This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
العربية • español • français • português • 中文 You can help with more languages. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
Hi all,
Since meeting many of you https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour in late 2021, I have tried to share regularly https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates about my journey as CEO, and I intend to do more of that in the year ahead. I am writing today with more personal news.
Over a year ago, I asked the Board of Trustees to begin succession planning for the next Wikimedia Foundation CEO as I also began to reflect on my future. Today, I’m letting you know that the Board will begin a search for the next CEO https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/06/marking-a-transition-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ with the goal of having a new leader in place by January 2026, when Wikipedia turns 25. I will stay on as CEO until I hand over to the next leader early next year, providing a long timeframe for a thoughtful, orderly, and deliberate transition. I have been preparing this carefully with the Board for some time, and we plan to do it well.
What gives me the confidence to share this decision now, even as we face an external environment full of change, is that our next leader will inherit an organization that I believe is ready for what’s ahead and stronger than it’s ever been. I am certain that we have the right people in place across the Foundation to deal with anything that comes our way, now and into the future. The Wikimedia movement has collectively overcome challenges all over the world for the past two decades. That is not going to change at this moment, or anytime soon.
This community over the past 25 years has matured from a small project run out of a closet to a powerful global force that has been described https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/magazine/wikipedia-ai-chatgpt.html as the "factual netting that holds the whole digital world together.” We have collectively improved our capabilities as a movement by growing technical infrastructure https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/26/the-journey-to-open-our-first-data-center-in-south-america/ and expanding content that helps close knowledge gaps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red/Metrics/20%25_milestone. We have seen more support globally https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising/2023-24_Report and a higher level of trust in Wikipedia https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Communications/Research/Brand_Health_Tracker amid the rise of AI tools and chatbots. Recognition of the Wikimedia projects continues to increase as the hallmark of a digital public good https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/02/12/wikipedia-recognized-as-a-digital-public-good/ .
Responsible transitions are not just about continuity — they are about imagining an even greater future. As we begin preparations to mark Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary next January, I believe we have a rare opportunity to more visibly promote Wikimedia’s values, principles, and policies. This can be the simple act of talking to more people around us about why Wikipedia is uniquely different compared to many other online platforms. It can be educating more lawmakers about Wikipedia’s distinct policies and practices, designed to produce neutral and unbiased content in an increasingly polarized world. It can be joining more community discussions and movement conversations about how to support the volunteers trusted to implement these critical policies. It can be welcoming and mentoring new generations of contributors to sustain Wikipedia’s policies and values into the future. And it can be collaborating to spread the word about why the Wikimedia projects are a cherished public good that deserve nurturing and protection.
We all have a role to play in ensuring Wikipedia never stops evolving, improving, and living up to its remarkable vision for every single human to share in the sum of all knowledge. People everywhere love Wikipedia and they are inspired by this vision.
The Foundation is ready to lead and support these vital contributions. In my time here, our planning has been redesigned to respond to global trends https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Global_Trends, persistently asking what the world needs from us. We prioritized product and technology to remain firmly at the center of our investments and attention https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026. We slowed https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024/Finances#Overview:_Reducing_expenses and right-sized the Foundation’s growth in line with responsible financial planning https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview, while consistently increasing funding https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview#Supporting_Volunteers_and_the_Movement to volunteers and movement entities. We have worked hard to significantly improve https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Insights/Community_Insights_2024_Report#Communication_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation our communications with all of you. And we have very deliberately strengthened our risk preparedness https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/02/risk-preparedness-in-the-foundations-annual-plan/ to continue protecting volunteers and defending the Wikimedia projects.
I am proud of what has been accomplished to make us stronger and ready for the future. My focus now is to continue moving the Foundation’s important work forward. Much remains to be done before next year – finalizing and executing our annual plan and budget, managing our risks, growing our technology investments and grants, iterating on pilots to decentralize decision-making, and so much more.
Together with the Board of Trustees, we have been carefully and intentionally planning to make this the most stable, orderly, and successful CEO transition the Foundation has ever had. The next CEO will lead an experienced and committed executive team who you recently heard from in their January letter https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/January_2025_Update. This team includes Chief Product and Technology Officer Selena Deckelmann https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/selena-deckelmann/, General Counsel Stephen LaPorte https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/stephen-laporte/, Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Seitz Gruwell https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/lisa-seitz-gruwell/?referer=16, Chief Communications Officer Anusha Alikhan https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/anusha-alikhan/?referer=16, Chief Financial Officer Jaime Villagomez https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jaime-villagomez/?referer=16 and Chief People Officer Courtney Bass Sherizen https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/courtney-bass-sherizen/?referer=16 .
I will talk to many of you at upcoming calls, events, conferences and meetings, including Wikimania. And I will thank you for supporting me and my journey here. You are welcome to reach out to me directly for a conversation, or a member of the Foundation’s executive team, or the Board of Trustees. You can do this by emailing me directly or requesting a meeting with anyone in the Foundation’s leadership through Let's talk. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/Let%27s_Talk#Let's_talk
Maryana
Maryana Iskander
Wikimedia Foundation CEO
Dear all,
On behalf of the Board, Lorenzo and I wanted to follow up on Maryana’s note.
First to express the Board’s gratitude for her strong and calm leadership, and her proactive planning. As Maryana noted, the Board has been working on CEO succession for over a year in keeping with good practices and learning from our prior CEO transitions at the Wikimedia Foundation. We are committed to doing this well and getting it right.
The Board wants to make sure that all the work of the last few years helps the Foundation and the movement be even stronger for the future. For the rest of this year, we will continue to work very closely with Maryana and the executive team in all matters, and until we have a careful handoff to a new leader in the future.
You can request a time to speak to any of us, either by reaching out directly or sending a request through Let's talk [1]. We also look forward to seeing some of you at upcoming meetings and events later in the year.
Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
Lorenzo Losa, Chair-Elect, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Commi...
============================================= 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!*
On Tue, May 6, 2025 at 8:32 PM Maryana Iskander miskander@wikimedia.org wrote:
This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
العربية • español • français • português • 中文 You can help with more languages. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
Hi all,
Since meeting many of you https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour in late 2021, I have tried to share regularly https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates about my journey as CEO, and I intend to do more of that in the year ahead. I am writing today with more personal news.
Over a year ago, I asked the Board of Trustees to begin succession planning for the next Wikimedia Foundation CEO as I also began to reflect on my future. Today, I’m letting you know that the Board will begin a search for the next CEO https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/06/marking-a-transition-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ with the goal of having a new leader in place by January 2026, when Wikipedia turns 25. I will stay on as CEO until I hand over to the next leader early next year, providing a long timeframe for a thoughtful, orderly, and deliberate transition. I have been preparing this carefully with the Board for some time, and we plan to do it well.
What gives me the confidence to share this decision now, even as we face an external environment full of change, is that our next leader will inherit an organization that I believe is ready for what’s ahead and stronger than it’s ever been. I am certain that we have the right people in place across the Foundation to deal with anything that comes our way, now and into the future. The Wikimedia movement has collectively overcome challenges all over the world for the past two decades. That is not going to change at this moment, or anytime soon.
This community over the past 25 years has matured from a small project run out of a closet to a powerful global force that has been described https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/magazine/wikipedia-ai-chatgpt.html as the "factual netting that holds the whole digital world together.” We have collectively improved our capabilities as a movement by growing technical infrastructure https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/26/the-journey-to-open-our-first-data-center-in-south-america/ and expanding content that helps close knowledge gaps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red/Metrics/20%25_milestone. We have seen more support globally https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising/2023-24_Report and a higher level of trust in Wikipedia https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Communications/Research/Brand_Health_Tracker amid the rise of AI tools and chatbots. Recognition of the Wikimedia projects continues to increase as the hallmark of a digital public good https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/02/12/wikipedia-recognized-as-a-digital-public-good/ .
Responsible transitions are not just about continuity — they are about imagining an even greater future. As we begin preparations to mark Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary next January, I believe we have a rare opportunity to more visibly promote Wikimedia’s values, principles, and policies. This can be the simple act of talking to more people around us about why Wikipedia is uniquely different compared to many other online platforms. It can be educating more lawmakers about Wikipedia’s distinct policies and practices, designed to produce neutral and unbiased content in an increasingly polarized world. It can be joining more community discussions and movement conversations about how to support the volunteers trusted to implement these critical policies. It can be welcoming and mentoring new generations of contributors to sustain Wikipedia’s policies and values into the future. And it can be collaborating to spread the word about why the Wikimedia projects are a cherished public good that deserve nurturing and protection.
We all have a role to play in ensuring Wikipedia never stops evolving, improving, and living up to its remarkable vision for every single human to share in the sum of all knowledge. People everywhere love Wikipedia and they are inspired by this vision.
The Foundation is ready to lead and support these vital contributions. In my time here, our planning has been redesigned to respond to global trends https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Global_Trends, persistently asking what the world needs from us. We prioritized product and technology to remain firmly at the center of our investments and attention https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026. We slowed https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024/Finances#Overview:_Reducing_expenses and right-sized the Foundation’s growth in line with responsible financial planning https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview, while consistently increasing funding https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview#Supporting_Volunteers_and_the_Movement to volunteers and movement entities. We have worked hard to significantly improve https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Insights/Community_Insights_2024_Report#Communication_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation our communications with all of you. And we have very deliberately strengthened our risk preparedness https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/02/risk-preparedness-in-the-foundations-annual-plan/ to continue protecting volunteers and defending the Wikimedia projects.
I am proud of what has been accomplished to make us stronger and ready for the future. My focus now is to continue moving the Foundation’s important work forward. Much remains to be done before next year – finalizing and executing our annual plan and budget, managing our risks, growing our technology investments and grants, iterating on pilots to decentralize decision-making, and so much more.
Together with the Board of Trustees, we have been carefully and intentionally planning to make this the most stable, orderly, and successful CEO transition the Foundation has ever had. The next CEO will lead an experienced and committed executive team who you recently heard from in their January letter https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/January_2025_Update. This team includes Chief Product and Technology Officer Selena Deckelmann https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/selena-deckelmann/, General Counsel Stephen LaPorte https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/stephen-laporte/, Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Seitz Gruwell https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/lisa-seitz-gruwell/?referer=16, Chief Communications Officer Anusha Alikhan https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/anusha-alikhan/?referer=16, Chief Financial Officer Jaime Villagomez https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jaime-villagomez/?referer=16 and Chief People Officer Courtney Bass Sherizen https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/courtney-bass-sherizen/?referer=16 .
I will talk to many of you at upcoming calls, events, conferences and meetings, including Wikimania. And I will thank you for supporting me and my journey here. You are welcome to reach out to me directly for a conversation, or a member of the Foundation’s executive team, or the Board of Trustees. You can do this by emailing me directly or requesting a meeting with anyone in the Foundation’s leadership through Let's talk. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/Let%27s_Talk#Let's_talk
Maryana
Maryana Iskander
Wikimedia Foundation CEO
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
Hi Maryana
I'd like to thank you for keeping us informed, along with your time, and your efforts over the last few years. This is sad news that you intend to hand over the reins to someone else. Your efforts to engage the community during your time has been a delight to observe from the moment you chose to engage with the community on the listening tour before taking over to this latest announcement of providing the community with the planning, search, and transition to a new CEO has shown the deep respect you have always had for the movement.
I look forward to hearing from you at Wikimania in Nairobi in August. I wish the WMF & the BoT all the best in the months ahead as they navigate the succession process. I'm sure many of us stand ready and available to help with the process short of throwing our own hats in the ring.
Cheers Gnangarra
On Wed, 7 May 2025 at 01:36, Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear all,
On behalf of the Board, Lorenzo and I wanted to follow up on Maryana’s note.
First to express the Board’s gratitude for her strong and calm leadership, and her proactive planning. As Maryana noted, the Board has been working on CEO succession for over a year in keeping with good practices and learning from our prior CEO transitions at the Wikimedia Foundation. We are committed to doing this well and getting it right.
The Board wants to make sure that all the work of the last few years helps the Foundation and the movement be even stronger for the future. For the rest of this year, we will continue to work very closely with Maryana and the executive team in all matters, and until we have a careful handoff to a new leader in the future.
You can request a time to speak to any of us, either by reaching out directly or sending a request through Let's talk [1]. We also look forward to seeing some of you at upcoming meetings and events later in the year.
Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
Lorenzo Losa, Chair-Elect, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Commi...
============================================= 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!*
On Tue, May 6, 2025 at 8:32 PM Maryana Iskander miskander@wikimedia.org wrote:
This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
العربية • español • français • português • 中文 You can help with more languages. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
Hi all,
Since meeting many of you https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour in late 2021, I have tried to share regularly https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates about my journey as CEO, and I intend to do more of that in the year ahead. I am writing today with more personal news.
Over a year ago, I asked the Board of Trustees to begin succession planning for the next Wikimedia Foundation CEO as I also began to reflect on my future. Today, I’m letting you know that the Board will begin a search for the next CEO https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/06/marking-a-transition-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ with the goal of having a new leader in place by January 2026, when Wikipedia turns 25. I will stay on as CEO until I hand over to the next leader early next year, providing a long timeframe for a thoughtful, orderly, and deliberate transition. I have been preparing this carefully with the Board for some time, and we plan to do it well.
What gives me the confidence to share this decision now, even as we face an external environment full of change, is that our next leader will inherit an organization that I believe is ready for what’s ahead and stronger than it’s ever been. I am certain that we have the right people in place across the Foundation to deal with anything that comes our way, now and into the future. The Wikimedia movement has collectively overcome challenges all over the world for the past two decades. That is not going to change at this moment, or anytime soon.
This community over the past 25 years has matured from a small project run out of a closet to a powerful global force that has been described https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/magazine/wikipedia-ai-chatgpt.html as the "factual netting that holds the whole digital world together.” We have collectively improved our capabilities as a movement by growing technical infrastructure https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/26/the-journey-to-open-our-first-data-center-in-south-america/ and expanding content that helps close knowledge gaps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red/Metrics/20%25_milestone. We have seen more support globally https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising/2023-24_Report and a higher level of trust in Wikipedia https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Communications/Research/Brand_Health_Tracker amid the rise of AI tools and chatbots. Recognition of the Wikimedia projects continues to increase as the hallmark of a digital public good https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/02/12/wikipedia-recognized-as-a-digital-public-good/ .
Responsible transitions are not just about continuity — they are about imagining an even greater future. As we begin preparations to mark Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary next January, I believe we have a rare opportunity to more visibly promote Wikimedia’s values, principles, and policies. This can be the simple act of talking to more people around us about why Wikipedia is uniquely different compared to many other online platforms. It can be educating more lawmakers about Wikipedia’s distinct policies and practices, designed to produce neutral and unbiased content in an increasingly polarized world. It can be joining more community discussions and movement conversations about how to support the volunteers trusted to implement these critical policies. It can be welcoming and mentoring new generations of contributors to sustain Wikipedia’s policies and values into the future. And it can be collaborating to spread the word about why the Wikimedia projects are a cherished public good that deserve nurturing and protection.
We all have a role to play in ensuring Wikipedia never stops evolving, improving, and living up to its remarkable vision for every single human to share in the sum of all knowledge. People everywhere love Wikipedia and they are inspired by this vision.
The Foundation is ready to lead and support these vital contributions. In my time here, our planning has been redesigned to respond to global trends https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Global_Trends, persistently asking what the world needs from us. We prioritized product and technology to remain firmly at the center of our investments and attention https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026. We slowed https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024/Finances#Overview:_Reducing_expenses and right-sized the Foundation’s growth in line with responsible financial planning https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview, while consistently increasing funding https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview#Supporting_Volunteers_and_the_Movement to volunteers and movement entities. We have worked hard to significantly improve https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Insights/Community_Insights_2024_Report#Communication_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation our communications with all of you. And we have very deliberately strengthened our risk preparedness https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/02/risk-preparedness-in-the-foundations-annual-plan/ to continue protecting volunteers and defending the Wikimedia projects.
I am proud of what has been accomplished to make us stronger and ready for the future. My focus now is to continue moving the Foundation’s important work forward. Much remains to be done before next year – finalizing and executing our annual plan and budget, managing our risks, growing our technology investments and grants, iterating on pilots to decentralize decision-making, and so much more.
Together with the Board of Trustees, we have been carefully and intentionally planning to make this the most stable, orderly, and successful CEO transition the Foundation has ever had. The next CEO will lead an experienced and committed executive team who you recently heard from in their January letter https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/January_2025_Update. This team includes Chief Product and Technology Officer Selena Deckelmann https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/selena-deckelmann/, General Counsel Stephen LaPorte https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/stephen-laporte/, Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Seitz Gruwell https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/lisa-seitz-gruwell/?referer=16, Chief Communications Officer Anusha Alikhan https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/anusha-alikhan/?referer=16, Chief Financial Officer Jaime Villagomez https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jaime-villagomez/?referer=16 and Chief People Officer Courtney Bass Sherizen https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/courtney-bass-sherizen/?referer=16 .
I will talk to many of you at upcoming calls, events, conferences and meetings, including Wikimania. And I will thank you for supporting me and my journey here. You are welcome to reach out to me directly for a conversation, or a member of the Foundation’s executive team, or the Board of Trustees. You can do this by emailing me directly or requesting a meeting with anyone in the Foundation’s leadership through Let's talk. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/Let%27s_Talk#Let's_talk
Maryana
Maryana Iskander
Wikimedia Foundation CEO
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
Hi,
I want to share a personal reflection, as a former trustee with a decade on the Board, as well as basing on my experience of working with various leaders in for-profit, non-profit, and governmental organizations. Lots of bad and mediocre ones. A couple of really horrible ones. A couple of really good ones, on occasion.
Maryana has been, by far, one of the most outstanding leaders I've ever had the chance to work with. Her candor, wisdom, IQ/EQ, calmness, the ability to reflect quickly but not jump to conclusions quickly, to not just listen but really hear, have been something I have been continuously amazed all the way through.
I'm humbled and honored to have had the privilege of learning from her, and her practical lessons of powerful leadership will stay with me for a long time. If I ever write a book about tech leadership, she will be the main character.
best,
Dariusz
On Tue, May 6, 2025 at 7:33 PM Maryana Iskander <miskander@wikimedia.orgmailto:miskander@wikimedia.org> wrote:
This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki.https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
العربية • español • français • português • 中文 You can help with more languages.https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/May_2025_Update
Hi all,
Since meeting many of youhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour in late 2021, I have tried to share regularlyhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates about my journey as CEO, and I intend to do more of that in the year ahead. I am writing today with more personal news.
Over a year ago, I asked the Board of Trustees to begin succession planning for the next Wikimedia Foundation CEO as I also began to reflect on my future. Today, I’m letting you know that the Board will begin a search for the next CEOhttps://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/06/marking-a-transition-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ with the goal of having a new leader in place by January 2026, when Wikipedia turns 25. I will stay on as CEO until I hand over to the next leader early next year, providing a long timeframe for a thoughtful, orderly, and deliberate transition. I have been preparing this carefully with the Board for some time, and we plan to do it well.
What gives me the confidence to share this decision now, even as we face an external environment full of change, is that our next leader will inherit an organization that I believe is ready for what’s ahead and stronger than it’s ever been. I am certain that we have the right people in place across the Foundation to deal with anything that comes our way, now and into the future. The Wikimedia movement has collectively overcome challenges all over the world for the past two decades. That is not going to change at this moment, or anytime soon.
This community over the past 25 years has matured from a small project run out of a closet to a powerful global force that has been describedhttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/magazine/wikipedia-ai-chatgpt.html as the "factual netting that holds the whole digital world together.” We have collectively improved our capabilities as a movement by growing technical infrastructurehttps://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/26/the-journey-to-open-our-first-data-center-in-south-america/ and expanding content that helps close knowledge gapshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red/Metrics/20%25_milestone. We have seen more support globallyhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising/2023-24_Report and a higher level of trust in Wikipediahttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Communications/Research/Brand_Health_Tracker amid the rise of AI tools and chatbots. Recognition of the Wikimedia projects continues to increase as the hallmark of a digital public goodhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/02/12/wikipedia-recognized-as-a-digital-public-good/.
Responsible transitions are not just about continuity — they are about imagining an even greater future. As we begin preparations to mark Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary next January, I believe we have a rare opportunity to more visibly promote Wikimedia’s values, principles, and policies. This can be the simple act of talking to more people around us about why Wikipedia is uniquely different compared to many other online platforms. It can be educating more lawmakers about Wikipedia’s distinct policies and practices, designed to produce neutral and unbiased content in an increasingly polarized world. It can be joining more community discussions and movement conversations about how to support the volunteers trusted to implement these critical policies. It can be welcoming and mentoring new generations of contributors to sustain Wikipedia’s policies and values into the future. And it can be collaborating to spread the word about why the Wikimedia projects are a cherished public good that deserve nurturing and protection.
We all have a role to play in ensuring Wikipedia never stops evolving, improving, and living up to its remarkable vision for every single human to share in the sum of all knowledge. People everywhere love Wikipedia and they are inspired by this vision.
The Foundation is ready to lead and support these vital contributions. In my time here, our planning has been redesigned to respond to global trendshttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Global_Trends, persistently asking what the world needs from us. We prioritized product and technology to remain firmly at the center of our investments and attentionhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026. We slowedhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024/Finances#Overview:_Reducing_expenses and right-sized the Foundation’s growth in line with responsible financial planninghttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview, while consistently increasing fundinghttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview#Supporting_Volunteers_and_the_Movement to volunteers and movement entities. We have worked hard to significantly improvehttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Insights/Community_Insights_2024_Report#Communication_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation our communications with all of you. And we have very deliberately strengthened our risk preparednesshttps://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/02/risk-preparedness-in-the-foundations-annual-plan/ to continue protecting volunteers and defending the Wikimedia projects.
I am proud of what has been accomplished to make us stronger and ready for the future. My focus now is to continue moving the Foundation’s important work forward. Much remains to be done before next year – finalizing and executing our annual plan and budget, managing our risks, growing our technology investments and grants, iterating on pilots to decentralize decision-making, and so much more.
Together with the Board of Trustees, we have been carefully and intentionally planning to make this the most stable, orderly, and successful CEO transition the Foundation has ever had. The next CEO will lead an experienced and committed executive team who you recently heard from in their January letterhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/January_2025_Update. This team includes Chief Product and Technology Officer Selena Deckelmannhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/selena-deckelmann/, General Counsel Stephen LaPortehttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/stephen-laporte/, Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Seitz Gruwellhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/lisa-seitz-gruwell/?referer=16, Chief Communications Officer Anusha Alikhanhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/anusha-alikhan/?referer=16, Chief Financial Officer Jaime Villagomezhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jaime-villagomez/?referer=16 and Chief People Officer Courtney Bass Sherizenhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/courtney-bass-sherizen/?referer=16.
I will talk to many of you at upcoming calls, events, conferences and meetings, including Wikimania. And I will thank you for supporting me and my journey here. You are welcome to reach out to me directly for a conversation, or a member of the Foundation’s executive team, or the Board of Trustees. You can do this by emailing me directly or requesting a meeting with anyone in the Foundation’s leadership through Let's talk.https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/Let%27s_Talk#Let's_talk
Maryana
Maryana Iskander
Wikimedia Foundation CEO
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