[Initiative]: CNCF Institutional Knowledge Preservation - Newly emeritus interview process

### Name

CNCF Institutional Knowledge Preservation - Newly emeritus interview process

### Short description

Learn from outgoing co-chairs and leads of TAG's and WG's

### Responsible group

TOC

### Does the initiative belong to a subproject?

Yes

### Subproject name

Contributor Strategy

### Primary contact

Matt Young

### Additional contacts

_No response_

### Initiative description

Open source communities lose critical knowledge when experienced contributors step back without structured knowledge transfer. These volunteers often spent years driving unpaid, under-recognized work - we need to humanize their transitions and create safe spaces for them to share both technical insights and honest feedback about what didn't work.

**Core Value:** Capture and preserve critical institutional knowledge from emeritus TAG leaders, preventing "brain drain" and reducing organizational knowledge fragmentation during leadership transitions.

**Impact:** Prevents loss of critical decision context and strategic reasoning that currently exists only in individual minds. Humanizes leadership transitions by providing space for honest feedback and recognition of volunteer contributions. Reduces risk of community fragmentation or "Foundation shopping" by ensuring departing leaders feel heard and valued, while creating feedback loops for improving TAG governance structures.

### Deliverable(s) or exit criteria

1. Structured exit interview process for all emeritus TAG chairs and technical leads
2. Knowledge extraction templates covering decision rationale, failed experiments, and strategic context
3. Searchable institutional memory database with tagged insights
4. Transition documentation standards for incoming leadership
5. Recognition framework acknowledging departing leaders' contributions
6. Best practices documentation for managing leadership succession