I’m afraid that’s a distinction without a difference so far as conflict of interest is concerned.
Surely the board can’t have approved such a thing? Michael > On 23 Jun 2021, at 23:01, Maggie Dennis <mden...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > > Hello, all. > > I’m sorry for my lack of clarity! María is not Foundation staff. She is an > independent consultant. She did not discuss this role with me while she was > on the Board. She quite rightly would not. We talked about it after her > departure. > > Best regards, > Maggie > >> On Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 5:53 PM টিটো দত্ত Tito Dutta <trulyt...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> Greetings, >> This is an unfortunate situation. In general circumstances I would have been >> happy to see the addition. >> "to draw clear lines between staff and board members " — I think this has >> been a practice in different organisation. In a different organisation I >> have seen a director was disallowed to join as a consultant immediately >> after his disassociation. >> But do we have any documented Wikimedia policy that allows or prohibits such >> an appointment? It would be good to know about such guidelines. >> >> ইতি, >> টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta >> >> >> বৃহস্পতি, ২৪ জুন, ২০২১ তারিখে ৩:০৩ AM টায় এ Philip Kopetzky >> <philip.kopet...@gmail.com> লিখেছেন: >>> Hi Maggie, >>> >>> to be honest this is really difficult to understand. While the WMF, through >>> it's various committees, pushed affiliates to clearly draw the lines >>> between board and staff by introducing stringent governance measures (and >>> rightly so), which also include paragraphs about introducing a cooldown >>> period before switching between board and being employed by the same >>> organisation, the WMF is ignoring all of that governance advice it has >>> given over the last few years. >>> >>> I feel quite silly now having been on the simpleAPG committee for three >>> years and having advised affiliates who wanted to hire staff for the first >>> time to draw clear lines between staff and board members, to now have to >>> see this exact scenario I warned against play out at the WMF. Maria's >>> departure from the BoT, even before her tenure was over and subsequent >>> hiring really calls into question what the WMF thinks good governance >>> should look like, notwithstanding the fact that the BoT now has one >>> community elected seat less at a critical time in the strategy >>> implementation process. >>> >>> All in all I can only call for a governance overhaul at the WMF so that >>> murky situations like this don't happen again. >>> >>> Quite frustrated regards, >>> Philip >>> >>> >>>> On Wed, 23 Jun 2021 at 21:46, Maggie Dennis <mden...@wikimedia.org> wrote: >>>> Hello, all. :) >>>> >>>> I hope and trust that everyone is keeping well during these times! >>>> >>>> I’m Maggie Dennis, Vice President of the Community Resilience & >>>> Sustainability group of Wikimedia Foundation, within the Legal department. >>>> I wanted to announce with pleasure that Maria Sefidari has agreed to >>>> consult with the Foundation on Movement Strategy and the ongoing Board >>>> evolution for the upcoming year. Many of us know María from her role as >>>> the chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, from which she >>>> provided invaluable leadership in governance, oversight, and fundraising. >>>> Others may know her from her volunteer work as User:Raystorm, in which she >>>> has a broad range of experience. >>>> >>>> María, based in Spain, commenced her assignment with the Foundation this >>>> week. We intend to tap into her expertise and knowledge of the Foundation >>>> to support a successful implementation of the Movement’s Strategy and to >>>> tap into new opportunities. (With her Board work, she will be supporting >>>> Quim Gil’s team with the Board election and helping Margo Lee in improving >>>> onboarding, documentation practices, and training.) María will report to >>>> me as part of our Community Resilience & Sustainability group. I’m excited >>>> that she accepted our offer for a more hands-on assignment, particularly >>>> given how important all of the work she’ll be supporting is. :) With more >>>> than 15 years of Wikimedia experience, her contributions in the next phase >>>> will be a tremendous benefit to me and my team as we continue settling >>>> into our own work on Movement Strategy. >>>> >>>> Those of you who are involved with Movement Strategy are used to seeing >>>> her at related meetings and still will. :) I anticipate María will be >>>> joining one or more of the Movement Strategy global conversations this >>>> weekend. Advertisement alert: maybe you can, too? Here’s more detail! I >>>> myself will be attending at least one of those sessions and look forward >>>> to seeing some of you there. >>>> >>>> Warm regards, >>>> Maggie >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Maggie Dennis >>>> She/her/hers >>>> Vice President, Community Resilience & Sustainability >>>> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> 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 >>>> Public archives at >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/PFOBFWCBFACRGY3OMXAQG54ALPXGT3K3/ >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 >>> Public archives at >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/4V5RUB237FID73UVOWLEYDBHY3SOETM3/ >>> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/4RSIKRLLUJA5IM6O4EUTIPIDD2CQEHZ4/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org > > > -- > Maggie Dennis > She/her/hers > Vice President, Community Resilience & Sustainability > Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. > _______________________________________________ > 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 > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/J64DDVROTHHRDK7HRL4W2D6WZ6WZN3LT/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
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