Dear Wikimedians, Among the WMF’s top priorities for 2015 is strengthening our engagement with Wikimedia editors and volunteers. Today we are taking the first step by bringing together the people who know our communities best and asking them to break barriers and improve engagement. Everyone at the WMF who carries responsibilities directly related to the communities will join a new Community Engagement department. I have asked Luis Villa to lead the Community Engagement organization as the Senior Director of Community Engagement, reporting to me. Promoting from within the WMF for this critical role will allow us to leverage the knowledge and experience with our communities and reinforce the strengths of our people. Luis’s experience with communities is lengthy and deep. He has been involved in open communities since the late 1990s, from communities as small as the Lego Mindstorms hackers to those as large as Mozilla. He worked in open communities as a lawyer, a programmer, a bugmaster, an engineering lead, a community leader, and a board member. Luis has performed exceptionally within the Foundation and supported some of our most fruitful community engagements. The Grantmaking, L&E, Education, Community Advocacy and Community Liaisons teams will join the new Community Engagement department [2] under his leadership. Unfortunately, Anasuya Sengupta -- our beloved leader of grantmaking -- will be leaving us due to personal health concerns at the end of March. We will invite you soon to celebrate her time with us, her work at the WMF and the deep insight she brought to the Foundation. We are saddened to see her go. The team she has nurtured will provide an important foundation for our upcoming work. Siko Bouterse will move up to lead the day-to-day work of the Grantmaking team as Director of Community Resources, supervising all department Grant programs and the Global South strategy. Siko has been instrumental in innovating programs at the WMF, including initiatives like the Teahouse[1] and the IdeaLab[2] combining vision with strong support for volunteer community, tough decision making, and great project management skills. These changes are an opportunity to improve the coordination of our work supporting the communities. To accelerate this, I have asked Luis to lead an internal “tiger” team to better understand the needs, concerns and priorities of our volunteers, and to develop recommendations for future programs. This work will be shared with all of you as it becomes available. Please join me in congratulating Luis and Siko and in supporting our teams. The Wikimedia communities are what makes the projects strong, unique, and irreplaceable. This is the next step forward in our support to them, and in service of our mission. ~~~~Lila [1] As Director of Community Resources, Siko will oversee the IdeaLab, Annual Plan Grants, Project and Event Grants, and Travel and Participation Support. Her team will include Katy Love, Winifred Olliff, Alex Wang, Janice Tud, Jonathan Morgan, and Asaf Bartov. Asaf will also take on a new title as Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities. [2] Rachel DiCerbo, Philippe Beaudette, Siko, and Anasuya’s other direct reports, and their respective teams (CL, CA, and Grantmaking/GLEE) will report to Luis. The Engineering Community team will be part of the tiger team but will continue to report to Engineering. [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Teahouse [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab _______________________________________________ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l _______________________________________________ WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list WikimediaAnnounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l

Anasuya, I'm whistling to a new tune already, get ready to dance. We'll just change dance floors. Thank you for it all and many many *hugs* Luis, Siko, can't wait to work with you more, congrats on the new responsibilities. Asaf, 'bout time you stop killing kittens every time you introduce yourself. And congrats for the step! All the best, Delphine On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 11:20 PM, Anasuya Sengupta < asengupta(a)wikimedia.org&gt; wrote: - I’ll will worldwide. stand have partnerships communities for me have sent http://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/WTPR-Final… https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Key_theme_-_Global_South,… wrote: step asking a as the strengths Grant work lead direct tiger -- @notafish NB. This gmail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails will get lost. Intercultural musings: Ceci n'est pas une endive - http://blog.notanendive.org Photos with simple eyes: notaphoto - http://photo.notafish.org _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

On 19 Feb, 2015, at 5:20 PM, Anasuya Sengupta &lt;asengupta(a)wikimedia.org&gt; wrote: Dear friends and colleagues, fellow adventurers on the Wikimedia journey - Goodbyes are overrated.[1] But since I’m sure this will be au revoir, I’ll continue: I am leaving the Foundation as head of the Grantmaking department, at the end of March. This was not an easy decision to make; this is not an easy email to write. As some of you know, I have been battling health issues over the past few months. I’ve learnt sharp and intimate truths about myself as I’ve worked to get better, and what I’ve kept coming back to is the compassionate but fierce feminist slogan around self-care and sustainability: ‘what’s the point of the revolution if we can’t dance?’[2] To reassure you all, I will be well,[3] but I need a little time and space to focus on getting my dancing legs strong again. That said, I am pleased that we have a really solid plan in place as I leave. As Lila’s email announced, Luis Villa (our current Deputy General Counsel) will be taking over the team effective immediately, and leading the organisation further in our support of Wikimedia communities worldwide. Luis brings with him a range of skills and qualities that I know will stand him, the team, and the movement in wonderful stead through it all. As a friend and colleague, I am so delighted to be supporting Luis through the next few weeks of transition. I joined the Foundation in July 2012 to oversee and implement the FDC process. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of creating and leading a department of more than twenty remarkable and passionate people who care about our mission, our communities, and the resources needed to match the two. We went from Asaf managing a small grants portfolio on his own, ably supported on occasion by Winifred, to a fully fledged grantmaking department with a spectrum of monetary and non-monetary resources. We have been able to offer these in different ways to different parts of our movement: to individual volunteers with great ideas in need of project management, to small groups experimenting with new initiatives, and to established organisations who form critical content and policy partnerships in their local contexts. We built an infrastructure for understanding our collective impact. We learned together about what our different communities are doing globally, about the successes and challenges we have, and above all: about how we can, together, create a more powerful set of outcomes for free knowledge. In doing so, I’ve had the joy of discovery,[4] of learning from and with some of the most dedicated volunteers in the world, who believe that knowledge matters. Most importantly, that it’s not only free knowledge _for_ all that we seek, but even more critically, that we believe in knowledge _from_ and _with_ all. And I’ve discovered that the nerdy, geeky, obsessed-with-data part of me found a home in this extraordinary universe, where everybody’s “unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds” can find expression.[5] I look forward to the day when my worlds find more space on Wikipedia, when 80% of the globe is represented by far more than 20% of the edits, when much more than 15% of our contributors can self-identify as women. Till then, I’ll keep fighting notability one article at a time...[6] So thank you for sharing your worlds with me, and no thanks for turning me into an obsessive Wikimedian. :-) As I have learnt with you, I know I have done so with trust, and as I have challenged you, I hope I have done so with respect. I look forward to continuing our friendships and obsessions on a wiki near you. With appreciation and gratitude, Anasuya p.s. You can find me in the future at my enWP user page (User:Anasuyas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Anasuyas) or (dare I say it) on Facebook. Longer diatribes on liff, the universe and everything can be sent to anasuyaATsanmathi.org [1] Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Chapter 8) [2] Urgent Action Fund, a funder of women’s human rights defenders, has this book on sustainability: http://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/WTPR-Final… [3] And look forward to dancing together on the beaches of a future Wikimania… [4] Sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelievable, sometimes somewhat insane; but yes mostly, generous beyond belief, and always, joyous. :-) [5] More Neil Gaiman, from The Sandman: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sandman#A_Game_of_You [6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Key_theme_-_Global_South,… Ask Florence (User:Anthere) for _that_ story! On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Lila Tretikov &lt;lila(a)wikimedia.org&gt; wrote: -- *Anasuya SenguptaSenior Director of GrantmakingWikimedia Foundation* Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! Support Wikimedia <https://donate.wikimedia.org/> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Anasuya, thank you for the time and wisdom you have shared with us. We will miss you dearly. Luis & Siko, congratulations. Looking forward to working with you in your new role. Katie On 19 February 2015 at 23:02, Gregory Varnum &lt;gregory.varnum(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: journey few worked but General leading the care the our above with me expression.[5] I when obsessions http://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/WTPR-Final… https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Key_theme_-_Global_South,… engagement asking join a as Promoting the our -- March. WMF work future support direct will tiger -- Katie Chan Volunteer Support Organiser Wikimedia UK +44 (0) 20 7065 0990 +44 (0) 7885 980 534 PGP Key-ID: 0x483767A3 Wikimedia UK is a Charitable Company registered in England and Wales. Registered Company No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office: 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents. _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 2:59 PM, Pine W &lt;wiki.pine(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: Thanks for your support, Pine. I'll sorely miss Anasuya as well, but look forward to working with Luis and all of you in this expanded capacity. As for a program officer for IEG, that "who" is not yet settled, though we're aiming to backfill quickly. For the next few weeks, I'll still be holding down the IEG fort with support from the Community Resources team, as we work towards a longer-term replacement. More about that soon! Siko

On 19 Feb 2015, at 23:20, Anasuya Sengupta &lt;asengupta(a)wikimedia.org&gt; wrote: Dear friends and colleagues, fellow adventurers on the Wikimedia journey - Goodbyes are overrated.[1] But since I’m sure this will be au revoir, I’ll continue: I am leaving the Foundation as head of the Grantmaking department, at the end of March. This was not an easy decision to make; this is not an easy email to write. As some of you know, I have been battling health issues over the past few months. I’ve learnt sharp and intimate truths about myself as I’ve worked to get better, and what I’ve kept coming back to is the compassionate but fierce feminist slogan around self-care and sustainability: ‘what’s the point of the revolution if we can’t dance?’[2] To reassure you all, I will be well,[3] but I need a little time and space to focus on getting my dancing legs strong again. That said, I am pleased that we have a really solid plan in place as I leave. As Lila’s email announced, Luis Villa (our current Deputy General Counsel) will be taking over the team effective immediately, and leading the organisation further in our support of Wikimedia communities worldwide. Luis brings with him a range of skills and qualities that I know will stand him, the team, and the movement in wonderful stead through it all. As a friend and colleague, I am so delighted to be supporting Luis through the next few weeks of transition. I joined the Foundation in July 2012 to oversee and implement the FDC process. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of creating and leading a department of more than twenty remarkable and passionate people who care about our mission, our communities, and the resources needed to match the two. We went from Asaf managing a small grants portfolio on his own, ably supported on occasion by Winifred, to a fully fledged grantmaking department with a spectrum of monetary and non-monetary resources. We have been able to offer these in different ways to different parts of our movement: to individual volunteers with great ideas in need of project management, to small groups experimenting with new initiatives, and to established organisations who form critical content and policy partnerships in their local contexts. We built an infrastructure for understanding our collective impact. We learned together about what our different communities are doing globally, about the successes and challenges we have, and above all: about how we can, together, create a more powerful set of outcomes for free knowledge. In doing so, I’ve had the joy of discovery,[4] of learning from and with some of the most dedicated volunteers in the world, who believe that knowledge matters. Most importantly, that it’s not only free knowledge _for_ all that we seek, but even more critically, that we believe in knowledge _from_ and _with_ all. And I’ve discovered that the nerdy, geeky, obsessed-with-data part of me found a home in this extraordinary universe, where everybody’s “unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds” can find expression.[5] I look forward to the day when my worlds find more space on Wikipedia, when 80% of the globe is represented by far more than 20% of the edits, when much more than 15% of our contributors can self-identify as women. Till then, I’ll keep fighting notability one article at a time...[6] So thank you for sharing your worlds with me, and no thanks for turning me into an obsessive Wikimedian. :-) As I have learnt with you, I know I have done so with trust, and as I have challenged you, I hope I have done so with respect. I look forward to continuing our friendships and obsessions on a wiki near you. With appreciation and gratitude, Anasuya p.s. You can find me in the future at my enWP user page (User:Anasuyas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Anasuyas) or (dare I say it) on Facebook. Longer diatribes on liff, the universe and everything can be sent to anasuyaATsanmathi.org [1] Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Chapter 8) [2] Urgent Action Fund, a funder of women’s human rights defenders, has this book on sustainability: http://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/WTPR-Final… [3] And look forward to dancing together on the beaches of a future Wikimania… [4] Sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelievable, sometimes somewhat insane; but yes mostly, generous beyond belief, and always, joyous. :-) [5] More Neil Gaiman, from The Sandman: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sandman#A_Game_of_You [6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Key_theme_-_Global_South,… Ask Florence (User:Anthere) for _that_ story! On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Lila Tretikov &lt;lila(a)wikimedia.org&gt; wrote: -- *Anasuya SenguptaSenior Director of GrantmakingWikimedia Foundation* Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! Support Wikimedia <https://donate.wikimedia.org/> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Dear friends and colleagues, fellow adventurers on the Wikimedia journey - Goodbyes are overrated.[1] But since I’m sure this will be au revoir, I’ll continue: I am leaving the Foundation as head of the Grantmaking department, at the end of March. This was not an easy decision to make; this is not an easy email to write. As some of you know, I have been battling health issues over the past few months. I’ve learnt sharp and intimate truths about myself as I’ve worked to get better, and what I’ve kept coming back to is the compassionate but fierce feminist slogan around self-care and sustainability: ‘what’s the point of the revolution if we can’t dance?’[2] To reassure you all, I will be well,[3] but I need a little time and space to focus on getting my dancing legs strong again. That said, I am pleased that we have a really solid plan in place as I leave. As Lila’s email announced, Luis Villa (our current Deputy General Counsel) will be taking over the team effective immediately, and leading the organisation further in our support of Wikimedia communities worldwide. Luis brings with him a range of skills and qualities that I know will stand him, the team, and the movement in wonderful stead through it all. As a friend and colleague, I am so delighted to be supporting Luis through the next few weeks of transition. I joined the Foundation in July 2012 to oversee and implement the FDC process. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of creating and leading a department of more than twenty remarkable and passionate people who care about our mission, our communities, and the resources needed to match the two. We went from Asaf managing a small grants portfolio on his own, ably supported on occasion by Winifred, to a fully fledged grantmaking department with a spectrum of monetary and non-monetary resources. We have been able to offer these in different ways to different parts of our movement: to individual volunteers with great ideas in need of project management, to small groups experimenting with new initiatives, and to established organisations who form critical content and policy partnerships in their local contexts. We built an infrastructure for understanding our collective impact. We learned together about what our different communities are doing globally, about the successes and challenges we have, and above all: about how we can, together, create a more powerful set of outcomes for free knowledge. In doing so, I’ve had the joy of discovery,[4] of learning from and with some of the most dedicated volunteers in the world, who believe that knowledge matters. Most importantly, that it’s not only free knowledge _for_ all that we seek, but even more critically, that we believe in knowledge _from_ and _with_ all. And I’ve discovered that the nerdy, geeky, obsessed-with-data part of me found a home in this extraordinary universe, where everybody’s “unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds” can find expression.[5] I look forward to the day when my worlds find more space on Wikipedia, when 80% of the globe is represented by far more than 20% of the edits, when much more than 15% of our contributors can self-identify as women. Till then, I’ll keep fighting notability one article at a time...[6] So thank you for sharing your worlds with me, and no thanks for turning me into an obsessive Wikimedian. :-) As I have learnt with you, I know I have done so with trust, and as I have challenged you, I hope I have done so with respect. I look forward to continuing our friendships and obsessions on a wiki near you. With appreciation and gratitude, Anasuya p.s. You can find me in the future at my enWP user page (User:Anasuyas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Anasuyas) or (dare I say it) on Facebook. Longer diatribes on liff, the universe and everything can be sent to anasuyaATsanmathi.org [1] Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Chapter 8) [2] Urgent Action Fund, a funder of women’s human rights defenders, has this book on sustainability: http://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/WTPR-Final… [3] And look forward to dancing together on the beaches of a future Wikimania… [4] Sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelievable, sometimes somewhat insane; but yes mostly, generous beyond belief, and always, joyous. :-) [5] More Neil Gaiman, from The Sandman: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sandman#A_Game_of_You [6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Key_theme_-_Global_South,… Ask Florence (User:Anthere) for _that_ story! On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Lila Tretikov &lt;lila(a)wikimedia.org&gt; wrote: Community We and her our Grantmaking Teahouse[1] available. to Participation new -- *Anasuya SenguptaSenior Director of GrantmakingWikimedia Foundation* Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! Support Wikimedia <https://donate.wikimedia.org/> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Dear Wikimedians, Among the WMF’s top priorities for 2015 is strengthening our engagement with Wikimedia editors and volunteers. Today we are taking the first step by bringing together the people who know our communities best and asking them to break barriers and improve engagement. Everyone at the WMF who carries responsibilities directly related to the communities will join a new Community Engagement department. I have asked Luis Villa to lead the Community Engagement organization as the Senior Director of Community Engagement, reporting to me. Promoting from within the WMF for this critical role will allow us to leverage the knowledge and experience with our communities and reinforce the strengths of our people. Luis’s experience with communities is lengthy and deep. He has been involved in open communities since the late 1990s, from communities as small as the Lego Mindstorms hackers to those as large as Mozilla. He worked in open communities as a lawyer, a programmer, a bugmaster, an engineering lead, a community leader, and a board member. Luis has performed exceptionally within the Foundation and supported some of our most fruitful community engagements. The Grantmaking, L&E, Education, Community Advocacy and Community Liaisons teams will join the new Community Engagement department [2] under his leadership. Unfortunately, Anasuya Sengupta -- our beloved leader of grantmaking -- will be leaving us due to personal health concerns at the end of March. We will invite you soon to celebrate her time with us, her work at the WMF and the deep insight she brought to the Foundation. We are saddened to see her go. The team she has nurtured will provide an important foundation for our upcoming work. Siko Bouterse will move up to lead the day-to-day work of the Grantmaking team as Director of Community Resources, supervising all department Grant programs and the Global South strategy. Siko has been instrumental in innovating programs at the WMF, including initiatives like the Teahouse[1] and the IdeaLab[2] combining vision with strong support for volunteer community, tough decision making, and great project management skills. These changes are an opportunity to improve the coordination of our work supporting the communities. To accelerate this, I have asked Luis to lead an internal “tiger” team to better understand the needs, concerns and priorities of our volunteers, and to develop recommendations for future programs. This work will be shared with all of you as it becomes available. Please join me in congratulating Luis and Siko and in supporting our teams. The Wikimedia communities are what makes the projects strong, unique, and irreplaceable. This is the next step forward in our support to them, and in service of our mission. ~~~~Lila [1] As Director of Community Resources, Siko will oversee the IdeaLab, Annual Plan Grants, Project and Event Grants, and Travel and Participation Support. Her team will include Katy Love, Winifred Olliff, Alex Wang, Janice Tud, Jonathan Morgan, and Asaf Bartov. Asaf will also take on a new title as Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities. [2] Rachel DiCerbo, Philippe Beaudette, Siko, and Anasuya’s other direct reports, and their respective teams (CL, CA, and Grantmaking/GLEE) will report to Luis. The Engineering Community team will be part of the tiger team but will continue to report to Engineering. [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Teahouse [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab _______________________________________________ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l _______________________________________________ WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list WikimediaAnnounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/GuidelinesWikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Dear Wikimedians, Among the WMF’s top priorities for 2015 is strengthening our engagement with Wikimedia editors and volunteers. Today we are taking the first step by bringing together the people who know our communities best and asking them to break barriers and improve engagement.