I'm sure this is great news not only for the Foundation but also for the movement as a whole.
Congratulations to Katherine and thanks to the Board for taking this decision.
*Galileo Vidoni* Presidente A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
On Fri, Jun 24, 2016 at 12:37 PM, Sydney Poore sydney.poore@gmail.com wrote:
Congratulations. I couldn't be more thrilled Warm regards. Sydney On Jun 24, 2016 11:30 AM, "Oona Castro" oonacastro@gmail.com wrote:
Congratulations! Very good news indeed! Em 24/06/2016 06:29, "Samuel Klein" meta.sj@gmail.com escreveu:
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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