Dear all,
First of all -- Happy Wikipedia Day to all of us today! <3 Even if not all
of us are Wikipedians, the launch of Wikipedia on January 15, 2001, started
something precious for all of us.
And now to regular business --
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees met virtually for their final
meeting of 2023 on December 6. Two members of the Movement Charter Drafting
Committee (MCDC) – Risker and Daria Cybulska – joined as Board visitors as
we have done in the past for Board meetings. The outcomes were briefly
reported at the Open Conversation with the Trustees on December 7, and here
is a letter with more details and corresponding links.
== Board Business ==
This Board meeting contained several administrative actions, including
officially appointing Kathy Collins
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/kathy-collins/> to the Board,
which was announced back in November [1]. Kathy has replaced Tanya Capuano
as Audit Committee Chair. I would like to thank Tanya for her service on
the Board. Tanya has served as the Audit Chair for several years, and the
Board is fortunate that she will stay on as an Advisor to the Audit
Committee.
Each December, the Board approves its committee assignments for the
following year. You can see the new committee membership here [2]. Most of
the work of the Board is done via its committees, so these are important
assignments. We have also published the Board committee updates, which you
can read here [3]. In addition, the Board approved the August meeting
minutes [4].
== Foundation Updates ==
The Board received brief updates from Wikimedia Foundation staff, including
information on the ongoing Big English fundraising campaign and a recap of
the Foundation’s first quarter progress towards the goals set out in the Annual
Plan
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024>.
You can read more about the campaign here
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fundraising/2023_banners#Campaign_update>.
The Board meeting concluded with an executive session.
== Affiliations Committee Update ==
I would also like to provide an update related to the Affiliations
Committee (AffCom). The Community Affairs Committee (CAC) has appointed
Mike Peel as a Board Liaison to AffCom to replace Shani Evenstein Sigalov.
The Board Liaisons to AffCom are now Mike Peel, Nataliia Tymkiv, and
Lorenzo Losa.
In October, AffCom announced a call for volunteers
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Candidates/2023>
for the committee. AffCom received over thirty candidate applications,
which the Foundation staff vetted, conducting trust and safety checks. The
Board Liaisons, staff, and AffCom members not running this time, have been
interviewing candidates, including AffCom members who wish to renew their
terms, over the last few weeks. It is encouraging to see this level of
interest in joining AffCom, and with the large number of candidates, the
process has taken longer than was initially planned. Due to this, the CAC
has granted the current AffCom members' term a short extension until
February 29, 2024 (or until their replacements are appointed, whichever
comes first).
== Open Conversation with Trustees ==
On December 7, the CAC hosted an Open Conversation with the Trustees I
mentioned above. You can watch the recording [5] of the meeting or read the
notes [6].
[1]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/YXZED5QJFQHJ6CIBA6NRRIQSVUFXX7EU/
[2] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Committee_Membership,_2023
[3]
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes,_2023-08-15#Committee_updates
[4] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes,_2023-08-15
[5] Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCQwwNiIkW0
[6] Notes
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-12-07_Conversation_with_Trustees
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!*
First of all -- Happy Wikipedia Day to all of us today! <3 Even if not all
of us are Wikipedians, the launch of Wikipedia on January 15, 2001, started
something precious for all of us.
And now to regular business --
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees met virtually for their final
meeting of 2023 on December 6. Two members of the Movement Charter Drafting
Committee (MCDC) – Risker and Daria Cybulska – joined as Board visitors as
we have done in the past for Board meetings. The outcomes were briefly
reported at the Open Conversation with the Trustees on December 7, and here
is a letter with more details and corresponding links.
== Board Business ==
This Board meeting contained several administrative actions, including
officially appointing Kathy Collins
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/kathy-collins/> to the Board,
which was announced back in November [1]. Kathy has replaced Tanya Capuano
as Audit Committee Chair. I would like to thank Tanya for her service on
the Board. Tanya has served as the Audit Chair for several years, and the
Board is fortunate that she will stay on as an Advisor to the Audit
Committee.
Each December, the Board approves its committee assignments for the
following year. You can see the new committee membership here [2]. Most of
the work of the Board is done via its committees, so these are important
assignments. We have also published the Board committee updates, which you
can read here [3]. In addition, the Board approved the August meeting
minutes [4].
== Foundation Updates ==
The Board received brief updates from Wikimedia Foundation staff, including
information on the ongoing Big English fundraising campaign and a recap of
the Foundation’s first quarter progress towards the goals set out in the Annual
Plan
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024>.
You can read more about the campaign here
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fundraising/2023_banners#Campaign_update>.
The Board meeting concluded with an executive session.
== Affiliations Committee Update ==
I would also like to provide an update related to the Affiliations
Committee (AffCom). The Community Affairs Committee (CAC) has appointed
Mike Peel as a Board Liaison to AffCom to replace Shani Evenstein Sigalov.
The Board Liaisons to AffCom are now Mike Peel, Nataliia Tymkiv, and
Lorenzo Losa.
In October, AffCom announced a call for volunteers
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Candidates/2023>
for the committee. AffCom received over thirty candidate applications,
which the Foundation staff vetted, conducting trust and safety checks. The
Board Liaisons, staff, and AffCom members not running this time, have been
interviewing candidates, including AffCom members who wish to renew their
terms, over the last few weeks. It is encouraging to see this level of
interest in joining AffCom, and with the large number of candidates, the
process has taken longer than was initially planned. Due to this, the CAC
has granted the current AffCom members' term a short extension until
February 29, 2024 (or until their replacements are appointed, whichever
comes first).
== Open Conversation with Trustees ==
On December 7, the CAC hosted an Open Conversation with the Trustees I
mentioned above. You can watch the recording [5] of the meeting or read the
notes [6].
[1]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/YXZED5QJFQHJ6CIBA6NRRIQSVUFXX7EU/
[2] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Committee_Membership,_2023
[3]
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes,_2023-08-15#Committee_updates
[4] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes,_2023-08-15
[5] Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCQwwNiIkW0
[6] Notes
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-12-07_Conversation_with_Trustees
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!*