[Foundation-l] [Announcement] New Head of Communications: Jay Walsh

[Sue Gardner]

Hi folks,

I'm delighted to announce that Jay Walsh will be the Wikimedia 
Foundation's new head of communications. Jay will join the staff of the 
Foundation on Thursday, January 10, and will report to me.

Jay comes to Wikimedia from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 
Canada's national public broadcaster -and my former employer- where he 
worked in issues management and media relations. His job there included 
talking to journalists, and designing and executing PR and social media 
strategies. I worked with Jay a couple of times at CBC, which I always 
enjoyed – he’s smart and thoughtful.

Before joining CBC, Jay worked in communications for various departments 
of the Canadian government including Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 
Health Canada, the Department of National Defence, and the Department of 
Justice. Before that, he worked in communications at the Nova Scotia 
College of Art and Design. He has also done volunteer PR and fundraising 
for several Canadian non-profits, and he holds a B.A. with a 
specialization in Creative Writing from Concordia University in Montréal.

Jay is a longtime user of the Wikimedia projects and is enthusiastic 
about how social media are changing the ways that people and 
organizations communicate. I know that in addition to shaping 
Wikimedia's official messaging, Jay plans to help us develop new and 
less formal ways to speak with each other, with donors, media and readers.

I want to take a moment to thank Sandy Ordonez, who has managed 
Wikimedia's communications since January 2007. Sandy will be with us 
until the St. Petersburg office closes at the end of this month. I'm 
extremely grateful for her hard work and excellent judgment: I hope you 
will join me in wishing her all the best.

As with all the new staff, the goal is to give Jay a fairly long 
handover time. So until the end of January, please continue to work 
directly with Sandy, while she helps Jay get oriented.

Please join me in welcoming Jay to the staff of the Foundation.

Sue Gardner
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation