Resolution: Resolution: Postponement of Community Selection of Trustees and Extension of Community Selected Trustee Terms until next selection process
 | This proposal has been approved by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. It may not be circumvented, eroded, or ignored by Wikimedia Foundation officers or staff nor local policies of any Wikimedia project. 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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| This resolution was approved on April 21, 2020. |
Whereas, the regular three-year cycle of community selection to fill three seats on the Board of Trustees is currently scheduled for April–June 2020;
Whereas, the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic has created an unprecedented burden on the Wikimedia communities and the Wikimedia Foundation;
Whereas, that burden limits the ability of all stakeholders, including potential trustee candidates, community voters, the Elections Committee, the Board of Trustees, and Foundation staff, to participate in the process for the community selection of trustees;
Whereas, it is in the interest of the community selection process and of the Board of Trustees to ensure that the process selects from a wide a pool of qualified, diverse candidates as possible, and that requires that many people are able to participate;
Whereas, the terms for the three Trustees currently occupying the seats subject to the community selection process expire on September 1; and
Whereas, it is in the interest of the Board of Trustees and the Wikimedia Foundation for all seats on the Board to be occupied;
Now, therefore, it is:
RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees will postpone the planned community selection of trustees;
RESOLVED that the community selection of trustees will resume as soon as practicable, and no later than the end of the Foundation's 2020-2021 fiscal year;
RESOLVED that the terms of the three trustees in the seats to be filled through the community selection process (María Sefidari, Dariusz Jemielniak, and James Heilman) are extended as needed through the postponement period, until such time as the Board appoints community-selected candidates for their seats; and
RESOLVED that the Board Governance Committee is charged with developing a recommendation for proceeding with a community selection process as soon as practicable, including any required changes to the Bylaws by June 30, 2020.
- Approve
- Nataliia Tymkiv (Vice Chair), Raju Narisetti, Esra'a Al Shafei, Jimmy Wales, Tanya Capuano, Lisa Lewin, Shani Evenstein
- Abstain
- Dariusz Jemielniak, James Heilman
- Not Present
- María Sefidari (Chair)
References
- Bylaws Article IV, Section 3
- Resolution:Appointing María Sefidari to WMF Board (August 10, 2017)
- Resolution:Appointing Dariusz Jemielniak to WMF Board (August 10, 2017)
- Resolution:Appointing James Heilman to WMF Board (August 10, 2017)