Thanks for this lovely email, Theo. It means a lot. Flashed me straight back to all the fun we had together, all of which helped balance out the tough debates. :)
In case people are wondering, my term ends December 2014 - I'll be active until then, but am not seeking re-appointment for another two-year term. Being on the WMF board is extremely rewarding but a significant time commitment - one that I'm finding increasingly hard to fulfil, which is why I'm stepping down at the end of the year. But I'm going to continue to do other (less time-consuming) stuff in the movement after my term ends, so this is nowhere near goodbye. Cheers Bishakha On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 2:04 PM, Theo10011 <de10...@gmail.com> wrote: > I am forwarding this update from the board below, in case this was > overlooked. It seems relevant to the Indian community. It's sad to learn > that Bishakha will not be seeking re-appointment to the board at the end of > the year. The board, the community and the movement at large was always > better for having her in it. > > I want to thank her for a lot of things, but I'm not sure if this is the > right time or if I'll be online at the right time. In any case, I want to > say I'm so grateful for her years of service and perseverance through many > contentious topics. I'm the first to admit that we've certainly had our > share of disagreements, and passionate debates over the year, but we also > shared more than a few good laughs in person. I still remember when > Bishakha was trying to tell me the correct pronunciation of "Entschuldigen > sie bitte" over dinner, I'm sure my pronunciation didn't improve but she > tried patiently and resiliently for more than an hour. Our disagreements > stemmed mostly from relatively professional topics related to the board and > the direction things were going, and I'm probably at fault for a lot of > negativity during those times - I'm sorry about that Bishakha. She joined > the board at a difficult time when the foundation was expanding and going > through a lot of big changes, there weren't a lot of female Indian members > around the board or the community back then but she always represented the > Indian community with a smile, grace and resilience and tried to be as > inclusive as possible along the way. I have nothing but the highest opinion > of her personally, she was always warm and good-natured in all our personal > interactions. I'm sure I'm not the only one in the Indian community who > feels the same. > > Thanks for all the hard-work Bishakha. You will be missed, Ma'am. > > Warm regards > Theo > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Jan-Bart de Vreede <jdevre...@wikimedia.org> > Date: Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 6:54 PM > Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Board Meeting Update > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org> > > > Hello Everyone > > While the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting will arrive in due time > I wanted to update you on some internal matters at this point because there > have been some changes in the board composition. > > Ana Toni joined our board last year but unfortunately the time demands > placed upon a Wikimedia Board member were not compatible with her other > commitments. This has given the board something to think about. We aim to > be a board that is able to incorporate outside expertise to increase our > effectiveness and possible candidates are often not able to commit the time > which we currently require.. In the coming period we want to have a look at > the time which is demanded of a board member (especially our in person > meetings which require a lot of travel) and look at which activities we > need to perform as a board. We want to thank Ana for her contributions. The > insights gained from her position as Chair of Greenpeace International were > especially useful to us as a board. We are sad to see her go, but we hope > to keep her in “our space”. > > Bishakha Datta joined our board in March 2010 and has indicated to us that > she is not available for re-appointment after her term runs out in December > of this year. We will take the time to properly thank her for her great > contributions when her term formally ends in December. > > While these things are part of of the normal turnover of the composition > of the board (and are also an opportunity to attract new fields of > expertise as needed) there is a matter of board stability during the first > year of the tenure of our new Executive Director. In response to Lila's > request for stability the board has decided the following: > > 1) Alice Wiegand was appointed to finish out Ana's term ending December > 2014. We also appointed Alice to carry out the subsequent term ending > December 2016. > > 2) Last year at Wikimania I was appointed to the board for a two year > period, but I tendered my resignation effective the end of this year. At > the Board's request I reconsidered that resignation, and will serve out the > rest of my original two year term ending December 2015. > > This does mean we will start the search process for a new board member for > the appointed seat that Bishakha will vacate at the end of this year. And > hopefully we will be able to also identify potential candidates to fill the > seats of both Stuart West and me, which will become vacant at the end of > 2015. > > Secondly we have appointed the two officer positions as follows for the > coming fiscal year > > Chair - Jan-Bart de Vreede > Vice-Chair - Patricio Lorente > > The foundation has a great opportunity to grow under the guidance of our > new Executive Director and realize our ambitions. The board is looking > forward to a year of supporting Lila and providing direction for our > strategic goals. > > Jan-Bart de Vreede > Chair > Board of Trustees > Wikimedia Foundation > > PS: All the relevant resolutions will be published on meta in the coming > days > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > wikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/guidelineswikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > >
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