Wikimedia Foundation executive director Lila Tretikov has resigned.
Lila Tretikov Has Resigned From Executive Director Role at Wikimedia
Soon after taking the role in 2014, she spoke on the Code/Mobile stage.
Asa Mathat
She had taken that role in May 2014 as the nonprofit organization, which supports the website Wikipedia, was growing at a rapid pace. The staff had doubled, but as people began doing more searches via mobile devices rather than on desktops, there was a desire to make sure the site would be able to snatch the same eyeballs on different platforms, as well as to keep it open and free to as many global users as possible.
At the time, Wikipedia was widely touted as the fifth most popular website globally. According to Alexa analytics, it’s now seventh, after Yahoo and Amazon.
When she was interviewed at the Code/Mobile conference in November 2014, Tretikov said increasing diversity among Wikipedia’s editors and keeping the site mobile-friendly were her main goals.
“Wikipedia were looking for someone who had a rich international background, who was very product-focused — realistically, we are very much a tech company.”
According to the blog post, Tretikov “will remain engaged with the Wikimedia Foundation to support the transition process.” Her predecessor, Sue Gardner, held the role for six years.
Motherboard first reported on Tretikov’s departure.
Here’s the full Code/Mobile 2014 interview:
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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