This is a common sense, reasonable update. Nice work. :) On Fri, Feb 1, 2019 at 10:21 AM María Sefidari <msefid...@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Dear all, > > When the Wikimedia Foundation was first established, the head of the > organization was assigned the title of Executive Director (ED). In the US, > this is the standard title for non-profit leaders, and made sense for the > organization at the time. > > This week, at our Board meeting, we made a decision to change to this > convention. We resolved to change Katherine Maher’s title to Chief > Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director. She retains the title of > Executive Director, and is also now the CEO of the Foundation. She can use > either, or both, titles to describe her position. > > This was an easy decision to make, for a number of reasons. > > As our movement has grown in the world, we’ve found that the title of ED is > not as easily understood outside the United States. As a Board with many > non-US people, many of us already used the term CEO to describe Katherine’s > responsibilities. While still an English-language term, it is a very common > term for many global organizations. > > The CEO title is increasingly common in US non-profits as well, especially > larger ones. This is increasingly considered best practice, as a way to > communicate that the work of non-profit organizations is as serious, > complex, and worthy of respect as that of for-profit organizations. For > example, Creative Commons, one of our closest allies, uses the title of > CEO. > > As the Foundation already uses the convention of “chief officer” for the > leaders of its internal departments (Chief Financial Officer, Chief > Technology Officer), it also makes sense. An executive director would be > the most senior director, whereas a chief executive officer is the most > senior of the officers. > > The Board’s Human Resources Committee recommended this change and reviewed > the details. As this is an update to Katherine’s title, and not a change in > her duties as an officer, it does not require an update to the Bylaws or a > wider consultation. > > The Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees is very supportive of this > change, as we believe this title better reflects the scope of Katherine’s > duties over Executive Director alone. This will better support her work > with global partners and leaders around the world, helping to share our > vision and supporting the strategic direction of Wikimedia in new markets. > Katherine’s job is not changing in any other sense. > > Kind regards, > > María > > -- > > María Sefidari Huici > > Chair of the Board > > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > 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 and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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>
