Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees/Overview

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Wikimedia Foundation
Board of Trustees


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Did you know while you’re reading your favorite article on Wikipedia, there are thousands of people working to make knowledge free?

There is an amazing community of people around the world that makes great projects like Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikisource, etc.

The Wikimedia Foundation helps them do that work. They take care of the technical infrastructure, the legal challenges, and the growing pains.

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The Wikimedia Foundation has a Board of Trustees to oversee the Wikimedia Foundation's operations. The trustees are selected in part through community processes and in part by the Board directly.

There are 16 seats on the Board:
8 Community-and-affiliate seats,
7 Board-selected seats, and
1 founder seat.

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Each trustee serves a three year term.


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Board-selected trustees are selected through a global search process. They join the Board once the Board of Trustees and the candidates are satisfied there is a mutual fit.

The Wikimedia community has the opportunity to vote for community trustees. This is an opportunity to improve the representation, diversity, and expertise of the Board as a team.


The trustees commit about 150 hours per year to their work. They serve on at least one of the Board’s committees. These committees include Board Governance, Audit, Human Resources, Product, Special Projects, and Community Affairs. Directors icon (the Noun Project 3156284).svg
Meeting minutes that are available publicly will be posted on the Meetings page of Foundation Wiki or on the committees’ pages.
Info icon (the Noun Project 2397884).svg Find out more about the Board of Trustees and even how you can participate in the Board elections at https://w.wiki/yY9.