Thank you, Katherine, for all of your work to help the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia movement grow and strengthen. I know there have been many challenging times, and you stepped into this role at a time when a new type of leadership was needed - and you provided it admirably well. You will be missed. I wish you the best in your future endeavours.
All the best, Risker/Anne On Thu, 4 Feb 2021 at 12:48, Katherine Maher <kma...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > Earlier today, I announced to my colleagues at the Wikimedia Foundation my > intention to step down as CEO later this spring. April 15th will be my last > day, marking my seven-year anniversary with the Foundation and the > movement. This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one. For now, > I want to share with you why I’m moving on, and what comes next. I’ll save > the customary email with deeper reflections, memories, and thanks for later > this spring! > > In some ways, this was the easiest hard decision I’ve ever made. It’s > never exactly a good time to step away -- transitions always have some > rough edges -- but it’s always best to do so when the organization is > strong, and before you’ve overstayed your welcome. The movement is in a > good, strong place. Our communities are growing, our readership is too. Our > 20th birthday, the launch of our Universal Code of Conduct, and the > movement strategy recommendations are all milestone moments of solidity and > strength. I have great hopes and confidence in the upcoming plans for > strategy implementation, particularly the work on the movement charter and > interim global council. We are healthy and thriving. > > While we will always have more work to do to become the Wikimedia that we > want to be, our movement and our organization is in a phase of renewal and > regeneration. We have deepened our practices of consultation, > collaboration, and inclusion that will be the foundation of the next decade > of our work. We have a deep and stable financial position that will help us > grow and protect us from any storm, and the trust in our projects has never > been higher. Our communities are poised to take on deeper responsibilities > of governance, accountability, and leadership, populating a rich, > representative, and leaderful movement for free knowledge. > > The Foundation is also strong, and filled with passionate, values-aligned > leaders at every level of the organization, deeply committed to the work of > our movement and mission. Although we don’t always all perfectly agree on > absolutely everything, we are working more openly and cooperatively with > our movement than ever before. Collaborative strategic planning, > sustainable programs to support technical communities and tooling, > co-development and consultation on transformative new experiences welcoming > newcomers, cooperative partnerships on public health data, bibliographic > data, and human rights data -- all of these are signals of much great work > to come. Even difficult topics, such as brand and movement governance, > continue to bring people together in nothing less than feisty commitment. > > Together, we have rich resources of brilliant people, deep passion, and > compassion. We are making progress on some of our greatest challenges, from > editor and readership growth, technical debt, representation and > participation, safety and knowledge equity. I am proud of what we’ve done > together and grateful for all the ways in which this movement has made my > life immeasurably richer: friendships that will last a lifetime, > intellectual curiosity and kinship, and so many memories of *so much > dancing*, from Accra to Berlin to Chandigarh. > > As for me, I’m going to take a break, and a research fellowship, as a > place to think about what’s next. It’s hard to think about your future when > you’re fully in your present, and for the past seven years, I’ve been fully > present for this movement. But as I look around, I see global challenges > such as polarization, inequality, and climate change, as well as > opportunities for generational renewal and optimism. As a Wikimedian, I > lean toward optimism, and plan to apply myself in that direction! > > *What’s next* > > - We announced this planned transition publicly on our communications > channels during a Foundation all-staff meeting today. > - A Board Transition Committee composed of Dariusz Jemielniak, who is > chair of HR Committee, Tanya Capuano, who is chair of the Audit Committee, > Raju Narisetti, and María Sefidari as Board Chair, will launch the search > for a new CEO. They’ll work closely with the executive Transition Team on > organizational operations, and with the broader board on an open candidate > call. The Board is working with the goal of onboarding a new CEO by Q2 of > the 2021-2022 fiscal year. > - We’ve been working on succession planning for the CEO role since > 2019 as a matter of best practice, and the organization is well-prepared > for a thoughtful search for the next phase of our mission. The Board has > decided to work with Kathleen Yazbak of Viewcrest Advisors[1] for the > executive search: I’ve worked closely with Kathleen on a number of > occasions, and she is a true Wikimedian at heart. > - I’ll be drawing back from day-to-day operational work to transition > interim responsibilities starting February 8th. A C-level Transition Team > of Jaime Villagomez, Amanda Keton, and Robyn Arville, our two board > officers and chief people leader, will take up key responsibilities and > decision making around planning, community, and people, and work closely > with the broader C-team and VP leadership cohort. > - I’ll spend the next three months supporting the Foundation in > readying itself for a transition. I’ll spend February preparing with this > group and other organizational and community leaders on movement strategy > and institutional knowledge transfer, sharing lessons learned, and > supporting the organization in developing the next year’s strategic plan. > - I look forward to celebrating with you in March and April! > > I'll be around for a bit, so feel free to reach out, and after that, I'll > see you on the wikis! > > Cheers, > Katherine > > [1] https://viewcrestadvisors.com/ > > > -- > > Katherine Maher (she/her) > > CEO > > 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> >
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