Join the Local Chapters Congress to learn about what other chapters are doing. Even if you are not on a Chapter but are a local organizer, feel free to join!

Local Chapters are not-for-profit legal entities to be established within different territories around the world which can act as official local representatives of the Foundation when dealing with local government, business and media.

OSMF is an organisation is incorporated in Great Britain. It wants to support the OpenStreetMap project (and other free mapping projects, where applicable) in the whole world. But it can't be everywhere and reach everybody, especially people speaking languages other than English. Local chapters can extend the reach of OSMF, foster local communities, help with legal and financial matters in their respective countries and generally promote OSM in their local areas.

Some of these goals (such as handling financial matters or providing a point of contact for government or media) can also be handled by totally independent organisations supporting OSM but not associated with OSMF in any way. But working together helps OSM and makes it clear that we are all part of the same community.

For more about Local Chapters, check out the wiki.