This year we celebrated our 20 year milestone, and with it showed the world that GNOME is as strong and relevant in the technological space as ever. It was also my first year as the Executive Director for the GNOME Foundation, and I feel privileged to be able to write this introduction for what is a highly influential project. Two things have stood out to me in particular this first year.

Firstly, I received a huge warm welcome from everyone involved in the project. I've been very impressed by the passion of the community, its commitment to Free Software, and the Project's desire to achieve a high level of technical quality.

Secondly is the focus on design. GNOME believes that design is a scientific approach and not simply the visual appeal. This is paramount to producing something that we hope to be ubiquitous — and not just for the standard GNU/Linux user, but for everyone, whatever their level of expertise or requirement to have an accessible desktop environment.

During the 2016-2017 fiscal year we ran six hackfests, made two releases, celebrated with thirty release parties on four continents, and hosted our annual GUADEC conference in Manchester, UK. None of these things would be possible without the generosity of our sponsors and donors.

Whether you have been with GNOME since the beginning, been here a while, or just recently joined us, we are glad you are here and look forward on continuing this wonderful journey with you in the years and decades to come!