The FSF's Program Manager, Dr. Miriam Sabrina Bastian, Left in October to Lead Climate School
![Dr. Bastian [m]anages and develops the Climate School program](/i/2026/01/bastian-fsf.png)
We are not sure why Miriam Bastian decided to leave the Free Software Foundation (FSF), we only know when and we strongly doubt she got "pushed" because of the continuity shown above.
She was still listed as staff a year ago and back in August (after further revisions) she was still there. Not in November though.
As a high-level person at the Free Software Foundation she gave talks in Thessaloniki last year and also at FOSDEM (Brussels, Belgium). We think she did a good job, but she left in October to join a place where she "[m]anages and develops the Climate School program".
She seems to be a lover of nature:
I asked a contact at the FSF why she left or when she left. I've not received a reply yet, but I'm left guessing or merely wondering if Kooyman's spectacular pay increase led to some internal tensions or jealousy. Dr. Bastian is highly qualified, probably even to lead the FSF as a whole (or the Board). She gave some good talks not too long ago [1, 2].
Thank you, Miriam, for the good work you did at the FSF. █