Hello,
The following press releases was sent out yesterday. Please feel welcome
to pitch this story in your respective countries.
Sandy
*** The Wikimedia Foundation Announces New Consultant and Special
Advisor to the Wikimedia Board of Trustees ***
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – June, 27, 2007 – The Wikimedia Foundation, an
international nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth,
development and distribution of free, multilingual content, is delighted
to announce today it has engaged digital media executive Sue Gardner as
a consultant and special advisor to the board.
“This is an important step for Wikimedia, as we continue to
professionalize and evolve,” said Florence Devouard, Wikimedia
Foundation Chair. “Sue is an accomplished senior manager with the skills
and characteristics that we need right now. She’s experienced at leading
change, she’s oriented towards consensus, which is important for a
community-centered group such as ours, and she is experienced with
helping organizations develop out of youth and into maturity.”
Gardner’s engagement is a critical part of the Foundation’s continued
efforts to ensure sustainability and reliability, and to set the stage
for future growth. Her responsibilities will include assessing and
improving all aspects of the Foundation’s operations, in support of that
goal. She will also support the board in its efforts to further develop
the governance model.
Gardner is a nonprofit internet executive who was most recently head of
CBC.CA, the website of Canada’s national public broadcaster, and that
country’s largest and most popular news site. Under her leadership,
CBC.CA more than doubled its audience, and won dozens of international
awards. Prior to running CBC.CA, Gardner was a journalist for 10 years,
producing documentaries and talk programming primarily for the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, and also for media organizations such as the
British Broadcasting Corporation and National Public Radio.
“I have an enormous amount of respect for Wikimedia, and I find its
mission deeply inspirational,” Sue Gardner said. “Launching Wikipedia
was brilliant and gutsy. And now it –along with the other projects- has
grown into a huge and undeniable success. I admire what the community
has managed to create in just a few years, and I want to help it to
achieve even more.”
###
*** For more information: ***
In the United States, contact Sandra Ordonez via email at
sordonez(a)wikimedia.org or by phone at (727) 231-0101.
In Europe, contact Jan-Bart de Vreede via email at
jan-bart(a)wikimedia.org or by phone at +31-648938014
*** About The Wikimedia Foundation ***
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a US-registered 501(c)(3)
tax-deductible nonprofit charity dedicated to encouraging the growth,
development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to
providing the full content of wiki-based projects to the public free of
charge. The Wikimedia Foundation operates some of the largest
collaboratively-edited reference projects in the world, including
Wikipedia, one of the world's 10 most visited websites, Wiktionary,
Wikibooks, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikinews and the Wikimedia Commons
media repository. The organization has received numerous honors for its
work, among them the Webby Award, the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica,
the Japan Advertisers Association's Web Creation Award and the World
Technology Award in Communications Technology.
The Wikimedia Foundation was created in 2003 to manage the operation of
existing projects and is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Wikimedia has
local chapters in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland, Serbia and Switzerland.
*** About Sue Gardner ***
Sue Gardner is a digital non-profit executive who most recently ran
CBC.CA, the largest and most popular news site in Canada and the website
of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s national public
broadcaster. While running CBC.CA, Sue oversaw a variety of programming
initiatives ranging from elections coverage to interactive children's
communities to entertainment journalism. Under her leadership, the site
more than doubled its audience, and won dozens of international awards.
Prior to running CBC.CA, Sue was a working journalist for 10 years,
writing for newspapers and magazines and producing talk programming and
documentaries for public broadcasters worldwide, including the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and
National Public Radio. In 2000, Sue created one of CBC Radio’s first
bimedial (radio/web) programs, the interactive summer series Road Dot
Trip. She later led the implementation of the CBC’s New Media Renewal
project, a year-long consultation process that led to a complete
overhaul of the CBC’s online strategy
--
Sandy Ordonez
Communications Manager
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Phone: 727.231.0101
Fax: 727.258.0207S
E-Mail: sordonez(a)wikimedia.org