[treasurers] Welcome, and introductions

[Sebastian Moleski]

Hi everyone,

My name is Sebastian Moleski and I serve as a volunteer at Wikimedia 
Deutschland (WMDE) in the role of its president and as a member of its 
board. I've been involved with Wikipedia since 2004 and have been a WMDE 
board member since 2007. From August 2008 through July 2009 I served as 
interim executive director (ED) while the chapter was looking for a 
permanent replacement for Arne Klempert, who used to be ED from 2006 
until 2008. In my non-Wikimedia life, I'm CEO of NetService24 GmbH, an 
internet service company specializing in domain name registration, 
webhosting, and online security located in Munich, Germany. I've 
graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX in 2006 with 
a degree in Economics.

I'm on this list because I view money as a great enabler for making 
creative and innovative programs run by Wikimedians happen. Together 
with our then-VP Alice Wiegand, I was the mastermind behind WMDE's 
Community Projects Budget, which is a €200,000 fund for projects 
initiated and led by Wikimedians, with a volunteer commission evaluating 
proposals and allocating funds. It's been a tremendous success with 
close to 100 ideas proposed since it started in April of this year.

By participating in the discussion on this list, I want to make sure 
that the matter of accountability and financial controls is always also 
viewed in the light of supporting and strengthening effective programs. 
One of our largest challenges, from my experience, is how we spend the 
money that comes in, and how to do so effectively. Thorough budget 
planning is still sparse within the Wikimedia movement. Where planning 
exists, underspending has been rampant. That means, besides figuring out 
how to ensure proper accountability, responsibility, and efficiency in 
spending, we also need to figure out how to improve planning and 
execution to a level where spending is effective and no donation remains 
unused.

I'm very much looking forward to the discussions here, on Meta, and 
wherever else they make sense.

Beste Grüße
Sebastian Moleski
President
-------------------------------------
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V.
Eisenacher Straße 2
10777 Berlin

Telefon 030 - 219 158 26-0
www.wikimedia.de

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