Dear all,
Following the June 21 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees meeting, Maryana and I wanted to share outcomes from the meeting as well as other updates from the Board of Trustees and the Foundation.
== June board meeting outcomes ==
The board held its regularly scheduled June meeting, focusing on approval of the Wikimedia Foundation’s annual plan as well as other governance matters and strategic topics. As the Board is making its work more visible, three observers from the Movement Charter Drafting Committee joined the board meeting once again, and there was also an open Q&A session with Wikimedia Foundation staff immediately following the board meeting.
As a part of housekeeping, the Board approved the March meeting minutes [1]. Operational and committee updates were shared with the Board prior to the meeting itself as a pre-read and did not require Board action; you can see the board committee reports here [2].
Trustees unanimously approved the Wikimedia Foundation’s 2023-2024 Annual Plan. This year’s plan remains anchored in the 2030 strategic direction, and builds on movement strategy recommendations ranging from improving the user experience to safety and inclusion to equity; it also expands focus on product and technology as well as the Foundation’s own effectiveness.
The plan was informed by a month-long community feedback process that began in April. The Foundation collected feedback both off and on-wiki, with translations provided on projects in 30+ languages (an increase from 14 languages last year). The long-form narrative plan also saw a 203% increase in page views on Meta from last year to 34,604 this year. Nearly 700 Wikimedians across the world also participated in five online conversations with interpretation support in 14 languages (AR, EN, ES, FR, HI, ID, PA, PT, PL, RU, SW, UR, JA and ZH). I want to thank all volunteers and Foundation and affiliates’ staff who helped shape the feedback to improve this year’s plan.
Following this, the Board considered a number of topics that support the multi-year strategic planning process that I shared in my March email [3]. In reflecting on Wikimedia’s financial model, the Board received a briefing on Wikimedia Enterprise’s governance processes [4], and heard about the success of increased collaboration between the Foundation’s fundraising team and various language communities on regional banner campaigns. The fundraising team will soon be launching its collaboration page for the English campaign, building on what was learned last year.
As part of a global socio-technical knowledge ecosystem, Wikimedia’s approach to generative AI (artificial intelligence) has been a topic of interest amongst many of you, as well as with Wikimedia partners, allies, and the public. Chief Product and Technology Officer Selena Deckelmann reflected on emerging opportunities and challenges we face as a movement, a vision informed by volunteer-led discussions in May that highlighted the critical role of human motivation in the field of machine learning / artificial intelligence.
== Board recruitment ==
Board recruitment is one of the responsibilities of the Governance Committee. The Committee has also spent time on proactively considering how future Trustees can learn more about the role and its expectations. This is helping to improve the selection process for community- and affiliate-selected seats (the updated Elections Committee membership was mentioned here [5]) and build a pipeline for board-selected seats recruitment.
Currently, the Board is reviewing candidates for a seat as Audit Committee Chair, as Tanya Capuano’s term ends next year, and it would be good to identify and have a future replacement “shadowing” her for a bit in the Committee. This particular role requires specialised financial expertise, and familiarity with U.S. non-profit and tax laws and regulations. Please read the materials and nominate potential candidates that can be considered alongside the ones that are identified by the board itself. If you have a potential nominee, please email recruitment@wikimedia.org by July 31 with “Audit Chair” as a reference with some information about them (a resume or LinkedIn profile) and a rationale why they would be a good fit. More information is on Meta: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Governance_Committee/Board_recruitment
== Foundation updates ==
The Board additionally receives regular updates from Maryana on her priorities; she communicates directly about them on this list and on Meta, and will continue to do so. Her current goals have focused on strategy/planning, leadership, and culture/values.
On leadership, the Foundation’s executive team reflects Maryana’s goal to promote internally where possible and hire externally when necessary. In addition to Stephen LaPorte’s recent elevation to General Counsel, Anusha Alikhan has now been promoted to Chief Communications Officer after ably leading the Foundation’s communications department since 2021. Maryana will be handing over management of the Foundation’s human resources team to a new Chief Talent & Culture Officer, Courtney Bass Sherizen, who starts in August and brings prior experience from big tech and also non-profits.
The Foundation is also investing in a broader leadership team that better reflects its global footprint. Recent elevations of both long-tenured and newer staff living outside of the United States include 17-year Foundation veteran Mark Bergsma as Vice President of Site Reliability Engineering, and Jean Delage-Sié as Vice President of People Experience.
Finally, the Wikimedia Foundation staff recently completed their values refresh, which is intended to grow a culture of accountability, learning, and mutual respect for how the Foundation conducts itself and engages with others.
The Board of Trustees will meet next on August 15 in Singapore. Following this meeting, there will also be an open session with the Wikimedia Foundation and Endowment Boards during Wikimania to answer questions on these topics or others you may have. We hope to see some of you either virtually or in-person at Wikimania.
Regards,
Nat and Maryana
[1] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes:2023-03-09
[2] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes:2023-06-21
[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Enterprise/FAQ#Why_is_this_being_run_by_a_subsidiary
[5] https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/4TALOUFPAP2VDBR27GKRVOP7IGQYU3DB/