Sue Gardner

I'm the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. I've been working at the Foundation since June 2007 - first in St. Petersburg, Florida, and now in San Francisco, California.

Before that, I ran CBC.CA, the website of Canada's national public broadcaster. And before that, I was a radio and television journalist for 10 years.

I can read and understand simple text in French and Spanish, at a very basic level, slowly and imperfectly. But I am only fluent in English. I frequently use Google Translate to understand discussions on the wikis in other languages, and I sometimes leave people messages in their own languages that I wrote using Google Translate or with the help of a colleague. I very much appreciate when people are able to correspond with me in English :-)

You can reach me these ways:

The best & fastest way is by e-mail at suewikimedia.org
In the office at (415) 839-6885
Skype is susanpgardner
My username on the projects is Sue Gardner
Mailing address is Wikimedia Foundation, 149 New Montgomery Street, Third Floor, San Francisco CA 94105
http://www.linkedin.com/in/suegardner

The information on this page is meant to give answers to the questions I'm most often asked. If you have a question that's not answered here, please ask it on my talk page, or e-mail me at suewikimedia.org. Thanks. Sue Gardner 04:13, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you edit the Wikimedia projects, and if so, do you have any special status? How are other editors supposed to treat your edits?: I occasionally edit articles on the English Wikipedia. My Wikipedia editing is purely opportunistic and reactive: while using Wikipedia, if I see a mistake or problem, I sometimes try to fix it. When I edit, I am in no way acting as an official representative of the Wikimedia Foundation, and my edits should be treated like anyone else's.

I have a question or a comment about Wikipedia. Where can I send it?: Please send it to info-enwikimedia.org. Mail sent to that address is handled by a global network of volunteers - the same people who write Wikipedia - and they will be happy to reply to you. Please note that if you have a concern about the article about you, your organization, or someone you know, it might be worth your while to read the Article Subjects FAQ first. And thank you for reading Wikipedia.

I am angry about an editorial dispute I'm having on one of the Wikimedia projects. Can you help me?: No, I'm sorry, I can't. The Wikimedia editorial community is responsible for resolving editorial disputes, and I don't interfere with those processes.

I am angry about the way I or my company is being characterized on one of the Wikimedia projects. What can I do?: If you have questions or concerns about a Wikipedia article covering you or your organization, please see the Article Subjects FAQ.

I would like to make a donation, or, I have a question about my donation.: If you are a Wikimedia donor or prospective donor, or if you have questions about our fundraising operations, first: thank you! You can send donation-related questions, comments and feedback to our fundraising team, at donatewikimedia.org. Or, just go here to donate.

I'm a journalist, and would like to speak with you for a story I'm working on. Who do I contact?: You can e-mail me directly at suewikimedia.org, or e-mail Wikimedia's spokesperson and Head of Communications, Jay Walsh, at jwalshwikimedia.org. Sometimes it is faster to go to Jay first, rather than trying to reach me directly.

Where can I send a speaking invitation?: Please send speaking invitations to The Lavin Agency, at infothelavinagency.com or +1 800 265 4870. I like to speak, but I only have time to do it a half-dozen or so times a year, so unfortunately I need to turn down most requests. Your invitation is likeliest to be accepted if your event is large and/or education-focused; if your audience is primarily people that Wikimedia wants to reach as partners or prospective new editors (e.g., teachers/students, NGO/NPO staff, women); and if your event is taking place in a region that's a high priority for us: primarily India, Brazil, the Arabic-speaking Middle East / North Africa.; Please note: if you're a Wikimedian, you don't need to go through Lavin. In that case, it's probably fastest for you to just write me and James.

Do you provide reference-type letters for Wikimedians?: Yes, definitely. If you want a reference letter, please just ask whoever you know best on the staff: we are all happy to provide reference letters. If you want one from me, please mail me or James. If you don't know anybody on the staff personally, please e-mail Philippe Beaudette at pbeaudettewikimedia.org. Please note I don't do LinkedIn recommendations.

How can I find out about jobs at the Wikimedia Foundation?: All Wikimedia Foundation jobs are posted here.

I would like permission to reuse material from Wikipedia or one of the other Wikimeda projects.: First, please be aware that you can reuse Wikipedia article text anywhere you like, without asking permission, as long as you adhere to the conditions of the license. Wikipedia is freely licensed under the Creative Commons license CC-BY-SA: go here to read a simple explanation of the CC-BY-SA license, or go here to read the full legal text. If you want to use the Wikipedia trademark, please read our trademark policy.

I would like to send you a business proposal.: First, please be aware that I get lots of proposals: I cannot and do not respond to them all. If your proposal doesn't seem rooted in a pretty good understanding of who we are and what we do, I will almost certainly ignore it. (We are interested in partnerships that would accelerate the growth of Wikipedia's readership particularly outside Europe and North America, that help us recruit new editors, and/or that improve article quality.) Regardless, there will often be a delay of several weeks before you get a response: this is completely normal. Most proposals I receive, I on-pass to the relevant staff - business proposals go to Kul Takanao Wadhwa at kulwikimedia.org, and proposals offering technical services or products go to CT Woo at ctwoowikimedia.org. Please don't send us proposals for staffing solutions: we have good help for that, and we're not looking for more.

Can I get an official photo?: Here's my official photo.

Can I get your official biography?: Yes, it's below. Please note this version may not be up-to-date. If you need a bio that's guaranteed to be current, please contact my assistant James Owen, at jowenwikimedia.org.

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Sue Gardner is Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization behind Wikipedia - the world's largest and most popular encyclopedia, which is free to use and free of advertising. Wikipedia contains more than 15 million volunteer-authored articles in 250+ languages, and is visited by more than 365 million people every month, making it the number five most-popular website in the world. Since joining the Wikimedia Foundation in summer of 2007, Gardner has more than tripled revenues, supported an 85% increase in global readership, and instituted projects and activities designed to grow readership and attract new editors.

Gardner, a seasoned journalist, was formerly head of CBC.CA, the website for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, one of Canada's most prominent and best-loved cultural institutions. Under her leadership, CBC.CA won many international awards for excellence, and grew to become Canada's most popular news site. Gardner started her career in 1990 as a producer with CBC's 「As It Happens,」 an internationally-recognized groundbreaking news and current events radio program. She has since worked in radio, television, newspapers, magazines and online.

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