[Foundation-l] The fallacy of power

[Brian]

>
> You will not get a Board that can do that by simply picking the people
> with the highest edit counts and giving them responsibility over the
> organization.
>

I recently suggested prior editing experience and community involvement, and
directed my comments towards not only board members but foundation
employees. I suggested, and still maintain, that people who do not have this
prior experience do not understand the relevant processes at work and,
whatever their prior qualifications, are less qualified to serve in these
positions than someone who does. Luckily, for now, we have Jimbo, Anthere,
yourself and others. This will not always be the case, and I feel that now
is the appropriate time to address that issue. Further down the road will
not be in time.

I would like the important decisions that are being made on a daily basis by
board members and foundation employees to be made by people who understand
the global communities. Is it too much to ask that their be an explicit,
wikified guiding principle that we will introspect and look within the
projects for qualified people before looking outside? To a large degree it
obviates much of the worries expressed by the community because the people
who are serving are still a part of it and not some external "support"
platform.

I was taken aback when I read the new job postings (starting after Sue came
in, I believe), and I still am, every time. These are extremely qualified
people, but they are complete outsiders. Should they really be making
important decisions about something they don't "get," and something that
they might never get? Isn't there something missing from the following job
description, a qualification that you happen to have, but that foundation
employees are increasingly lacking with every new hire? How many of these
people is the foundation going to absorb? How detached from the community is
it going to become? How can it support the community if it doesn't
understand it because most of the people "supporting" it just wanted a job?

*JOB TITLE*

Head of Major Gifts, Wikimedia Foundation

*REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS*

   - Bachelor's degree or equivalent required; advanced degree preferred
   - 7+ years of major gifts experience, preferably in a well-known
   organization that is active internationally;
   - Excellent interpersonal communication skills including the ability
   to persuade, inspire and negotiate with a diverse array of people, primarily
   verbally
   - Confident, flexible and outgoing personal style
   - Experience creating and delivering presentations
   - Good knowledge of donor pools, trends in giving, prospect research,
   cultivation, solicitation and stewardship;
   - Experience with venture philanthropy and/or philanthropy in the
   technology, education and media sectors, and/or in the Bay Area is helpful;
   - Comfortable and proficient using a variety of communications and
   networking tools (e.g., mailing lists, IM, IRC, wikis, LinkedIn, Facebook,
   etc.);
   - The ability to speak multiple languages is a major plus;
   - Experience living or working outside the United States is a major
   plus.