Wikimedia exit interview/Sue Gardner

Sue Gardner has served as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director since 2007. In March 2013, Sue announced that she is beginning to wrap up her time as the head of the Wikimedia Foundation. In May 2014, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that Lila Tretikov will take over as Executive Director starting June 1, 2014 and Sue will transition to a special advisor role.

This page is designed as a forum for questions (an exit interview) from the Wikimedia community. Please submit questions below before 23 May 2014, 12:01 UTC.

It is ultimately at the discretion of the person departing which questions to answer. Wikimedia community members may indicate support for a particular question by signing below it. What the final format of these questions and answers will look like is currently unknown.

What do you see as the Wikimedia Foundation's greatest challenge in the coming years?

Submitted

06:08, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

MZMcBride (talk)

PiRSquared17 (talk)

Thehelpfulone

Legoktm (talk)

 Klaas|Z4␟V: 

Titopao (talk)

Slventura (talk)

Hfordsa (talk)

Tarunno (talk)

Wwllmm (talk)

Rodrigo Padula (talk)

Varnent (talk)^(COI)

~ Seb35 [^_^]

Elvey (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What do you believe was the biggest or best change that you've implemented during your tenure at the Wikimedia Foundation?

Submitted

06:19, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

Killiondude (talk)

MZMcBride (talk)

PiRSquared17 (talk)

Thehelpfulone

Legoktm (talk)

WhatamIdoing (talk)

Titopao (talk)

--MF-W

Hfordsa (talk)

--Tom (talk)

-Mh7kJ (talk)

-- ɑηsuмaη «Talk»

Tarunno (talk)

Rodrigo Padula (talk)

~ Seb35 [^_^]

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What aspects of the relationship between volunteers and the Foundation, its board and its staff, do you wish were better understood?

Submitted

20:47, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

WhatamIdoing (talk)

MZMcBride (talk)

Thehelpfulone

Legoktm (talk)

Titopao (talk)

PiRSquared17 (talk)

--MF-W

Slventura (talk)

Hfordsa (talk)

--Tom (talk)

-Mh7kJ (talk)

Anthonyhcole (talk)

sats (talk)

Tarunno (talk)

Varnent (talk)^(COI)

Djembayz (talk)

Elvey (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What does "leadership" mean to you, if there is a wide span of interests?

Submitted

16:43, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

angel54_5 (talk)

Didn't mean to sign any, but this is a good one. :) --Nemo

Thanx. I think she values true questions...:)--Angel54 5 (talk)

--MF-W

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

How should Wikimedia handle controversial content?

Submitted

02:27, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

MZMcBride (talk)

WhatamIdoing (talk)

 Klaas|Z4␟V: 

Anthonyhcole (talk)

rubin16 (talk)

Titopao (talk)

Pundit (talk)

PiRSquared17 (talk)

Hfordsa (talk)

sats (talk)

Wwllmm (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

If you could give advice to your successor (and other future EDs), what would it be?

Submitted

16:28, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

PiRSquared17 (talk)

 Klaas|Z4␟V: 

Wwllmm (talk)

~ Seb35 [^_^]

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What do you think is the most important quality for your successor to have?

Submitted

11:40, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

 Klaas|Z4␟V: 

Hfordsa (talk)

Wwllmm (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What was the biggest mistake you think you made during your time as ED?

Submitted

11:46, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

Deryck C.

Hfordsa (talk)

Elitre (talk)

Tobias talk · contrib

-Mh7kJ (talk)

-- ɑηsuмaη «Talk»

--Rsrikanth05 (talk)

Varnent (talk)^(COI) (would be more interested in knowing what you and WMF learned from it)

~ Seb35 [^_^]

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

You mentioned "free and open internet" as a reason for departure. Do you think it is achievable in developing countries? Why? How?

Submitted

20:45, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

Taweethaも (talk)

PiRSquared17 (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

Is there anything particular you wanted to change in the system but you could not? If yes, what and why?

Submitted

07:00, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Endorsements

-- ɑηsuмaη «Talk»

PiRSquared17 (talk)

Wwllmm (talk)

--Rsrikanth05 (talk)

Varnent (talk)^(COI)

Conny (talk) 16:21, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

Do you still see contributions to Wikipedia as a public service and will you still hand out barnstars?

Submitted

08:02, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

Jane023 (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What are your thoughts on Wikimedia Commons?

Submitted

11:05, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

Bidgee (Talk)

Elvey (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

Why I should be interested in what you think?

Submitted

23:36, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

Marcus Cyron (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What are your thoughts on the future of the Wikimedia movement affiliates model?

Submitted

16:09, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

Varnent (talk)^(COI)

Saqib (talk)

Elvey (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

Do you think Chapters are still relevant to the movement?

Submitted

12:34, 22 May 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

Bidgee (Talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

If a genie granted you a 3 wikimedia-related wishes, you'd wish for...

Submitted

22:17, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

Elvey (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]

What do you think of the new Superprotect permission, its first use and the reactions of the communities?

Submitted

12:24, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

Trofobi (talk)

Sänger S.G (talk)

[your name here! sign with three tildes (~~~)]