I was wondering the same thing, Paulo. 

Victoria did say last year, on-wiki: The Board has done its main job - changed the CEO. 

(Victoria did not provide further details when asked.)  

Andreas

On Wed, May 10, 2023 at 10:01 AM Paulo Santos Perneta <paulosperneta@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,

I'm a bit lost on this, probably because I'm not familiar with US Work laws. Why did Katherine Maher received $623,286 on severance pay? Was she fired?

Best,
Paulo

Andreas Kolbe <jayen466@gmail.com> escreveu no dia terça, 9/05/2023 à(s) 22:17:

The information is right there, Lodewijk, all you need to do is click the link. The Form 990 discloses that the WMF paid five executives a combined total of over $1.2 million in severance pay. About half of this went to Katherine Maher. Individual severance figures are given on page 50:

  • Katherine Maher $623,286 (over 150% of her base compensation in her last full year)
  • Janeen Uzzell $324,748 (over 100% of her base compensation in her last full year)
  • Heather Walls $153,612
  • Lynette Logan $74,645
  • Anthony Negrin $70,920

For historical comparison, the severance payment Lila Tretikov got in 2016 was $262.5K, approx. 77% of her $342K base compensation in 2015, her last full year. 

So severance payments for top executives seem to be trending up.

Andreas


On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 8:56 PM effe iets anders <effeietsanders@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably). 

Lodewijk

On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe <jayen466@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear all,

Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year: 

$798,632 and $515,553 respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.


The Form 990 now shows a total of six executives whose total compensation exceeded $400,000. 

For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of eight executives whose total compensation exceeded $300,000:


These are interesting developments.

Andreas


On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv <ntymkiv@wikimedia.org> wrote:

Dear all,


Today, the Wikimedia Foundation published the Form 990 [1], an informational tax form required annually of all nonprofit organisations based in the US. The Form 990 provides a financial overview of the Foundation, including the balance sheet, revenue and expenses, as well as grantmaking, governance, and other financial policies. It also includes compensation information required for senior executives. This document is reviewed by the Board each year before it is published on the Foundation website.


Because of reporting periods, the Form 990 provides a look back at the activities and budget for the Foundation in prior years. This year’s Form 990 covers last fiscal year (July 2021-June 2022), and for compensation related reporting, it covers the 2021 calendar year. Because the Form 990 is a tax document with a complicated format, this year the Foundation has also published a Diff post [2] that provides an overview of the different sections of the form; an executive summary [3] of the Form, and an FAQ on Meta [4].


This year’s Form 990 contains several key takeaways:


  • Growth in support of Wikimedia projects: In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the Foundation invested 77% in Program Services, an increase of 4 percentage points as compared to fiscal year 2020–2021 of 73%. This measure reflects how much of the organisation’s expenses are allocated towards the programs and services that it exists to deliver. This surpasses third-party standards for how much nonprofit organisations should spend on programs, which should be the majority of their budget (more than 65% according to the Better Business Bureau).

  • Increase in community grants: During fiscal year 2021-2022, the Foundation’s revenue received through donations and grants, totaled $164.2 million, a roughly $9 million increase from the prior fiscal year. The Foundation increased its grants programme by 50%, from $10.1M in the prior fiscal year to $15.2M in fiscal year 2021-2022. 

  • Comprehensive governance policies: The Foundation follows a number of best practices for governance as an established nonprofit organisation. The Form 990 includes a section confirming written policies regarding our approach to conflicts of interest, protecting whistleblowers, guidelines for data retention and governance practices, including those related to the Foundation's Board structure, voting rights, and independence. These governance policies and practices have helped the Foundation to receive the highest rating from sites like Charity Navigator.

  • Leadership Transition: This year’s Form 990 also reports on a period of significant leadership transition at the Wikimedia Foundation, including the CEO stepping down. The Form includes compensation information as well as severance disclosures for Foundation executives who departed in 2021. This January, the Wikimedia Foundation introduced a new standardised severance policy, which was shared in a Diff post [5]. Separation payments to two additional executives that precede the implementation of this standardised policy will be disclosed in future Form 990s.


Finally, the Form 990 is one of several documents that the Foundation publishes each year, to provide more visibility into the budget and how the Foundation allocates resources towards its work. In addition to the Form 990, you can find additional information in this year’s Annual Plan, in the Foundation’s Annual Report, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices, global guidelines, and our approach to hiring.


The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta.


Best regards,
antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv
Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees

NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!

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