Hi All, After almost 5 years at WMF, I’ve decided to move on from the Foundation. My last day will be June 4th. These last few years have been an unexpected journey. When Anasuya Senguta and Jessie Wild recruited me in 2014, I didn't know what awaited me. I didn't know that I could learn so much about epistemology, power, resilience, and community in such a short period of time. I couldn't know how indelibly I would change - in my perspectives, my approaches, and my beliefs. But I have learned *so much*. From the countless conversations I've had and observed. From working with hundreds of staff and volunteers to understand different community needs <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Capacity_Development>[1], build new tools <https://eventmetrics.wmflabs.org/>[2], reflect <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Strategy/Wikimedia_Foundation_grantmaking_review/Intro>[3] on current programs, understand the breadth and depth of our gaps <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gender_equity_report_2018>[4], understand our longer-term impact <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Impact>[5], and find the path forward. And because we are Wikimedia, it's unsurprising that I leave having learned the limits of my own knowledge, the power of collective discourse <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensemaking>[6], and the weight of my own power and privilege in seeing systemic, cultural change happen. This journey honestly wasn’t an easy ride. I laughed and cried, triumphed and despaired, argued and made up; I felt supported and isolated, powerful and powerless. I saw the tremendous beauty that Wikimedia creates and the long road still to come. But despite the rough ride, when I think back on my time here I will always treasure the kaleidoscope of small moments that brought me joy: grammar advice from Asaf, introducing Felix to Korean food, learning that many of you are artists or musicians or poets, learning wikitext (yes, I actually enjoyed that), dancing until my feet hurt, learning to love karaoke, impromptu lunches and dinners, and many *many* walks and virtual coffee chats. So thank you all for sharing your wisdom, humor, and time with me. Thank you Wikimedia for being a place that I could grow and learn. I will still be around on the interwebs (and in San Francisco if you ever are in town), and look forward to watching how you grow. For now, I leave you with this quote: "In a complex, technological world, most of us are experts at something. More importantly, being a true expert means having a healthy dose of humility. If you have really studied something and really gone deep into how it works, then you should come away knowing how much you don't know. *In a sense, that is the real definition of an expert — knowing the limits of one's own knowledge.*" - Adam Frank, National Public Radio [7] With much love, Sati [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Capacity_Development [2] https://eventmetrics.wmflabs.org/ [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Strategy/Wikimedia_Foundation_grantm… [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gender_equity_report_2018 [5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Impact [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensemaking [7] https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2017/04/07/522992390/why-expertise-matters -- Sati Houston Senior Strategist, Grants Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>