Minutes:2016-01-30
 | These are official minutes from a meeting of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. Please note that in the event of any differences in meaning or interpretation between the original English version of this content and a translation, the original English version takes precedence. |
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January 30, 2016
- Location: Web conference (Google Hangout)
- Board of Trustees present: Patricio Lorente (Chair), Alice Wiegand (Vice-Chair), Kelly Battles, Frieda Brioschi, Dariusz Jemielniak, Guy Kawasaki, María Sefidari, Denny Vrandečić.
- Non-Board members present a portion of the meeting: Lila Tretikov (Executive Director), Geoff Brigham (Secretary and General Counsel), Stephen LaPorte (Legal Counsel), Suzie Nussel (Strategy Consultant), and Steve Scheier (Wikimedia Foundation Consultant).
Patricio called to order a meeting of the Board of Trustees at 8:30 AM PST. Stephen called roll and confirmed that a quorum was present and able to simultaneously hear the meeting.
Housekeeping
- The Board approved the December 9, 2015 minutes, after a motion by Patricio seconded by Denny.
- The Board approved the December 28, 2015 minutes, after a motion by Patricio seconded by Alice.
- The Board appointed María to the Board, after a motion by Patricio seconded by Frieda.
- The Board appointed Kelly to the Audit Committee, after a motion by Denny seconded by Patricio.
- Stephen provided a brief review on an update to the Board Handbook. -Please note: Updated Board Handbook to be published soon.
Operational Updates
Lila provided a regular update on the financial operations of the Foundation. Lila reviewed the organization's spending and revenue, as well as editing and other traffic metrics. Lila highlighted some of the organization's recent work, including the Objective Revision Evaluation Service, the Wikipedia Android App, language engineering work, ongoing strategy discussions with the community, and the survey to Wikimedia users on civility issues.
Board selection process for Chapters and Thematic Organizations
Alice introduced the upcoming process for Chapters and Thematic Organizations to select two candidates for the Board. The Board discussed the potential role of user groups in this process without reaching a final conclusion.
Strategy update
Suzie Nussel joined for this portion of the meeting.
Lila reviewed the current strategy discussion. The framing is that Wikipedia will need to adapt to the changing needs of people around the world. The 2010 strategy process establishes some important goals for the Foundation's work. Since 2010, some emerging audiences and technologies have introduced new challenges and opportunities. Lila explained the three areas of the strategy: reach, community, and knowledge. The Board discussed the role of partnerships, as well as the aspect of trust on Wikipedia.
Lila asked the Board to discuss after the meeting the strategic questions that were posed to the Wikimedia community.
Role of the Board
Alice raised questions that reflected on the role of the Board of Trustees. The questions focused on the evaluation of the Board, the relationship between the Board and the Wikimedia community, the Board's communication patterns, and other topics. Other Board members shared their thoughts on responsibilities of the Board, methods of working together collaboratively, and other areas for improvement. Geoff suggested approaches to addressing these questions at a future meeting.
Human Resources Committee update
Steve Scheier joined for this portion of the meeting, and the Human Resources Committee provided an update to the Board.
Executive Session
All of the Foundation staff members were excused at this point in the meeting, and the Board held a confidential executive session. At the conclusion of the executive session, the meeting closed.