The votes are in! We’re excited to announce the winners of the 2026 Open edX Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) Community Representative Election.
In this election, a candidate needed at least 50% of the votes plus one to win. This threshold ensures each winner has broad support while allowing votes beyond that point to be redistributed to voters’ next choices.
Instructor Representative
Ignacio “Nacho” Despujol Zabala
Nacho brings a deeply experienced user and instructor perspective to the TOC, shaped by more than a decade of hands‑on experience with the Open edX LMS. As MOOC Initiative Coordinator at Universitat Politècnica de València, he oversees one of Europe’s largest Open edX deployments, with 150+ MOOCs and over 5 million enrollments, alongside a local Open edX instance used since 2014.
Having personally created and taught more than 20 MOOCs, Nacho has consistently advocated for improving the instructor and learner experience, especially simplifying platform installation, management, and on‑campus use. He has served in multiple TOC terms, contributing to governance design, platform strategy, and initiatives around AI integration and operational usability.
Nacho also leads a €500,000 EU‑funded multi‑university initiative to extend the Open edX LMS, supporting major platform improvements, including key contributions to Aspects analytics. His continued focus is clear: helping make the Open edX platform the reference LMS for any use, while ensuring the platform remains open, diverse, and community‑driven.
Operators & Users Representative
Omar Al-Ithawi
Omar represents the critical voice of operators and users who deploy, maintain, and scale the Open edX platform in customer environments. Known in the community for his thoughtful engagement and practical perspective, Omar brings hands‑on experience with platform operations, localization, and a strong understanding of how technical decisions impact usability, stability, and long‑term sustainability.
As a TOC community representative, Omar is committed to ensuring that the needs of site operators and everyday platform users are clearly reflected in technical priorities. His perspective helps bridge the gap between strategic platform evolution and the operational realities faced by institutions running the Open edX platform at scale.
Core Contributor Representative
Marco Morales
Marco represents the core contributor community, the developers and technical leaders who build, maintain, and evolve the Open edX platform at its foundation. With a strong background in platform development and Product, Marco brings a contributor‑first mindset focused on code quality, architectural consistency, and long‑term maintainability.
His election ensures that the TOC continues to benefit from deep technical insight grounded in active contribution. Marco is well positioned to advocate for decisions that balance innovation with stability, and to support a healthy, welcoming environment for both new and experienced contributors within the Open edX ecosystem.
Thank You to All Voters
We extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in the election. Your engagement ensures that the Open edX platform continues to reflect the priorities and values of its global community.
We look forward to the insights and leadership our new representatives will bring to the Technical Oversight Committee and to continuing to build a vibrant, inclusive, and forward-looking Open edX ecosystem.
For questions about the TOC or the election process, feel free to contact us at: oscm@axim.org
