Dear all,
The Board has appointed the three new community-selected trustees, so please join me in welcoming Victoria Doronina [1], Lorenzo Losa, and Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight to the Board of Trustees [2] [3] [4]. I would also like to congratulate Dariusz Jemielniak on his re-appointment to the Board [5]. Their terms will run from October 13, 2021 -- November 1, 2024. You can read more about the new trustees in a blog post here [6].
I thank all of those who participated in the most recent selection process -- the candidates, the election volunteers, the Elections Committee, Foundation staff and the thousands of Wikimedians who voted.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the trustees who are rotating off the Board, James Heilman and Lisa Lewin. Serving on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is deeply fulfilling but it is also challenging. I am appreciative of all of the work James and Lisa have done over the years -- the late nights, the weekends, and countless emails and calls. Thank you for your time and dedication.
James, who has served for five years, has been Chair of the Special Projects Committee, and under his lead, for example, the Onboarding plan for Incoming Trustees was developed. He has also been a liaison to the Language and the Affiliations Committees, and has served on other Board committees such as the Audit, Board Governance, Product, and Community Affairs. James’s term ended today, October 13, 2021.
Lisa, who has been on the Board for three years, has been Chair of the Board Governance Committee and has also served on the Human Resources Committee. Lisa’s governance experience has helped to strengthen the Board’s operating procedures and she has kept the board focused at the strategic level, under her lead, for example, the board has started to implement recommendations from the Governance Review [7]. Lisa’s term ends November 1, 2021.
On a personal note: getting off the Board also means having more free time, and to fight the withdrawal symptoms of volunteering one’s time to Wikimedia (even though mostly to governance work in practice as a trustee), I cannot recommend enough to just embark on a journey of #100wikidays [8] in a wikiproject -- it can definitely help!
On a more serious note: many thanks to the Trustees -- incoming, continuing, and outgoing -- for their work and commitment.
[1] Due to some background checks still not being completed, Victoria’s term officially will start in a few days. The Board resolution on appointment will be effective as soon as the full background check is complete and clean. But the end term will be the same for everyone.
[2]
[3] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Appointing_Lorenzo_Losa_to_the_Board_of_Trustees
[6] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/10/13/wikimedia-foundation-welcomes-new-trustees-rosie-stephenson-goodknight-victoria-doronina-dariusz-jemielniak-and-lorenzo-losa/ [7] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Board_Veritas_Governance_Recommendations_Final_Public_Copy.pdf
[8] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/100wikidays