Fantastic stuff! Welcome Kui and congrats Heather. On Wed, Jan 10, 2018 at 6:56 AM, Katy Love <kl...@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Wonderful to hear this. > > Big congratulations, Heather--we're lucky to have you stay in the C-suite > with your voice and vision! > > And a warm welcome to you, Kui. I look forward to meeting you and working > together. > > Katy > > 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 >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Wmfall mailing list > wmf...@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wmfall > > -- *Jack Rabah* Head of Strategic Partnerships - Middle East & Africa *Wikimedia Foundation* m. +962-7777-07745 Amman - Jordan (GMT+3) Skype: Jack.M.Rabah www.wikimediafoundation.org _______________________________________________ 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>
