Hello everyone,
After a great deal of consideration, I have decided that I need to take a different path for my life and I am moving on from the Wikimedia Foundation. I have struggled with this decision as I have great admiration for the mission and the people here. I have great appreciation for how we worked together over the past two years, and great pride in what we have accomplished. The wide range of experiences have been amazing, and it feels like many more years than just two.
I am looking at a departure date of Feb 28th. Until that time, I will be supporting the Product teams through the first draft of Annual Planning. Katherine Maher, Victoria Coleman and I will work together with people across the Product and Technology departments, to develop a transition plan that is in the best interest of the teams I support, the Foundation, and our movement.
Toby Negrin, currently the Head of Reading, will take over as acting leadership for Product on 2/28. He has been working closely with me on many of the key programs and initiatives our department has been planning. He and the rest of Product leadership will continue with our Annual Planning efforts and conclude the 2016-17 goals and programs.
It has been such a deep honor to work with the folks in Technology and Product. I started here with Discovery, and have a special respect for what that team has accomplished as it evolved. The opportunity to lead Product, work with chapters like Wikimedia Deutschland, engage with the communities, and collaborate at the C-level was exciting and humbling. I was happy to work with the Product teams as they evolved into audiences and ultimately a Product organization focused on users and their needs. A testament to their excellent work is summarized in our 2016 Product summary https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Product/2016_Product_Summary [1]. Working with the folks in Technology to find our CTO was exciting, challenging, and illuminating. It was a wonderful and unexpected path that would not have been possible without the great support of that team. There are so many partnerships both with teams and individuals across this organization and other organizations that I had the chance to engage and work together with.
I have a great deal of respect and confidence in all of you to propel us through the Movement, Foundation and team strategies and goals in the next two years. Similarly I am proud of the stands we take and voices we lend as we all work to protect and project freedom, and the public availability of the sum of all knowledge. I hope to help support that as a volunteer in whatever way I can.
Thank you,
Wes
Vice President of Product, Wikimedia Foundation
[1] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Product/2016_Product_Summary