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
Thank you for your service, Victoria. I'm glad that your next steps sound like they will be good for you professionally and will be at another organization that does public service.
I've appreciated that you have been consistently responsive and polite in our interactions. I wish you the best on your journey. Perhaps we'll meet again.
Victoria, Thanks for all you’ve done i only hope this opportunity works out well for you. Regardless of what your future holds you will always have a place here, so as always for anyone feel free to check in and have a nice chat with us anytime. I think i can safely say on behalf of the Wikimedia community as a whole, thank you for your work and dedication to the movement, and good luck.
-- Devin “Zppix” CCENT Volunteer Wikimedia Developer Africa Wikimedia Developers Member and Mentor Volunteer Mozilla Support Team Member (SUMO) Quora.com Partner Program Member enwp.org/User:Zppix **Note: I do not work for Wikimedia Foundation, or any of its chapters. I also do not work for Mozilla, or any of its projects. **
On Jan 10, 2019, at 6:48 PM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Thank you for your service, Victoria. I'm glad that your next steps sound like they will be good for you professionally and will be at another organization that does public service.
I've appreciated that you have been consistently responsive and polite in our interactions. I wish you the best on your journey. Perhaps we'll meet again.
Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
Hi everyone,
Many in the community may not have the chance to have met Victoria, so I want to start by sharing my thanks for her work. The Technology department at the Wikimedia Foundation does many things, but most simply understood, they're the ones who keep our projects running, every day of the year, rain or shine. Unless you're a technical contributor or lurk on IRC, you may not interact with them in the same way you do with other parts of the Foundation. But they're utterly critical to Wikimedia, and for the past two years, Victoria has led this essential department.
When Victoria joined, the Foundation had not had a dedicated CTO in many years. She spent the better part of the past two years as a tireless advocate for the work of the Technology department, transforming disparate pieces into a coherent and compelling program structure. Victoria has never stopped marveling at how much the department had accomplished on a shoestring. Together, we worked to try and extend the length of that shoestring, building out the structures of a team that is increasingly diverse and incredibly dedicated to the work. Many teams now are in positions to be much more forward-looking than in many years, with space to take on new challenges. There’s certainly more to do, but thanks to these efforts we have a better sense of the ambitious targets that we still need to reach in service of our mission.
With so much important work to do, we're already planning for a new CTO. We'll begin preparations for the search immediately, and should launch formally in February. In the meantime, I am truly grateful to our current Director of Search Platform Engineering, Erika Bjune, for stepping up to take on the role of interim CTO. We know this search will likely be on the longer side, given our unique mission and structure. As such, please engage with Erika as a full acting CTO, who will keep critical decisions and programs moving forward. Fortunately, Victoria has also volunteered to stay on in a consulting role, in order to provide additional support during the transition and in annual planning. This puts us in a good place, and from the community, we anticipate you won't even notice a change.
Of course, even though I'm sad Victoria is leaving, I am thrilled that not only are her skills and experience being recognized but that she is putting them to such meaningful use at another mission-oriented organization -- and please do join me in congratulating Victoria on her new role!
We wish you the very best in this next move, and like everyone, warn you that you’ll never truly be a former Wikimedian!
Katherine
On Thu, Jan 10, 2019 at 4:29 PM Victoria Coleman vcoleman@wikimedia.org 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
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Foundation Optional" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to foundation-optional+unsubscribe@wikimedia.org.
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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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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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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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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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 12:02 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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One thing I want to point out is when she joined, we had only 16 engineers in site reliability engineering [1] but now it's 26 [2]. Running the fifth most visited website and the greatest thing you can find in the internet with only 16 engineers is CRAZY. Such well-needed expansion shows its effect on every day life of me as a developer.
Kudos Victoria! Thank you for all of your work for the movement, even though some of them might not be easily seen or understood by everyone.
[1]: https://foundation.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Staff_and_contra... [2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/role/staff-contractors/
Best
On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 6:21 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 12:02 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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Thanks Victoria! I really enjoyed our interaction, and thank you for what you did for the movement. I wish you all the best on your future path, and hope you are not becoming a stranger!
Best wishes, Denny
On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 10:25 AM Amir Sarabadani ladsgroup@gmail.com wrote:
One thing I want to point out is when she joined, we had only 16 engineers in site reliability engineering [1] but now it's 26 [2]. Running the fifth most visited website and the greatest thing you can find in the internet with only 16 engineers is CRAZY. Such well-needed expansion shows its effect on every day life of me as a developer.
Kudos Victoria! Thank you for all of your work for the movement, even though some of them might not be easily seen or understood by everyone.
[1]:
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Staff_and_contra... [2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/role/staff-contractors/
Best
On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 6:21 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 12:02 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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