Dear Abraham, it is wonderful to have you in the movement; thank you as ever for all of your inspiration and support, and the work you have done + enabled in others.
> Wikimedia is one of the strongest and last-standing proponents of the free and open internet, Just so. Let us make sure it continues to be a support and model for future proponents as well. And to Christian, wishing you congratulations and success. --SJ On Mon, May 31, 2021 at 1:03 PM Abraham Taherivand < abraham.taheriv...@wikimedia.de> wrote: > Dear Wikimedians, > > > As you know, today is my last day as the Executive Director of Wikimedia > Deutschland. > > > What an incredible journey it has been. When I started in 2012, I couldn’t > have even dreamed of all the things I would experience, what I would do, > whom I would meet, where I would go, and what I would learn. And then it > all turned out to be even more intense, more magical, and more fulfilling > than I had thought or could have imagined in my boldest dreams. > > > In 2012, when Pavel Richter brought me into the organisation to build up > the Wikidata team and to bootstrap the project together with Denny > Vrandečić, I already had a slight notion that something huge that was about > to emerge; “Wikidata, the next big thing” still echoes in my ears today. > The vision of this free and open knowledge base excited and inspired me > from day one. It was an honour for me to establish the initial Wikidata > team and later to build the software development department at Wikimedia > Deutschland. I could really follow my passion to bring people together, > empowering them, promoting their strengths and challenging them to be > innovative, to try new things off the beaten track. > > > Then in 2016, a whole new phase began when I was appointed as Executive > Director. Over these four and a half years, Wikimedia Deutschland has grown > considerably: our staff has doubled to 150 and we now have over 85,000 > members. Together with a large and successful community, we work as a > strong and respected partner together with educational and cultural > institutions, politics, media and digital civil society to liberate > knowledge. Alongside these audience groups in Germany, the Wikimedia > Movement - you! - has always been one of the most exciting and relevant > stakeholders. I am therefore particularly pleased that we and our members > unanimously decided in 2017 to support the 2030 Strategic Direction and its > implementation, that we were able to play a strong role in the development > of the recommendations, and that we are now continuing to pursue the > implementation with all our might. > > > I have had the great privilege of getting to know and learning from many > of you personally. The vast array of experience that Wikimedians bring to > the Movement, the rich ideas, and the people at the heart of it all are > truly extraordinary. In each Wikimedian I’ve met, I’ve felt the passion for > the overarching theme of our common vision. The spark in your eyes when you > start speaking about your favourite topics, be it the encyclopedia, > technology, governance, photos, food, commas, fondue, karaoke – it’s > impressive and a memory that I am glad will remain with me forever. What > each of you bring to this Movement is inspiring and truly special - and > that’s what makes this movement more than the sum of its parts. > > > It never gets boring in the wikiverse. There is always something new > coming along, be it in movement strategy, in our programs, or in how we > work together and grow our reach. At times, it can take awhile to get > things done. But that is often because we want to make sure everyone has a > say and has the opportunity to shape how we do things. It is a testament to > the respect Wikimedians have for each other and each other’s perspectives. > Wikimedians are very thoughtful: we take care of each other and treat each > other's needs and opinions as one of the highest goods. > > > Wikimedia is one of the strongest and last-standing proponents of the free > and open internet, one that continues to work toward making digital society > better for the sake of humanity. > > > Don’t give up this fight, don’t lose hope, be bold, unite – the world > needs you! > > > Yours sincerely, > > Abraham > > > > -- > > Geschäftsführender Vorstand / Executive Director > > Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin > Tel. (030) 219 158 26-0 > http://wikimedia.de > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266
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