Hi all,
yesterday, Wikimedia Deutschland’s 14th General Assembly was held in Frankfurt am Main.
In addition to the presentation of the strategic planning and several amendments to the articles of the association’s bylaws, the agenda included among other things reports of the Executive Director, the Supervisory Board and volunteer auditing committee. Of course, the transition process and the succession of Pavel Richter announced this week were widely discussed.
We are a young association and the change in the position of Executive Director, which has been shaped by Pavel for many years, is a new experience for all of us. Over the coming months, the process of succession is going to entail a lot of work and Pavel will be a part of it. Obviously, first of all we have to mutually deliberate on the procedure and the specific schedule – a process in which we are going to include as many people as possible and whose opinions we are going to take very seriously. We will report on any concrete actions as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Nikolas Becker, who held the Chairman position of the Supervisory Board for the past six months, will not take an active part in the transition process. He resigned yesterday. As a result, we gathered as the supervisory board on this Sunday in order to elect a new Chair. I am glad that my Board colleagues expressed their confidence in me and as of now entrusted me with the presidency of the supervisory board. I am well aware of the immense responsibility and, with a clear focus on the future, accepted it yesterday.
I want to thank Nikolas for everything he has accomplished over the past years – not only as Chair but also as a member of the Supervisory Board and for the association in general. In the name of the Supervisory Board we thanked him yesterday in Frankfurt.
As usual, there will also be a protocol for this general meeting of members. I do not want to anticipate the minutes, as long as they are being completed. Yet, I would like to give a short personal overview at this point:
There were six requests for amendments to articles of the association’s bylaws (a seventh has been withdrawn). All six of them were accepted with clear majorities. The Supervisory Board’s term of office was extended from one to two years. A leave of absence from the Supervisory Board is now possible, as is a lump-sum for refunding of honorary expenses according to German customs. Furthermore, it was formally clarified that members of the Supervisory Board must also be members of the association. In the future, it will be much easier to terminate supporting memberships. And finally: The wording regarding the quorum to hold an exceptional general assembly has been changed from “members” to “active members”. Besides the amendments to articles of the association, the general assembly confirmed the Supervisory Board’s structure according to departments. For more details to all these and further points I want to refer to the minutes mentioned above, which are to be published soon.
I am convinced of Wikimedia Deutschland being in a stable position. It is up to us to shape our association over the coming years together. This involves self criticism, or at least the realization that a neutral point of view is helpful in pretty much all circumstances in life. That is why I am glad that the general meeting approved the supervisory board’s request and that we will now start an external governance review to gather different expertise and new insight.
Within Wikipedia, this is common practise and a strength that helps Wikipedia get better. In my opinion, the same applies to Wikimedia Deutschland: our willingness to improve is our strength.
Best regards, Tim