Hi all, It seems two extra characters made their way into the end of the Wikimedia Space link. Here is the correct link, in case you’d like to leave your question there: https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/wikimedia-foundation-chief-of-community-engagement-to-leave-the-foundation/2194 <https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/wikimedia-foundation-chief-of-community-engagement-to-leave-the-foundation/2194>
Thanks, Elena -- Elena Lappen (she/her) Community Relations Specialist Wikimedia Foundation > On Nov 15, 2019, at 3:36 PM, Katherine Maher <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello everyone, > > I am writing to let you know that Val D’Costa, Chief Community Engagement > Officer, is leaving the Wikimedia Foundation. I also want to share some > changes we’re making around how the Foundation organizes staff in the > Community Engagement department. > > Val joined us last January, bringing nearly three decades of experience > launching and growing international initiatives in emerging markets. With > the Wikimedia 2030 movement strategy as a guide, Val and her team drafted > an ambitious new vision for the work of Community Engagement—focused on > decentralization of power and resources, safe and welcoming spaces, > equitable collaboration, increased language and cultural fluency, dedicated > programs for groups such as women and young people, and expansive > partnerships in service of free knowledge. > > With this vision in hand, Val and I both see this as the right juncture for > her to move on to her next professional challenge. While she will be > leaving the position of Chief of Community Engagement, she will remain on > as a consultant to me for a brief period. > > I am deeply appreciative of Val’s time with us at the Foundation and want > to thank her for the contributions she has made to the Wikimedia movement. > She has been a passionate and persuasive advocate for our mission and > pushed us to expand our vision of what could be possible for our movement. > I wish her the absolute best in what she does next. > > *== What comes next for Community Engagement ==* > > I'll be direct -- we are making changes to the CE department structure. > > We will not be starting a search for a new Chief of Community Engagement. > Instead, over the course of the next few weeks, the seven teams currently > within the Community Engagement (CE) department will be integrated into the > Foundation’s other departments. By January, all of the teams will have > joined their new departments, and “Community Engagement” will no longer be > a standalone department. > > The teams currently in CE will be integrated with other Foundation > departments aligned with executive leadership goals and based on their > scope and focus, as well as how they might grow in the future. Some of > these alignments are intuitive, such as Trust & Safety returning to the > Legal department; others might not be immediately apparent. > > *== What does this mean for your work? ==* > > Although we have a good sense of which teams will integrate with which > departments, we are still meeting with the individual teams to work on the > specific details of the transition. Our focus is on continuity for existing > community programs and support for Foundation staff in making this change. > You may hear from staff seeking input on those arrangements, and I want to > thank you in advance for any feedback you may have. > > We expect to wrap up these conversations in early December, to begin > transitions in mid-December, and for the transitions to be completed by the > beginning of January, at which point we’ll be able to share an overview of > the new arrangements in full. > > The work of the Community Engagement teams will remain the same throughout > this period of transition. For example, if you need something from Trust & > Safety or Community Resources, they’ll continue to be here to work with > you. If you have a project or program underway with a CE team or staff > member, that work will also continue. If you have any questions, please > feel free to reach out to Greg Varnum at [email protected] or leave > your question in Wikimedia Space [1] and we’ll make sure we find an answer > to your question. > > *== Why are we making this change? ==* > > The Community Engagement department has grown and evolved since it was > created in 2015. We have brought in people with an increasingly diverse set > of skills and backgrounds and introduced new support for additional > languages, geographies, and areas of work, such as community health. > > While this has helped the Foundation come a long way in addressing the > needs of the movement, it has also created complexity. The breadth of > activities and competencies now supported by the department is quite > large—today, we have people working on issues as diverse as GLAM collection > management, participatory grantmaking, and contributor safety—and > increasingly, across many geographies, cultures, and languages. > > This has created challenges for how we effectively coordinate such a range > of specializations, how we assess their efficacy and impact against our > mission. At the same time, as the Foundation has grown, we have developed > capacities in other departments who will be good partners to those serving > our community mission. > > In making these changes, we see an opportunity to align the functions of > the Foundation with the future of the mission and movement, and better > serve long-time contributors and emerging communities alike. Over time, we > anticipate these new arrangements will deepen the understanding of > community efforts among all Foundation staff and programs, integrate > community perspective across program design and support, and open up space > for bold and fresh thinking about how to move our movement forward. > > *== What about the future? ==* > > Some people may be wondering, what does this mean for the proposed work in > the Annual or Medium Term plans, or the planned restructure of the > Community Engagement department to a new regional approach? > > We remain fully committed to the work and goals of the Medium Term Plan. > For example, although Val was not able to attend Indaba to celebrate with > the African community, our COO and Deputy General Counsel, Janeen Uzzell > and Tony Sebro, both attended. > > The planned restructure and expansion of CE was intended to help us support > the community in achieving these goals. This includes the MTP’s focus on > building a thriving movement, increasing community health and diversity, > and growing among new languages, regions, and audiences. We set these goals > as part of our interpretation of the Movement Strategy, and they will > remain our focus for the medium term. > > I still believe we need to make many of these changes, as well as be > prepared for further changes that may arise from the recommendations of the > Movement Strategy Working Groups. We see a future that could include > improved regional support, and expanded programmatic support for emerging > communities, whether those are new languages, geographies, or areas of > practice. > > However, we are putting those plans on hold for the next few weeks, while > we focus is on supporting the existing teams through this transition. I > want us to make sure that goes well, before turning our attention to the > future. That said, I fully expect to resume work on how we expand our > support for these critical new areas in the first quarter of the new > calendar year. > > == Final thoughts == > > I want to be absolutely clear that these changes are in no way an > indication that the Foundation is decreasing our commitment to support for > the movement. I hope you see how this offers an opportunity to do the exact > opposite—to set us up to support the movement in the best way we can. > > For those with an interest in Wikimedia history, it’s worth noting that the > Foundation has taken many different shapes over the years. In 2014, teams > focused on community support were embedded in other departments. At the > time, we were much smaller, and our ability to truly engage with the full > breadth of the movement was more limited. In 2019, the community engagement > teams are better resourced, more global, and more representative of the > movement (although there’s always space for continued improvement). > > We see this as the right moment to integrate the perspectives, experiences, > and skills of these teams across the Foundation, ensuring that support for > the movement is woven into all the Foundation’s work. As Wikimedians, we > know change is a constant—and it is through change that we often do our > best work, solve our hardest problems, and find our new path forward. Thank > you in advance as we take this next step to support the future of our > movement. > > Sincerely, > Katherine > > [1] > https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/wikimedia-foundation-chief-of-community-engagement-to-leave-the-foundation/2194-- > > Katherine Maher (she/her) > > Executive Director > > Wikimedia Foundation <https://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: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ 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: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
