<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Sue Gardner</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sgardner@wikimedia.org">sgardner@wikimedia.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 5:17 AM<br>Subject: [Wikimedia Announcements] New General Counsel!: Geoffrey Brigham<br>To: Wikimedia Announce Mailing List <<a href="mailto:WikimediaAnnounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org">WikimediaAnnounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org</a>><br>
<br><br>Hey folks,<br>
<br>
I'm delighted to tell you that the Wikimedia Foundation has a new<br>
General Counsel.<br>
<br>
Geoff Brigham, formerly of eBay, will start with us March 7 once he's<br>
relocated from Paris to San Francisco. He'll report to me.<br>
<br>
To recap: In late October, I hired m|Oppenheim to find us a new<br>
General Counsel. I expected it to be a tough search, because<br>
appropriate GCs for the Wikimedia Foundation don't exactly grow on<br>
trees. As a growing U.S.-based non-profit that operates one of the<br>
world's most popular websites in partnership with a global network of<br>
volunteers, we need a GC who can handle a broad range of legal issues<br>
including the legal defense of our projects in an international<br>
context, an array of matters related to policy and regulatory<br>
compliance, issues such as privacy, and helping us with the challenges<br>
of opening a new office in India. Very few people have that kind of<br>
breadth. And for our GC as with all our jobs, we are also looking for<br>
someone who is passionate about the mission, has a collaborative and<br>
inclusive personal style, is inclined towards transparency, and<br>
ideally is a bit of an iconoclast. It's a lot to ask of one person :-)<br>
<br>
So we braced ourselves for a long and difficult search. But in fact it<br>
turned out to be highly enjoyable. Over a period of several months,<br>
m|Oppenheim talked with hundreds of connectors and candidates, and in<br>
the end we interviewed about a dozen finalists. They were terrific,<br>
inspiring lawyers: I was glad to meet them all. And I am delighted<br>
that we discovered Geoff.<br>
<br>
Geoff spent eight years at eBay during its main growth years, which<br>
gives him important experience managing the legal challenges and risks<br>
inherent in operating a popular site. His work at eBay encompassed<br>
North America, Europe, Asia and Australia where he handled legal<br>
issues throughout the world. He's worked alone and led large teams. He<br>
is hands-on, collaborative, open-minded and inclusive. And he is<br>
extremely excited about working with us.<br>
<br>
A little more about Geoff's background: Most recently, Geoff was<br>
Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel at eBay in San Jose,<br>
California. There, he directed legal affairs in more than 15 countries<br>
throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, encompassing<br>
litigation, copyright and trademarks, privacy, ethics, product and<br>
site content review, policy and regulatory compliance, new market<br>
advice, contracts, governance and site security. Previously he worked<br>
for eBay in Bern, Switzerland for four years as Vice-President &<br>
Senior Director, and in Paris, France for two years as Senior<br>
Compliance and Litigation Counsel.<br>
<br>
Prior to joining eBay, Geoff was Assistant United States Attorney in<br>
Miami, Florida. Before that he worked for the U.S. Department of<br>
Justice in Paris and Washington, was an Associate with Finley, Kumble,<br>
Wagner et al. in Washington, and was a law clerk for the Honorable<br>
Howard F. Corcoran, U.S. Judge for the District of Columbia. Geoff<br>
received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in<br>
Washington DC. He also holds a B.A. in Political Science and French,<br>
from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.<br>
<br>
He speaks English and French. He's a passionate music fan and an<br>
accomplished flute player: he used to busk many years ago, playing<br>
jazz and classical music on the Parisian streets, and he was well<br>
known at eBay for playing his flute in the office in the early<br>
mornings. Maybe that will happen at the Wikimedia Foundation too :-)<br>
<br>
Many thanks to Lisa Grossman of m|Oppenheim for leading this important<br>
search for us. My thanks also to everyone who helped Lisa and me<br>
define the General Counsel role and surface and interview candidates,<br>
including (roughly in order of their involvement) Erik Moeller, Cyn<br>
Skyberg, Kat Walsh, Arne Klempert, Stu West, SJ Klein, Barry Newstead,<br>
Veronique Kessler, Danese Cooper, Zack Exley, Jimmy Wales, Bishakha<br>
Datta, Matt Halprin, Gautam John, Pavel Richter and Shari Steele. My<br>
thanks also to Derrick Coetzee, who happened to be in the office one<br>
day and got pulled into an impromptu conversation helping brief Geoff<br>
about some of the issues facing us. I also want to thank Wikimedia<br>
France for staging its GLAM conference in Paris recently: Geoff<br>
attended it and says that meeting Wikimedians there, and watching them<br>
work, significantly contributed to his desire to join us.<br>
<br>
If I remember correctly how this list works, replies to this mail<br>
should go directly to foundation-l. (That's how it's intended to work:<br>
I hope it's actually true.) Geoff is subscribed to foundation-l, so<br>
if you do reply there, he'll see it. He doesn't yet have a Wikimedia<br>
e-mail address, but once he does, you will likely see it turn up on<br>
this and other lists. Please note he's not on the job until March 7:<br>
until then, he's only really available to us socially, not for work.<br>
<br>
Please join me in welcoming Geoff to the Wikimedia movement :-)<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Sue<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Sue Gardner<br>
Executive Director<br>
Wikimedia Foundation<br>
<br>
415 839 6885 office<br>
415 816 9967 cell<br>
<br>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in<br>
the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!<br>
<br>
<a href="http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate" target="_blank">http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate</a><br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Foundation-L, the public mailing list about the Wikimedia Foundation and its projects. For more information about Foundation-L:<br>
<a href="https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l" target="_blank">https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l</a><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:WikimediaAnnounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org">WikimediaAnnounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l" target="_blank">https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l</a><br>
</div><br>