The mere potential that a conflict of interest may arise in the future is not necessarily a reason to resign from the board. This is why we have legal counsel such as Stephen and Michelle to determine whether such conflicts are serious enough to be inappropriate. We should all be satisfied with their opinions that this situation is fine in light of their reputation, experience, and credentials; I know I am.
Minor conflicts of interest sometimes arise. That is normal, and as Kelly said, such conflicts can be managed. For example, when it happens, the relevant party can do things like recusing themselves from that discussion and stepping out of the room until the discussion is complete. This is standard procedure adopted by boards of other organisations, and also in parts of our movement such as the Arbitration Committees or Funds Dissemination Committee.
Additionally, I am disturbed by the recent trend of seemingly all threads involving members of the Board of Trustees inevitably having someone asking a trustee to resign. I hope this absurdity does not continue.
Dan
On 2 November 2016 at 22:34, Rogol Domedonfors domedonfors@gmail.com wrote:
Congratuations to Kelly Battles on her new job at Quora. I believe I'm correct in saying that this is a company whose business is to make a profit by pursuing its "mission is to share and grow the world’s knowledge". Surely that means that in general the more and better the Wikimedia projects pursue their mission, the more they will undercut Quora's business? In particular, would not the Knowledge Engine, at least as originally conceived, be very much in direct competition with Quora's question-and-answer model? It seems to me that Kelly's duty to her new employer is likely to come very clearly into conflict with her duty to the Foundation, and while it is posible that this can be managed, will it not seriously diminish her ability to work with the Board on the strategic thinking they are just about to start? I hestiate to suggest that Kelly's best course of action is to step down from the Board but I do believe it needs serious consideration by herself and her fellow Trustees -- it is not clear whether it is better for the Board to have another vacancy, or a Trustee who is unable to engage in the strategy-setting which is so bady needed. Indeed, with two vacancies already, and no clear indication of when or how they will be filled, I suggest that the Board is in a rather awkward position now.
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