Hi all,
The agenda for the next Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees meeting, on
January 30, 2019 (postponed from its originally scheduled date of January
23), is now available on Meta-Wiki:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_board_agenda_2019-01
- Chuck
==
Charles M. Roslof
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
Pronouns: they <http://pronoun.is/they/.../themself>/he
<http://pronoun.is/he>
NOTICE: This message might have confidential or legally privileged
information in it. If you have received this message by accident, please
delete it and let us know about the mistake. As an attorney for the
Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal advice
to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff
members in their personal capacity. For more on what this means, please see
our legal disclaimer
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.
Here is the annual report for 2017 for Wikimedia Danmark, which was
approved at our general meeting in September.
https://dk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Annual_report_2017
Regards,
Karen Mardahl
Vice Chairman
Hi everyone,
Just over a month ago, we let you know that we had the reached the final
stages of our search for a new Chief of Community Engagement.[1] Today, I
am thrilled to let you know that we have appointed Valerie D’Costa to the
role. Born and raised a citizen of Singapore, Valerie speaks fluent Malay
and Indonesian, in addition to English. She will join the Foundation
starting January 22, 2019, working remotely from Washington, DC.
Valerie joins us after a decade at the World Bank Group, where she was
charged with leading international initiatives to support communities of
entrepreneurs in emerging markets around the world. Most recently, she led
the Bank’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Program, where she helped female
entrepreneurs and women-led businesses in developing countries grow and
gain access to new market opportunities. Previously, she was the program
director of infoDev, a Bank program that supported innovation hubs and
technology incubators for entrepreneurs in developing countries. Prior to
the World Bank, Valerie spent 15 years working with the government of
Singapore on issues of international information and communications
technology (ICT) policy and trade.
Valerie has worked her whole career in the intersection between technology
and improving people's lives around the world. She brings a deep
understanding of the importance of local ownership, collaboration and
communication, and program sustainability. She emphasizes the importance of
collaboration with local communities in designing programs and approaches,
believing that local voices represent the best understanding of their own
needs.
We were looking for someone with a global perspective, international
experience, fluency in technology, and a deep empathy for community. We
wanted a diplomat: Valerie has struck the fine balance between being an
advocate for the people and communicating their needs to governments and
partners. We hoped for an ambassador: Valerie brings with her years of
experience in creating meaningful conversations with communities around the
world on behalf of those who have been traditionally excluded from
development planning. We found a dedicated leader who is keen to work in
service to our community and who understands the uniquely global,
multicultural nature of collaboration in our movement. Valerie knows that
we can not attempt achieve our 2030 strategic direction unless we bring
everyone along, and so she will be charged with building on our approach to
community engagement, and ensuring that we meet our aspirations for our
community growth, health, diversity, values, and program outcomes.
This means that Maggie Dennis, our current Chief of Community Engagement,
will now transition to her role as Vice President of Support & Services,
having set a (reluctant) personal best and Foundation record as the
longest-serving CCE! I truly love working with Maggie and am so glad she is
staying close by in such a critical position. After nearly three years (!)
of collaboration and cooperation, I’d like to once again express my deep
appreciation for Maggie’s understanding, friendship, support and dedication
as she patiently curated this essential role in our movement.
I am truly excited as we embark on this new journey. We are deeply
fortunate to now have two community leaders who are purpose-driven and
inspirational on a number of levels. Please join me in congratulating both
of these phenomenal women!
Katherine
[1]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2018-October/091259.html
--
Katherine Maher
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation
1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600
San Francisco, CA 94104
+1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635
+1 (415) 712 4873
kmaher(a)wikimedia.org
https://annual.wikimedia.org
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the
Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board Governance
Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes on
Meta for discussion
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-…>
prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for January
23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As usual in
these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from December 7
to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to achieve
three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the
Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included
together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in
selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100 recognized
User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the
Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User Groups
combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to the
selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy process
may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement, including
the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make now
to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the trustee
selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn
requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did not
want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019
trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time,
there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific
skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects. The
changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in that
regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and
providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices as
candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward
further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in
setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The Board
believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for the
potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who bring
essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of serving
one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the Board
and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding. Raising
the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to
three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the practice
of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be
served consecutively does not change the fact that the community, including
affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years whether
or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new
candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every
single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge equity
for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia Foundation
and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We want
to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express
language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all voices,
throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari
Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board
Hello everyone,
The next Wikimedia Monthly Activities meeting will take place on Thursday, December 6th, 2018 at 19:00 UTC (11 AM PDT). The IRC channel is #wikimedia-office on https://webchat.freenode.net, and the meeting will be broadcast as a live YouTube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEIAaeTJmJ. We’ll post the video recording publicly after the meeting.
During the November/December 2018 meeting, we will have end of year lighting talks from staff and community members to update us on various Wikimedia projects and initiatives.
Meeting agenda:
• Welcome and introduction to agenda - 2 minutes
• Lightning talks - 2-5 minutes each
• Questions and discussion - 5 minutes
• Wikilove - 5 minutes
Please review the meeting's Meta-Wiki page for further information about the meeting and how to participate:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_monthly_activities_meetings
The January 2019 monthly activities meetings will will take place on Thursday, January 31st, 2019, starting at 19:00 UTC (11:00 Pacific Daylight Time). If you would like to sign up to participate, please visit: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_monthly_activities_meetings/Sign_…
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Gregory Varnum
Communications Strategist
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org
Pronouns: He/Him/His