Our 2026 Trustee search

The future of knowledge for all

Over the past 25 years, Wikipedia has become one of the world’s most beloved resources, reaching hundreds of millions of people each month with reliable, free information, written by a global community of critical thinkers.

There are opportunities and challenges all around us

Information is more readily accessible than ever before. Populations are changing around the world. Literacy levels are rising. Internet penetration continues to grow.

Wikipedia sits at the intersection of rapidly evolving global trends around AI, neutrality, access to information, privacy, security and changing patterns of how people consume content online. The Wikimedia Foundation, the global nonprofit that hosts and protects Wikipedia and its sister projects, is tracking and responding to these seismic shifts in the broader information ecosystem.

We are serious about our vision

We will face the future together with Wikimedia volunteers, affiliates, and communities around the world. A global movement dedicated to knowledge.

Where we came from

Wikipedia began in 2001 as a radical idea: an open and free encyclopedia that anyone could edit.¹ Let go of traditional notions of experts and peer review and allow anyone to create, edit, and discuss articles. Build an open platform, add reasonable rules of engagement,² and see what happens.

Lo and behold, contributors from all over the world arrived in waves. In the Spring of 2006, Wikipedia celebrated its 1 millionth article in over 100 languages.³ And the volunteers were only getting started.

For the first few years, the work of the Wikimedia Foundation itself was done almost entirely by volunteers. In 2005, for example, we had two employees—a software manager and a coordinator. But as Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects grew, and the support those projects needed also grew, we brought in smart, purpose-driven people, got our organizational act together, and didn’t lose sight of our communities of contributors and volunteers—the very people that build and maintain the projects.

1. For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#History.
2. For our basic rules of engagement, see The Five Pillars of Wikipedia.
3. Read more about our millionth article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Millionth_article_FAQ#What_is_this_FAQ_about.3F.

Where we are today

Wikipedia is now 25 years old. It is the largest collection of free, collaborative knowledge in human history. It is one of the top ten most visited sites on the internet, and the only major website to be hosted by a non-profit organization. It houses over 65 million volunteer-authored articles in more than 300 languages.⁴ Wikipedia articles receive over 15 billion visits each month from more than a billion users worldwide.

The Wikimedia Foundation, originally powered by volunteers, now has a staff of ~650 strong with annual operating revenues of $208.6 M USD.⁵ Our people are located across 46 countries and all continents except Antarctica.

4. For more information about the history of Wikipedia, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia.
5. Wikimedia Foundation Audit Report https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_FY_24-25_Audit_Report.pdf, https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2025-2026/Budget_Overview

Current competencies

We engineer

We support the servers that power the sites. We run technical security. We build new products and features for readers and editors: apps, editing interfaces, messaging and collaboration tools, uploaders, and viewing experiences.

We fundraise

We raise the money to support the infrastructure of our projects. Our fundraising model reflects our underlying philosophy: we can do more together than we can as individuals. Today, the Wikimedia Foundation generates nearly $185 million in fundraising revenue annually, from more than 18 million donations with an average gift amount of just $10.15. Online donations through Wikipedia itself remain a critical part of this model, complemented by recurring giving, email fundraising, and other philanthropic support. Together, this diversified approach allows us to remain independent and accountable to the people who use and build Wikipedia.

We have also developed complementary revenue streams, such as the Wikimedia Endowment, and Wikimedia Enterprise. The Wikimedia Endowment (a separate 501(c)3 organization) is a permanent fund established in 2016 to secure Wikipedia’s future for generations to come. Now nearing $170 million, the Endowment is independently governed and invested to provide long-term financial stability and support to innovation. The Endowment ensures that Wikipedia is sustained and protected for the future.

In 2021, we introduced Wikimedia Enterprise (an LLC within the Foundation), a commercial product for large-scale reusers and distributors of content from Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia Enterprise allows AI developers to access Wikimedia content at a volume and speed designed specifically for their needs, while directly supporting our non-profit mission by paying for commercial APIs. Enterprise is a growing contributor to the revenues of the Foundation, and we continue to explore how we can expand partnerships with organizations that rely on Wikimedia content to sustain a healthy information ecosystem for all.

We invest in the people, communities, and partnerships that power free knowledge

Through grants, we currently invest approximately $21.7 million USD annually in volunteers, affiliates, and partners who advance free knowledge around the world. We work with more than 150 Wikimedia affiliates, including chapters and user groups, as well as cultural, educational, and other mission-aligned institutions across regions.

This work is part of a broader shift in how we operate as a global movement. As the internet becomes more fragmented, and participation and trust evolve, our role is not only to fund communities but to help coordinate a global network responding to these changes. Through a more intentional, matrixed approach, connecting over 150 affiliates with partners across sectors, we align resources, expertise, and local leadership to expand participation, strengthen content, and protect the integrity of free knowledge. This model allows us to operate not as a single organization, but as a distributed system, grounded in communities and coordinated globally to meet the challenges of a rapidly shifting information ecosystem.

We defend free knowledge and the rights of our users around the world

We fight censorship, we support open licenses and open access, and we defend our users’ free expression and privacy rights around the world on and offline.

Our vision for knowledge

But hold on. Zoom out a bit. Our story is larger still. Wikipedia has grown to become the backbone of reliable knowledge across the internet. Wikipedia content is a near ubiquitous part of large language models, ranked as the 2nd most common source according to some studies. It has been called the “factual netting that holds the whole digital world together,” and “the last best place on the internet.” It’s accessed more than 15 billion times per month by more than a billion people across the world.

Wikipedia is increasingly vital to the world, but it is also becoming increasingly less visible, as people increasingly consume information from AI summaries, chatbots, and other forms of third-party reuse. As we look ahead to 2030 and beyond, we must evolve and adapt. The strategic direction that the global Wikimedia movement developed in 2017 to serve as the “essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge” has (in large part) been achieved. But now the future of our movement, and the information ecosystem as a whole, is at stake.

At a moment when content on the internet is increasingly machine-generated, what sets Wikipedia apart is the humans behind the knowledge. Humans create knowledge on Wikipedia that AI simply cannot replicate. In particular, Wikipedia editors reach consensus on how to share information, and there is transparency in the origins of all the information.

Content on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects is created by volunteer contributors, over 265,000 of whom give their time and their knowledge from all around the world. The Wikimedia Foundation has no editorial control of the content; our role is to build and maintain the infrastructure that makes this possible, support the volunteers, and defend and advocate for knowledge where it is under threat. And we must do so in an increasingly volatile and dynamic environment, one where global trends are changing how people search and find information every day.

Our response requires moving with more speed and agility than we ever have before. To do so, we are continuing to evolve the Foundation’s operations and effectiveness. We will be heavily collaborative, working across departments and functions to reach new audiences and bring them to Wikipedia, and deepen our relationships with existing readers, contributors and donors.

Specific talent needs

The role of the Board

We are a centralised global nonprofit organization (funds, servers, etc.) operating in an unusual, decentralised movement. We are a multi-stakeholder ecosystem on the move. Board members play a vital role in shaping and approving the strategy of the Foundation, ensuring that our financial model is strong and that we use our resources in pursuit of our mission, and championing our vision, mission, and values within our communities and in public.

The Board’s role is to oversee the management of the Foundation, and advise, challenge, and support the CEO and Executive Team without crossing into management. The Board has an effective relationship with the CEO and Executive Team.

The structure of the Board

As the Wikimedia Foundation continues to mature, we need a Board that consists of leaders with similarly mature talents and capabilities, in order to ensure the body remains a significant partner and stakeholder to the organization they oversee. As our mission is global, we need a Board that reflects and understands the diversity of the world we are trying to serve.

The Board currently operates with 11-12 seats, filled with a balance of community- and affiliate-selected seats, Board-selected expert seats and one seat reserved for Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales. All trustees are volunteers.

Community- and affiliate-selected trustees bring deep knowledge of the Wikimedia movement and governance experience but may not have as much governance experience with an organization of the Foundation’s size. Trustees selected by the Board bring subject-matter expertise, yet may not know as much about the culture and complexities of our movement. We look at the Board as a whole for determining the skills and expertise needed and view the two different seats as complimentary to each other.

What matters is that the Board shares the vision we need for the future and each Trustee helps us get there.

This is work with immense relevance and reach. After all, everything that happens in the world happens on Wikipedia. Our work spans across borders, time zones, languages, and governments. For those who are willing to invest, you will be part of an organization and a movement that is shaping the future of knowledge – built by and for humans. It’s never been more needed.

The commitment

Board members serve for up to three three-year, renewable terms. The Board typically has four formal meetings each year. There are two in-person convenings at different locations around the world and two online meetings. Board committees meet virtually one to two times per quarter, depending on Board needs. All meetings are conducted in English. Meetings require coordination with members across the world and across time zones.

Overall, the time commitment for standard service is an average of four hours per week (not including travel). Board members are also expected to dedicate time to two or three Board committees, supporting and providing counsel to the CEO and her team, and promoting the Wikimedia movement through speaking engagements and connecting with the Wikimedia communities. All Board positions are unpaid and provided in service of the movement, though the Wikimedia Foundation pays or reimburses travel and other expenses arising from Board service.

Who you are

A future Trustee will bring the following Essential Experience and Values:

You are a values-motivated leader with deep respect for individual privacy and a deep commitment to ensuring that knowledge remains free and accessible to all.
You understand the importance of stakeholder relationships and the role of transparent communication in building and strengthening such relationships.
You bring a track record in governance work and know how to ask the right questions, pushing the organization to new levels of professionalism and achievement, while also protecting against undesirable financial and organizational disruption.
You are well regarded as a trusted colleague without ego who contributes to discussions, respects different points of view and listens well.
You have the time to commit to engage fully with the work of the Board regarding the technological, financial, strategic and organizational growth of the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia movement, as well as learning, attending and participating in events.

Additionally, you will bring a compelling blend of some or all of the following Priority Skills, Knowledge or Expertise especially in a global context which would be particularly additive to the Board:

You have run or been part of a team shaping the strategy and investment priorities of a digital media or publishing organization or large technology/product platform, preferably one leading on open source, open data, or community serving.
You have experience working with a team to identify, market and achieve a diverse revenue strategy that might offer examples for a non-profit organization.
You have demonstrated experience growing and retaining audiences on a digital platform amid shifting user behavior, especially adapting to AI-driven discovery, declining traditional traffic channels, and evolving content consumption patterns.
You have a track record of finding ways to operate more efficiently and engendering a culture focused on performance and collaboration.
You actively engage with a dynamic community of technology and social leaders committed to sharing knowledge, building partnerships and driving them to measurable impact.
You have leadership experience in the Wikimedia movement.