Welcoming our new Chief Executive

I am delighted to announce that we have offered the position of Chief Executive to Jon Davies and he has accepted. He will start on 1 October 2011, in time to help us prepare for the annual fundraiser that is due to start on 1 November.

Many of you will have met Jon at the September Wikimeet, along with the other finalists. He is the former Chief Executive of Families need Fathers, Britain’s leading shared parenting charity, and a former leader of the London Cycling Network. He will be coming along to the 50th London Wikimeet and the Wikimedia UK EGM on 16th October, where he is keen to meet as many people as possible and hear how they would like the chapter to develop.

Jon is a fantastic find for us. His skills and experience – working with volunteer led organisations and leading charities though periods of change and growth in activities – are just what we have been looking for. His consensual approach is a natural fit to Wikimedian culture and his confident and reassuring manner will be invaluable in the times of change ahead. I am very confident that he will be a very successful addition to the chapter.

Finding and choosing the right person would not have been possible without the help of many people along the way. I would like to thank everyone involved in this. In particular, thanks go to:

• Everyone who gave us feedback from the Wikimeet
• The three external people whose experience was essential to ensuring the right questions were asked and we chose the right person: Nick Poole from the Collections Trust, Matthew Cock from the British Museum and Sebastian Moleski from Wikimedia Deutschland
• Barry Newstead from the Wikimedia Foundation who gave important help when we were drafting the job description
• The board members who gave significant time and effort wading through CVs, attending shortlisting meetings, candidate interviews and board discussions
• Prospect-us, our recruitment agency, whose widespread marketing of the position and advice along the way has been invaluable
• The British Library, who kindly donated a venue for the interviews.

Please give your every support to Jon when he starts and let me know if you have any further queries about his role.

Andrew Turvey

Wikimedia UK