<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)&diff=prev&oldid=1123369545>
last year, on-wiki: The Board has done its main job - changed the CEO.
I want to say that The Board has done its main job - changed the CEO means
" by mutual agreement". If there's a mutual agreement that the current CEO
is leaving, the Board will inevitably have to find a new one, e.g. change
the CEO.
Also, I find your complete lack of good faith and attempts to catch out
everybody on anything very unpleasant and completely contradictory to the
spirit of the Movement.
Victoria
On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 9:49 PM Lauren Worden <laurenworden89(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Flo and Andreas,
Have you asked these questions to askcac(a)wikimedia.org?
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Comm…
-LW
On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 12:22 PM Florence Devouard <fdevouard(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Speaking of which... I was reading with a lot of interest the new policy
regarding
severance packages...
I read on the diff (1)
"The guidelines have also provided an opportunity to better align our
processes globally when staff leave the Foundation. This includes a new
standardized severance policy for staff at all levels of one month of
severance pay for every year of their employment, up to nine months (unless
local laws require otherwise) – any exceptions require a joint
recommendation by the Head of Talent & Culture and the General Counsel,
with final approval from the CEO. The guidelines have allowed us to make
these and other policies more transparent to staff irrespective of where
they live and work. "
I suppose this decision was partly made because some staff did not
benefit from a
severance package (or only from a very poor one), in
particular in cases of non-US based staff. If that's the case, it is a good
move to introduce more equity.
Out of curiosity...
1) is the one month of severence pay entirely based on the last month
salary, or
the last year salary, or does it take into account the previous
years (which were presumbly at lower salary) ?
2) for those staff who are "exceptions", is the agreement with the
exception done at the beginning of the tenure, at the end of the tenure (as
part of the departure discussion) or can be discussed-rediscussed at any
time during the agreement ?
3) do you plan to communicate on the number (or percentage) of staff who
are
actually in the "exception" packages ? (no name obviously, but an idea
of the size of that segment. Because if the "exception" segment is 50% of
the 700+ staff, then equity is not it...)
4) do you plan to adopt a "maximum" for those in the exception segment
(for example, the standard is 1 month per year employed... to limit the
severance to equivalent "xx months of employed years")
5) last... is there an incentive system in place to invite WMF staff to
make
donations to WMF or to the other Wikimedia entitites (such as doubling
their donations)
Salaries at the WMF seem to have climbed tremendously the past few years
(2).
Severance packages seriously climb as well. Many will turn a blind eye
on this, but I am sure you realize that others might be concerned.
I fully understand and support the approach that
would result in more
equity for WMF staff and recognise that this must be a
challenge to
implement due to the diversity of countries they live in.
I also recognise the need to make working for WMF
appealing, hence
confortable packages.
But still...Is there anything done to better
address the serious
escalation of severance packages of the high level executives ?
(beside
inviting them to leave asap they have been employed more than 5 years that
is)
Flo
(1)
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guideline…
(2)
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_salaries
Le 09/05/2023 à 21:55, effe iets anders a écrit :
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(a)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.
>
>
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation…
>
> 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:
>
>
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation…
>>
>> These are interesting developments.
>>
>> Andreas
>
>
>> On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv
<ntymkiv(a)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.
>> [1]
https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022
>> [2]
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikime…
>> [3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_…
>> [4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_…
>> [5]
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guideline…
>>
>> 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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