Re: [Wikimedia-l] DEITYBOUNCE and reader logs (was Re: Introducing Victoria Coleman, WMF Chief Technology Officer)

Hi everyone, Given Victoria’s many engagements over two decades, we weren’t able to list everything in the announcement itself. I can assure you that we carefully considered all of Victoria’s past experience and, with her full support, vetted her background for areas of possible concern, as is standard with any new C-level hire. We overwhelmingly agree that Victoria’s diversity of experience, including her interest in security and innovation, make her a uniquely qualified candidate. Victoria was explicit throughout the hiring process that she wanted to ensure we were completely and mutually confident in working together. As part of these conversations, she and I spoke at length about her government service and security expertise, and the general issues of security, vulnerabilities, disclosure, and due process. This is an area of personal passion for me - as some of you know, I spent time advocating on behalf of digital rights and user security before joining Wikimedia. We had a rich, informed conversation. I am confident Victoria’s values are Wikimedia’s values, and that we will work closely together in defending and strengthening the privacy and security of our platforms for our users.[1] I believe in the importance of building a diverse team from a variety of backgrounds. Our community and our projects are possible because of the diversity of knowledge we have. Some of us will come from government, some from academia, some from advocacy, some from the private sector, others from elsewhere. Together, we’re stronger. Victoria's experience with public service, academia, security, and commercial platforms brings that diversity of knowledge, and I’m delighted she’ll be sharing it with us. As for an office hour - it is a little premature for me to ask Victoria to commit to a date for this until she’s formally onboard and has had some orientation. However, office hours are generally a great way for people at the Foundation to get to know more about the communities, and visa versa. As leader of the Technology department, there will probably be many opportunities - potentially including office hours - where Victoria can engage with you on a variety of questions. If we schedule some formal ones, we will announce them here and through all the other normal channels - but please do bear with us. Sometimes it does take a little time to get one's bearings in a world as sprawling and complex as ours. Katherine [1] If you have further questions about Victoria’s work with the U.S. Department of Defense, it is/should soon be a matter of U.S. Congressional record. Her findings and recommendations will also be a matter of public record, as all government work should be. However, the U.S. Congress isn’t always the speediest of institutions, so we will also keep an eye on when they publish further information. On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 2:37 AM, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com> wrote: -- Katherine Maher Wikimedia Foundation 149 New Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94105 +1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635 +1 (415) 712 4873 kmaher(a)wikimedia.org