I am forwarding this update from the board below, in case this was
overlooked. It seems relevant to the Indian community. It's sad to learn
that Bishakha will not be seeking re-appointment to the board at the end of
the year. The board, the community and the movement at large was always
better for having her in it.
I want to thank her for a lot of things, but I'm not sure if this is the
right time or if I'll be online at the right time. In any case, I want to
say I'm so grateful for her years of service and perseverance through many
contentious topics. I'm the first to admit that we've certainly had our
share of disagreements, and passionate debates over the year, but we also
shared more than a few good laughs in person. I still remember when
Bishakha was trying to tell me the correct pronunciation of "Entschuldigen
sie bitte" over dinner, I'm sure my pronunciation didn't improve but she
tried patiently and resiliently for more than an hour. Our disagreements
stemmed mostly from relatively professional topics related to the board and
the direction things were going, and I'm probably at fault for a lot of
negativity during those times - I'm sorry about that Bishakha. She joined
the board at a difficult time when the foundation was expanding and going
through a lot of big changes, there weren't a lot of female Indian members
around the board or the community back then but she always represented the
Indian community with a smile, grace and resilience and tried to be as
inclusive as possible along the way. I have nothing but the highest opinion
of her personally, she was always warm and good-natured in all our personal
interactions. I'm sure I'm not the only one in the Indian community who
feels the same.
Thanks for all the hard-work Bishakha. You will be missed, Ma'am.
Warm regards
Theo
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jan-Bart de Vreede <jdevreede(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 6:54 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Board Meeting Update
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hello Everyone
While the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting will arrive in due time
I wanted to update you on some internal matters at this point because there
have been some changes in the board composition.
Ana Toni joined our board last year but unfortunately the time demands
placed upon a Wikimedia Board member were not compatible with her other
commitments. This has given the board something to think about. We aim to
be a board that is able to incorporate outside expertise to increase our
effectiveness and possible candidates are often not able to commit the time
which we currently require.. In the coming period we want to have a look at
the time which is demanded of a board member (especially our in person
meetings which require a lot of travel) and look at which activities we
need to perform as a board. We want to thank Ana for her contributions. The
insights gained from her position as Chair of Greenpeace International were
especially useful to us as a board. We are sad to see her go, but we hope
to keep her in “our space”.
Bishakha Datta joined our board in March 2010 and has indicated to us that
she is not available for re-appointment after her term runs out in December
of this year. We will take the time to properly thank her for her great
contributions when her term formally ends in December.
While these things are part of of the normal turnover of the composition of
the board (and are also an opportunity to attract new fields of expertise
as needed) there is a matter of board stability during the first year of
the tenure of our new Executive Director. In response to Lila's request for
stability the board has decided the following:
1) Alice Wiegand was appointed to finish out Ana's term ending December
2014. We also appointed Alice to carry out the subsequent term ending
December 2016.
2) Last year at Wikimania I was appointed to the board for a two year
period, but I tendered my resignation effective the end of this year. At
the Board's request I reconsidered that resignation, and will serve out the
rest of my original two year term ending December 2015.
This does mean we will start the search process for a new board member for
the appointed seat that Bishakha will vacate at the end of this year. And
hopefully we will be able to also identify potential candidates to fill the
seats of both Stuart West and me, which will become vacant at the end of
2015.
Secondly we have appointed the two officer positions as follows for the
coming fiscal year
Chair - Jan-Bart de Vreede
Vice-Chair - Patricio Lorente
The foundation has a great opportunity to grow under the guidance of our
new Executive Director and realize our ambitions. The board is looking
forward to a year of supporting Lila and providing direction for our
strategic goals.
Jan-Bart de Vreede
Chair
Board of Trustees
Wikimedia Foundation
PS: All the relevant resolutions will be published on meta in the coming
days
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