Heather, you have been someone I have always loved to talk with.
I have fond memories with you there, such as talking with you and Zack on
Thanksgiving eve having beers in the Foundation office creating the Museums
of Things People don't Want To Know. Or crafting my email in Esino Lario to
announce my term as chair, everyone sitting on the floor in a room with
you, Katherine, Greg, and Juliet. I have so many others.
Wherever you will go next they will be as lucky as we have been to count
you as part of our movement. Perhaps even more as you take your experiences
with you.
Most people in the movement might not know you, but you have made a big
difference behind the scenes.
You reshaped how we are positioning ourselves in the world and provided a
speaker to our voices. I am sad to see you leave the Foundation, I only
hope we will keep on seeing you around and that, life willing, we will have
other drinks.
Grant, I left when you joined so I can only remember the job interview I
gave you. We never had the chance to create memories allowing me to make an
email like I can for Heather. But nonetheless, I can only fare you well for
the future.
And remembering our discussions and your experiences, I can just hope you
will start on your own project!
Raju, thank you for the update.
Change is natural in an org, but it had been years since we had that level
of turnover. I do understand, running orgs myself and being a former chair
of the board right after the last crisis, that those are very tough
situations.
I also know that when you are in the middle of change it is tough to make
decisions that can be fully understood.
However, it might be good if some better information about the situation
were provided.
Here one can only have theories about the situation, and remember with
concern the the last time such turmoiled happened.
In the span of 6 months the Foundation lost its CEO, COO, CCO, CTO, CoS
(Chief of Staff). That is more than half of the C-Suite. When facing such
turnover, it usually is a sign of deeper issues.
As everyone in org theory loves to say, never waste a good crisis.
As usual, we all have the best of the movement at heart. Any criticism
comes from a place of deep care about our movement; as members of the loyal
opposition. We can be wonderful allies and support if you allow us to be.
Le lun. 28 juin 2021 à 9:14 PM, Raju Narisetti <rnarisetti(a)wikimedia.org> a
écrit :
Dear All,
On behalf of the Foundation Board, I’m writing to share with you that
Chief Creative Officer Heather Walls and Chief Technology Officer Grant
Ingersoll will be leaving the Wikimedia Foundation, at the end of July.
We, along with the Foundation Transition Team, have been working with them
for several weeks on a smooth transition in their respective functions. We
are grateful to them for their service and dedication to the Foundation and
the movement. In their time with us, both Heather and Grant have used their
unique talents and skills to preserve and provide free knowledge to the
world while also elevating the voices of community members around the globe.
Heather has been with the Foundation for almost ten years, driving
creative and communication efforts. In that time we’ve seen a revolution in
how our projects are perceived by the world. She has played a pivotal role
at the Foundation, shaping its identity and strengthening our mission to be
a trusted and valued resource for sharing and accessing knowledge globally.
Heather brought communities around the world closer together by developing
and executing innovative means of communications and leading campaigns that
helped grow our community and elevated the voices of our community
members. Most recently, on Wikipedia’s 20th Birthday, she, with her team,
connected people in more than 70 countries so that we could celebrate “20
Years Human” and our important movement together.
In her words:
“There is nothing that can sum up nearly a decade with Wikimedians. The
joy, the conflict, the evolution, and the unchanging. I’ve seen things
change for the better; focused effort to bring more equity into our
movement including a ground-breaking global code of conduct—and I’ve seen
things stay the same in ways that matter; Wikimedians holding true to their
values in face of new challenges like censorship and misinformation. As I
reflect on the past almost 10 years, I am amazed by the pace and strength
of our growth and the evolution of our brand from an internet experiment to
one of the most trusted places on the web. It was a pleasure to see this
work reach a pinnacle during Wikipedia’s 20th Birthday celebrations, with
headlines, brand partnerships, and community events that shine a light on
how far we’ve come. My appreciation of the people I have met through
this journey and the incredible team I leave behind, is immense.”
Grant, who joined the Foundation two years ago and was based in North
Carolina, worked to strengthen Wikimedia’s online infrastructure to
increase its reliability and to ensure that people around the globe could
access free knowledge whenever they needed it. While Grant and his growing
team work largely behind the scenes, they are the reason we have the
platform and ability to elevate the voices of our community members and
provide free knowledge to the world.
In Grant's words:
“My last two years serving the free knowledge movement have been
incredibly rewarding and challenging. I’m so proud of what the Foundation
Technology team has accomplished, especially with the unique set of
challenges this year has brought. There is never a perfect time to leave,
but I am confident that this work is in the most capable hands. It’s been a
privilege to support my team as they have worked side-by-side with movement
volunteers to strengthen our online infrastructure and ensure that
Wikimedia remains a trusted source for open knowledge. Together, we evolved
and scaled our platform to ensure that people across the globe have 24/7,
uninterrupted access to our information when they need it most.”
While transitions are always challenging, they are also a natural part of
evolution and growth of organizations. The Foundation's Transition team -
Amanda, Jaime, and Robyn - is working closely with the Board Transition
Committee, as well as other relevant Board Committees, to ensure smooth
operations during this period. We remain very confident that together,
along with our communities, we can build a future for the Foundation that
will better serve our important movement goals and strategy. As we work
through the transition, including the ongoing process of identifying the
next CEO/ED, we will continue to provide relevant updates.
In the meantime, on behalf of the Board, please join me in wishing Grant
and Heather the best of luck.
Best,
Raju
--
Raju Narisetti
Home TimeZone: EST
My working day may not be your working day. Please don’t feel obliged to
reply to this email outside of your normal working hours.
*Have you considered supporting Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a non-profit website which provides free, open, reliable
knowledge to hundreds of millions of people around the world every single
day.
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