Dear all,
I have some difficult news to share.
A few months ago and completely out of the blue, an opportunity came up for me to exercise
the full spectrum of my skills as the CEO of an early stage mission oriented startup. It
has been a mighty struggle between my commitment to my team, the Foundation and the
movement and this opportunity to bring all my skills to bear and build something from the
ground up to do good in the world. I will not lie to you - it has not been easy. But
ultimately I decided that I have to give it a go and I accepted the offer. I plan on
starting there on Feb 4th so my last day at the Foundation will be Feb 1st.
These past two years have been amongst the most enjoyable in my professional career. I’ve
enjoyed getting to know the movement and what fuels it and I’ve been incredibly privileged
to work with a Tech team like no other. We have together strengthened the technical
infrastructure of the movement and while much work remains to be done we have a much
stronger team in place to take the mission to the next level. And I have personally made
friendships that will last a lifetime.
The organization I will be moving to is Atlas AI, a public benefit corporation supported
by the Rockefeller Foundation. I will be leading an exceptional team of AI and earth
system science experts striving for improvements in human well being through data driven
insights. Our focus areas are drawn from the UN’s sustainable development goals of no
poverty and zero hunger with emphasis on Sub Saharan Africa.
I leave behind a Technology department that I am certain is well on the way to achieving
our vision to create the infrastructure for the free knowledge movement. I am also pleased
that during my tenure, we have built leaders who are equipped to take on this challenge.
Erika Bjune will be serving as interim CTO. Erika joined us a little over two years ago
and she has distinguished herself as one of the finest people leaders I have ever worked
with. Both she and Katherine will have my ongoing support — I will stay on in a consulting
role to Erika on organizational matters and for the mid term planning work we have ahead
of us in the remainder of the fiscal year. I know that I am leaving the Tech team in good
hands until a permanent CTO is hired.
I want to close this difficult message with my heartfelt thanks to all of you for letting
me be part of this incredible movement. Being a Wikimedian is a great privilege. I wanted
you to know that I’m not walking away from something; I am walking towards something that
is very important to me and the world. I will miss you all. Deeply. Truly. And a lot!
Victoria