This information is also available (in growing number of languages) on Meta-Wiki and Diff: * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/3_June_2021_-_Update_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_chair * https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/06/03/update-from-the-wikimedia-foundation-board-chair/
María - thank you for your leadership and wisdom over the past several years. I look forward to seeing how you engage with the movement next! :) -greg ------- Gregory Varnum Senior Strategist, Communications Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> [email protected] Pronouns: He/Him/His > On Jun 3, 2021, at 12:41 PM, Nataliia Tymkiv <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear María, > > First of all, thank you for all the work you have done over the past 8 years > - it is not always easy to be a Trustee and sometimes the work is far from > gratifying. I know it was not a quick decision for you to stay on for an > additional year to help us see Wikimedia Foundation and the board through > some challenging times, and I am personally grateful for your accepting the > challenge and putting yourself on the line. > > There was quite a bit of turmoil when I joined the Board - and no one really > had time to onboard me back then. And I *needed* onboarding and support. You > offered to mentor me if need be, invited me to shoot any questions and > concerns at you, any time of the day. Things like that - going above and > beyond when needed and really meaning it - are a pattern with you. And I > deeply appreciate your dedication to the cause. > > You were in the room when the Board decided to embark on a long journey to > support the creation of the Movement strategy, and saw it through all the > hardships we had along the way. I do hope that being able to help in > implementing it will somehow account for all those mishaps on the way here, > and you will seriously consider the advisory role where you can support the > Movement Strategy from the trenches, so to say. > > You have been one of the strongest voices for making sure our projects > diversify and are more equitable, helping direct the Wikimedia Foundation to > a direction of increasing readers and donors and raising editing numbers from > when they were declining. Your energy and readiness to participate in > hundreds, maybe thousands of conversations on the future of Wikimedia and > ensuring its stability and sustainability is really something, and I think > this deserves recognition on our part. > > I believe you will remain involved in the movement with the same drive and > passion you have always shown. And our paths will cross again even though we > do edit different-language Wikipedias, but we still reside in the same > Wikiverse :) > > With thanks and appreciation, > > antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv > Vice Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees > > NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working > hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You > should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in > advance! > > > > On Thu, Jun 3, 2021 at 10:40 PM María Sefidari <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > Dear All, > > There is one last bit of news I would like to share following the Board > meeting update. > > After ~ 8 years on the Board of Trustees at the Wikimedia Foundation - a long > time! - I have notified the Board that I am stepping down as Chair and > trustee, effective end of day today. > > As all of you know, the community-selected seats were due to expire last year > and were extended at the request of the Board to see through these difficult > and unprecedented times. Now, after chairing the last meeting of the fiscal > year and having the call for candidates for the upcoming elections approved, > it is the least disruptive moment for me to step down. The Foundation has > asked me to consider an advisory role to support Movement Strategy and the > onboarding of new trustees and the new CEO/ED, to help support leadership and > this strategic transition. Nataliia Tymkiv, currently Vice Chair, will act as > Chair until a new one is elected by the Board ensuring continuity. > > Hopefully this news will not come as too much of a surprise. I am grateful to > the community members who lent me their trust and support to become a trustee > on two different occasions, to the staff, and to the trustees for their > confidence in me in the different leadership positions I have held within the > Board - first as committee chair, then two terms as Vice Chair, and two terms > as Chair. > > Together we have accomplished many things during this time, but if I had to > single out only a few they would be the following: launching the Movement > Strategy process, engaging in the most ambitious governance reform in the > history of the Board, and working to ensure the stability and sustainability > of the Foundation. It has been a time of change, of discussing strategy and > our future, and deciding together what the path forward should be. > > Of course, the work is never finished - it will be the task of the Board to > continue what has been done and face the newer and complex challenges that > will no doubt arise. I hope that we will see many of the women of the > movement and people from the Global South as candidates in the upcoming > community elections - I know there are many qualified people ready to step > into these important roles. I look forward to supporting an increasingly > capable and diverse Board. > > Be safe and well everyone. > > Tupananchiskama, > > María > > -- > > > María Sefidari Huici > Chair of the Board > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines> and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l> > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>_______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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