Congratulations Katherine! Great to see you as the new ED. And thanks to
the search committee for the wonderful decision.
Regards,
Tanweer Morshed
Wikimedia Bangladesh
On Friday, June 24, 2016, Gregory Varnum <gregory.varnum(a)gmail.com> wrote:
<Trying to imagine if he could be any more excited
about this news.>
Nope - even with my wild imagination - it is simply not possible for me to
be more pleased and excited by this news!!!
Congratulations, Katherine! I think this is fantastic news for the
Foundation and movement!
-greg (User:Varnent)
On Jun 24, 2016, at 4:56 PM, Peter Southwood <
peter.southwood(a)telkomsa.net <javascript:;>> wrote:
Looks like a good choice.
Good luck, Katherine
Cheers,
Peter
From: WikimediaAnnounce-l [mailto:
wikimediaannounce-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org
<javascript:;>] On Behalf
Of Patricio Lorente
Sent: Friday, 24 June 2016 11:16 AM
To: wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org <javascript:;>
Subject: [Wikimedia Announcements] Board appointment of Executive
Director
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
1. Alice Wiegand (Committee Chair), Dariusz Jemielniak, Guy Kawasaki,
Kelly
Battles.
2. For example, community and governance experience, appointed and
community-selected seats, and US and non-US perspectives.
3. The committee reviewed 7 different firms and unanimously picked
Viewcrest.
_____
[1] <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tra…
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tra…
[2 ] <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tra…
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tra…
[3] <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tra…
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tra…
[4] <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Katherine_(WMF)>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Katherine_(WMF)
--
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