Hi all,
yesterday, Wikimedia Deutschland’s 14th General Assembly was held in
Frankfurt am Main.
In addition to the presentation of the strategic planning and several
amendments to the articles of the association’s bylaws, the agenda
included among other things reports of the Executive Director, the
Supervisory Board and volunteer auditing committee. Of course, the
transition process and the succession of Pavel Richter announced this
week were widely discussed.
We are a young association and the change in the position of Executive
Director, which has been shaped by Pavel for many years, is a new
experience for all of us. Over the coming months, the process of
succession is going to entail a lot of work and Pavel will be a part of
it. Obviously, first of all we have to mutually deliberate on the
procedure and the specific schedule – a process in which we are going to
include as many people as possible and whose opinions we are going to
take very seriously. We will report on any concrete actions as soon as
possible.
Unfortunately, Nikolas Becker, who held the Chairman position of the
Supervisory Board for the past six months, will not take an active part
in the transition process. He resigned yesterday. As a result, we
gathered as the supervisory board on this Sunday in order to elect a new
Chair. I am glad that my Board colleagues expressed their confidence in
me and as of now entrusted me with the presidency of the supervisory
board. I am well aware of the immense responsibility and, with a clear
focus on the future, accepted it yesterday.
I want to thank Nikolas for everything he has accomplished over the past
years – not only as Chair but also as a member of the Supervisory Board
and for the association in general. In the name of the Supervisory Board
we thanked him yesterday in Frankfurt.
As usual, there will also be a protocol for this general meeting of
members. I do not want to anticipate the minutes, as long as they are
being completed. Yet, I would like to give a short personal overview at
this point:
There were six requests for amendments to articles of the association’s
bylaws (a seventh has been withdrawn). All six of them were accepted
with clear majorities. The Supervisory Board’s term of office was
extended from one to two years. A leave of absence from the Supervisory
Board is now possible, as is a lump-sum for refunding of honorary
expenses according to German customs. Furthermore, it was formally
clarified that members of the Supervisory Board must also be members of
the association. In the future, it will be much easier to terminate
supporting memberships. And finally: The wording regarding the quorum to
hold an exceptional general assembly has been changed from “members” to
“active members”. Besides the amendments to articles of the association,
the general assembly confirmed the Supervisory Board’s structure
according to departments.
For more details to all these and further points I want to refer to the
minutes mentioned above, which are to be published soon.
I am convinced of Wikimedia Deutschland being in a stable position. It
is up to us to shape our association over the coming years together.
This involves self criticism, or at least the realization that a neutral
point of view is helpful in pretty much all circumstances in life. That
is why I am glad that the general meeting approved the supervisory
board’s request and that we will now start an external governance review
to gather different expertise and new insight.
Within Wikipedia, this is common practise and a strength that helps
Wikipedia get better. In my opinion, the same applies to Wikimedia
Deutschland: our willingness to improve is our strength.
Best regards,
Tim
--
Tim Moritz Hector
Chair of the board
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V.
+49 (0)160 - 36 16 234
tim-moritz.hector(a)wikimedia.de
--------------------
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Tel.: +49 (0)30 - 219 158 260
http://www.wikimedia.de
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