Congratulations, María.
In a perfect world, this seat would be confirmed with a community election. But, the circumstances as they are now, selecting her is a reasonable decision and one that I support.
The larger conversation about WMF annual plan and strategy, the Board elections and structure, and other governance issues can not be completed before an election. In my opinion the priority is robustly addressing these issues. An election happening simultaneously will negatively impact the results of all of them.
And since we now know that one (if not more) of the appointed seats will go to North Americans' with a corporate background, María's passion for diversity across the movement will be a good fit for the current Board.
The greatest concern is that some people in wikimedia movement will not accept a solution unless it gives James Heilman a way to be voted back into a seat on the Board.
While I understand and share their concern that a community elected seat can be removed without a formal arbitration process or a finding of legal incompetence or legal impropriety, I don't think an election is the correct way to find a resolution to the current situation with the existing election and governance processes.
Furthermore, James' removal from the Board has drawn greater attention to serious concern around transparency, WMF strategy, and the relationship between the WMF Board, WMF staff, and the greater wikimedia movement.
I have confidence that these conversation will continue, and that María has gained insight from the discussions. And will understand the importance of engaging the broad community to find solutions.
Thank you to the Board of Trustees for moving forward with a decision, the election committee for their assistance, and María for agreeing to return to the BoT at this turbulent time. Sydney Poore User:FloNight Sydney Poore User:FloNight Wikipedian in Residence at Cochrane Collaboration
On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 10:27 AM, Patricio Lorente patricio.lorente@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship, and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance and policymaking.
We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful for their considerations. ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman )
We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations, without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee selection process, which is coming up soon.
I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission with wisdom and grace.
Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service to our movement.
Patricio
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