Wikimedia Foundation Board Governance Committee/Agenda 2012-2013/Appointed seats

Announcement to community and Advisory Board

see http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2013-February/123987.html

Hi everyone,

as you know, we have one vacant appointed seat on the Board of Trustees. We have asked m/Oppenheim Associates to assist us in finding a new board member and and we are reaching out to the community for suggestions and nominations.

The Board functions as a governance body that is ultimately responsible for the Wikimedia Foundation and its activities, supervises the disposition and solicitation of donations, and evaluates the organization’s Executive Director who leads all Foundation staff. As arguably the most influential and respected organization in the free knowledge movement, the Wikimedia Foundation and its Board have a great responsibility for setting policy deliberately and with due consideration for the diverse interests of a truly global community. To find out more about the responsibilities and workings of the board you can have a look at the Board manual.

As with any search process we will be communicating with a lot of potential candidates to see if we are a good match. The Board’s objective is to use this search to strengthen its competence with regards to board governance, grantmaking, strategy, and expertise with regions where Wikimedia is trying to make rapid strides in the growth of our projects.

Board terms are for a two year period. Compared to other boards the time commitment is very significant. The Board of Trustees meets four times a year, twice in San Francisco and twice in changing locations around the globe. Meetings take two days and travel can add another two days to each meeting. In addition, the Board communicates frequently by email and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) as it navigates policy issues. This can absorb 4-10 hours weekly. Board members also regularly engage with the Community through wiki pages.

We think that the WMF would benefit from a Board member who has experience with organizations that have grown and evolved rapidly, and who understands how boards can evolve to provide appropriate governance support in these changing circumstances. Experience with international, community-driven, consensus organizations is also important as the Foundation would not exist without the community.

We would like to call upon you to help us out with finding the right individual. A complete position description can be found here and additional information can be found at www.moppenheim.com and www.wikimediafoundation.org. Your suggestions and nominations are very welcome. Please feel free to reach out to your networks and distribute this note as you deem appropriate.

Interested individuals should contact Lisa Grossman lisag@moppenheim.com