Dear Wikimedians,
In order to encourage the expansion of knowledge, we’ve been considering new ways to support and develop the work you do. Collaboration is an essential part of the Wikimedia movement, and today, I’m excited to let you know about a new addition at the Wikimedia Foundation that will support our collaboration with like-minded organizations.
For some time now, we’ve planned to hire a Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. Today, I am pleased to announce that Kourosh Karimkhany will step into this role on March 30, 2015.
Kourosh will be responsible for crafting a strategy to grow long-term value for Wikimedia projects through building meaningful partnerships, projects, and relationships on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation. He will become part of the C-level team and will report to Lisa Gruwell. Kourosh will also oversee Wikipedia Zero, which will transition to the partnerships team.
The Wikimedia community has many fruitful and creative partnerships that help support knowledge creation and sharing around the world. The partnerships Kourosh will support will will help us better support these partnerships and your work, as well as grow strategic initiatives we take on at the WMF.
Kourosh was born in Iran and moved to the U.S. as a child with his family. Today, he is an experienced digital media professional with a passion for sharing information with the world. He started his career as a technology journalist covering Silicon Valley for Bloomberg, Reuters and Wired. He switched to the business side of media when he joined Yahoo as senior producer of Yahoo News. Later, he led corporate development at Conde Nast where he spearheaded the acquisition of Wired.com, Ars Technica and Reddit. He also cofounded Food Republic in 2009, which was acquired in 2013. He's an active angel investor and startup advisor.
In light of the expanded scope of the Fundraising team and the revamped partnerships team, we’re changing the team's name to better reflect their mission. The new name is the Advancement Department. To learn more about the new role, visit the FAQ here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Partnerships_FAQ
Please join me in welcoming Kourosh as the newest member of the WMF leadership team. We have many exciting projects in 2015 and I’m looking forward to all the great things we will accomplish as we work together to support our mission.
~~~~Lila