Dear María,
First of all, thank you for all the work you have done over the past 8
years - it is not always easy to be a Trustee and sometimes the work is far
from gratifying. I know it was not a quick decision for you to stay on for
an additional year to help us see Wikimedia Foundation and the board
through some challenging times, and I am personally grateful for your
accepting the challenge and putting yourself on the line.
There was quite a bit of turmoil when I joined the Board - and no one
really had time to onboard me back then. And I *needed* onboarding and
support. You offered to mentor me if need be, invited me to shoot any
questions and concerns at you, any time of the day. Things like that -
going above and beyond when needed and really meaning it - are a pattern
with you. And I deeply appreciate your dedication to the cause.
You were in the room when the Board decided to embark on a long journey to
support the creation of the Movement strategy, and saw it through all the
hardships we had along the way. I do hope that being able to help in
implementing it will somehow account for all those mishaps on the way here,
and you will seriously consider the advisory role where you can support the
Movement Strategy from the trenches, so to say.
You have been one of the strongest voices for making sure our projects
diversify and are more equitable, helping direct the Wikimedia Foundation
to a direction of increasing readers and donors and raising editing numbers
from when they were declining. Your energy and readiness to participate in
hundreds, maybe thousands of conversations on the future of Wikimedia and
ensuring its stability and sustainability is really something, and I think
this deserves recognition on our part.
I believe you will remain involved in the movement with the same drive and
passion you have always shown. And our paths will cross again even though
we do edit different-language Wikipedias, but we still reside in the same
Wikiverse :)
With thanks and appreciation,
antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv
Vice Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working
hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You
should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in
advance!*
On Thu, Jun 3, 2021 at 10:40 PM María Sefidari <msefidari(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
Dear All,
There is one last bit of news I would like to share following the Board
meeting update.
After ~ 8 years on the Board of Trustees at the Wikimedia Foundation - a
long time! - I have notified the Board that I am stepping down as Chair and
trustee, effective end of day today.
As all of you know, the community-selected seats were due to expire last
year and were extended at the request of the Board to see through these
difficult and unprecedented times. Now, after chairing the last meeting of
the fiscal year and having the call for candidates for the upcoming
elections approved, it is the least disruptive moment for me to step down.
The Foundation has asked me to consider an advisory role to support
Movement Strategy and the onboarding of new trustees and the new CEO/ED, to
help support leadership and this strategic transition. Nataliia Tymkiv,
currently Vice Chair, will act as Chair until a new one is elected by the
Board ensuring continuity.
Hopefully this news will not come as too much of a surprise. I am grateful
to the community members who lent me their trust and support to become a
trustee on two different occasions, to the staff, and to the trustees for
their confidence in me in the different leadership positions I have held
within the Board - first as committee chair, then two terms as Vice Chair,
and two terms as Chair.
Together we have accomplished many things during this time, but if I had
to single out only a few they would be the following: launching the
Movement Strategy process, engaging in the most ambitious governance reform
in the history of the Board, and working to ensure the stability and
sustainability of the Foundation. It has been a time of change, of
discussing strategy and our future, and deciding together what the path
forward should be.
Of course, the work is never finished - it will be the task of the Board
to continue what has been done and face the newer and complex challenges
that will no doubt arise. I hope that we will see many of the women of the
movement and people from the Global South as candidates in the upcoming
community elections - I know there are many qualified people ready to step
into these important roles. I look forward to supporting an increasingly
capable and diverse Board.
Be safe and well everyone.
Tupananchiskama,
María
--
María Sefidari Huici
Chair of the Board
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
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