Anasuya - I think you know that I adore you - and I am truly sad to see you go.
I look forward to seeing you around online - and hope to see you at Wikimanias - but your impact has been immense and you will be missed. :( -greg aka varnent > On 19 Feb, 2015, at 5:20 PM, Anasuya Sengupta <asengu...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > Dear friends and colleagues, fellow adventurers on the Wikimedia journey - > > Goodbyes are overrated.[1] But since I’m sure this will be au revoir, I’ll > continue: I am leaving the Foundation as head of the Grantmaking > department, at the end of March. This was not an easy decision to make; > this is not an easy email to write. > > As some of you know, I have been battling health issues over the past few > months. I’ve learnt sharp and intimate truths about myself as I’ve worked > to get better, and what I’ve kept coming back to is the compassionate but > fierce feminist slogan around self-care and sustainability: ‘what’s the > point of the revolution if we can’t dance?’[2] To reassure you all, I will > be well,[3] but I need a little time and space to focus on getting my > dancing legs strong again. > > That said, I am pleased that we have a really solid plan in place as I > leave. As Lila’s email announced, Luis Villa (our current Deputy General > Counsel) will be taking over the team effective immediately, and leading > the organisation further in our support of Wikimedia communities worldwide. > Luis brings with him a range of skills and qualities that I know will stand > him, the team, and the movement in wonderful stead through it all. As a > friend and colleague, I am so delighted to be supporting Luis through the > next few weeks of transition. > > I joined the Foundation in July 2012 to oversee and implement the FDC > process. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of creating and leading a > department of more than twenty remarkable and passionate people who care > about our mission, our communities, and the resources needed to match the > two. > > We went from Asaf managing a small grants portfolio on his own, ably > supported on occasion by Winifred, to a fully fledged grantmaking > department with a spectrum of monetary and non-monetary resources. We have > been able to offer these in different ways to different parts of our > movement: to individual volunteers with great ideas in need of project > management, to small groups experimenting with new initiatives, and to > established organisations who form critical content and policy partnerships > in their local contexts. We built an infrastructure for understanding our > collective impact. We learned together about what our different communities > are doing globally, about the successes and challenges we have, and above > all: about how we can, together, create a more powerful set of outcomes for > free knowledge. > > In doing so, I’ve had the joy of discovery,[4] of learning from and with > some of the most dedicated volunteers in the world, who believe that > knowledge matters. Most importantly, that it’s not only free knowledge > _for_ all that we seek, but even more critically, that we believe in > knowledge _from_ and _with_ all. > > And I’ve discovered that the nerdy, geeky, obsessed-with-data part of me > found a home in this extraordinary universe, where everybody’s “unimaginable, > magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds” can find expression.[5] I > look forward to the day when my worlds find more space on Wikipedia, when > 80% of the globe is represented by far more than 20% of the edits, when > much more than 15% of our contributors can self-identify as women. Till > then, I’ll keep fighting notability one article at a time...[6] > > So thank you for sharing your worlds with me, and no thanks for turning me > into an obsessive Wikimedian. :-) As I have learnt with you, I know I have > done so with trust, and as I have challenged you, I hope I have done so > with respect. I look forward to continuing our friendships and obsessions > on a wiki near you. > > With appreciation and gratitude, > > Anasuya > > p.s. You can find me in the future at my enWP user page (User:Anasuyas > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Anasuyas) or (dare I say it) on > Facebook. Longer diatribes on liff, the universe and everything can be sent > to anasuyaATsanmathi.org > > [1] Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Chapter 8) > > [2] Urgent Action Fund, a funder of women’s human rights defenders, has > this book on sustainability: > http://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/WTPR-Final-Book.pdf > > [3] And look forward to dancing together on the beaches of a future > Wikimania… > > [4] Sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelievable, sometimes somewhat > insane; but yes mostly, generous beyond belief, and always, joyous. :-) > > [5] More Neil Gaiman, from The Sandman: > https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sandman#A_Game_of_You > > [6] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Key_theme_-_Global_South,_WMF_Metrics_Meeting_February_2015.pdf&page=20 > Ask Florence (User:Anthere) for _that_ story! > > > On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Lila Tretikov <l...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > >> >> Dear Wikimedians, >> >> Among the WMF’s top priorities for 2015 is strengthening our engagement >> with Wikimedia editors and volunteers. Today we are taking the first step >> by bringing together the people who know our communities best and asking >> them to break barriers and improve engagement. Everyone at the WMF who >> carries responsibilities directly related to the communities will join a >> new Community Engagement department. >> >> I have asked Luis Villa to lead the Community Engagement organization as >> the Senior Director of Community Engagement, reporting to me. Promoting >> from within the WMF for this critical role will allow us to leverage the >> knowledge and experience with our communities and reinforce the strengths >> of our people. >> >> Luis’s experience with communities is lengthy and deep. He has been >> involved in open communities since the late 1990s, from communities as >> small as the Lego Mindstorms hackers to those as large as Mozilla. He >> worked in open communities as a lawyer, a programmer, a bugmaster, an >> engineering lead, a community leader, and a board member. Luis has >> performed exceptionally within the Foundation and supported some of our >> most fruitful community engagements. The Grantmaking, L&E, Education, >> Community Advocacy and Community Liaisons teams will join the new Community >> Engagement department [2] under his leadership. >> >> Unfortunately, Anasuya Sengupta -- our beloved leader of grantmaking -- >> will be leaving us due to personal health concerns at the end of March. We >> will invite you soon to celebrate her time with us, her work at the WMF and >> the deep insight she brought to the Foundation. We are saddened to see her >> go. The team she has nurtured will provide an important foundation for our >> upcoming work. >> >> Siko Bouterse will move up to lead the day-to-day work of the Grantmaking >> team as Director of Community Resources, supervising all department Grant >> programs and the Global South strategy. Siko has been instrumental in >> innovating programs at the WMF, including initiatives like the Teahouse[1] >> and the IdeaLab[2] combining vision with strong support for volunteer >> community, tough decision making, and great project management skills. >> >> These changes are an opportunity to improve the coordination of our work >> supporting the communities. To accelerate this, I have asked Luis to lead >> an internal “tiger” team to better understand the needs, concerns and >> priorities of our volunteers, and to develop recommendations for future >> programs. This work will be shared with all of you as it becomes available. >> >> Please join me in congratulating Luis and Siko and in supporting our >> teams. The Wikimedia communities are what makes the projects strong, >> unique, and irreplaceable. This is the next step forward in our support to >> them, and in service of our mission. >> >> >> ~~~~Lila >> >> >> >> [1] As Director of Community Resources, Siko will oversee the IdeaLab, >> Annual Plan Grants, Project and Event Grants, and Travel and Participation >> Support. Her team will include Katy Love, Winifred Olliff, Alex Wang, >> Janice Tud, Jonathan Morgan, and Asaf Bartov. Asaf will also take on a new >> title as Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities. >> >> [2] Rachel DiCerbo, Philippe Beaudette, Siko, and Anasuya’s other direct >> reports, and their respective teams (CL, CA, and Grantmaking/GLEE) will >> report to Luis. The Engineering Community team will be part of the tiger >> team but will continue to report to Engineering. >> >> [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Teahouse >> >> [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately >> directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia >> community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l >> _______________________________________________ >> WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list >> wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l >> >> > > > -- > > > *Anasuya SenguptaSenior Director of GrantmakingWikimedia Foundation* > > Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in > the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! > Support Wikimedia <https://donate.wikimedia.org/> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
