Florence Nibart Devouard is on the Wikimedia Foundation board. She talks about building in diversity.

She begins by giving a history of the foundation. Wikipedia started in January 2001. The Wikimedia Foundation began in the middle of 2003. She gives a detailed and interesting history.

Resolutions, she explains, need at least two members to approve the draft before it get svoted on. All is done in public.

The Foundation’s original mission statement says it’s about encouraging “the growth and development of open content, wiki-based, and multilingual projects.” It is not Wikipedia-specific. She points to other ways of putting it. E.g., “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.” (She accompanies this with a photo of Jimmy Wales as a Jedi Knight.)

The board needs to see the big picture, in addition to specific expertise.

Issues: The organization is US-based but the community is international. The projects are run by voluneers. The organization does not own the content. Solutions: Balance appointed vs. elected board members to make sure that there are enough people who get the big picture. Set up an advisory board. And organize meetings all over the world.

There are also educational issues: The number of contacts to the outside world, other than Jimmy. Limited reporting overall. Only one board meeting in 2006. Solutions: Organize real life meetings, seek help from professionals or academics, study other orgs, require an annual survey by each board member, and require reports from committees.

Third issues: Being a team. Don’t allow a single personality to dominate the board, as happens now. Not all members participate equally. Solution: Expand the board with active members. Term limits. Hire a CEO. Set up committees. Have a conflict-of-interest policy. Share the workload.

fourth: Avoid win-lose situations. The chapters now are not branches but part of a federated oragnization. They don’t have the right to use the logos.

Where to go? Partnering? Does the Foundation lead, create, push, and/or support initiatives?

She ends by pointing to three editors who died recently because we should remain who makes Wikipedia.

[How many organizations are this forthright and transparent?] [Tags: wikimania2006 florence_nibart_devouard wikimedia]

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