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Dear all, I am writing to you from Kyiv to follow up on the announcement made by the Elections Committee on 21 August, and to share the list of candidates for the 2025 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election. The voting period will be open from October 8 - October 23 and we hope that everyone who can vote will do so: you can check your voter eligibility here <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2025/Voter_eligibility_guidelines> . Based on the process outlined below, including mutual discussions with candidates about their own wishes to advance further in the process, the Board has unanimously decided that four candidates will be on the ballot for the 2025 elections: Bobby Shabangu, James Alexander, Michał Buczyński, and Wojciech Pędzich. We encourage all other 8 eligible candidates who submitted their candidacies this year to consider participating in future Board elections or for other leadership and governance positions in the movement. One goal of the Board is to develop these leaders for our movement, including growing future Trustees, by identifying opportunities for all volunteers who put their names forward for this and prior board elections. The steps we took to improve our processes <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Board_of_Trustees_Candidate_Review_Process> this year were based on more consistency and standardisation between how all candidates are seated irrespective of their pathway to joining the board (e.g., community-and-affiliate selected and board-selected). As in past years, this included background checks, media checks, reference checks, and an interview with members of the Board’s Governance Committee, but this year this was all done before the voting. The interview for any candidate joining the Board is used to assess more subjective criteria like a candidate’s judgment, discernment, discretion, and ability to engage in the duties and requirements of being a Trustee, some of which can be complex and difficult to measure. These conversations typically cover topics like conflicts of interest, fiduciary obligations of Trustees, a track record of commitment to Wikimedia’s core principles and values (e.g., upholding NPOV, managing COIs, etc.), as well as a candidate’s understanding of the Board’s Code of Conduct <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Code_of_Conduct_of_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees> and other governance policies, and what these policies require of Trustees. This is based on best practices and process improvements as well as the increased stakes of achieving our mission now and into the future. Now more than ever, the Foundation needs a strongly unified board committed to collective decision-making responsibilities that can help steer the organisation and our movement through difficult global headwinds, and also at a time in which we will have leadership transitions in both the Board Chair and CEO roles. This year, these steps were taken ahead of the community voting instead of after. This change will ensure that all candidates on the ballot are ready and able to be seated. It also helps avoid a situation where the Board is unable to implement the outcome following the community vote. At the end of the voting period on October 23, following the results and scrutiny of the vote, the Board will vote to appoint the final two candidates at the December 2025 Board meeting. The process steps here explain how we arrived at this decision, including subjective assessments true for any selection process. Our decisions relate entirely to the factors listed above. We invite your questions on the talk page <https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/October_2025_update> of this message on Meta, and are always available for conversations with anyone who would like to speak with Foundation Trustees and executives through the Let’s Talk initiative (sign up here on Meta <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/Let%27s_Talk>). Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees *NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!*
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