Global Voices is very pleased to announce that Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, has joined the board of Global Voices.

Sue Gardner, Executive Director, Wikimedia. Photo Lane Hartwell, distributed under a GNU Free Documentation License.

Sue brings to Global Voices a unique combination of knowledge and experience that is particularly beneficial to the organisation. Formerly a journalist, with more than a decade of experience reporting and producing radio and television, Sue has run large newsrooms, and now works to support the largest volunteer community on the internet.

At Global Voices we work at the intersections of citizen media, information production, and volunteer communities. Sue's expertise and experience, as well as her enthusiasm, will be a critical factor as we mature and grow as a community and as an organization. She will help us to navigate questions such as the growth of local communities of GVers around the world, how we should evolve structurally, and how to plan online, distributed fundraising efforts.

“Global Voices does great work, and I’m really looking forward to sharing experiences and expertise with the people involved there.” says Sue. “The Wikimedia Foundation and Global Voices hold a lot of the same values, and for me the most important is our shared commitment to freedom of expression. The world needs strong voices advocating for internet users’ right to express themselves and to access information without impediment.”

Global Voices’ nine-member board meets four times per year, and has been an active, engaged and vital part of the GV community since its inception. Our board is composed of our two founders, three community representatives, and four external members.

Welcome, Sue!