(this press release is posted online at
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/WMF_Board_Election_July_…
)
*Wikimedia Foundation Announces 2012-13 Board of Trustees and Elected
Officers at Wikimania in Washington DC*
*
*
Washington, DC -- July 12, 2012 -- The Wikimedia Foundation today announced
recent appointments and elected officers for the 2012-13 Board of Trustees.
Every year at Wikimania, the annual gathering of Wikimedia contributors
from around the world, the Wikimedia Board appoints its officers for the
coming year, and this year’s appointments were announced in Washington, DC.
This year, Kat Walsh was appointed Chair of the Board, Jan-Bart de Vreede
was re-appointed Vice-chair, Stuart West was re-appointed as Board
Treasurer and Bishaka Dhatta becomes Board Secretary. The Board expressed
its great thanks to former Board Chair Ting Chen, as well as outgoing
trustees Arne Klempert and Phoebe Ayers. Their leadership has strengthened
and nurtured the growth of the worldwide Wikimedia movement.
"I am honored to have been chosen to chair the Board in the coming year,”
said Kat Walsh, Chairman of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. “I
want to thank Ting Chen for his service in his period as Chair, and I look
forward to working closely with him as I take on this new role. It's an
important time in the history of the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia
movement: I look forward to leading the Board in the year ahead."
“It’s been a pleasure to serve the Wikimedia movement as Chair of the Board
of Trustees,” said Ting Chen. “Since I took on the role of Chair we’ve
worked with our global community and the Foundation to introduce an
ambitious five-year plan to increase the diversity and overall population
of our community, while also establishing long-term financial plans to
ensure sustainability for our movement and our projects. Our Board has
matured and strengthened, and I’m proud of the tireless work of my
colleagues.”
There are 10 seats on the Board and according to the Foundation's bylaws,
three members are elected by the Wikimedia community, two are selected by
the Wikimedia chapters, the Founder seat is held by Jimmy Wales, and four
members are appointed by the Board itself to provide additional, specific
expertise.
The Foundation is happy to welcome its two newest members of the Board,
Patricio Lorente and Alice Wiegand, who were elected to the Board by the
Wikimedia chapters in May 2012. The chapters seat selection process was
created in April 2008, in order to demonstrate the Board's commitment to
the chapters as an important player in the fulfillment of the Wikimedia
mission.
Patricio Lorente is the former President of Wikimedia Argentina. He has
worked as Project Manager of the Association for Social Development in
Argentina and he currently serves as General ProSecretary of the National
University of La Plata. Alice Wiegand is personal aide to the Mayor of
Meerbusch, Germany. She has recently begun her Master’s studies in Public
Policy and Governance.
*The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees for 2012-2013*
Kat Walsh, Board Chair (current term until July 2013)
Jan-Bart de Vreede, Vice Chair (current term until December 2013)
Stuart West, Treasurer (current term until December 2013)
Bishakha Datta, Secretary (current term until December 2012)
Jimmy Wales, Founder
Ting Chen (current term until 2013)
Samuel Klein (current term until July 2013)
Matt Halprin (current term until December 2012)
Alice Wiegand (current term until July 2014)
Patricio Lorente (current term until July 2014)
*About Wikimania*
http://wikimania.org
Wikimania 2012 is being held in Washington, DC, USA, where more than 1000
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia advocates, researchers and educators from
87 countries are in attendance. The previous Wikimanias were held in
Frankfurt, Germany (2005), Cambridge, USA (2006), Taipei, Taiwan (2007),
Alexandria, Egypt (2008), Buenos Aires, Argentina (2009), Gdańsk, Poland
(2010), and Haifa, Israel (2011).
*About the Wikimedia Foundation*
http://wikimediafoundation.org
http://blog.wikimedia.org
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix,
Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation
receive more than 492 million unique visitors per month, making them the
fifth-most popular web property world-wide (comScore, May 2012). Available
in 285 languages, Wikipedia contains more than 22 million articles
contributed by a global volunteer community of more than 85,000 people.
Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited,
501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
*Press contact*
Jay Walsh
Head of Communications
Wikimedia Foundation
Tel. +1 415-860-8166
jwalsh(a)wikimedia.org