[Wikimedia-l] Your support is wanted: The WMF Board of Trustees is looking for a new Board member

[Alice Wiegand]

Hi everyone,

as you know, we have one vacant appointed seat on the Board of Trustees. We
have asked m/Oppenheim Associates to assist us in finding a new board
member and and we are reaching out to the community for suggestions and
nominations.

The Board functions as a governance body that is ultimately responsible for
the Wikimedia Foundation and its activities, supervises the disposition and
solicitation of donations, and evaluates the organization’s Executive
Director who leads all Foundation staff. As arguably the most influential
and respected organization in the free knowledge movement, the Wikimedia
Foundation and its Board have a great responsibility for setting policy
deliberately and with due consideration for the diverse interests of a
truly global community. To find out more about the responsibilities and
workings of the board you can have a look at the Board
manual<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_board_manual>
.

As with any search process we will be communicating with a lot of potential
candidates to see if we are a good match. The Board’s objective is to use
this search to strengthen its competence with regards to board governance,
grantmaking, strategy, and expertise with regions where Wikimedia is trying
to make rapid strides in the growth of our projects.

Board terms are for a two year period. Compared to other boards the time
commitment is very significant. The Board of Trustees meets four times a
year, twice in San Francisco and twice in changing locations around the
globe. Meetings take two days and travel can add another two days to each
meeting. In addition, the Board communicates frequently by email and
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) as it navigates policy issues. This can absorb
4-10 hours weekly. Board members also regularly engage with the Community
through wiki pages.

We think that the WMF would benefit from a Board member who has experience
with organizations that have grown and evolved rapidly, and who understands
how boards can evolve to provide appropriate governance support in these
changing circumstances. Experience with international, community-driven,
consensus organizations is also important as the Foundation would not exist
without the community.

We would like to call upon you to help us out with finding the right
individual. A complete position description can be found
here<http://moppenheim.com/searches/links/Wikimedia%20Foundation%20-%20Board%20Member%20position%20description%20-%20final.pdf>and
additional information can be found at
www.moppenheim.com and www.wikimediafoundation.org. Your suggestions and
nominations are very welcome. Please feel free to reach out to your
networks and distribute this note as you deem appropriate.

Interested individuals should contact Lisa Grossman  lisag at moppenheim.com

-- 
Alice Wiegand
Board of Trustees
Wikimedia Foundation

Support Free Knowledge: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate