This press release is also available online here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_we…
A version of this as a blog post is available here:
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/03/27/wmf-welcomes-vp-partnerships/
Wikimedia Foundation welcomes Kourosh Karimkhany as VP of Strategic
Partnerships
- *New position to advance knowledge and mission through strategic
collaboration *
The Wikimedia Foundation is pleased to welcome Kourosh Karimkhany as Vice
President of Strategic Partnerships on March 30, 2015. In this newly
created role, Kourosh will initiate, maintain, and grow strategic
relationships and partnerships that advance the Wikimedia mission, support
the community, and increase access to knowledge globally.
Today, Wikipedia attracts nearly half a billion visitors and more than 20
billion page views each month. At the same time, hundreds of millions of
people interact with data and content from the Wikimedia projects on third
party platforms and properties. Our mission is to make the sum of all human
knowledge freely available to the world, and content distribution and
sharing play a key role in that process.
The Wikimedia Foundation has created this new strategic role to identify
and manage these opportunities, and convert some of them into sharing and
distribution partnerships in order to advance our mission. Kourosh joins us
in this senior leadership role to craft a partnership strategy and create
long-term value for Wikimedia projects through partnerships, projects, and
relationships.
“Our aim is to empower people around the world with knowledge,” said Lila
Tretikov <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_Tretikov>, executive director
of the Wikimedia Foundation. “To fulfill that goal, we need to think
creatively about opportunities to work with like-minded organizations.
Kourosh will help us focus on our continued service to our community and
users, and progress toward our mission.”
As Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Kourosh will oversee the
Wikimedia Foundation’s partnership strategy, including Wikipedia Zero, a
partnership-based project. Wikipedia Zero is designed to increase access to
knowledge for people around the world. Applying additional focus to that
work and orienting it within a larger partnerships strategy will help us
work more effectively to achieve our mission.
The many fruitful and creative partnerships the Wikimedia community has
already built to support knowledge creation and sharing around the world
will be better supported as a result of this change. The partnerships group
will help us identify the strategic initiatives we must take on at the WMF
and increase our ability to support the movement and mission.
Kourosh is an experienced digital media executive. He started his career as
a technology journalist covering Silicon Valley for Bloomberg, Reuters and
Wired. He switched to the business side of media when he joined Yahoo as
senior producer of Yahoo News. Later, he was the head of corporate
development at Conde Nast where he spearheaded the acquisition of
Wired.com, Ars Technica and Reddit. He also cofounded Food Republic in
2009, which was acquired in 2013. He is an active angel investor and
startup advisor.
Kourosh will report to Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Gruwell under the
newly created Advancement Department. To learn more about these changes,
please see our FAQ <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Partnerships_FAQ>.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
-
https://wikimediafoundation.org
-
https://blog.wikimedia.org/
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia consists of more than 34
million articles in 288 languages. Every month, tens of thousands of active
volunteers contribute to Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects. With
nearly half a billion monthly users, projects operated by the Wikimedia
Foundation are one of the most popular web properties in the world. Based
in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is a 501(c)(3)
charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
Wikimedia Foundation Press Contact
Katherine Maher
-
+1 415-839-6885 ext. 6633
-
press(a)wikimedia.org
--
*Juliet Barbara*
Senior Communications Manager I Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street I San Francisco, CA 94105
jbarbara(a)wikimedia.org I +1 (512) 750-5677
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