Goodness, yes. Lodewijk, what a fitting thread.
We spend more time reflecting on mistakes made, but JB and Stu were often responsible for the things that were done well, and without fanfare. They could always be relied upon to consider the impact of decisions on the movement and society, and not just on [the current version of] the Foundation.
Thank you both for the dedication and creativity you put into your work - going above and beyond the requirements of being a trustee. Future trustees of all stripes have some mighty large shoes to fill.
Sam On Jan 8, 2016 2:29 PM, "Katy Love" klove@wikimedia.org wrote:
I've worked with Jan-Bart for three years, and I too want to thank him for his many years of service to the movement and the board, as well as to the annual plan grant program and to the Funds Dissemination Committee!
As one of the Board FDC representatives to the FDC for several years, Jan-Bart, you provided leadership and support to us as we developed, refined and evaluated the program. As others have said, it's clear how much this movement means to you, and you've been a significant presence and supporter to many.
Thank you for all you've given! Katy
On Wed, Jan 6, 2016 at 4:12 PM, Florence Devouard anthere9@yahoo.com wrote:
Thank you for this message Lodewijk !
I would like to join the messages already posted to thank both Stu and Jan-Bart. I was on the board when we ask them to join us and I have no memory of ever regretting that decision ;)
I wish you both the best ! JB, can we expect to see you in Italy next summer ? I sure hope so...
Anthere
Le 06/01/16 08:10, Lodewijk a écrit :
While we have long discussions on this list about board composition, we
seem to almost ignore the fact that two long time veterans are leaving
the
Wikimedia Foundation board, as scheduled. Jan-Bart de Vreede and Stu
West
have been around longer than many regular editors nowadays, and I think there are not many people who can recall the days that the board didn't have them on it. I have never had the pleasure to serve on the board
with
them, but a little thank-you from our community side, would seem in
place.
Stu joined the board already in 2008 (filling Michael Davis' seat), and has been a solid power on the board's audit responsibilities (I believe he chaired the audit committee for quite a while) and was a force behind
the
accountability of movement affiliates. While we often strongly disagreed on affiliate issues, I appreciate the fact that he always remained constructive and wanted to think about solutions rather than problems.
He
served both as treasurer and vice chair.
Jan-Bart was on the board even longer, since early 2007, and I recall already working with him through Kennisnet (a Dutch foundation for education and IT) before that. Jan-Bart is one of those rare people who went to ALL wikimania conferences, and can be easily recognised there
with
his big smile. I can't remember a theme Jan-Bart didn't work on in the past years (Affiliates, HR, searching a new Executive Director) and he served the board in many positions, including as chair.
I'm sure that the WMF communications staff and/or board has a nice thankyou coming up - with a more accurate description of the awesome work they
did,
that I now made up from the top of my head. But in the mean time, I'd
like
to do it myself: Thank you Jan-Bart and Stu for all the time, energy and effort that you poured into our movement. I know that not all of us appreciate this as much as we perhaps should, and sometimes you may even have perceived us as hostile. I do sincerely hope that you had fun with
us
though, and I'm confident that you made a big dent in our impossible mission of sharing the sum of all knowledge with everyone.
I hope to meet you again soon, at least in Italy at Wikimania, and I
hope
to see you around in our movement in many different ways.
Best,
Lodewijk _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
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