The Wikimedia chapters, including Wikimedia UK, have issued the following open letter. Wikimedia UK thinks it is extremely important that the chapters make good choices for board members so ask you to read the letter and see if you can help.
To whom it may concern,
Can you, or someone you know, help guide Wikimedia Foundation through the next exciting steps of its strategic development and growth?
The Wikimedia Chapters are looking for two candidates to sit on the Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees for 2 years commencing in July 2010. The new board members will be faced with the challenge of helping decide the future direction of the only top-10 internet property that is run by a non-profit organisation. The Wikimedia websites are constructed by hundreds of thousands of volunteers world-wide, supported by a small but growing number of staff and an international network of chapters.
The successful candidates will most importantly be committed to the Wikimedia mission and willing to work with the various stakeholders of the Wikimedia movement, including the volunteers and the chapters that provide essential support for the movement. They will have the time to do this, with the appropriate communication skills (including a good standard of English) and ability to work as a team. They will also be able and willing to travel, and have an international attitude.
The candidates will ideally be open-minded with experience of international affairs and governance techniques. They will have good communication skills, as well the ability to think strategically and to work independently as well as part of a team.
The process that will be followed for this selection can be viewed here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapter-selected_Board_seats/Process
All nominations must be sent to the moderator (Thomas Dalton from Wikimedia UK) and deputy moderator (José Spierts from Wikimedia Nederlands) by 23:59 UTC 17th May. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else, please see the instructions here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapter-selected_Board_seats/Nominate
The chapters wish to locate truly excellent board members and believe that can best be done if there are a large number of varied and quality candidates to consider. Therefore, the chapters ask that everyone that thinks they, or someone they know, would be a good board member submit a nomination. They also ask that this call for candidates be distributed as widely as possible on mailing lists, village pumps, blogs, etc..
Best regards,
Thomas Dalton,
Moderator