Maryana, much appreciated! Craig Newmark, craigslist founder craignewmarkphilanthropies.org
On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 9:53 AM Maryana Iskander <miskan...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. You > can help with more languages. > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/Nine_month_update> > > > > Hi everyone, > > > > I’ve started my ninth official month as CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation. > Based on feedback from this list and elsewhere, I am trying to proactively > communicate every few months on my priorities and what I continue to learn. > > > > I regularly return to the five ‘puzzles’ > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour/The_Puzzles> > I identified in my original letter to you. For me, these continue to pose > big questions about our role in the world and our ways of working with each > other. I’ve mentioned that one highlight of the year so far has been > bringing colleagues together – volunteers, editors, affiliates, Foundation > staff, board members – to reconnect at a human level. Many of you have > shared with me the need for more spaces that can help us build (and > rebuild) relationships and trust. > > > > As more communities return to in-person events, I have benefitted from > spending time with volunteers at WikiCon Brasil and at the Wikimania meetup > hosted in Cape Town. I look forward to participating in-person and > virtually at many more regional gatherings in the months ahead. > > > > I am writing today to provide you with an update on the three priorities I > identified in January. > > Priority 1: Strategy and Planning > > My first priority remains focused on strategy and planning. In June, we > shared the successful adoption of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Annual Plan > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2022-2023>. > It is now anchored in the strategic direction of our movement – knowledge > equity and knowledge as a service – and it identifies the Foundation’s > strengthened focus on regions and on projects. This plan benefited from the > contributions and feedback of hundreds of volunteers who provided input > on-wiki and through other multilingual channels of communication. We’ll > share updates on progress before the end of the calendar year on the Annual > Plan meta page and in other forums. Our intention is to continue asking for > guidance and input from volunteers, affiliates, and communities. > > I mentioned in my April message that the Wikimedia Foundation has grown > very rapidly over the past 3 years as part of its medium term plan – > increasing > its budget by more than 30% in the past year with the addition of more than > 200 new people since 2020. This growth will not continue as we stabilize > and make sure that new resources are delivering maximum impact for our > mission. The Foundation’s approved budget represents a 17% increase, most > of this is inflationary and other year-on-year costs. Funding to other > movement entities (individual and affiliate) grew by 24% percent. > > While the annual plan is an important start, it does not address all of > the significant strategic issues facing Wikimedia – none of which can be > solved in a single year. Within the framework of our movement strategy and > emerging charter, I plan to continue partnering with Foundation > stakeholders and communities in co-planning approaches to tackle strategic > issues that an annual plan cannot fully address. The Board of Trustees will > help kick this off with strategic planning engagements at the board’s > upcoming meeting in Berlin. This will be followed by important > conversations about strategy implementation at the Wikimedia Summit > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Summit_2022> (returning for > the first time since 2019). > > Priority 2: Leadership > > I highlighted in January that CEO transitions are disruptive for most > organisations and change often continues after a new leader has arrived. I > have been trying to build a broader leadership team at the Wikimedia > Foundation as I focus on successfully onboarding new hires, investing > more in internal talent management, undertaking succession planning for key > roles, and providing stronger communications support for the Foundation’s > senior team. > > Product/Technology > > My top priority when I joined was to actively step in and support the > Foundation’s product and technology teams while we recruited executive > leadership of these mission critical functions with a new Chief Product and > Technology Officer. This goal has been achieved > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2022/06/13/wikimedia-foundation-welcomes-selena-deckelmann/> > as Selena Deckelmann is now officially on board at the Wikimedia > Foundation after a successful nine-year career at Mozilla, most recently as > the head of Firefox. She is reaching out to learn from our technical > contributors and volunteers, and can be contacted directly at > sdeckelm...@wikimedia.org. > > Advancement > > Having assessed the Wikimedia Foundation’s leadership structure, I have > decided not to create or resurrect any additional C-level roles at this > time. Instead, we will add more organization-wide responsibilities to > existing leadership roles in order to increase accountability, improve > coordination, and reduce silos. I am pleased to share that Lisa Gruwell ( > lgruw...@wikimedia.org) will assume additional responsibilities as a > Deputy to the CEO while also remaining the Chief Advancement Officer. I > believe this will provide the Foundation with further leadership > stability as well as provide important institutional memory given Lisa’s > 12+ years of Wikimedia experience. > > In that time, Lisa has delivered an unparalleled track record of results > throughout every chapter of the Foundation’s history since its inception. > She has supported communities around the globe and engaged allies in > embracing the vision of Wikimedia. Lisa is always looking to the future and > asking how we can deepen the impact of our work. She often channels the > voices of our contributors, readers and donors – I have seen firsthand how > deeply Lisa cares about this mission and the people who make it possible > from those at the Foundation, in our movement, and around the world. > > Legal > > Working closely with General Counsel Amanda Keton, we recently appointed > Stephen > LaPorte (slapo...@wikimedia.org) as Deputy General Counsel. This is a key > role that the Foundation’s legal team has had for several years. In > addition to leading the Legal Affairs and Public Policy teams for the last > decade, Stephen has built a track record of effective partnership with > communities to support our technical aspirations, while seeing around the > corners of the policy landscape to protect and expand free knowledge. We > will all benefit from Stephen’s experience and wisdom in this role. > > Communications > > The Foundation’s communications department is led by Vice President Anusha > Alikhan (aalik...@wikimedia.org) to support strategic efforts for > external, movement, and Foundation audiences. Anusha joined Wikimedia in > 2019 from the Knight Foundation and has prior experience as a freelance > journalist, editor and lawyer. Her leadership of the communications team > recognizes > Anusha’s capabilities as a consummate communications professional, her > embodiment of Wikimedia’s values, and her unwavering commitment to equity > and inclusion. > > Finance & Administration > > Jaime Villagomez (jvillago...@wikimedia.org) remains our Chief Financial > Officer, very capably overseeing the Foundation’s finance and > administration teams to steward our finances, strengthen the operational > infrastructure of our movement, and enable the Foundation to better meet > its strategic objectives. > > Talent & Culture > > Alongside an experienced team of leaders, I am temporarily heading up our > Talent & Culture department in order to learn more about what is needed at > this time – I plan to make further leadership decisions by the end of the > year. > > Chief of Staff > > Finally, I have redefined the Chief of Staff role to support the broader > organization and movement, not only the CEO. Communicating regularly and > effectively, not just to relay information but to create shared > understanding across diverse stakeholders, is one of the most important > capabilities we need at the Foundation, and this role is intended to help > us all. Nadee Gunasena (ngunas...@wikimedia.org) recently became Chief of > Staff after four years of executive communications support at the Wikimedia > Foundation. Many of you may already know Nadee as someone who stands ready > to help affiliates and community members with communications and other > needs. > > Priority 3: Values and Culture > > Strategy, planning and leadership are necessary ingredients for success. > My experience has taught me that values and culture often matter more. I > have been on a journey seeking to understand how the Wikimedia > Foundation’s organizational values > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Values> are lived > in practice. And how values can clarify what others should expect of us. > This feels like an important question now, especially given how much has > changed at the Foundation since these were first penned in 2016. We are > beginning those conversations between now and December following input from > employee > groups, our Board of Trustees, as well as data from a recent all-staff > survey. I am always interested to hear from others who also think about > values and how they shape organizational culture and performance. > > I haven’t stopped asking for time to keep learning from all of you - thank > you to those who have reached out for more conversations and to share > perspectives. I can always be reached directly at miskan...@wikimedia.org > . > > > > Maryana > > > > Maryana Iskander > > Wikimedia Foundation CEO > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ZC4R63OMDY6IVGHEZFFBBTOOM4O7O7X5/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
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