Double joy. On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 4:57 PM, Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig < mfitzh...@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> This is great! Welcome Kui and Heather Congrats! I am excited about the > direction the team is taking and look forward to working with you both! > > MFC:) > > > -- > ---- > Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig > Wordsmith | Communications > Wikimedia Foundation > 1 Montgomery St., Suite #1600 > San Francisco, CA 94104 > *mfitzh...@wikimedia.org <mfitzh...@wikimedia.org>* > > > > On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 12:58 PM, Katherine Maher <kma...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > > > Hi everyone, > > > > I am excited to share with you all the results of our search for > permanent > > leadership of the Wikimedia Foundation's Communications department. > > > > Our own Heather Walls will transition from interim Chief of > Communications > > to leading the department full-time, in the newly created role of Chief > > Creative Officer. She will be joined by a new Vice President of > > Communications, Kui Kinyanjui, who will join us from her home in Nairobi, > > Kenya in early March. Please join me in congratulating Heather and > > welcoming Kui! > > > > *The new roles* > > > > As Chief Creative Officer, Heather will remain at the Leadership team, > > with responsibility for the Communications department operations, and a > > mandate that focuses on helping people better understand our values and > > mission through our brand. She will oversee the organization and > movement’s > > voice, tone, and visual assets, and how they are incorporated into > > everything from our recent awareness videos to our press statements. What > > do we sound and look like? How do you feel when you interact with us, as > an > > editor, a reader, a donor? How do we spread and share our values? She > will > > be responsible for new and creative initiatives that seek to expand the > way > > people think about Wikipedia and Wikimedia, not only as an encyclopedia > but > > an essential part of the way we understand the world. > > > > As Vice President of Communications, Kui will report directly to Heather > > and oversee our traditional and digital communications efforts. She will > be > > responsible for our overall media positioning and coverage, critical > issue > > management (also known as crisis communications), extending our digital > > media strategy, products, and presence, and supporting organizational > > leadership, such as myself, the Leadership team, and the Board, with > > effective and clear public communications. Kui also brings new and > valuable > > skills that we’re sure to appreciate: first, a background in internal > > communications, which should help with improved information flows in our > > ever-more distributed organization, as well as a deep background in > > communications, campaigns, and marketing for emerging markets -- sure to > be > > a critical skill for our efforts around improving awareness about > Wikimedia > > in places where we want to reach more people. > > > > *About Heather Walls* > > > > Since joining the Foundation in 2011, Heather has been a driving force in > > our creative and brand efforts at the Foundation. Under her stewardship, > > the Foundation has dramatically reduced barriers to community usage of > the > > trademarks under our care while also helping increase consistency in > their > > usage. A member of the team before Communications was its own department, > > Heather was one of the first people I met and worked with when I joined > as > > Chief Communications Officer. She graciously stepped in as leader of the > > department when I transitioned to Executive Director and has since grown > > into the role while making it her own. During that time, she has helped > > find the organization's place in the growing social media channels, > > modernized the Foundation’s brand, bringing it into greater alignment > with > > our movement's values and workflows, and overseen pioneering > > community-supported awareness campaigns. > > > > Prior to joining the Foundation, Heather worked in design roles at > > organizations across California, Massachusetts, and the Midwest. She > > developed a special collections room and exhibit for California Academy > of > > Sciences, and her work has been included in Architectural Record and > > exhibited at Harvard as well as Detroit and New York. > > > > *About Kui Kinyanjui* > > > > Kui will join the Foundation in March after concluding her current > > position as Head of Corporate Communications for Safaricom Limited in > > Kenya. Safaricom is one of the leading mobile network operators in > Africa, > > and one of Kenya’s leading companies, providing mobile and banking > services > > to more than 28 million Kenyans. She brings deep communications skills, > an > > incredible wealth of knowledge around emerging markets, and a passion for > > our efforts to reach beyond English-speaking audiences in our > organization > > and movement communications. > > > > Kui is from Nairobi, Kenya. Her background is as a journalist and has > > worked for Business Daily and other platforms within Nation Media Group > > (the largest independent media organization in Eastern and Central > Africa), > > PC World, EA Magazine, Executive Magazine in Kenya, and 360 Magazine in > > Washington, DC. She has also worked in communications for IBM, Ogilvy PR > > Worldwide, and Media Moguls. Kui will be relocating from Nairobi to the > San > > Francisco Bay Area in the summer of 2018. > > > > *How this came about* > > > > This outcome may come as a surprise after we began an external search for > > a Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (CMCO), but like many > > surprises, this outcome feels entirely obvious in retrospect. Heather and > > Kui have essential skills and experiences that are highly complementary > and > > will serve to elevate and push the work of both the Communications > > department and the Foundation overall. We will retain an accomplished and > > intuitive advocate for our mission, community, and identity in Heather > > while welcoming Kui’s fresh perspective and powerful communications skill > > set. > > > > The evolution of my thinking, and this decision, was not hasty. Over the > > process of looking for a CMCO, we conducted a long and thorough search > with > > an external firm Chaloner Associates. We reviewed applications from more > > than 1200 applicants, from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences, and > > brought three people through to the final rounds. While all of this was > > going on, the Communications department was also undergoing a deep > > consultation on its immediate and future needs, led by Heather, and with > > the support of an external expert, Sabrina Hersi Issa. > > > > Over six months of the search and consultation, a few things became > clear. > > The first was that Heather was doing a great job as interim chief. The > > department was producing excellent results, and the team was small but > > strong, united under Heather’s leadership. Her contributions to movement > > strategy and the Leadership team were pragmatic and valuable. She has an > > astute but understated understanding of how Wikimedia should speak, > sound, > > and appear to many different audiences. Her knowledge of the community > was > > borne out of hard-won experience over many years, with the ability to > push > > when we need pushing, while never losing sight of who we are. > > > > The second was that we absolutely needed and wanted new skills and > > experiences in service of our mission. We needed someone with deep > > experience in traditional communications areas, from public relations to > > internal communications. We wanted someone with experience in traditional > > marketing and product marketing. The Communications team members who > worked > > in these areas were looking for someone to learn from, a strong manager > and > > mentor with a breadth and depth of experience. We were also committed to > > finding someone who had worked serving audiences we still struggle to > > reach. We wanted someone who would bring a fresh voice, an understanding > of > > emerging markets, and practical experience outside our current > > competencies. > > > > Kui and Heather together bring the best of both worlds. Creative and > > communications, deep experience, fresh perspective, and a strong sense of > > our mission and community. Together, they will work in the year to come > to > > develop a plan for staffing our growing marketing efforts. > > > > *Next steps* > > > > We will be sharing this information publicly on the blog closer to Kui's > > start in March, but I wanted to share this news with you all as soon as > > possible. I want to offer my appreciation to hiring committee for their > > dedication through the process, and insights that led to this surprising > > and exciting outcome. Thank you Anna Stillwell, Joady Lohr, Zack McCune, > > Juliet Barbara, and Mel Kramer, Amy Segelin of Chaloner Associates, the > > travel team for getting Kui to San Francisco, and of course, Liz Verlade > > for ensuring it all come together. > > > > Again, please join me in congratulating Heather and welcoming Kui! > > > > Cheers, > > Katherine > > > > -- > > Katherine Maher > > > > Executive Director > > Wikimedia Foundation > > > > 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600 > > San Francisco, CA 94104 > > > > +1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635 <(415)%20839-6885> > > +1 (415) 712 4873 <(415)%20712-4873> > > kma...@wikimedia.org > > https://annual.wikimedia.org > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Katherine Maher > > > > Executive Director > > Wikimedia Foundation > > > > 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600 > > San Francisco, CA 94104 > > > > +1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635 <(415)%20839-6885> > > +1 (415) 712 4873 <(415)%20712-4873> > > kma...@wikimedia.org > > https://annual.wikimedia.org > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wmfall mailing list > > wmf...@lists.wikimedia.org > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wmfall > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
