Congratulations to Katherine for being an incredible positive force and make a great impression in such a short time as Interim! A well deserved reward :)
I have all the confidence that you are able to motivate those around you (and in our community) to perform at their best, work together and be creative.
The very best wishes in what is (as always) likely to be a challenging time :)
Jan-Bart
On 24 Jun 2016, at 11:15, Patricio Lorente patricio.lorente@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
It is our great pleasure to share that during the Board meeting at Wikimania 2016 in Esino Lario, we unanimously voted to appoint Katherine Maher as Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. This is effective as of our resolution dated Thursday, 23 June.
Katherine served as interim Executive Director for the past three months, during which time she consistently and repeatedly demonstrated the kind of leadership our organization needs. She is deeply committed to our movement’s values, and brings expertise in civic technology and international development that will be an asset to the Wikimedia Foundation and the movement.
We came to this conclusion after an intensive discovery process led by the ED search committee. Our decision was also informed by direct feedback from staff and community, and our own experience working closely with Katherine.
In March, we assembled an Executive Director search committee[1] consisting of four Board members¹ who were chosen to represent different perspectives and capacities.² Additionally, the Board asked the Foundation’s Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Gruwell to represent the executive team, and Foundation staff member Katie Horn was selected by her peers as someone who could represent staff perspectives. The committee was charged with keeping the process on track and on time, engaging important stakeholders, and facilitating transparency in communications. Their first tasks were to identify a search firm, and define the position description. You can review the committee’s updates on Meta.[2]
The committee recruited Viewcrest Advisors,³ to identify our leadership needs and design a hiring process. Kathleen Yazbak of Viewcrest worked with the committee to conduct interviews with every Foundation department, the executive, the Board, and nearly 20 additional one-on-one interviews with staff. Kathleen attended the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin, collecting feedback from community members and affiliates. The committee launched a community survey in June, receiving more than 1,600 responses about the qualities needed in the next ED; they also asked for feedback on Meta.[3] Taking all of this into account, the transition team developed a profile and requirements for the next Executive Director that reflect our values and our communities.
Throughout this process, the Board and the transition team received very clear and often unsolicited feedback from both staff and community members that Katherine embodies the values of our movement and the traits needed in our next ED. This feedback was only reinforced by the latest Foundation engagement survey results, which showed a strong shift toward renewed trust in leadership. After taking this all into account, and considering what the organization needs at this moment of transition, we moved to appoint Katherine now.
In just three months as interim ED, Katherine worked with the organization and community to make huge strides in management, execution, and transparency. She brought much-needed clarity to our strategic direction, and mobilized the organization to clearly communicate that direction through this year’s annual plan.
After her appointment, she worked with the leadership team to swiftly identify the organization’s priorities during the transition period and execute against them, setting ambitious but reachable targets. Under Katherine’s leadership, the Foundation submitted its annual plan to the Funds Dissemination Committee, leaving ample time for community feedback and discussion.
Katherine is an excellent fit for our movement. She is longtime advocate for global open communities, culture, and technology. She was the Foundation’s Chief Communications Officer from April 2014 until she was appointed interim ED in March. Throughout her career she has focused on freedom of expression, access to information, and digital rights; supporting the efforts of people around the world to deepen participation, advance transparency, and strengthen their communities through her work with UNICEF, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and the World Bank. If you don’t already know Katherine, you can learn more about her on Meta.[4]
With this appointment, we feel strongly that the Foundation has the leadership and clarity to move forward. We wish Katherine the very best in this role, and the Board looks forward to continuing to work with her.
We would also like to thank the many community members and Foundation staff who actively shared thoughtful, highly valuable feedback. Without that, we would not have been able to come to this decision.
Please join us in congratulating Katherine!
Patricio Lorente, outgoing Board Chair Christophe Henner, incoming Board Chair
Alice Wiegand (Committee Chair), Dariusz Jemielniak, Guy Kawasaki, Kelly Battles. For example, community and governance experience, appointed and community-selected seats, and US and non-US perspectives. The committee reviewed 7 different firms and unanimously picked Viewcrest.
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tran... https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Transition_Team/2016 [2 ]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tran... https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Transition_Team/2016/Updates [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tran... https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Transition_Team/2016/Community_input [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Katherine_(WMF) https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Katherine_(WMF) --
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Hi everyone,
On top of the formal announcement, I’d like to share a few personal thoughts.
Katherine Maher has been interim ED of the Wikimedia Foundation since March. In the past few months, we’ve had the pleasure to witness her ability to provide healthy leadership to Wikimedia Foundation staff. Thanks to her abilities, she took the organisation to one with more engaged and motivated teams.
But not only that, her contribution to Board meetings has been exemplary. She opened up possibilities and discussions that will allow us to move forward and become a better organisation. Katherine deeply shares our values, and fits naturally within our movement.
I am really happy that she agreed to take on the permanent job, and can’t wait for us to dive into making Wikimedia Foundation a better organisation.
At the same time, I would like to personally thank Frieda and Patricio for the time they served as Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, as last week was the conclusion of their Board terms. It also feels weird not to serve with them as I’ve known the two of them for 10 years and would have love to spend more time with them.
They served our movement during difficult times. I hope we’ll have the pleasure to see them keep on wandering in the Wikimedia sphere, and wish them to enjoy all the free time they’ve just got back with their loved ones.
Please take the opportunity to share your thanks to Frieda and Patricio, and to congratulate and welcome Katherine in her new position.
All the best,
Christophe
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