Brilliant news for the foundation! Thank you for resolving this so swiftly. ~SJ On Jun 24, 2016 11:26, "James Heilman" jmh649@gmail.com wrote:
Wonderful news. Katherine is an amazing selection. Congrats and thanks to all those involved.
James
On Fri, Jun 24, 2016 at 11:15 AM, Patricio Lorente < patricio.lorente@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear all,
It is our great pleasure to share that during the Board meeting at Wikimania 2016 in Esino Lario, we unanimously voted to appoint Katherine Maher as Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. This is
effective
as of our resolution dated Thursday, 23 June.
Katherine served as interim Executive Director for the past three months, during which time she consistently and repeatedly demonstrated the kind
of
leadership our organization needs. She is deeply committed to our movement’s values, and brings expertise in civic technology and international development that will be an asset to the Wikimedia
Foundation
and the movement.
We came to this conclusion after an intensive discovery process led by
the
ED search committee. Our decision was also informed by direct feedback
from
staff and community, and our own experience working closely with
Katherine.
In March, we assembled an Executive Director search committee[1] consisting of four Board members¹ who were chosen to represent different perspectives and capacities.² Additionally, the Board asked the Foundation’s Chief Advancement Officer Lisa Gruwell to represent the executive team, and Foundation staff member Katie Horn was selected by
her
peers as someone who could represent staff perspectives. The committee
was
charged with keeping the process on track and on time, engaging important stakeholders, and facilitating transparency in communications. Their
first
tasks were to identify a search firm, and define the position
description.
You can review the committee’s updates on Meta.[2]
The committee recruited Viewcrest Advisors,³ to identify our leadership needs and design a hiring process. Kathleen Yazbak of Viewcrest worked
with
the committee to conduct interviews with every Foundation department, the executive, the Board, and nearly 20 additional one-on-one interviews with staff. Kathleen attended the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin, collecting feedback from community members and affiliates. The committee launched a community survey in June, receiving more than 1,600 responses about the qualities needed in the next ED; they also asked for feedback on Meta.[3] Taking all of this into account, the transition team developed a profile and requirements for the next Executive Director that reflect our values and our communities.
Throughout this process, the Board and the transition team received very clear and often unsolicited feedback from both staff and community
members
that Katherine embodies the values of our movement and the traits needed
in
our next ED. This feedback was only reinforced by the latest Foundation engagement survey results, which showed a strong shift toward renewed
trust
in leadership. After taking this all into account, and considering what
the
organization needs at this moment of transition, we moved to appoint Katherine now.
In just three months as interim ED, Katherine worked with the
organization
and community to make huge strides in management, execution, and transparency. She brought much-needed clarity to our strategic direction, and mobilized the organization to clearly communicate that direction through this year’s annual plan.
After her appointment, she worked with the leadership team to swiftly identify the organization’s priorities during the transition period and execute against them, setting ambitious but reachable targets. Under Katherine’s leadership, the Foundation submitted its annual plan to the Funds Dissemination Committee, leaving ample time for community feedback and discussion.
Katherine is an excellent fit for our movement. She is longtime advocate for global open communities, culture, and technology. She was the Foundation’s Chief Communications Officer from April 2014 until she was appointed interim ED in March. Throughout her career she has focused on freedom of expression, access to information, and digital rights; supporting the efforts of people around the world to deepen
participation,
advance transparency, and strengthen their communities through her work with UNICEF, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and the World Bank. If you don’t already know Katherine, you can learn more about her on Meta.[4]
With this appointment, we feel strongly that the Foundation has the leadership and clarity to move forward. We wish Katherine the very best
in
this role, and the Board looks forward to continuing to work with her.
We would also like to thank the many community members and Foundation staff who actively shared thoughtful, highly valuable feedback. Without that, we would not have been able to come to this decision.
Please join us in congratulating Katherine!
Patricio Lorente, outgoing Board Chair
Christophe Henner, incoming Board Chair
Alice Wiegand (Committee Chair), Dariusz Jemielniak, Guy Kawasaki, Kelly Battles. 2.
For example, community and governance experience, appointed and community-selected seats, and US and non-US perspectives. 3.
The committee reviewed 7 different firms and unanimously picked Viewcrest.
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tran...
[2 ]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tran...
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Executive_Director_Tran...
[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Katherine_(WMF)
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-- James Heilman MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
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