Thank you Patricio, C-Level-team, and most of all Katherine for agreeing to take on this role.
Katherine, I'm extremely pleased by your first post to this list and the page on Meta with the outline of the Leadership Tean transition planning. the https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/March_2016_-_Leadership_Team_transition_planning I wish you all the best and wholeheartedly offer you support for the challenging work that you are taking on. Warm regards, Sydney User:FloNight Sydney Poore User:FloNight Wikipedian in Residence at Cochrane Collaboration On Thu, Mar 10, 2016 at 9:59 PM, Katherine Maher <kma...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Thank you, Patricio. > > I want to thank the Board for this opportunity, and for their confidence in > the Foundation. I also want to thank community members and staff for > continuing to be such committed advocates for our future -- your passion > and belief in our movement and purpose have been tremendous things to > behold. > > As a movement, we’ve had some challenges lately. We’ve started on a process > of change, but as Lydia Pintscher (User:Lydia Pintscher (WMDE)) recently > reminded us,[1] “Change happens at the speed of trust.” We will need to > work together over these coming months to build that trust, and open > critical lines of communication and accountability. I get the sense from > many people that that’s exactly what they’d like to do: absorb the lessons > we’ve learned, re-engage with each other, and get back to advancing our > global movement. > > At the Foundation, we have an opportunity to center around our values, and > practice open and collaborative communication. During the interim period, I > want to get things working well and improve transparency and communication, > both internally and with the communities. We will work to create a > supportive, fair environment where people can get things done, engage with > their colleagues and community members, and understand how their work has > an impact on our mission. This includes delivering on important deadlines > for the Annual Plan and strategy,[2] filling key roles, and making progress > on issues raised in our recent engagement survey. > > We are committed to delivering the first version of the 2016-2017 Annual > Plan no later than April 1st for community and FDC review, and are on track > to meet this deadline. The WMF 2016-2018 strategy development is also > underway, with a draft version open for comments until March 18.[3] Over > the coming weeks, we’ll be moving forward with our Chief Technology Officer > (CTO) search, and working with the Talent and Culture team to reinvest in > our culture. As new other emerge, we’ll work together to prioritize them. > > To accomplish all of this, we are going to need your help. I want to hear > from you about what you would like to achieve in this interim period. This > includes how we can collaborate together to prepare the organization and > movement to welcome our next Executive Director. The Foundation is prepared > to actively support the Board in the search, and we will work closely with > them to share important information and create opportunities to give > feedback throughout the process. > > Just a few weeks ago, we marked the 15th birthday of the movement.[4] > Millions of people around the world shared their love for Wikimedia. It was > a celebration of why we do what we do, and how much joy the movement brings > people everywhere. That’s something I try to keep in mind every day. > > Yours sincerely, > Katherine > > [1] https://twitter.com/nightrose/status/660043284841107457 > [2] > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Strategy/Combined_strategy_and_annual_plan_timeline > [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Strategy/Draft_WMF_Strategy > [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_15 > > On Thu, Mar 10, 2016 at 6:55 PM, Patricio Lorente < > patricio.lore...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hello all, > > > > I’m happy to announce that the Wikimedia Foundation leadership team has > > proposed an interim Executive Director, and the Board has given our full > > support. Starting on March 14th, current Chief Communications Officer > > Katherine Maher (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Katherine_(WMF)) > > will step into the role of interim Executive Director. We thank the > > C-levels for their careful consideration in this process, and Katherine > for > > stepping up during this period of transition. > > > > In choosing an interim ED, the C-levels started by identifying immediate > > priorities for the coming months, including building trust, improving > > communications, and filling key leadership positions. They felt, and we > > agree, that Katherine is the right person to lead the organization while > it > > addresses these and other important issues. Additionally, this will allow > > the rest of the executive team to focus on critical organizational > > functions, including community and engineering management, fundraising, > and > > strengthening our human resources function. You can read more about our > > process and thinking here: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/March_2016_-_Leadership_Team_transition_planning > > > > > > Katherine has been with the Foundation as Chief Communications Officer > for > > about two years now. During that time, she has developed a versatile and > > effective team that serves the needs of the organization and movement, > > collaborating closely with other departments and the community. She has > > thoughtfully introduced new capacities and led her team through > > transitions, and played a critical role in shepherding the strategy > process > > and the annual plan, in collaboration with other C-levels. She is known > for > > listening to and empowering the people that she works with. > > > > For those who don’t know Katherine, she’s been a longtime advocate for > > global open communities, culture, and technology. She previously led > > advocacy for the international digital rights organization Access Now, > > where she worked on freedom of expression, access to information, and > > privacy. She has supported the efforts of citizens and governments around > > the world to deepen transparency and participation in her roles at the > > World Bank, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and > > UNICEF (where her team built wikis for youth participation in major > global > > issues). She is a member of the advisory board of the Open Technology > Fund. > > > > With interim leadership in place, our next step as the Board is to move > > quickly to plan and implement the search for a permanent Executive > > Director. We will be working together over the coming weeks to clarify > > roles and responsibilities in this search, and identify the best way for > > community and staff to participate. We want this process to be inclusive > > and incorporate many voices. We look forward to sharing an update on our > > progress toward the end of next week. > > > > As interim Executive Director, Katherine will report to the Board. Geoff > > Brigham will continue serving as Board Secretary, and Jaime Villagomez as > > Board Treasurer, reporting to the Board in those capacities. As of March > > 14, Katherine's reports include the C-team: Geoff Brigham, Jaime > > Villagomez, Maggie Dennis, Lisa Gruwell, Joady Lohr, and Wes Moran. The > > Communications team will continue to report to Katherine for the time > > being, with support from the leadership of Juliet Barbara and Heather > > Walls. > > > > Thank you, > > > > Patricio > > > > Translation notice - This message is available for translation on > > Meta-Wiki: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/10_March_2010_-_Wikimedia_Foundation_executive_transition_update > > -- > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wmfall mailing list > > wmf...@lists.wikimedia.org > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wmfall > > > > > > > -- > Katherine Maher > Chief Communications Officer > Wikimedia Foundation > 149 New Montgomery Street > San Francisco, CA 94105 > > +1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635 > +1 (415) 712 4873 > kma...@wikimedia.org > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
