(This press release is also posted on the WMF wiki at
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/WMF_announces_new_ED_Li…)
Wikimedia Foundation names Lila Tretikov as its new Executive Director
(San Francisco, CA) May 1, 2014 -- The Board of Trustees of the
Wikimedia Foundation today announced the appointment of the
Foundation's new Executive Director, Lila Tretikov. The Executive
Director is the chief executive officer for the non-profit Wikimedia
Foundation, the organization that operates Wikipedia, and is
responsible for setting strategy and managing operations. It is a
central position in a complex global volunteer-driven movement, which
is building the largest collection of shared knowledge in human
history, used by over a half-billion people around the world.
Lila Tretikov is a respected leader in open source technology. She is
known for her intellectual curiosity, highly collaborative style, and
deep passion for her work. She served most recently as Chief Product
Officer at SugarCRM in Cupertino, California.
"As growing numbers of people around the world rely on Wikipedia and
our sister projects for free information, our movement will be
strengthened by the leadership of Lila Tretikov," said Wikimedia
Foundation Board Chair Jan-Bart de Vreede. "She is an exceptional
leader with a passion for knowledge, a deep technical and product
background, and highly collaborative approach. We are all very excited
to have brought her on-board. "
"When I got the news, I thought, 'This is big in every way: A big
website -- the fifth most popular in the world. A big community --
80,000 active Wikimedians from around the globe. And a big mission --
nothing less than making the sum of all human knowledge freely
available to all,'" said Lila Tretikov. "When I thought about why I
wanted to take on a challenge this big, the answer was clear: Becoming
a Wikimedian is an opportunity to be part of something bigger than
ourselves."
Lila spent most of her childhood in the Soviet Union. In 1994, she
came to the United States to study computer science and art, combining
two very different disciplines to build exceptional products for the
emerging tech industry. Prior to her work at SugarCRM, Lila worked on
open source projects at Sun Microsystems and designed software to
provide free visualization of the newly mapped Human Genome as part of
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory research. She studied at
Lomonosov Moscow State University and the University of California,
Berkeley.
"Running the Wikimedia Foundation is a unique role that requires an
unusual mix of skills and capabilities, and I think Lila has exactly
what we need," said Sue Gardner, the Wikimedia Foundation's outgoing
Executive Director. "The Wikimedia Foundation needs a leader who is
open and flexible and consultative, but who also knows when to stand
firm and be brave, particularly against efforts to censor Wikipedia or
intimidate Wikipedians. I believe Lila will be flexible where
possible, but firm when necessary."
Lila's appointment is effective June 1, 2014, at which time Sue
Gardner will become a special advisor to the Wikimedia Foundation.
"On behalf of the Wikimedia movement, I would like to sincerely thank
our outgoing Executive Director, Sue Gardner," said de Vreede. "Over
the past seven years Sue's leadership has built the Wikimedia
Foundation from a tiny non-profit into a highly-effective, purposeful,
well-funded and well-managed organization. I look forward to Sue's
ongoing counsel and support in the months and years ahead."
Official biography of Lila Tretikov found at
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Lila Tretikov
High resolution images can be found at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lila_Tretikov
About the Wikimedia Foundation
http://wikimediafoundation.org
http://blog.wikimedia.org
The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit 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 495 million unique visitors per month, making them
the fifth-most popular web property worldwide (comScore, March 2014).
Available in 287 languages, Wikipedia contains more than 30 million
articles contributed by a global volunteer community of roughly 80,000
people. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation
is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through
donations and grants.
Contact for press inquiries:
Communications, Wikimedia Foundation
+1 415-839-6885 ext 6633
jwalsh(a)wikimedia.org
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