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

[Itzik Edri]

I don't understand. The board hired and pays to a company to find a board
member? Have we tried before via our networks, chapters, and via our
advisory board to find such a person (as been done until now?).

On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 1:55 AM, Alice Wiegand <awiegand at wikimedia.org>wrote:

> 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
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