Hi folks,
I want to thank Barry for everything he’s done for the Wikimedia
movement, and express my regret that he’s leaving the Foundation.
Barry’s done a lot for the movement. He's been involved for three
years: first, as the Bridgespan lead for our strategy project, and
afterwards as Chief Global Development Officer for the Foundation. He
was a major contributor to the five-year strategic plan, and as CGDO
he’s set up and launched a number of key projects that arose as a
direct result of that plan, including the catalyst initiatives and
Wikipedia Zero. He’s also done some tough and useful work helping
Wikimedia grapple with issues related to movement roles and funds
dissemination -- the fact that we're now in a position to launch the
Funds Dissemination Committee is very much a credit to Barry. I want
to thank him for everything he’s accomplished for the movement, and
wish him all the best in the future. I know he plans to stay involved
as a volunteer, and I'm happy about that.
Here’s a quick summary of what will happen next:
Barry’s last day with the Wikimedia Foundation will be August 31. It
will likely take 4-6 months for us to complete the recruitment process
for his successor.
Beginning August 31 therefore, Global Development will be co-managed
by Frank Schulenburg and Anasuya Sengupta. Anasuya will be responsible
for grantmaking and the catalyst projects: Asaf Bartov, Jessie Wild,
and Winifred Olliff will report to her, and she will manage our
relationships with CIS for India, with Oona Castro for Brazil, and
with the Arabic Language Initiative. Frank will continue, of course,
to hold responsibility for the Global Education Program, and will also
now newly take on responsibility for fellowships and Wikipedia Zero,
with Siko Bouterse and Kul Wadhwa reporting to Frank.
I want to thank Frank and Anasuya for agreeing to take on, on an
interim basis, these extra responsibilities.
Also, we’re moving Communications to Legal and Community Advocacy from
Global Development: Jay Walsh will now report to Geoff Brigham. This
is independent of Barry’s departure. Why? There’s lots of natural
synchronicity between Community Advocacy and Communications -- both
groups need to understand and support the Wikimedia communities and
ensure good communications between them and the Wikimedia Foundation,
including coordinating translations with and for the
non-English-speaking communities. And, unlike the rest of Global
Development but like Legal, Communications is a service department
that supports the entire organization/movement. So it makes sense to
me that Communications should move over to become a part of LCA.
I also want to note, because I'm not sure if it's been announced
outside the staff, that beginning August 5 Winifred will move into a
new position. She has been the Program Assistant for Global
Development: as of August 5, she will be Grants Administrator for that
team, responsible for administering Wikimedia Foundation grants, funds
awarded by the Funds Dissemination Committee and other Wikimedia
Foundation volunteer support programs, and for supporting the
Wikimedia Foundation grants program in the areas of program
development, communications, relationship-building, compliance, and
community engagement.
Again: I want to thank Barry for everything he's done for the
movement, and I look forward to his continued involvement from
Australia :-)
Thanks,
Sue
--
Sue Gardner
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation
415 839 6885 office
415 816 9967 cell
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org/
Dear Wikimedia friends and colleagues,
It is bittersweet for me to share with all of you that I will be leaving
the Wikimedia Foundation at the end of August to relocate to Australia for
personal reasons.
It is difficult for me to leave Wikimedia and particularly leave the Global
Development team, which I’ve had the pleasure of building and leading over
the past two years. I am proud of what we have accomplished in raising the
priority of much of the globe within the Wikimedia movement, strengthening
our mobile strategy and education program, globalizing communications, and
tackling the difficult movement roles issues that I hope can be put in the
past. It hasn’t been easy or uncontroversial, but I truly believe that we
are heading in the right direction.
One of the great joys of my work has been the opportunity to travel and
meet many amazing Wikipedians and to share the Wikimedia story with the
world. It is so inspiring to hear first hand how much people love our
projects and the amazing things that so many people do in support of the
movement. This is what helped me survive the many long flights and
jetlag-filled nights. It was an honour representing the Wikimedia
Foundation and often the Wikimedia movement in so many places.
I am confident that the Global Development work will thrive with the team
in place and with all of the dedicated community members who see us as
partners. I look forward to becoming a volunteer member of the movement and
supporting the work in new ways. Sue will share plans for the transition
shortly.
Many thanks to all who have supported me and our work.
Kind regards,
Barry
--
Barry Newstead
Chief Global Development Officer
Wikimedia 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!
Donate to Wikimedia <https://donate.wikimedia.org/>
Hi all,
The July edition of the Fellowship News is now available:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fellowship_News
Topics covered include all current fellowship projects:
*Fellowship Program updates
*Dispute Resolution
*Gender Gap
*Help Page Redesign
*Small-Wiki Editor Engagement
*Teahouse
*Translations
Come learn what we've been up to this month!
Best wishes,
Siko
--
Siko Bouterse
Head of Community Fellowships
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
sbouterse(a)wikimedia.org
Hi all,
Since the SOPA blackout, we have had a number of requests come in for
public affiliations regarding policy and political issues. The Wikimedia
Foundation (WMF) is not a political organization, and many may argue
understandably that our role is to support great projects - not politics.
That said, we recognize that there may be select times where such
affiliations should be considered, and, in those cases, we should have a
review process in place, especially where there is strong community
interest in an issue.
To make sure that the right parties, including the community, are involved
in the review process, we have created the Policy and Political
Affiliations Guideline<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal_and_Community_Advocacy/Foundation_Poli…>to
clarify when and how the WMF associates itself publicly on policy and
political issues. This guideline is an internal “rule of thumb” covering
requests to and actions by the WMF - without restricting the independent
actions of the community. The guideline sets out a number of different
types of affiliations and examines when review is appropriate by the
community, WMF staff, and the Board of Trustees.
We are also establishing an open Advocacy Advisory Group to provide a
community venue to discuss political and legislative developments worldwide
that affect our mission, such as censorship laws and proposals that seek to
restrict a free and open Internet.
The new guideline incorporates consultation with the Advocacy Advisory
Group into the review process. With the most important cases, WMF will
also seek a community Request for
Comments<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/RFC>(RfC) for consultation or
consensus.
We encourage community members interested in political and policy issues to
join the Advocacy Advisory Group, and members should feel free to apply to
be moderators. You can join the advisory group here:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors .
If you have any comments, feel free to leave them on the talk page. You can
find the guideline at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal_and_Community_Advocacy/Foundation_Poli…
Cheers,
Geoff
Geoff Brigham
General Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation