Affiliate-selected Board seats/2019/Nominations/Nataliia Tymkiv

Name:

Nataliia Tymkiv

Wikimedia username:

Questions for all candidates - Questions for this individual candidate that do not apply to other candidates

Statement

Привіт! I have been serving on the Board of Wikimedia Foundation for the past three years. During this time we initiated the Movement Strategy process, made anti-harassment a priority, approved the environmental impact resolution, reviewed the bylaws, recruited trustees and oversaw the Foundation. I have gained governance experience and institutional knowledge, and I ask for re-election to continue this work.

I believe it is important to have a Thriving Movement: we need to welcome newcomers and commit to providing more timely and responsive support to affiliates, and to our communities at large. Diversity and inclusion are not buzz-words for me - they have guided our successful recruitment efforts at the Board level these past years.

The world around us is becoming more and more hostile for our inspirational vision of the world where everybody has “free access to the sum of all human knowledge”. It is the Board’s responsibility to guide, set the goals for the organisation and to hold the staff accountable. We need to improve our platforms technically; we need to support our editing communities; we need to combine our forces with existing and future partners; we need to be involved in advocacy, so no laws or policies affecting us will be adopted without our voice present in the room. And one of the greatest challenges ahead will be the implementation of the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. Thus is I ask your trust for a second term.

Résumé

In 2016 I joined the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation. I am a chair of the Board Governance Committee. My responsibilities during this term included: leading the governance work of the Board; recruitment and onboarding of new Trustees; liaising to the Community-selected Trustee seats process; involvement in annual and mid-term planning, the 2030 strategy process; leading recent bylaws changes for user groups to be able to vote in Affiliate-selected trustees process etc.

Previously, from 2012 to 2016 I was a board member (treasurer) and an executive director of Wikimedia Ukraine. During my tenure the organisation moved from planning for individual projects to annual budgets and plans. I started editing the Ukrainian Wikipedia in 2011, and became an administrator in 2012. I continue editing in different Wikiprojects and volunteering in Wikimedia Ukraine projects, like Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Monuments, Wikipedia Education Program etc. I am also active in the CEE region.

I am from Ukraine. I have a Masters degree in Records Management and Information Activities and the second higher education as a Master of Public Administration. I worked as an executive director of a small firm, a chief accountant of a construction company. Since 2010 I worked in NGOs: as a financial manager, and later as a chief financial director. Currently on sabbatical, pursuing some language studies.

Eligibility

I am eligible to serve as a trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Endorsements

Wikimedia Austria

Nataliia has been a very active and dedicated member of the global community and especially the CEE community in the last three years, while also serving as a member of the Board of Trustees to the benefit of all stakeholders in the movement. We especially value her tireless efforts to serve as a link between the communities and the WMF Board of Trustees, making that body more accessible in process.
Furthermore, in our view the current situation in the middle of the strategy process for 2030 makes it important to have stability at the highest level and let Nataliia continue her work as a member of this body. WMAT is therefore happy to endorse Nataliia's nomination and wishes her all the best for the election. On behalf of Wikimedia Austria, Philip Kopetzky (talk) 20:14, 29 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimedia Ukraine

Dear colleagues,

The Board of Wikimedia Ukraine is pleased to strongly endorse the candidacy of Nataliia Tymkiv (User:Antanana) for the second term for an affiliate-selected seat on the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation.

We believe that she is the right candidate to address the challenges our movement will face for the next three years for the following reasons:

Excellent understanding of Wikimedia Foundation governance and ability to influence Board decisions. Nataliia knows well how to govern a complex organisation like WMF, and is good at making changes, particularly she led the bylaws review allowing user groups to vote in this election.
Strong engagement in strategic discussions, most recently as a WMF Board representative in Roles & Responsibilities group. She is able to clearly present and defend positions on the most complex strategic topics and is committed to deliver on the 2030 strategy process for the good of the affiliates and the entire movement.
Significant governance experience. Nataliia Tymkiv has a great track record as a leader: professionally as a chief financial director of one of the leading Ukrainian NGOs; in Wikimedia Ukraine where she led the transformation of our organisation during her term on our Board in 2012–16, and now as a chair of Board Governance Committee in WMF where she notably worked on increasing diversity of the WMF board.
Outstanding community engagement. We believe that Antanana is one of the people with the best knowledge of challenges of different communities and affiliates in our movement. She keeps working closely with Ukrainian and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) communities, and she gained a lot of experience working with both developed and emerging communities worldwide during her term. She also continues being an active editor and administrator on Wikimedia projects.
Great communication and personal skills. We know her as an excellent team player, capable of clearly communicating with a variety of actors, from government organisations to small Wikimedia communities and from donors to staff members. She is also a caring person, good at both learning and sharing experience.

We are sure that Nataliia Tymkiv (Antanana) deserves our support for the second term on the Wikimedia Foundation Board and we wholeheartedly endorse her candidacy.

On behalf of the Board of Wikimedia Ukraine, Illia Korniiko, Chair --Ilya (talk) 07:29, 30 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]