Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board recently met in Berlin for our quarterly Board meeting, before a majority of the trustees attended this year’s Wikimedia Summit. This was our second in person Board meeting since the pandemic, and we used the two days to review critical governance and election decisions and kick off a conversation around strategic planning aligned with the 2030 movement strategy goals. Several members of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee (MCDC) joined us as we continue to work together and share visibility of Board governance.
On Wednesday, three Board committees - the Governance Committee, Talent and Culture Committee and the Community Affairs Committee (CAC) - met and conducted regular business. Anass Sedrati and Manavpreet Kaur joined the Community Affairs Committee meeting as representatives of the MCDC. They provided valuable input (and fresh eyes!) on the ongoing work of the CAC.
The next day was our Board meeting, and we were joined by Risker and Daria Cybulska from the MCDC. This was also our first opportunity to meet face to face with Selena Deckelmann, the Foundation’s new Chief Product and Technology Officer, and hear more about her first impressions from her ongoing listening tour with staff and volunteers.
We spent the first half of the day discussing a few big questions around the Foundation’s long term strategic goals and its key stakeholders. We looked at models for the lifecycle of an organization and how that may be relevant to a global movement. This discussion will help us shape our March 2023 Board meeting where we plan to begin developing a longer term strategic plan for the Foundation that connects the Foundation’s annual plan to the broader goals of the 2030 movement strategy and also addresses ongoing external trends around access to information.
During the Board meeting, we also spent time discussing governance topics. After a year of discussion and input, the Board voted to keep its size at 12 for the next two years [1]. You can read our rationale here [2]. Members of the Board will be meeting with the Elections Committee in November where we will debrief on the 2021 and 2022 Board elections, review the committee’s charter, and begin working through what is required for a successful 2024 Board election. We plan to keep you all informed along the way.
The Board also approved an update to the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) to remove a footnote within the policy itself, specifically within section 3.1, which created equity issues within our community and did not meet its intended purposes of supporting a safe and inclusive environment [3]. As usual, we approved the minutes of the previous Board meeting in June [4].
The majority of the Board stayed for the Summit and I would like to thank the many people who came together to make the Summit happen. It had been years since we were together in Berlin, and I appreciated the time I was able to spend with Wikimedians.
Overall, we were impressed with how well the integration of live in-person and virtual participation worked, especially with such a large event. It is a model that hopefully can be replicated in the future as it is a great way to reduce barriers to participation. It was great to reconnect with people that we have not seen in almost three years. This allowed us to make sure we are all on the same track regarding strategy - old and new. Thank you for the candid conversations and open dialogue in the individual tracks.
P.S. And as a reminder – there is a "Conversation with the [Wikimedia Foundation] Trustees" session hosted by the CAC in a few hours today, so you can register for the event or send your question to askcac@wikimedia.org [5]. The call will be recorded, and there will be a live YouTube stream.
Links:
[1] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Updating_Board_Expansion_Plans,_2022
[3] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Revising_Universal_Code_of_Conduct,_September_2022
[4] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes,_June_2022