[Wikimedia-l] Katherine Maher is now CEO and ED of the Wikimedia Foundation

[María Sefidari-2]

Dear all,

When the Wikimedia Foundation was first established, the head of the
organization was assigned the title of Executive Director (ED). In the US,
this is the standard title for non-profit leaders, and made sense for the
organization at the time.

This week, at our Board meeting, we made a decision to change to this
convention. We resolved to change Katherine Maher’s title to Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director. She retains the title of
Executive Director, and is also now the CEO of the Foundation. She can use
either, or both, titles to describe her position.

This was an easy decision to make, for a number of reasons.

As our movement has grown in the world, we’ve found that the title of ED is
not as easily understood outside the United States. As a Board with many
non-US people, many of us already used the term CEO to describe Katherine’s
responsibilities. While still an English-language term, it is a very common
term for many global organizations.

The CEO title is increasingly common in US non-profits as well, especially
larger ones. This is increasingly considered best practice, as a way to
communicate that the work of non-profit organizations is as serious,
complex, and worthy of respect as that of for-profit organizations. For
example, Creative Commons, one of our closest allies, uses the title of CEO.

As the Foundation already uses the convention of “chief officer” for the
leaders of its internal departments (Chief Financial Officer, Chief
Technology Officer), it also makes sense. An executive director would be
the most senior director, whereas a chief executive officer is the most
senior of the officers.

The Board’s Human Resources Committee recommended this change and reviewed
the details. As this is an update to Katherine’s title, and not a change in
her duties as an officer, it does not require an update to the Bylaws or a
wider consultation.

The Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees is very supportive of this
change, as we believe this title better reflects the scope of Katherine’s
duties over Executive Director alone. This will better support her work
with global partners and leaders around the world, helping to share our
vision and supporting the strategic direction of Wikimedia in new markets.
Katherine’s job is not changing in any other sense.

Kind regards,

María

--

María Sefidari Huici

Chair of the Board

Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
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[Pine W]

Maria,

Thanks for the explanation. I think that people would have asked questions
if no one explained the change. I for one usually appreciate communication
happening sooner rather than later.

Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
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[Philippe Beaudette-4]

This is a common sense, reasonable update.  Nice work. :)

On Fri, Feb 1, 2019 at 10:21 AM María Sefidari <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> When the Wikimedia Foundation was first established, the head of the
> organization was assigned the title of Executive Director (ED). In the US,
> this is the standard title for non-profit leaders, and made sense for the
> organization at the time.
>
> This week, at our Board meeting, we made a decision to change to this
> convention. We resolved to change Katherine Maher’s title to Chief
> Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director. She retains the title of
> Executive Director, and is also now the CEO of the Foundation. She can use
> either, or both, titles to describe her position.
>
> This was an easy decision to make, for a number of reasons.
>
> As our movement has grown in the world, we’ve found that the title of ED is
> not as easily understood outside the United States. As a Board with many
> non-US people, many of us already used the term CEO to describe Katherine’s
> responsibilities. While still an English-language term, it is a very common
> term for many global organizations.
>
> The CEO title is increasingly common in US non-profits as well, especially
> larger ones. This is increasingly considered best practice, as a way to
> communicate that the work of non-profit organizations is as serious,
> complex, and worthy of respect as that of for-profit organizations. For
> example, Creative Commons, one of our closest allies, uses the title of
> CEO.
>
> As the Foundation already uses the convention of “chief officer” for the
> leaders of its internal departments (Chief Financial Officer, Chief
> Technology Officer), it also makes sense. An executive director would be
> the most senior director, whereas a chief executive officer is the most
> senior of the officers.
>
> The Board’s Human Resources Committee recommended this change and reviewed
> the details. As this is an update to Katherine’s title, and not a change in
> her duties as an officer, it does not require an update to the Bylaws or a
> wider consultation.
>
> The Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees is very supportive of this
> change, as we believe this title better reflects the scope of Katherine’s
> duties over Executive Director alone. This will better support her work
> with global partners and leaders around the world, helping to share our
> vision and supporting the strategic direction of Wikimedia in new markets.
> Katherine’s job is not changing in any other sense.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> María
>
> --
>
> María Sefidari Huici
>
> Chair of the Board
>
> Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: [hidden email]
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[Info WorldUniversity]

Congratulations, Katherine!

Regards, Scott
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Scott_WorldUnivAndSch -


On Fri, Feb 1, 2019 at 1:44 PM Philippe Beaudette <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> This is a common sense, reasonable update.  Nice work. :)
>
> On Fri, Feb 1, 2019 at 10:21 AM María Sefidari <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> > When the Wikimedia Foundation was first established, the head of the
> > organization was assigned the title of Executive Director (ED). In the
> US,
> > this is the standard title for non-profit leaders, and made sense for the
> > organization at the time.
> >
> > This week, at our Board meeting, we made a decision to change to this
> > convention. We resolved to change Katherine Maher’s title to Chief
> > Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director. She retains the title of
> > Executive Director, and is also now the CEO of the Foundation. She can
> use
> > either, or both, titles to describe her position.
> >
> > This was an easy decision to make, for a number of reasons.
> >
> > As our movement has grown in the world, we’ve found that the title of ED
> is
> > not as easily understood outside the United States. As a Board with many
> > non-US people, many of us already used the term CEO to describe
> Katherine’s
> > responsibilities. While still an English-language term, it is a very
> common
> > term for many global organizations.
> >
> > The CEO title is increasingly common in US non-profits as well,
> especially
> > larger ones. This is increasingly considered best practice, as a way to
> > communicate that the work of non-profit organizations is as serious,
> > complex, and worthy of respect as that of for-profit organizations. For
> > example, Creative Commons, one of our closest allies, uses the title of
> > CEO.
> >
> > As the Foundation already uses the convention of “chief officer” for the
> > leaders of its internal departments (Chief Financial Officer, Chief
> > Technology Officer), it also makes sense. An executive director would be
> > the most senior director, whereas a chief executive officer is the most
> > senior of the officers.
> >
> > The Board’s Human Resources Committee recommended this change and
> reviewed
> > the details. As this is an update to Katherine’s title, and not a change
> in
> > her duties as an officer, it does not require an update to the Bylaws or
> a
> > wider consultation.
> >
> > The Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees is very supportive of this
> > change, as we believe this title better reflects the scope of Katherine’s
> > duties over Executive Director alone. This will better support her work
> > with global partners and leaders around the world, helping to share our
> > vision and supporting the strategic direction of Wikimedia in new
> markets.
> > Katherine’s job is not changing in any other sense.
> >
> > Kind regards,
> >
> > María
> >
> > --
> >
> > María Sefidari Huici
> >
> > Chair of the Board
> >
> > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > New messages to: [hidden email]
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > <mailto:[hidden email]?subject=unsubscribe>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: [hidden email]
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--

--
- Scott MacLeod - Founder & President
- https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch
- World University and School
- http://worlduniversityandschool.org
- http://scottmacleod.com

- CC World University and School - like CC Wikipedia with best STEM-centric
CC OpenCourseWare - incorporated as a nonprofit university and school in
California, and is a U.S. 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization.
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