Hi everyone,
thank you. I am not sure I deserve all your kind words but I sincerely appreciate them. As I appreciated your support and your partnership these past two years. Leaving is not easy - it really is not. I just feel relieved knowing that our community is wide, is open and, yes, it’s welcoming - so I take comfort in continuing to be part of it from a different perch. Technology is not an optional extra for the movement. It’s what makes everything else possible. Your work truly matters and I feel honored to have had the opportunity to make a small contribution. Go forward! Be passionate. Be open! Be you! I have you in my heart.
Victoria
On Jan 14, 2019, at 3:02 PM, Nuria Ruiz nuria@wikimedia.org wrote:
Many thanks for your work in these two years, Victoria. You leave the Technology team in much better shape than you found it.
For those of you not in the know I think is worth mentioning that in her tenure here Victoria has created the Technical Engagement team to better attend technical contributors (already mentioned on this thread), hired a director of security that has, in turn, build a solid security team, given weight to MediaWiki as a platform and created a team that will steward MediaWiki's development . She has also overseen much of the technical work that has gone into our litigation against the NSA, has instituted a process to better do promotions and has hired support staff that has made the work of all of us in the department much (much!) easier.
On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 10:17 AM Chico Venancio chicocvenancio@gmail.com wrote:
Victoria,
I echo Isarra's comment here, it is the Wikimedia community loss to see you part. In particular, I was able to see your leadership in the formation of the Technical Engagement team, consolidating initiatives around volunteer developers and leveraging the work for the communities.
Wish you the best on this new challenge. Chico Venancio
Em seg, 14 de jan de 2019 às 15:06, Isarra Yos zhorishna@gmail.com escreveu:
Sad to see you go - from what I saw as a volunteer, things only improved under your leadership here. We were lucky to have you.
All the best.
-I
On 11/01/2019 00:29, Victoria Coleman wrote:
Dear all,
I have some difficult news to share.
A few months ago and completely out of the blue, an opportunity came up
for me to exercise the full spectrum of my skills as the CEO of an early stage mission oriented startup. It has been a mighty struggle between my commitment to my team, the Foundation and the movement and this opportunity to bring all my skills to bear and build something from the ground up to do good in the world. I will not lie to you - it has not
been
easy. But ultimately I decided that I have to give it a go and I accepted the offer. I plan on starting there on Feb 4th so my last day at the Foundation will be Feb 1st.
These past two years have been amongst the most enjoyable in my
professional career. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the movement and what fuels it and I’ve been incredibly privileged to work with a Tech team
like
no other. We have together strengthened the technical infrastructure of
the
movement and while much work remains to be done we have a much stronger team in place to take the mission to the next level. And I have
personally
made friendships that will last a lifetime.
The organization I will be moving to is Atlas AI, a public benefit
corporation supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. I will be leading an exceptional team of AI and earth system science experts striving for improvements in human well being through data driven insights. Our focus areas are drawn from the UN’s sustainable development goals of no poverty and zero hunger with emphasis on Sub Saharan Africa.
I leave behind a Technology department that I am certain is well on the
way to achieving our vision to create the infrastructure for the free knowledge movement. I am also pleased that during my tenure, we have
built
leaders who are equipped to take on this challenge.
Erika Bjune will be serving as interim CTO. Erika joined us a little
over two years ago and she has distinguished herself as one of the
finest
people leaders I have ever worked with. Both she and Katherine will have
my
ongoing support — I will stay on in a consulting role to Erika on organizational matters and for the mid term planning work we have ahead
of
us in the remainder of the fiscal year. I know that I am leaving the
Tech
team in good hands until a permanent CTO is hired.
I want to close this difficult message with my heartfelt thanks to all
of you for letting me be part of this incredible movement. Being a Wikimedian is a great privilege. I wanted you to know that I’m not
walking
away from something; I am walking towards something that is very important to me and the world. I will miss you all. Deeply. Truly. And a lot!
Victoria
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