Changes

'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principle place of business in [[San Francisco, California]].  It operates several online collaborative wiki projects including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikimedia Commons]], [[Wikispecies]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikiversity]], Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, [[Wikidata]], [[Wikivoyage]], and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia.  Its Executive Director is Russian-born Lila Tretikov.

[[File:Wikimania 2016 - Board discussions 1 Transparency & Communication 03.jpg|thumb|right|This rag tag group is the Wikimedia Foundation Board that met in 2016 in a small town in Italy to discuss transparency and communication.  The Foundation funded all Board members' travel to Italy.]]'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principle place of business in [[San Francisco, California]].  It operates several online collaborative wiki projects including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikimedia Commons]], [[Wikispecies]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikiversity]], Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, [[Wikidata]], [[Wikivoyage]], and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia.  Its Executive Director is Katherine Maher.

==History==

==History==

===Tretikov Administration===

===Tretikov Administration===

In March 2013, Executive Director Sue Gardner announced that she would leave,<ref name=bizinsider/><ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/The_search_for_our_next_Executive_Director Retrieved June 16, 2014.</ref> and an extensive search did not produce a satisfactory candidate.  After a second search, Lila Tretikov was selected as Gardner's replacement, and she took office on June 2, 2014.  The WMF appointed a transition team to assist her in learning her new role, and there was a three week transition period following the announcement of her selection.  Tretikov and Will Sinclair are raising a child together, out of wedlock.  Both Tretikov and Sinclair attempted to become emersed in Wikipedia culture, and Sinclair quickly found his way to the noted criticism website [[Wikipediocracy]], where he registered an account.  On May 30-June 1, 2014, the WMF sponsored a conference called "WikiConference USA" at the [[New York Law School]] which welcomed everyone to attend including "the curious, the skeptical, and others wishing to engage in meaningful conversation about the Wikimedia movement in the United States."<ref>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/WikiCon_USA_2014_Press_Release_v1.pdf Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref>  However, the afternoon before the conference began, Greg Kohs who had proposed to give a presentation on "paid editing" had his registration cancelled and was told not to attend.<ref>http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/06/02/wikiconference-usa-bans-critic-from-open-meeting/ Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> Sinclair defended Kohs' right to attend and started a [http://wllm.com/ blog] and an [http://www.change.org/petitions/wikipedia-make-wikipedia-conferences-truly-open-to-all-by-allowing-greg-kohs-to-attend online petition] to advocate these views.  He also expressed his views on a WMF listserv.  In response, the WMF insiders turned vicious and openly suggested that Tretikov should break up their family and leave Sinclair because of his support for Kohs.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo#Regarding_the_nauseating_and_cowardly_remarks_made_by_Wikiconference_USA_attendees</ref>  On June 15, Sinclair announced on Mr. Wales talk page that he would no longer participate on Wikipediocracy.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=612984072&oldid=612983354 June 15, 2014.</ref>  Efforts to get Mr. Wales to clarify why Kohs was banned from the conference were met with censorship.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=613156950&oldid=613156824 June 16, 2014.</ref>

In March 2013, Executive Director Sue Gardner announced that she would leave,<ref name=bizinsider/><ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/The_search_for_our_next_Executive_Director Retrieved June 16, 2014.</ref> and an extensive search did not produce a satisfactory candidate.  After a second search, Russian-born Lila Tretikov was selected as Gardner's replacement, and she took office on June 2, 2014.  The WMF appointed a transition team to assist her in learning her new role, and there was a three week transition period following the announcement of her selection.  Tretikov and Will Sinclair are raising a child together, out of wedlock.  Both Tretikov and Sinclair attempted to become emersed in Wikipedia culture, and Sinclair quickly found his way to the noted criticism website [[Wikipediocracy]], where he registered an account.  On May 30-June 1, 2014, the WMF sponsored a conference called "WikiConference USA" at the [[New York Law School]] which welcomed everyone to attend including "the curious, the skeptical, and others wishing to engage in meaningful conversation about the Wikimedia movement in the United States."<ref>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/WikiCon_USA_2014_Press_Release_v1.pdf Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref>  However, the afternoon before the conference began, Greg Kohs who had proposed to give a presentation on "paid editing" had his registration cancelled and was told not to attend.<ref>http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/06/02/wikiconference-usa-bans-critic-from-open-meeting/ Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> Sinclair defended Kohs' right to attend and started a [http://wllm.com/ blog] and an [http://www.change.org/petitions/wikipedia-make-wikipedia-conferences-truly-open-to-all-by-allowing-greg-kohs-to-attend online petition] to advocate these views.  He also expressed his views on a WMF listserv.  In response, the WMF insiders turned vicious and openly suggested that Tretikov should break up their family and leave Sinclair because of his support for Kohs.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo#Regarding_the_nauseating_and_cowardly_remarks_made_by_Wikiconference_USA_attendees</ref>  On June 15, Sinclair announced on Mr. Wales talk page that he would no longer participate on Wikipediocracy.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=612984072&oldid=612983354 June 15, 2014.</ref>  Efforts to get Mr. Wales to clarify why Kohs was banned from the conference were met with censorship.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=613156950&oldid=613156824 June 16, 2014.</ref>

Sinclair later in 2014 started his own "Off-Wiki" Wikipedia criticism site.

Sinclair later in 2014 started his own "Off-Wiki" Wikipedia criticism site.

In 2015, Tretikov reorganized the staff and launched a secret project to develop a "Knowledge Engine" which some planning documents said would compete with [[Google]] as a means of searching sources beyond the WMF projects.  Tretikov applied for a grant of $2 million per year over three years from the Knight Foundation, but only received a one-time $250,000 grant to explore the concept.  In July 2015, James Heilman, MD was elected to the WMF Board by the editing community. Heilman brought staff dissatisfaction with Tretikov's leadership to the Board and pressed for more information on the Knowledge Engine and the Knight Foundation grant.  In November 2015, the WMF Board reaffirmed its support of Tretikov's leadership and retained a management consultant to mentor her.  On December 28, 2015, on the eve of two members leaving the Board, the Board held an emergency meeting and removed Heilman from the WMF Board by a vote of 8 to 2.  The Community responded to his dismissal by pressing for the release of the Knowledge Engine grant application resulting in a public apology from Tretikov for pushing the project without first gaining consensus.  In addition, a number of senior WMF staff (including Deputy Director Erik Möller) departed, some making critical public remarks as they left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2016/02/26/unicorns-are-a-myth-lila-tretikov-resigns-as-wikimedia-foundation-executive-director/#comment-44801|title=Unicorns are a Myth: Lila Tretikov resigns as Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director|date=Feb. 26, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref>

In 2015, Tretikov reorganized the staff and launched a secret project to develop a "Knowledge Engine" which some planning documents said would compete with [[Google]] as a means of searching sources beyond the WMF projects.  Tretikov applied for a grant of $2 million per year over three years from the Knight Foundation, but only received a one-time $250,000 grant to explore the concept.  In July 2015, James Heilman, MD was elected to the WMF Board by the editing community. Heilman brought staff dissatisfaction with Tretikov's leadership to the Board and pressed for more information on the Knowledge Engine and the Knight Foundation grant.  In November 2015, the WMF Board reaffirmed its support of Tretikov's leadership and retained a management consultant to mentor her.  On December 28, 2015, on the eve of two members leaving the Board, the Board held an emergency meeting and removed Heilman from the WMF Board by a vote of 8 to 2.  The Community responded to his dismissal by pressing for the release of the Knowledge Engine grant application resulting in a public apology from Tretikov for pushing the project without first gaining consensus.  In addition, a number of senior WMF staff (including Deputy Director Erik Möller) departed, some making critical public remarks as they left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2016/02/26/unicorns-are-a-myth-lila-tretikov-resigns-as-wikimedia-foundation-executive-director/#comment-44801|title=Unicorns are a Myth: Lila Tretikov resigns as Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director|date=Feb. 26, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref>

The WMF Board appointed two new people to fill outside Board slots effective January 1, one of which was a Google executive, Arnnon Geshuri who was a central figure in an antitrust case.  Community outrage over this improperly vetted appointment resulted in his resignation from the WMF Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/editors-demand-ouster-of-wikimedia-board-member-involved-in-no-poach-deal/|title= Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents Wikipedia editors revolt, vote "no confidence" in newest board member|date=Jan. 25, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 25, 2016}}</ref>  On February 25, 2016, Tretikov announced her resignation as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.<ref name=ltresign/> She will continue until March 31. An interim ED will be announced in the meantime, and a full search will be conducted by the WMF Board.<ref name=ltresign>{{cite web|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082472.html|title=Executive transition planning|date=February 25, 2016|accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Katherine Maher.jpg|thumb|right|Katherine Maher, Executive Director]]The WMF Board appointed two new people to fill outside Board slots effective January 1, one of which was a Google executive, Arnnon Geshuri who was a central figure in an antitrust case.  Community outrage over this improperly vetted appointment resulted in his resignation from the WMF Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/editors-demand-ouster-of-wikimedia-board-member-involved-in-no-poach-deal/|title= Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents Wikipedia editors revolt, vote "no confidence" in newest board member|date=Jan. 25, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 25, 2016}}</ref>  On February 25, 2016, Tretikov announced her resignation as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.<ref name=ltresign/> She will continue until March 31. An interim ED will be announced in the meantime, and a full search will be conducted by the WMF Board.<ref name=ltresign>{{cite web|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082472.html|title=Executive transition planning|date=February 25, 2016|accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref>

==Site shut downs==

==Site shut downs==