Dear all

I wanted to let you all know about a few recent changes within the Wikimedia UK Board of Trustees.

Firstly, I'm very pleased to share with you that following a recruitment process for a new Treasurer, the board co-opted Alex Ashby https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Board#Alex_Ashby in September. Alex is a chartered accountant, chartered treasurer and fellow of both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Association of Corporate Treasurers. He has over 15 years of experience in treasury with senior roles in the media, energy, and retail sectors. Alex was previously a Trustee of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation.

During this recruitment process we were lucky enough to meet more than one exceptional candidate, and so the board decided to co-opt Sarvesh Ramachandran https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Board#Sarvesh_Ramachandran. Sarvesh has substantial experience of advising large and complex international organisations as a management consultant, and is currently the UK head of a listed insurance business. He studied Financial Strategy at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant. In his spare time, he works with various fintech and start-up organisations in an advisory capacity and serves as a Trustee of an educational charity.

In addition to the above changes, we have two new Chairs of sub-committees, drawn from the existing Board of Trustees. In September, Caroline Ball https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Board#Caroline_Ball became Chair of our newly established Community Development Committee, while Adrian Beidas https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Board#Adrian_Beidas took over the role of Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Treasurer and Chair of ARC, Marnie Woodward and Jane Carlin, for their fantastic contribution to Wikimedia UK over the past five years.

Next year, we are planning to hold our AGM in September, and are likely to have several vacancies for elected trustees. Although it's a little while away, please do consider whether you might want to join Wikimedia UK's Board of Trustees, and help steer our strategy and delivery.

Best wishes Lucy