** I already sent this email to the chapters/affiliates mailing list but I'm not sure all representatives subscribed to the list. Sorry for cross-posting **
Dear fellow wikimedians,
After a resolution from the board, Wikimédia France has cast its vote for the Affiliate-Selected Board Seats. We believe we would share our reasoning behind in this venue.
It was not an easy choice − this year election is blessed with a lot of strong candidates.
Unsurprisingly (since we endorsed him), we placed Christophe Henner as #1. A volunteer for 12 years, and a Wikimédia France board member for 10 years, our current chair has again and again demonstrated his commitment to the movement and his leadership. Especially, he led the big transformation which Wikimédia France went through in 2013, in the midst of our governance crisis. Both as chair of Wikimedia France and now deputy CEO of a large organization, he acquired the experiences needed to deal with the situation WMF is going through now. We know he will be an asset to the Board of Trustees in these trying times.
Our #2 is Nataliia Tymkiv. Since ~3 years she's in the Board of Wikimedia Ukraine, she proved abilities to structure her chapter, improve the financial, transparency and governance processes. She is also involved in the cooperation between several chapters − we continue to be thoroughly impressed by the activity in the CEE region, and we understand that she is a very active leader in this regional cooperation. Furthermore, her professional experience in NGO appears to us necessary for the next Board of the Wikimedia Foundation, in order to refocus the WMF on its commitment and goals about knowledge's free access.
We believe these two candidates are complementary and can bring useful (soft)skills, backgrounds and experiences. Last but not least, both are supporters of the Wikimedia Cuteness Association and are commited to foster Cuteness in the movement!
Other candidates seemed to us qualified for the job too and we discussed at length on how many candidates we should support. We finally chose to vote for only two candidates as there are two seats.
What is often see as a crisis is also an opportunity for our movement. An opportunity to step back and consider who we are, what needs to be done to finally become the movement we all dream of. In our opinion, Nataliia and Christophe are the right fits to help us go down that road. To make our movement as great as the individuals who make it.
Best regards, -- Emeric Vallespi Vice President
Wikimédia France www.wikimedia.fr | Twitter: @Wikimedia_Fr
Mob. +33 6 61 15 13 12 <+33%206%2061%2015%2013%2012> | emeric.vallespi@wikimedia.fr Twitter: @evallespi