Ah Toby. I am going to miss you a lot, and I think that you are leaving
some very big shoes to fill.
It has been a pleasure to work with someone from Product who "gets" the
community and has taken feedback from the community seriously and used that
feedback to improve the experience for editors and readers. This can be a
big challenge, because I wouldn't exactly say the community is unified in
what they consider "improvements".
I wish you well on your continuing journey.
Risker/Anne
On Tue, 12 Oct 2021 at 13:36, Toby Negrin <tnegrin(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hi all,
I’m writing to share that I’ve decided to step down as Chief Product
Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation and my last day will be November 1.
I’ve said before that I believe this is the most interesting job in the
world. After all, what happens in the world happens on Wikipedia. I have
felt incredibly fortunate to be a part of this movement, working on some of
the most urgent problems around knowledge and access that we face today.
I first joined the Foundation in 2013 as the Director of Analytics, and if
you had told me back then that I would end up staying for eight years, I
would never have believed you. Eight years is a long time. I am proud of
the work that this department has done, and I will take many lessons with
me. And at the same time, I’ve also realized I’m ready for the next chapter
in my career.
As I leave the Foundation, I want to express my deep gratitude to all of
you - the volunteers who have built these projects into what they are
today. Your contributions, your knowledge and your time have created these
projects that have become the largest collection of open knowledge in human
history. Every technology leader seeks passionate, engaged users who are
actively sharing feedback on the platforms they build. This community has
never let us down in that regard. Our work together between the communities
and the Product department wasn’t always easy, but on the whole we operated
under an assumption of good faith[1] and with a recognition of our
respective roles in helping improve the reading and editing experience of
our projects. I’m immensely proud of the work that we’ve accomplished and
the chance to work alongside so many talented people.
The Wikimedia Foundation was the first nonprofit of my career. At the
time, it was a welcome change and a chance to use my skills for good. I
have seen the Foundation go through many iterations and transitions. I’m
proud to have been part of its incredible growth and the increasing impact
we are making in the world. There have been many successes and many
challenges too, as we have tackled the new realities of the internet, and
sought to make our projects truly global and inclusive. In considering all
of this, now feels like the right time for me to step back and get closer
to why I became an engineer in the first place — being a builder and a
developer. I’ve been energized by the work of this department and this
movement, bringing values of privacy, respect for users, inclusion and
safety to building on the open web. I hope to carry these forward as I take
on a more hands-on role in technology innovation in my next chapter.
Thank you to everyone that I’ve had the chance to work with on powering
some of the most innovative work on the open web. I cannot wait to see what
you all achieve next.
Cheers,
Toby
--
Toby Negrin (he/his)
Chief Product Officer
Wikimedia Foundation
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith
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