Hello Everyone
While the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting will arrive in due time I wanted to
update you on some internal matters at this point because there have been some changes in
the board composition.
Ana Toni joined our board last year but unfortunately the time demands placed upon a
Wikimedia Board member were not compatible with her other commitments. This has given the
board something to think about. We aim to be a board that is able to incorporate outside
expertise to increase our effectiveness and possible candidates are often not able to
commit the time which we currently require.. In the coming period we want to have a look
at the time which is demanded of a board member (especially our in person meetings which
require a lot of travel) and look at which activities we need to perform as a board. We
want to thank Ana for her contributions. The insights gained from her position as Chair of
Greenpeace International were especially useful to us as a board. We are sad to see her
go, but we hope to keep her in “our space”.
Bishakha Datta joined our board in March 2010 and has indicated to us that she is not
available for re-appointment after her term runs out in December of this year. We will
take the time to properly thank her for her great contributions when her term formally
ends in December.
While these things are part of of the normal turnover of the composition of the board (and
are also an opportunity to attract new fields of expertise as needed) there is a matter of
board stability during the first year of the tenure of our new Executive Director. In
response to Lila's request for stability the board has decided the following:
1) Alice Wiegand was appointed to finish out Ana's term ending December 2014. We also
appointed Alice to carry out the subsequent term ending December 2016.
2) Last year at Wikimania I was appointed to the board for a two year period, but I
tendered my resignation effective the end of this year. At the Board's request I
reconsidered that resignation, and will serve out the rest of my original two year term
ending December 2015.
This does mean we will start the search process for a new board member for the appointed
seat that Bishakha will vacate at the end of this year. And hopefully we will be able to
also identify potential candidates to fill the seats of both Stuart West and me, which
will become vacant at the end of 2015.
Secondly we have appointed the two officer positions as follows for the coming fiscal year
Chair - Jan-Bart de Vreede
Vice-Chair - Patricio Lorente
The foundation has a great opportunity to grow under the guidance of our new Executive
Director and realize our ambitions. The board is looking forward to a year of supporting
Lila and providing direction for our strategic goals.
Jan-Bart de Vreede
Chair
Board of Trustees
Wikimedia Foundation
PS: All the relevant resolutions will be published on meta in the coming days