New CEO for WMF

[Poetlister]

Dear all,

I am pleased to announce that the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
has appointed Maryana Iskander as the new CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation [1] [2].

Since 2013, Maryana has served as the CEO of Harambee Youth Employment
Accelerator [3], a South African non-profit social enterprise focused on
building African solutions for the global challenge of youth unemployment.
Prior to this, she spent six years as Chief Operating Officer of Planned
Parenthood Federation of America [4], a volunteer-led social movement
focused on access to women’s healthcare. Maryana has also worked in
academia as the Advisor to the President of Rice University [5], an
international research university based in the United States.

Her professional career has been motivated by breaking down systemic
barriers, creating opportunities for collaborative solution-building, and
community empowerment. She has a proven track record for leading complex
organisations shaped by shared decision-making.

In looking for the next CEO, we on the Board convened a Transition
Committee [6], primarily to guide us in finding the right person for this
critical role and secondly to oversee the executive Transition Team. The
Transition Committee conducted a far-reaching and competitive global
search, receiving around 400 recommendations and speaking to about 50
potential candidates. Throughout this selection process, Maryana impressed
us as someone who is deeply inspired by the Wikimedia vision and who
embodies the values of equity and community that inform all Wikimedia work.
She has extensive leadership experience working with volunteer-led
initiatives and building partnerships across public, private and social
sectors. Maryana also brings expertise in technology-led innovation to
accelerate meaningful social change. She does this with a global
perspective: Maryana was born in the Middle East, educated in the United
States and the United Kingdom, and has spent the last decade living and
working on the African continent.

Maryana joins the Wikimedia Foundation at a crucial time. The movement is
larger than ever, and it has never been more relevant or more trusted. This
is an inflection point, as decisions need to be made to execute a shared
vision for where the Movement wants to be in 2030. We believe that Maryana
is the right person to help lead the Foundation at this moment.

As Maryana begins, her priorities will include supporting movement efforts
to implement the Wikimedia 2030 recommendations, such as the development of
a Movement Charter and the finalization of a Universal Code of Conduct. She
will continue the Foundation’s focus on knowledge equity and exploring ways
to address the gaps in content and the diversity of contributors to
Wikimedia projects. She will be supported by the Board in this journey.

Maryana will officially start at the Wikimedia Foundation on January 5,
2022, as she transitions from her current job. Until then, the Foundation
will continue to be led by the Transition Team, with guidance from the
Board. In my conversations with her, I have seen that Maryana is a fan of
direct communication and excited to learn from the movement. In the coming
weeks, she will share ways to connect. Please join me in welcoming Maryana
(CCed) to the Foundation!

PS. For translations of this message, or to help translate it into more
languages, please visit Meta-Wiki [7]

*[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/20 ... e-officer/
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/20 ... e-officer/>*

*[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryana_Iskander <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryana_Iskander> *

*[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harambee_ ... ccelerator
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harambee_ ... ccelerator>*

*[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood>*

*[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_University <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_University> *

*[6] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/R ... Team,_2021
<https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/R ... Team,_2021>

*[7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimed ... dation_CEO
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimed ... dation_CEO>*
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimed ... dation_CEO>

Best regards,
antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv
Acting Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees

[Poetlister]

As ever, Andreas hits the nail on the head.

Hi Maryana,

Welcome, great opening letter.

You mention that you want to do some of your own volunteer editing in the
months before you officially start, which is great.

Here is an idea: between now and then, tell absolutely no one what your
user account is called, and what articles, projects or language versions
you are working on. I think you might find the experience invaluable.

Good luck,

Andreas

Actually, she should have two accounts, only one of which is disclosed.

[Zoloft]

I read her opening statement here: link
     
Face to name:
     

     
Speaking of a previous job:

My job has been to cultivate a common space of trust for the collective assets of the society – from government, the private sector, civil society, and millions of young people – to work in a coalition to tackle one of the most daunting challenges of our time. To do this, we relied on an inclusive, multi-channel platform that leverages all forms of technology as a way to serve communities still riddled by a basic lack of access. Our successes came from the power of connection, partnership, and a collective belief that young people are the solution, not the problem.

     
*an attendee stands up in the back, waving a card and yells excitedly, "Bingo!"*
     
All humor aside, glad to see the WMF move further away from the Caucasus mountains with their CEO, and she's been a COO before, so she probably knows how to do the job.
     
But does she understand the true nature of the organization she has just signed on to lead?

[Poetlister]

But does she understand the true nature of the organization she has just signed on to lead?

Probably not. That's why Andreas' proposal that she tries editing anonymously for a while is sensible. After she gets blocked for annoying someone influential, she'll start to realise.

[No Ledge]

But does she understand the true nature of the organization she has just signed on to lead?

Does anybody?

Probably not. That's why Andreas' proposal that she tries editing anonymously for a while is sensible. After she gets blocked for annoying someone influential, she'll start to realise.

You're assuming that editors like me are part of the organization she has just signed on to lead. I'm not part of that organization. That organization consists of just a board of directors and their employees. I certainly don't understand them.

[AndyTheGrump]

If either the 'organisation', or the 'communities' that use their websites understand the true nature of either, it isn't in their best interests to say what they are, since both rely on myths about themselves to function.

[Vigilant]

If either the 'organisation', or the 'communities' that use their websites understand the true nature of either, it isn't in their best interests to say what they are, since both rely on myths about themselves to function.

Could either side really look at themselves objectively and still continue on with this toxic soup?

[MrErnie]

The WMF is a progressive social movement that exists mainly on the backs and in spite of white Anglo men who provide the service that the donors lavishly support.

How’s that for a mission statement ?

[AndyTheGrump]

I'm thinking about maybe writing a blog post about this whole 'movement' thing, since everyone throws the word around so much, but nobody involved seems to agree about what it is. See for example this recent discussion:

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Wikimedia movement (T-H-L)

[Poetlister]

ENWP is by far the highest profile and arguably the most important thing that the WMF has responsibility for. Its success and its public image are vital to the WMF. Surely it's important for the CEO to understand it.

[No Ledge]

I just learned about another interesting historical event that somehow hasn't gotten enough notice, at least in the US.

Maryana should channel Bertha Benz (T-H-L) to win the hearts and minds of Wikipedia's (male) editors. Sure, start out as an IP to learn the ropes – the syntax, the templates, the policies and guidelines, etc. Then, at the opportune moment, register an account and go on a high-profile test drive. Identify some needed improvements and suggest them.

Most importantly, show that you care about us and support us.

So, why isn't that biography a Good Article yet?

[Poetlister]

If she creates a WMF CEO account and starts pushing for change with it, the "community" would react with horror that the WMF is interfering. But an anonymous account doing that would be a good idea. For a start, she'd learn a lot about ENWP politics,

[No Ledge]

She should edit with her personal account, which, as with most editors could be named in a manner that didn't immediately "out" herself. But at the right time, after gaining community trust, identify herself.

She may not even have a (WMF) account until she's officially on the job.

[Beeblebrox]

I have to agree it would be a great idea for her to do that. She should do it with the mobile app if she really wants to see what a shitty job they did on that.

[Vigilant]

Her best bet would be to get an external forensic audit of the WMF for the last five years.

[Silent Editor]

No, she should have her spouse join us on Wikipediocracy.

[No Ledge]

Her best bet would be to get an external forensic audit of the WMF for the last five years.

The Tide's probably not going in the right direction for that.
I'm surprised Hollywood and the women in red haven't been onto this yet. Ford and GM declined sponsorship.

[Poetlister]

Wikipedia still has a moderator diversity problem. Its new chief wants to fix it.

Wikipedia’s longtime struggle to diversify the army of volunteer moderators who edit the site isn’t lost on the incoming CEO of its parent organization. In fact, Maryana Iskander, who I reported Tuesday was tapped to lead the Wikimedia Foundation come January, said addressing the issue is a key focus. Iskander, who currently runs a South African nonprofit dedicated to lowering youth unemployment, said equity is a topic near and dear to her heart — and to the principles of Wikimedia, which runs Wikipedia. “This is a movement that represents the full complexity of the human race,” Iskander told me during a video interview early Tuesday, as she beamed in from South Africa.

Washington Post

What do they mean by a "moderator"? It looks like they are referring to all editors, which is nonsense. Presumably there's a diversity problem among admins, but you can't prove that without asking all the admins to identify themselves.

[No Ledge]

Moderators are the editors who decide whether a source is "reliable" or not, whether a topic is notable or not, and whether an editor is "here to build an encyclopedia" or a sock puppet.

What are things you’d like to see improved about Wikimedia?
I think that trying to increase the diversity of who creates knowledge

Wikipedia editors do not "create" knowledge. Wikipedia:No original research (T-H-L) is an English Wikipedia policy.

If you want to increase the diversity of who creates knowledge, support independent media which isn't controlled by big corporations.

that's been the long priority of the movement and of the foundation

That's been the long priority of the movement and of the foundation
It's quite annoying to hear the Foundation speak for the "movement". Let the movement speak for itself. When was the last time you saw an RfC "How do we increase diversity"? What they're worried about is "how do we increase the number of new administrators".

[growing] the ecosystem of partners who are trying to achieve similar goals feel like important first areas.

It would be great to see you make Larry Sanger's Knowledge Standards Foundation part of your ecosystem of partners.

One major challenge for many tech companies right now is grappling with covid-19 misinformation. What do you see as the challenges of that, and how it might be better addressed?
[so we’ve] worked on a very productive partnership with the World Health Organization to provide additional credibility to that work

Does anybody know what she's talking about?

[Midsize Jake]

[so we’ve] worked on a very productive partnership with the World Health Organization to provide additional credibility to that work

Does anybody know what she's talking about?

I assume it's this deal, whereby the WHO is uploading a bunch of graphics and stuff to Commons so that the WHO won't have to build its own front-end to make them easily accessible, and the WMF benefits by having lots of press releases going out, saying it's at the forefront of combatting COVID misinformation.

[Poetlister]

Moderators are the editors who decide whether a source is "reliable" or not, whether a topic is notable or not, and whether an editor is "here to build an encyclopedia" or a sock puppet.

Ah, that means the self-appointed busybodies who haunt the drama boards and for example have decided that the Daily Mail should be deprecated while other British tabloids are fine.

[Poetlister]

She's been interviewed by the New York Times. Unsurprisingly, it's rather US-centred.

[Giraffe Stapler]

It's very bland interview, but it shows how quickly she got up to speed. (I'm assuming it was a phone interview, but it could very well have been a set of questions over email. If it was the latter, then the answers could have been written by staff.)

[Evangelical]

She's been interviewed by the New York Times. Unsurprisingly, it's rather US-centred.

For me, what’s been inspiring about this organization and these communities is that there are core pillars that were established on Day 1 in setting up Wikipedia. One of them is this idea of presenting information with a neutral point of view, and that neutrality requires understanding all sides and all perspectives.

I don't think that's quite accurate.

[Poetlister]

The nutshell description of WP:NPOV (T-H-L) is "Articles must not take sides, but should explain the sides, fairly and without editorial bias. This applies to both what you say and how you say it." But of course that's modified by WP:DUE (T-H-L), WP:BALASP (T-H-L) and WP:VALID (T-H-L).

[Giraffe Stapler]

I assumed that Evangelical was referring to the assertion that "here are core pillars that were established on Day 1". That isn't actually true, but I think it is understandable hyperbole. The "Five Pillars" of Wikipedia were established pretty early, but they definitely did not exist on day one.

Welcome to Wikipediocracy, Evangelical.

[Ryuichi]

I assumed it was a reference to the actuality of Wikipedia (editors and content), as opposed to stated goals.

[Poetlister]

I assumed that Evangelical was referring to the assertion that "here are core pillars that were established on Day 1". That isn't actually true, but I think it is understandable hyperbole. The "Five Pillars" of Wikipedia were established pretty early, but they definitely did not exist on day one.

I don't know if it's known exactly when the WP:NPOV page was created as the earliest edits have disappeared, but it can't have been very long after Wikipedia started.

[BrillLyle]

I have multiple concerns about this new CEO.

McKinsey is a very bad thing.

Most importantly: I don’t see established expertise in dealing with difficult communities or in problem-solving bloated ineffective non-profits.

She has no experience in knowledge information.

She is also a non-practicing lawyer, which is concerning.

Her resume and experience is quite thin.

It’s pretty clear she is not especially suitably equipped to fix the actual problems at WMF - or within the community.

This is another lamb to the slaughter situation. I’m sure she will give good press like Maher and beyond that will not be effective.

There are people out there with expertise in dealing with difficult online communities. And toxic leadership. But that’s not the priority esp by WMF. It would negatively impact those in charge. The leadership wouldn’t risk that. Risk their highly defensive positioning.

So more of the same.

Sigh.

[BrillLyle]

Actually, she should have two accounts, only one of which is disclosed.

This is a GREAT idea.

I would love to mentor her on editing methodologies. On contributing to existing pages and getting her edit count up to the point where she could try to create a page. And show her Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons.

I’ve done this before on a one-to-one basis. I’ve done this during editathons - and in follow ups after editathons. It takes a lot of time and energy but I think mentorship and skill-sharing is incredibly effective to cultivating new editors. Who might stay engaged despite the strategic challenges and toxicity. Maybe.

It would take hours over an extended period of time to onboard her. But I suspect like Maher and her “editing” it will only be a surface thing. So another CEO who doesn’t deep dive into the product they sell and fundraise upon. Which we all know is the primary function (fundraising), not knowing the nuts and bolts. Or community.

Until she sees what it’s like to edit any pages related to LGBT and/or feminism-related entries (outright hostility), until she witnesses the slap downs new and existing editors trying to add significant amounts of content go through, she’s not going to understand the issues.

And I doubt she will have a critical eye on the problematic grant funding, local chapters, and effed up S&S. Not sure if she will dip her toes into those areas, but that would be valuable as well.

Again, great idea.

[Vigilant]

That's a rather long winded way of saying "diversity hire".

[BrillLyle]

That's a rather long winded way of saying "diversity hire".

How else can this comment be taken except as sexist and awful?

Hiring a woman is not the issue.

Please do better. Shit like this is enraging. Unacceptable.

[Vigilant]

The last few CEOs have been women.

If any of them had been white men with the same resume, would any of them been hired?

I too find this situation an outrage. They should be finding more qualified people to helm such a project instead of taking the laziest way out and just checking the most Social Justice Warrior boxes and calling it a day.

We saw this a while ago with the Board elections and their 'metrics' bullshit.

They haven't had anyone even vaguely competent at the C-level since Lila and they slew that purple unicorn and drank its blood.

[Poetlister]

Wikipedia parent’s new CEO wants to make it more global

The non-profit that operates Wikipedia, one of the world’s most popular websites, has a new CEO, Maryana Iskander (and yes, she has a Wikipedia page). She’ll take over at the Wikimedia Foundation in January and says that her priorities are diversifying Wikipedia’s volunteer writers and editors and promoting the foundation’s mission of advocating for access to information.

Iskander’s background spans continents and fields. She has led South African non-profit Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, which focuses on helping young Africans find jobs, since 2013. She has also been COO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, worked at consulting firm McKinsey and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals. She recently talked with The Associated Press about her plans for the volunteer-managed online encyclopedia, which launched in 2001.

North State Journal

[Midsize Jake]

How else can this comment be taken except as sexist and awful?

Hiring a woman is not the issue.

I guess it might be taken as "racist and awful," since Ms. Iskander is a person of color. So yes, it would be better if he didn't use that term, but at the same time, I don't think it's unreasonable to suspect that the WMF has deliberately avoided hiring white men for their top job in the past. Whether that's a good thing in itself is obviously debatable, but it might also be reasonable to suspect that their goal there has been to indicate to the public (and, of course, potential donors) that they're a progressive organization, when they're really not. Their purpose is consolidation and control, not the empowerment of regular (or even irregular) people.

That said, the charitable way of looking at it might be to conclude that the WMF board (and/or whoever was doing the candidate search) wanted Ms. Iskander because she represents the idea that traditionally-held qualifications and requirements for jobs in the modern era are often completely at odds with what those jobs actually entail. That harkens back to the notion that one of the biggest barriers to Wikipedia recruitment is "the feeling of inadequacy." In other words, most people, being less narcissistic and power-hungry than the sort Wikipedia usually gets, don't think they have sufficient talent or education to write quality encyclopedia articles, so they don't register new accounts. That may be especially true in the Third World, where people have less access to educational opportunities, not to mention less access to the internet.
Whether or not hiring her will help in that regard is anyone's guess, but if I'm the one guessing I'm going to say "no." She's going to be saddled with too much WP-related baggage (and fundraising duties, obviously) to really make a difference in that regard, though she/they might at least try I suppose. We'll see what happens; who knows, maybe someday, someone will go back and look at this post and think I was actually right about something.

[Giraffe Stapler]

That's a rather long winded way of saying "diversity hire".

How else can this comment be taken except as sexist and awful?

Hiring a woman is not the issue.

Please do better. Shit like this is enraging. Unacceptable.

I agree.

Maryana Iskander seems to have the background and experience needed for this job. I'm not sure she's the person I would have chosen, but there is no question that she is qualified. Calling her a "diversity hire" is insulting and inaccurate.

[Vigilant]

I suspect my snark is being misunderstood.

I would prefer that the WMF would hire better qualified candidates instead of those who tick a bunch of boxes for the culture warriors inside the WMF and associated wikirati.

This recent hire has a very poor overlap between their skills and the underlying requirements for the position.

She has a very high overlap in her ethnicity, gender, background (global south) and the 'desirable' qualities elucidated in the most recent WMF Board of Trustees 'elections'.

Looking at the overall picture, it's fairly clear she was not hired due to her resume...
It's also fairly clear that if this person were a white male from the US, they wouldn't have been hired for this position...

[Vigilant]

Tech Tent - what next for Wikipedia?

But she said the foundation's first job was to protect the safety of its volunteers and the other key principle was transparency about how Wikipedia was run. She pointed to the way Wikipedia had handled the 2020 US elections as an example of its content being "transparent, verifiable and accurate".

That paragraph is not even remotely true in my experience.

[BrillLyle]

That harkens back to the notion that one of the biggest barriers to Wikipedia recruitment is "the feeling of inadequacy." In other words, most people, being less narcissistic and power-hungry than the sort Wikipedia usually gets, don't think they have sufficient talent or education to write quality encyclopedia articles, so they don't register new accounts. That may be especially true in the Third World, where people have less access to educational opportunities, not to mention less access to the internet.

I’ve never heard this theory about feeling inadequate being a barrier to Wikipedia editing. Seems a bit weird and inaccurate.

The fact is that having the luxury of free time to volunteer and contribute content is the issue in low and middle income countries, where free time, disposable free time, is rare. And for women who might work outside the home and then do the traditional cooking cleaning family maintenance and caretaking, their leisure time is even more constrained.

So I would argue it’s not feelings, it’s facts. If that makes sense.

But back to the new CEO, I did NOT know she’s not Connecticut white like Maher. Remember Maher had the whole Arab-friendly world stance in prior job or education experience, which had little to no impact on her ability to do the job at the end of the day. Though this new CEO has a pretty traditional upper class educational background etc.

This seems like especially calculated optics on the part of WMF. Sort of gross. And obviously setting this poor woman up to fail as I’m sure she doesn’t have an understanding of what a cesspool of nightmarishness she’s put herself into.

Whatever technical project she created and spearheaded is not going to equip her to effectively deal with the monster that is the Wiki world. It’s like a sliver of a behemoth. Nothing comparable, and if that was an argument for hiring her based on that contained job experience, well it’s really unfair to do to her.

In the NYT piece she seems like she’s already drunk the Kool-Aid and will spout the usual drivel in a fundraising focused way. Again, the WMF remit but nothing that will actually change anything for the community. Next case ten bucks. Same old same old.

She will espouse the general concepts but she’s obviously not a contributing editor and has no real understanding, no real work experience dealing with a toxic community, an ineffective nonprofit organization, and ongoing problems discussed here ad nauseum. She will focus on fundraising and will primarily focus on the bloated WMF.

I wonder if she will have final say on Global WMF bans like Maher did. Maher was the final decision on mine. Assume she will. How is she even qualified to make these types of decisions. She will probably rely on the yutzes in S&S. Continuing the problems there. Uggggh.

Bad times.

[tarantino]

She has a very high overlap in her ethnicity, gender, background (global south) and the 'desirable' qualities elucidated in the most recent WMF Board of Trustees 'elections'.

Her nationality is American, though, like three of the last four CEOs. The fourth is Canadian, which is almost the same.

[Moral Hazard]

On the contrary, the WMF have failed to promote diversity sufficiently.

To embrace equity and inclusion, the WMF needs to hire a BLT for CEO.

https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertain ... ck-lesbian

Director Terry Gilliam: I'm Now a Black Lesbian

"My name is Loretta and I’m a BLT, a black lesbian in transition"

“Comedy is not assembled: It’s not like putting together a boy band where you put together one of this, one of that [and] everyone is represented," the director said.

[Moral Hazard]

They haven't had anyone even vaguely competent at the C-level since Lila and they slew that purple unicorn and drank its blood.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=7419&p=176476&hili ... r.#p176476

The WMF and its post-Lila CEOs have been more cursed than Hogwarts's teachers of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.

A snapshot from a recent top meeting of the WMF leadership.

,

,

[Midsize Jake]

On the contrary, the WMF have failed to promote diversity sufficiently.

I think that's kind-of what he was saying, actually. Rather than really do something substantive and effective to bring in people outside of the white-male demographic to actually work on the encyclopedia-like website and related initiatives, they're just hiring a few people into high-visibility positions who aren't white males — and doing precious little else, at least in terms of things that might actually work at promoting diversity.

Of course, there are those who would claim that the WMF's action against a single male administrator for making wiki-life really unpleasant for a particular female user (who just happened to be married to the Chairperson of the WMF Board) would have fixed everything right up, nice 'n' proper, if it had only been allowed to stand. And who knows, maybe they're right? That approach worked pretty well for me back in High School, so... who knows.

Anyway, Mr. Vigilant would probably just as soon clarify the post in question himself, so please take what I've writter here with a grain of salt.

[Poetlister]

I’ve never heard this theory about feeling inadequate being a barrier to Wikipedia editing. Seems a bit weird and inaccurate.

There is no shortage of editors who obviously believe that they can write good-quality articles when it is clear that they can't. There is also an abundance of editors who are content to write rubbishy little stubs. Whether they think that's good enough or they believe that others will do the work to improve them I can't tell. But surely there must be some people who see relatively good, polished articles and assume that they would need to match that standard and doubt that they can.

[Giraffe Stapler]

This recent hire has a very poor overlap between their skills and the underlying requirements for the position.

She has a very high overlap in her ethnicity, gender, background (global south) and the 'desirable' qualities elucidated in the most recent WMF Board of Trustees 'elections'.

I think you're confusing what the WMF wants in a CEO and what people like you and I might want in a CEO. The WMF is continuing in the path they've been on for years now. Iskander is a good fit for that. I think Maher was a good fit for that. The fact that she is a woman and that she has a North African heritage is absolutely a plus for them. I can agree with you on that. Where we disagree is when it starts to sound like you are saying Iskander was only hired because of that.

I think it would have been a huge surprise if the WMF had hired a white male from the US as their CEO. That would have sent the wrong message to the people that they are trying to court. Can we agree that the WMF wasn't going to hire a white man from the US or someone who would manage the WMF as a tech company and just leave out the part where we knock down the person hired because they aren't any of those things?

[Poetlister]

From: Maryana Iskander <miskander@wikimedia.org>

Hi everyone - Thank you for the messages of welcome that I have received
since my announcement [1] last Tuesday as the incoming CEO of the Wikimedia
Foundation.

As I mentioned in my welcome letter below, I am officially joining in
January 2022 and would like to use the next few months for a “listening
tour” to help me do just that: listen and learn.

If you are interested in sharing, you can find details on Meta now [2]. I
welcome input from anyone who would like to share and look forward to
meeting some of you on the screen and maybe even in person!

Thank you,

Maryana

[1] *https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimed ... dation_CEO
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimed ... dation_CEO>*

[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimed ... ening_Tour

A listening tour. Excellent. Can we be included?

[Vigilant]

Can we agree that the WMF wasn't going to hire a white man from the US or someone who would manage the WMF as a tech company and just leave out the part where we knock down the person hired because they aren't any of those things?

The WMF is a few things:
* tech group poorly supporting a ton of legacy software
* tech group building crappy software to deepen the technical debt
* IT group poorly trying to keep a bunch of servers running
* excellent fundraising group
* a bunch of standard corporate glue pieces like HR, etc

She has absolutely no experience or expertise in any of these fields.

Can we agree that she was hired with none of these qualifications?
Can we agree that a male with her exact resume would not have been hired?
Can we agree that a white woman with her exact resume would not likely have been hired?

So, what was she hired for?

At what point does the term 'diversity hire' for Social Justice Warrior causes start to fit our Cinderella's foot?

[owl be it]

I'm not a warrior of any kind, but surely the CEO doesn't need to themselves be competent at every vital task in the organization.

If a city had a persistent problem with insufficient trash collection, for example, you wouldn't need to elect a mayor who had experience as a garbageman, just one who was capable of identifying good garbagemen and hiring them. Or perhaps the issue is that the garbagemen are being managed by idiots, in which case no amount of them will fix it, and you need a mayor who is capable of identifying bad foremen and firing them. Or maybe there is some other problem, like a lack of funds for fleet maintenance, or conflicting rules about where the trucks' routes should go, or maybe tons of time and effort and goodwill were spent on meaningless boondoggles like "TrashFlow", or maybe there are a bunch of useless contractors taking city money to run garbage trucks and setting big piles of it on fire in pagan rituals...

[BrillLyle]

A listening tour. Excellent. Can we be included?

Wouldn’t THAT be something.

I feel like even minimum engagement with this group would be very helpful to her. She should reach out here and offer to have at least one session with Wikipediocracy.

[BrillLyle]

I'm not a warrior of any kind, but surely the CEO doesn't need to themselves be competent at every vital task in the organization.

There’s understanding how the garbage system works and then there’s expertise in how large complex toxic volunteer communities - and the shite umbrella nonprofit system - work. Solutions to address declining editorship, toxicity, bad governorship, etc.

Again, there are people with expertise in fixing online communities. It’s not her. It’s not S&S.