. CHT is providing a very valuable function here, which otherwise would be hard to coordinate. If anything, I would want them to be more brazen and ready to recommend against people based on less evidence than they do now).
Is more cases like “CHT staff thinks that this subcommunity would work better without central coordination, and this staff is going to recommend against funding any coordinators going forward” or “CHT is pressuring me to make a certain choice such as not banning a community member I consider problematic, and I am afraid that if I don’t comply I won’t get renewed” (I’ve learned of situations like these happen at least thrice).
It is difficult to orient yourself towards someone who you are not sure whether your should treat as your boss or as neutral third party mediator. This is stressing for community builders.