Dear EduWiki friends,
I want to let you know that today, March 31st, will be my last day at the Wikimedia Foundation.
Over the last 6.5 years, I have been really privileged to see you all grow as leaders, and I'm so proud to have contributed in any small way to your ability to build bridges between the education sector and the Wikimedia Movement.
I want to stay this: I started working as an educator in 2006, and have held about every type of role you can in the education sector. I spent a lot of time observing what not to do. I’ve seen kids go through years of schooling and still not be able to read or write. I have seen kids and teachers lost in the “system”. I’ve seen teachers struggling with classrooms of 60+ students with few resources, without even a desk in the school (they kept their teaching materials in their car, can you imagine?). I worked in a school once in a conflict zone, where we never knew if the school would be there the next day. So, I hope you will trust me when I say that the Education Team has done our best to support equitable quality education by helping you--our EduWiki community-- promote Wikipedia & free knowledge, and I know that together we’ve made a difference.
Your contributions as volunteers, affiliate staff, and allies has been incredibly inspirational to me, and I will miss engaging with you on a regular basis though I hope to still be in touch. I look forward to continuing to see your work flourish. Please keep sharing what you do in the newsletter, on diff, on LinkedIn, anywhere you get the chance, because we’re better when we learn from each other and support one another.
On that note, I want to give a special shout-out to the Newsletter volunteer team, because they have been working hard behind the scenes to publish on time every month. They are so well coordinated, that they are almost invisible, but they are there for you--collecting your stories, helping you edit, and sharing EduWiki news for all to enjoy. <3
There are so many around the community that I need to acknowledge and thank that this message would be infinite if I did it all here. Many of you have become dear friends, and it has meant so much to me to share moments whether in virtual calls or at Wikimedia movement events or just to meet up if we were in the same area. Thank you for helping me learn and grow in my Wiki journey.
I also want to say that Sailesh, Melissa, and Vasanthi are the best team anyone could ask for, and I have been exceptionally privileged to work alongside them and learn from them. I hope you will join me in praising and highlighting a few of their accomplishments including Melissa’s work with Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom that has supported rising leaders in the EduWiki community to reach thousands of teachers around the world. The community organizing program led by Sailesh that has championed equity and inclusion, and made space for new leaders to grow and contribute to Wikimedia in education. Finally, the often background work of Vasanthi who has built participatory evaluation methods and tools that have allowed us to always be learning, iterating, and improving. The Education Team is still here for you, and you can reach out to them at education@wikimedia.org .
Do stay in touch.
All the best,
Nichole