Board Elections 2026: Meet the Candidates

I’m a cybersecurity professional with over 10 years of experience in the Cyber Defence Center of a major Italian Oil & Gas company, and for the past 3 years I have also been involved in the telecommunications field.

Alongside my operational role, I serve as an internal trainer within my organization, delivering technical training on cybersecurity and infrastructure topics.

I have written several articles for the LPI blog, including the “Security Essentials” and “LPI Membership Journey” series. In addition, I have worked as a technical reviewer for certification manuals and training courses, covering IT security as well as infrastructure domains such as networking and servers.

Since 2024, I have been an LPI Approved Trainer, and I currently serve as an elected member of the LPI Board of Directors (since 2025).

I am running for the Board because I want to actively contribute to the evolution of the LPI community, building on both my professional experience and my ongoing involvement within the organization.

With over 10 years in cybersecurity in a critical infrastructure environment, combined with my experience as a trainer and content contributor, I have a clear understanding of the skills gap that many professionals face today. I want to help LPI further align its certifications and educational initiatives with real-world industry needs.

As a current member of the Board, I have already had the opportunity to contribute to this mission, and I would like to continue supporting LPI in expanding its global impact, strengthening its community, and promoting high-quality, accessible open source education.

My name is André Casagrande, and I am a technology professional with extensive experience working with Linux, open technologies, and enterprise infrastructure. Throughout my career, I have been deeply involved in designing and implementing modern IT platforms based on open-source technologies across multiple industries, including financial services, manufacturing, and the public sector.
I currently work with hybrid cloud architectures, Linux-based enterprise environments, and cloud-native platforms such as Kubernetes and OpenShift. My work focuses on helping organizations modernize their infrastructure by adopting open technologies that enable flexibility, scalability, and innovation.
Linux and open-source software have always been central to my professional journey. I strongly believe that open ecosystems are critical to the future of technology because they promote collaboration, transparency, and shared innovation across organizations, communities, and countries.
I have also contributed to the global technical community as a co-author of the IBM Redbook Modernization Techniques for IBM Power, which provides guidance on modernizing enterprise workloads and integrating open technologies into IBM Power environments.
The Redbook can be accessed here:
https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg248582.html
Beyond my technical work, I actively engage in technical discussions, workshops, and collaborative initiatives that promote the adoption of Linux and open-source technologies in enterprise environments.
My goal is to help strengthen the global Linux community, support the development of new professionals, and ensure that Linux skills remain aligned with the rapidly evolving landscape of cloud computing, automation, and modern infrastructure.

I am running for the LPI board because I strongly believe that Linux and open-source technologies are fundamental to the future of global digital infrastructure. As organizations continue to move toward cloud-native architectures, automation, and distributed systems, Linux remains the foundation that enables innovation, reliability, and openness.
Throughout my career working with enterprise infrastructure, hybrid cloud environments, and Linux-based platforms, I have seen firsthand how open technologies empower organizations to modernize their systems, reduce vendor lock-in, and accelerate innovation. I believe LPI plays a critical role in preparing professionals to succeed in this evolving technology landscape.
One of the reasons I want to contribute to the LPI board is to help ensure that Linux education and certification remain aligned with real-world industry needs. Technologies such as containers, cloud platforms, automation, and modern infrastructure are increasingly shaping how Linux is used in production environments, and certification programs should continue evolving alongside these trends. I also believe strongly in expanding access to Linux education globally. Many regions around the world are experiencing rapid digital transformation, and open technologies offer a powerful pathway for professionals to build meaningful careers in technology. If elected, I hope to contribute by bringing an enterprise and industry perspective to the board, helping strengthen the connection between the Linux community, education programs, and the needs of modern IT environments.
Ultimately, my goal is to help LPI continue empowering professionals, supporting open-source values, and strengthening the global Linux ecosystem for the next generation of technologists.

My name is Adonis Moreira. I grew up in Brazil, and my first real encounter with Linux changed how I understood computers entirely — not as black boxes, but as systems I could read, question, and improve. That curiosity never left me.

Over 15 years in IT, I have worked across sysadmin, infrastructure, and cybersecurity roles in Ireland and beyond, building a career that has always had Linux at its core. Open-source software shaped my professional instincts: the habit of reading documentation, auditing configurations, understanding what is happening under the hood rather than trusting the surface. That ethos is inseparable from who I am as a security engineer.

I am also, at heart, someone who enjoys teaching. Throughout my career I have mentored junior engineers, created training materials, and taken pride in making hard topics approachable.

My certifications — CISSP, OSCP, LPIC-2, CISM, CompTIA Linux+, and others — reflect a genuine commitment to deep, structured learning. And the LPI framework has been part of that journey in a meaningful way.

Joining the LPI Board of Directors would let me give back to the ecosystem that helped build my career. I want to contribute to certification standards that stay technically honest, globally inclusive, and genuinely useful to professionals who, like me, believe that open-source knowledge should be a ladder — not a gate.

I am running for the LPI Board of Directors because I genuinely believe that Linux and open-source software are among the most important forces in modern technology — and that the certifications which validate expertise in them must be held to the highest standard.

My motivation is not abstract. Linux built my career. From my first server deployments in Brazil to engineering enterprise security solutions in Ireland, open-source tools have been the constant thread. That lived experience gives me a strong sense of what practitioners actually need from a certification body: exams that reflect real-world complexity, learning paths that evolve alongside the technology, and a global community that feels genuinely inclusive — not centred on any single region or industry segment.

I want to advocate for the continued relevance and rigour of LPI certifications. The Linux landscape is changing rapidly reshaping what it means to be a competent Linux professional. LPI’s exam content must keep pace, and I want to be part of the group making those decisions thoughtfully and with practitioner input.

I also want to advocate for access. Open-source thrives on the idea that knowledge should be freely shareable. LPI certifications should be attainable by professionals everywhere — including those in emerging markets and underrepresented regions who have the skill but face structural barriers to formal recognition.

Finally, I bring the perspective of someone who learns and teaches simultaneously. I know what makes a well-constructed exam objective, what creates confusion, and what produces genuine competence. I would bring that practitioner voice into board discussions — not just as a credential holder, but as someone who cares deeply about what these certifications mean to the people who earn them.

Bigani Sehurutshi is a High-Performance Computing (HPC) Systems Engineer with nearly 20 years of experience in Linux-based systems, Cyber infrastructure, and research computing. An LPI Approved Trainer, he has built and supported HPC environments that enable advanced scientific research and data-intensive applications. He contributes to the SADC (Southern African Development Community) Cyber-infrastructure Framework, supporting regional initiatives in weather modelling and square kilometer Array (SKA). His interests include HPC performance monitoring, research cloud infrastructure, virtualization, and data platforms for analytics. Beyond his technical work, he is a strong advocate for open-source adoption, serving as Coordinator of the Botswana Open-Source Committee and leading the establishment of Linux Clubs in schools and communities to develop digital skills. He is also a member of DAMA (Data Management Association) South Africa and the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA).

My decision to stand for the Board is grounded in a strong alignment with LPI’s mission to promote open-source adoption globally. While meaningful progress has been made, there is an opportunity to strengthen governance and ensure that all initiatives are clearly aligned with strategic goals and deliver measurable impact.
As a beneficiary of LPI programs including, training partnerships, membership, and contributions to learning materials. I bring practical insight into its value and the importance of expanding capacity-building efforts, particularly in undeserved regions.
My participation in international committees and regional Cyber-infrastructure initiatives positions me to help grow LPI’s global presence and strengthen partnerships, especially within academia and high-performance computing communities.
Coming from an underrepresented region, I am committed to advancing inclusive strategies that address the digital divide and broaden access to open-source skills and opportunities.

Essential !! Linux always keep you informed and aware about every changes happening in background !

I started at the age 13 years old to play with Linux , started with bash programming at 16 years old , today I’m a tech lead in observability stuck I have been working in production env for 7 years ( kubernetes , on promise cloud like vsohere , proxmox , experienced in penetration testing and certified as CAPT , I love automating tasks with ansible and automating infra resources by terraform ).

Im a Sysops/Devops and also experienced with Secops

I love linux , to become a member is a dream for me to enhance the future if linux

Serving on the LPI board with fellow highly-experienced Linux professionals would allow me the opportunity to further expand my knowledge, and put my decades-long experience in Asia and the global Linux community to good use.

With over 33 years of experience at a global IT company, together with my involvement in an open source software–based venture, I bring a unique perspective and skill set that contributes to enhancing the reputation and effectiveness of the Board of Directors.

My professional history with free and open source Software began in 1999, when I was appointed manager of Linux business development at IBM Japan. In that role, I accomplished the following;

– Started new activities such as LPI for engineer development and enterprise Linux activities with Hitachi, Fujitsu and NEC, in conjunction with the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL).
-Provided support and encouragement to the existing Japanese Linux community, such as the Japan Linux Association,

Following that period, I held several positions which required me to work closely with open source software and hence, become intimately familiar with its value to my company and the industry in general.

I have spent almost three decades working directly with Linux-based systems; serving on committees and in organizations dedicated to Linux, and shaping Linux education and policies in Japan and internationally through my work with IBM and its global partners.

Serving on the board, with fellow seasoned Linux professionals allows me the opportunity to further expand my knowledge, and contribute a unique Asia-Japan based perspective to the enhancement of the global Linux community.

Linux and FOSS represent something that proprietary software has repeatedly failed to deliver: software that genuinely serves its users.

The evidence is everywhere. Proprietary operating systems that once set the standard for stability (Windows XP, Windows 7, macOS Snow Leopard) have given way to release cycles where updates are feared rather than welcomed. Thousands of machines bricked by poorly tested patches. Kernel-level partners like CrowdStrike deploying untested changes that cascade into global outages. Forced cloud dependencies that introduce new vectors for breaches and data exposure. Features removed without notice. Privacy eroded by design.

Open source takes a different path. And it’s working. Linux on the server has never been stronger. Linux on the enterprise desktop is growing. Governments around the world are making deliberate moves away from proprietary vendor dependency toward open source solutions that they can audit, control, and trust. The stability model works: long-term support releases offer genuine predictability, while bleeding-edge options serve those who want them. CI/CD pipelines, developed and validated in the open, catch what closed development cycles miss.

Beyond stability, FOSS represents accessibility. LibreOffice, Blender, GIMP, and countless others put professional tools in the hands of anyone with a computer, regardless of income. Snap and Flatpak deliver sandboxed, secure software distribution that is architecturally more sound than anything the proprietary desktop ecosystem currently offers. Local-first computing keeps sensitive data offline and in user hands.

What this adds up to is a simple but profound idea: software should empower people, regardless of skill, income, geography, or ability. FOSS is the ecosystem most consistently building toward that future. Linux Professional Institute’s work certifying the people who build and maintain that ecosystem is, in that context, essential infrastructure for a more open and equitable technology future.

My value to the LPI board comes from two directions that rarely appear in the same candidate: sustained open source community governance and enterprise technology leadership with cross-functional organizational depth.

On the community side, I’ve been Xubuntu Technical Lead since 2014 and a founding member of the Xubuntu Council since 2017, the project’s primary governance body. I’ve led major ecosystem-wide initiatives including Xfce’s GTK3 migration, the Xubuntu migration to GitHub and Transifex, and the launch of the Xubuntu Minimal variant. I’ve also managed the Xubuntu social media presence for over a decade. These weren’t individual contributions. They required coordinating distributed volunteer communities, making decisions under constraint, and thinking about long-term project health rather than short-term output. That’s governance experience, even if the organization is a Linux distribution rather than a non-profit.

On the enterprise side, I lead engineering at a 500+ person organization where my team builds every internal system that touches the business: CRM, accounting integrations, HR systems, legal and compliance workflows, tax reporting, and operational platforms. I don’t just know that these domains exist. I’ve built the systems that serve them. That cross-functional literacy is unusual for someone with a deep technical background, and directly relevant to a board that must navigate organizational, financial, and legal considerations alongside its technical mission.

The combination of open source community governance experience and enterprise organizational complexity is the specific gap I believe I can fill.

Most people in this community know me as bluesabre. I’ve been contributing to Xubuntu, Xfce, and the broader Ubuntu ecosystem since 2012, becoming an Ubuntu Member in 2013, Xubuntu Technical Lead in 2014, and a founding member of the Xubuntu Council in 2017. Along the way I’ve authored and maintained applications that have shipped on millions of Linux desktops: Catfish, MenuLibre, Mugshot, LightDM GTK+ Greeter, Parole, Xfce Screensaver, and many others.

The work I’m most proud of is the Xfce GTK3 migration. I led the charge, starting with Catfish, moving through Parole, then tackling Exo and Xfce Settings, each of which presented its own challenges around deprecated libraries, technical constraints, and design continuity. It was deeply collaborative, drawing in contributors from across and beyond the Xfce community. This was at a time when contributions were at an all-time low. Had the Exo and Xfce Settings migrations not happened when they did, the rest of the stack would have followed much later. That sustained effort, combined with frequent public updates, renewed interest in a project that was struggling, and Xfce is significantly better maintained today as a result.

Professionally, I lead engineering at a 500+ person company, where my team builds the platforms and integrations that keep the business running securely and at scale. The same principles I learned in open source show up every day in how I lead: transparency, long-term stewardship, and building things designed to outlast their creators.

Networking with other FOSS leaders has always been a remote-first challenge. I’m based in Louisville, Kentucky, which isn’t a Linux hub by any stretch. I’ve always been deliberate about community involvement in ways that people in larger tech centers don’t always have to be. Welcoming conversation, asking the right questions, and always staying considerate of others’ needs has given me a small, diverse network within this global community.

LPI’s focus on open source education and professional development is what drew me here.

As a leader in my profession, I spend significant time mentoring engineers and developing future leaders. In my open source work I’ve done the same, helping contributors find their footing in a distributed, volunteer community. One of my personal ambitions is to move into education: to teach, develop future technology leaders, and contribute to institutions built around the idea that learning should be accessible to everyone. Those roots run back to Berea College, where I attended, served, and mentored in an environment built around sustainable access for diverse, non-traditional, and under-represented individuals. That ethos maps directly onto what LPI is doing globally.

In practice, I’d work on closing the gap between open source contribution and professional certification. There are contributors doing serious work who’ve never thought about formalizing it into credentials, and certified professionals who’ve never found their way back to the community. Helping LPI close that gap is something I’m genuinely well positioned to do.

I’m also drawn to the strategic dimension of this role. Planning and coordination are where I do my best work, and I’ve spent the last decade doing exactly that as part of Xubuntu and Xfce governance. I’ve spent the last few years building organizational trust, shaping technology strategy, and enabling teams through deliberate development and automation. I’m ready to apply that experience at a global scale.

Building relationships across the global Linux community requires intention when you don’t have proximity working in your favor. LPI board involvement would give me structured access to that community, and in return I’d bring a perspective shaped by access, contribution, and long-term community health.

Through years of contribution I’ve proven my commitment to showing up and building something that lasts. I’m ready to bring that same commitment to LPI.