[Wikimedia-l] Re: Nine Month Update & Foundation Leadership Team

[Natacha Rault via Wikimedia-l]

Thank you very much for this useful update on what is going on in the WMF.
Kind regards,
Nattes à chat 

Envoyé de mon iPhone

> Le 7 sept. 2022 à 05:55, Olushola Olaniyan  a 
> écrit :
> 
> 
> Thank you, Maryana for the highlights, they came very handy. 
> I will continue to resonate on them. Cheers 
> 
>> On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 5:52 PM Maryana Iskander  
>> wrote:
>> This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. ‎You can 
>> help with more languages.
>>  
>> Hi everyone,
>>  
>> I’ve started my ninth official month as CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation. 
>> Based on feedback from this list and elsewhere, I am trying to proactively 
>> communicate every few months on my priorities and what I continue to learn. 
>>  
>> I regularly return to the five ‘puzzles’ I identified in my original letter 
>> to you. For me, these continue to pose big questions about our role in the 
>> world and our ways of working with each other. I’ve mentioned that one 
>> highlight of the year so far has been bringing colleagues together – 
>> volunteers, editors, affiliates, Foundation staff, board members – to 
>> reconnect at a human level. Many of you have shared with me the need for 
>> more spaces that can help us build (and rebuild) relationships and trust. 
>>  
>> As more communities return to in-person events, I have benefitted from 
>> spending time with volunteers at WikiCon Brasil and at the Wikimania meetup 
>> hosted in Cape Town. I look forward to participating in-person and virtually 
>> at many more regional gatherings in the months ahead. 
>>  
>> I am writing today to provide you with an update on the three priorities I 
>> identified in January. 
>> 
>> Priority 1: Strategy and Planning 
>> My first priority remains focused on strategy and planning. In June, we 
>> shared the successful adoption of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Annual Plan. It 
>> is now anchored in the strategic direction of our movement – knowledge 
>> equity and knowledge as a service – and it identifies the Foundation’s 
>> strengthened focus on regions and on projects. This plan benefited from the 
>> contributions and feedback of hundreds of volunteers who provided input 
>> on-wiki and through other multilingual channels of communication. We’ll 
>> share updates on progress before the end of the calendar year on the Annual 
>> Plan meta page and in other forums. Our intention is to continue asking for 
>> guidance and input from volunteers, affiliates, and communities. 
>> 
>> I mentioned in my April message that the Wikimedia Foundation has grown very 
>> rapidly over the past 3 years as part of its medium term plan – increasing 
>> its budget by more than 30% in the past year with the addition of more than 
>> 200 new people since 2020. This growth will not continue as we stabilize and 
>> make sure that new resources are delivering maximum impact for our mission. 
>> The Foundation’s approved budget represents a 17% increase, most of this is 
>> inflationary and other year-on-year costs. Funding to other movement 
>> entities (individual and affiliate) grew by 24% percent. 
>> 
>> While the annual plan is an important start, it does not address all of the 
>> significant strategic issues facing Wikimedia – none of which can be solved 
>> in a single year. Within the framework of our movement strategy and emerging 
>> charter, I plan to continue partnering with Foundation stakeholders and 
>> communities in co-planning approaches to tackle strategic issues that an 
>> annual plan cannot fully address. The Board of Trustees will help kick this 
>> off with strategic planning engagements at the board’s upcoming meeting in 
>> Berlin. This will be followed by important conversations about strategy 
>> implementation at the Wikimedia Summit (returning for the first time since 
>> 2019). 
>> 
>> Priority 2: Leadership
>> I highlighted in January that CEO transitions are disruptive for most 
>> organisations and change often continues after a new leader has arrived. I 
>> have been trying to build a broader leadership team at the Wikimedia 
>> Foundation as I focus on successfully onboarding new hires, investing more 
>> in internal talent management, undertaking succession planning for key 
>> roles, and providing stronger communications support for the Foundation’s 
>> senior team. 
>> 
>> Product/Technology 
>> My top priority when I joined was to actively step in and support the 
>> Foundation’s product and technology teams while we recruited executive 
>> leadership of these mission critical functions with a new Chief Product and 
>> Technology Officer. This goal has been achieved as Selena Deckelmann is now 
>> officially on board at the Wikimedia Foundation after a successful nine-year 
>> career at Mozilla, most recently as the head of Firefox. She is reaching out 
>> to learn from our technical contributors and volunteers, and can be 
>> contacted directly at sdeckelm...@wikimedia.org. 
>> 
>> Advancement 
>> 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Nine Month Update & Foundation Leadership Team

[Olushola Olaniyan]

Thank you, Maryana for the highlights, they came very handy.
I will continue to resonate on them. Cheers

On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 5:52 PM Maryana Iskander 
wrote:

> This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. ‎You
> can help with more languages.
> 
>
>
>
> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
> I’ve started my ninth official month as CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation.
> Based on feedback from this list and elsewhere, I am trying to proactively
> communicate every few months on my priorities and what I continue to learn.
>
>
>
> I regularly return to the five ‘puzzles’
> 
> I identified in my original letter to you. For me, these continue to pose
> big questions about our role in the world and our ways of working with each
> other. I’ve mentioned that one highlight of the year so far has been
> bringing colleagues together – volunteers, editors, affiliates, Foundation
> staff, board members – to reconnect at a human level. Many of you have
> shared with me the need for more spaces that can help us build (and
> rebuild) relationships and trust.
>
>
>
> As more communities return to in-person events, I have benefitted from
> spending time with volunteers at WikiCon Brasil and at the Wikimania meetup
> hosted in Cape Town. I look forward to participating in-person and
> virtually at many more regional gatherings in the months ahead.
>
>
>
> I am writing today to provide you with an update on the three priorities I
> identified in January.
>
> Priority 1: Strategy and Planning
>
> My first priority remains focused on strategy and planning. In June, we
> shared the successful adoption of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Annual Plan
> .
> It is now anchored in the strategic direction of our movement – knowledge
> equity and knowledge as a service – and it identifies the Foundation’s
> strengthened focus on regions and on projects. This plan benefited from the
> contributions and feedback of hundreds of volunteers who provided input
> on-wiki and through other multilingual channels of communication. We’ll
> share updates on progress before the end of the calendar year on the Annual
> Plan meta page and in other forums. Our intention is to continue asking for
> guidance and input from volunteers, affiliates, and communities.
>
> I mentioned in my April message that the Wikimedia Foundation has grown
> very rapidly over the past 3 years as part of its medium term plan – 
> increasing
> its budget by more than 30% in the past year with the addition of more than
> 200 new people since 2020. This growth will not continue as we stabilize
> and make sure that new resources are delivering maximum impact for our
> mission. The Foundation’s approved budget represents a 17% increase, most
> of this is inflationary and other year-on-year costs. Funding to other
> movement entities (individual and affiliate) grew by 24% percent.
>
> While the annual plan is an important start, it does not address all of
> the significant strategic issues facing Wikimedia – none of which can be
> solved in a single year. Within the framework of our movement strategy and
> emerging charter, I plan to continue partnering with Foundation
> stakeholders and communities in co-planning approaches to tackle strategic
> issues that an annual plan cannot fully address. The Board of Trustees will
> help kick this off with strategic planning engagements at the board’s
> upcoming meeting in Berlin. This will be followed by important
> conversations about strategy implementation at the Wikimedia Summit
>  (returning for
> the first time since 2019).
>
> Priority 2: Leadership
>
> I highlighted in January that CEO transitions are disruptive for most
> organisations and change often continues after a new leader has arrived. I
> have been trying to build a broader leadership team at the Wikimedia
> Foundation as I focus on successfully onboarding new hires, investing
> more in internal talent management, undertaking succession planning for key
> roles, and providing stronger communications support for the Foundation’s
> senior team.
>
> Product/Technology
>
> My top priority when I joined was to actively step in and support the
> Foundation’s product and technology teams while we recruited executive
> leadership of these mission critical functions with a new Chief Product and
> Technology Officer. This goal has been achieved
> 
> as Selena Deckelmann is now officially on board at the Wikimedia
> Foundation after a successful nine-year career at Mozilla, most recently as
> the head of Firefox. She is reaching out to 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Nine Month Update & Foundation Leadership Team

[Florence Devouard]

Thank you for the update Maryana :)

Flo

Le 06/09/2022 à 21:16, Samuel Klein a écrit :
Seconded — thank you for these continuing updates, and for always 
inviting conversation. Essential, even when it takes time for those 
seeds to sprout.




On Tue., Sep. 6, 2022, 7:11 p.m. Craig Newmark, 
 wrote:


Maryana, much appreciated!

Craig Newmark, craigslist founder
craignewmarkphilanthropies.org 

On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 9:53 AM Maryana Iskander
 wrote:

This message is being translated into other languages on
Meta-wiki. ‎You can help with more languages.



Hi everyone,

I’ve started my ninth official month as CEO of the Wikimedia
Foundation. Based on feedback from this list and elsewhere, I
am trying to proactively communicate every few months on my
priorities and what I continue to learn.

I regularly return to the five ‘puzzles’

I
identified in my original letter to you. For me, these
continue to pose big questions about our role in the world and
our ways of working with each other. I’ve mentioned that one
highlight of the year so far has been bringing colleagues
together – volunteers, editors, affiliates, Foundation staff,
board members – to reconnect at a human level. Many of you
have shared with me the need for more spaces that can help us
build (and rebuild) relationships and trust.

As more communities return to in-person events, I have
benefitted from spending time with volunteers at WikiCon
Brasil and at the Wikimania meetup hosted in Cape Town. I look
forward to participating in-person and virtually at many more
regional gatherings in the months ahead.

I am writing today to provide you with an update on the three
priorities I identified in January.


Priority 1: Strategy and Planning

My first priority remains focused on strategy and planning. In
June, we shared the successful adoption of the Wikimedia
Foundation’s Annual Plan

.
It is now anchored in the strategic direction of our movement
– knowledge equity and knowledge as a service – and it
identifies the Foundation’s strengthened focus on regions and
on projects. This plan benefited from the contributions and
feedback of hundreds of volunteers who provided input on-wiki
and through other multilingual channels of communication.
We’ll share updates on progress before the end of the calendar
year on the Annual Plan meta page and in other forums. Our
intention is to continue asking for guidance and input from
volunteers, affiliates, and communities.


I mentioned in my April message that the Wikimedia Foundation
has grown very rapidly over the past 3 years as part of its
medium term plan – increasing its budget by more than 30% in
the past year with the addition of more than 200 new people
since 2020.This growth will not continue as we stabilize and
make sure that new resources are delivering maximum impact for
our mission. The Foundation’s approved budget represents a 17%
increase, most of this is inflationary and other year-on-year
costs. Funding to other movement entities (individual and
affiliate) grew by 24% percent.


While the annual plan is an important start, it does not
address all of the significant strategic issues facing
Wikimedia – none of which can be solved in a single year.
Within the framework of our movement strategy and emerging
charter, I plan to continue partnering with Foundation
stakeholders and communities in co-planning approaches to
tackle strategic issues that an annual plan cannot fully
address. The Board of Trustees will help kick this off with
strategic planning engagements at the board’s upcoming meeting
in Berlin. This will be followed by important conversations
about strategy implementation at the Wikimedia Summit
(returning
for the first time since 2019).


Priority 2: Leadership

I highlighted in January that CEO transitions are disruptive
for most organisations and change often continues after a new
leader has arrived. I have been trying to build a broader
leadership team at the Wikimedia Foundation as I focus on
successfully onboarding new hires, 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Nine Month Update & Foundation Leadership Team

[Samuel Klein]

Seconded — thank you for these continuing updates, and for always inviting
conversation. Essential, even when it takes time for those seeds to sprout.



On Tue., Sep. 6, 2022, 7:11 p.m. Craig Newmark, 
wrote:

> Maryana, much appreciated!
>
> Craig Newmark, craigslist founder
> craignewmarkphilanthropies.org
>
> On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 9:53 AM Maryana Iskander 
> wrote:
>
>> This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. ‎You
>> can help with more languages.
>> 
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> I’ve started my ninth official month as CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation.
>> Based on feedback from this list and elsewhere, I am trying to proactively
>> communicate every few months on my priorities and what I continue to learn.
>>
>>
>>
>> I regularly return to the five ‘puzzles’
>> 
>> I identified in my original letter to you. For me, these continue to pose
>> big questions about our role in the world and our ways of working with each
>> other. I’ve mentioned that one highlight of the year so far has been
>> bringing colleagues together – volunteers, editors, affiliates, Foundation
>> staff, board members – to reconnect at a human level. Many of you have
>> shared with me the need for more spaces that can help us build (and
>> rebuild) relationships and trust.
>>
>>
>>
>> As more communities return to in-person events, I have benefitted from
>> spending time with volunteers at WikiCon Brasil and at the Wikimania meetup
>> hosted in Cape Town. I look forward to participating in-person and
>> virtually at many more regional gatherings in the months ahead.
>>
>>
>>
>> I am writing today to provide you with an update on the three priorities
>> I identified in January.
>>
>> Priority 1: Strategy and Planning
>>
>> My first priority remains focused on strategy and planning. In June, we
>> shared the successful adoption of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Annual Plan
>> .
>> It is now anchored in the strategic direction of our movement – knowledge
>> equity and knowledge as a service – and it identifies the Foundation’s
>> strengthened focus on regions and on projects. This plan benefited from the
>> contributions and feedback of hundreds of volunteers who provided input
>> on-wiki and through other multilingual channels of communication. We’ll
>> share updates on progress before the end of the calendar year on the Annual
>> Plan meta page and in other forums. Our intention is to continue asking for
>> guidance and input from volunteers, affiliates, and communities.
>>
>> I mentioned in my April message that the Wikimedia Foundation has grown
>> very rapidly over the past 3 years as part of its medium term plan – 
>> increasing
>> its budget by more than 30% in the past year with the addition of more than
>> 200 new people since 2020. This growth will not continue as we stabilize
>> and make sure that new resources are delivering maximum impact for our
>> mission. The Foundation’s approved budget represents a 17% increase, most
>> of this is inflationary and other year-on-year costs. Funding to other
>> movement entities (individual and affiliate) grew by 24% percent.
>>
>> While the annual plan is an important start, it does not address all of
>> the significant strategic issues facing Wikimedia – none of which can be
>> solved in a single year. Within the framework of our movement strategy and
>> emerging charter, I plan to continue partnering with Foundation
>> stakeholders and communities in co-planning approaches to tackle strategic
>> issues that an annual plan cannot fully address. The Board of Trustees will
>> help kick this off with strategic planning engagements at the board’s
>> upcoming meeting in Berlin. This will be followed by important
>> conversations about strategy implementation at the Wikimedia Summit
>>  (returning for
>> the first time since 2019).
>>
>> Priority 2: Leadership
>>
>> I highlighted in January that CEO transitions are disruptive for most
>> organisations and change often continues after a new leader has arrived. I
>> have been trying to build a broader leadership team at the Wikimedia
>> Foundation as I focus on successfully onboarding new hires, investing
>> more in internal talent management, undertaking succession planning for key
>> roles, and providing stronger communications support for the Foundation’s
>> senior team.
>>
>> Product/Technology
>>
>> My top priority when I joined was to actively step in and support the
>> Foundation’s product and technology teams while we recruited executive
>> leadership of these mission critical functions with a new Chief Product and
>> Technology Officer. This goal has 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Nine Month Update & Foundation Leadership Team

[Craig Newmark]

Maryana, much appreciated!

Craig Newmark, craigslist founder
craignewmarkphilanthropies.org

On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 9:53 AM Maryana Iskander 
wrote:

> This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. ‎You
> can help with more languages.
> 
>
>
>
> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
> I’ve started my ninth official month as CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation.
> Based on feedback from this list and elsewhere, I am trying to proactively
> communicate every few months on my priorities and what I continue to learn.
>
>
>
> I regularly return to the five ‘puzzles’
> 
> I identified in my original letter to you. For me, these continue to pose
> big questions about our role in the world and our ways of working with each
> other. I’ve mentioned that one highlight of the year so far has been
> bringing colleagues together – volunteers, editors, affiliates, Foundation
> staff, board members – to reconnect at a human level. Many of you have
> shared with me the need for more spaces that can help us build (and
> rebuild) relationships and trust.
>
>
>
> As more communities return to in-person events, I have benefitted from
> spending time with volunteers at WikiCon Brasil and at the Wikimania meetup
> hosted in Cape Town. I look forward to participating in-person and
> virtually at many more regional gatherings in the months ahead.
>
>
>
> I am writing today to provide you with an update on the three priorities I
> identified in January.
>
> Priority 1: Strategy and Planning
>
> My first priority remains focused on strategy and planning. In June, we
> shared the successful adoption of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Annual Plan
> .
> It is now anchored in the strategic direction of our movement – knowledge
> equity and knowledge as a service – and it identifies the Foundation’s
> strengthened focus on regions and on projects. This plan benefited from the
> contributions and feedback of hundreds of volunteers who provided input
> on-wiki and through other multilingual channels of communication. We’ll
> share updates on progress before the end of the calendar year on the Annual
> Plan meta page and in other forums. Our intention is to continue asking for
> guidance and input from volunteers, affiliates, and communities.
>
> I mentioned in my April message that the Wikimedia Foundation has grown
> very rapidly over the past 3 years as part of its medium term plan – 
> increasing
> its budget by more than 30% in the past year with the addition of more than
> 200 new people since 2020. This growth will not continue as we stabilize
> and make sure that new resources are delivering maximum impact for our
> mission. The Foundation’s approved budget represents a 17% increase, most
> of this is inflationary and other year-on-year costs. Funding to other
> movement entities (individual and affiliate) grew by 24% percent.
>
> While the annual plan is an important start, it does not address all of
> the significant strategic issues facing Wikimedia – none of which can be
> solved in a single year. Within the framework of our movement strategy and
> emerging charter, I plan to continue partnering with Foundation
> stakeholders and communities in co-planning approaches to tackle strategic
> issues that an annual plan cannot fully address. The Board of Trustees will
> help kick this off with strategic planning engagements at the board’s
> upcoming meeting in Berlin. This will be followed by important
> conversations about strategy implementation at the Wikimedia Summit
>  (returning for
> the first time since 2019).
>
> Priority 2: Leadership
>
> I highlighted in January that CEO transitions are disruptive for most
> organisations and change often continues after a new leader has arrived. I
> have been trying to build a broader leadership team at the Wikimedia
> Foundation as I focus on successfully onboarding new hires, investing
> more in internal talent management, undertaking succession planning for key
> roles, and providing stronger communications support for the Foundation’s
> senior team.
>
> Product/Technology
>
> My top priority when I joined was to actively step in and support the
> Foundation’s product and technology teams while we recruited executive
> leadership of these mission critical functions with a new Chief Product and
> Technology Officer. This goal has been achieved
> 
> as Selena Deckelmann is now officially on board at the Wikimedia
> Foundation after a successful nine-year career at Mozilla, most recently as
> the head of Firefox. She is reaching out to learn from