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Katherine Maher

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Katherine Maher
Katherine Maher in 2016
Maher in 2016
Born
Katherine Roberts Maher

(1983-04-18) April 18, 1983 (age 41)
Wilton, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma materNew York University
OccupationBusiness executive
Years active2005–present
TitleExecutive director of the Wikimedia Foundation
Maher introducing herself
recorded June 2016
Maher talking about Wikidata in 2017

Katherine Roberts Maher (born April 18, 1983)[1] is a former chief executive officer and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation.[2] Before this, she was their chief communications officer.[3]

Early life and education

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Maher grew up in Wilton, Connecticut.[1] She went to Wilton High School.[4]

In 2003, Maher graduated from the Arabic Language Institute's Arabic Language Intensive Program of The American University in Cairo.[5] Maher subsequently studied at the Institut français d’études arabes de Damas in Syria. During this period, she also spent time in Lebanon and Tunisia.[1][6]

In 2005, Maher received a bachelor's degree from New York University in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.[7]

Career

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From 2007 to 2010, Maher worked at UNICEF as an innovation and communication officer.[8] She focused on the use of technology to improve people's lives. Maher worked on issues related to maternal health, HIV/AIDS prevention, and youth participation in technology.[1] One of her first projects at UNICEF involved testing MediaWiki extensions related to accessibility in Ethiopia.[9]

From 2010 to 2011, Maher worked at the National Democratic Institute as an ICT Program Officer.[10]

From 2011 to 2013, Maher worked as an ICT innovation specialist at the World Bank.[11] In 2012, Maher's Twitter feed on issues related to the Middle East was cited as being notable in its coverage of the Arab Spring.[12][13]

From 2013 to 2014, Maher was advocacy director at the Washington, D.C.-based Access Now.[3][14] As part of this work, she focused on the impact on people of laws about cyber security, morality, and defamation of the state that increase state censorship and reduce dissent.[15] Access was a signatory of the Declaration of Internet Freedom.[11]

Wikimedia Foundation

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Maher and Jimmy Wales at Wikimania 2017

From April 2014 to March 2016, Maher was chief communications officer of the Wikimedia Foundation.[3][16][17] During this time, she gave an interview in The Washington Post on United States copyright law.[18]

In March 2016, Maher became interim executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation following the resignation of then executive director, Lila Tretikov.[14][19] Maher was appointed executive director in June 2016. The appointment was announced by Jimmy Wales on June 24, 2016 at Wikimania 2016 in Esino Lario, Italy, effective June 23, 2016.[2][3]

Maher states that she focuses on global digital inclusion as a way to improve and protect the rights of people to information through technology.[1][20]

Honors

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  • 2013: The Diplomatic Courier, Diplomatic Courier and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. "99 Under 33" (world’s top 99 foreign policy leaders under the age of 33)[5][21]

Leadership

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Personal life

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Maher is based in San Francisco, California. Besides English, she also speaks Arabic, French, and German.[5]

Works and publications

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  • Maher, Katherine (December 2010). "Food Fights". Bookforum. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  • Maher, Katherine (March 21, 2011). "SXSW festival takes on board use of technology for social impact". The Guardian.
  • Maher, Katherine (August 17, 2012). "Did the Bounds of Cyber War Just Expand to Banks and Neutral States?". The Atlantic.
  • Raja, Siddhartha; Melhem, Samia; Cruse, Matthew; Goldstein, Joshua; Maher, Katherine; Minges, Michael; Surya, Priya (August 2012). "Chapter 6: Making Government Mobile" (PDF). Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing Mobile. Washington, DC: World Bank. pp. 87–101. doi:10.1596/9780821389911_ch06. ISBN 978-0-8213-8991-1. OCLC 895048866.
  • Maher, Katherine; York, Jillian C. (2013). "Origins of the Tunisian Internet". In Hussain, Muzammil M.; Howard, Philip N. (eds.). State Power 2.0: Authoritarian Entrenchment and Political Engagement Worldwide. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4094-5469-4. OCLC 940726016.
  • Maher, Katherine (February 25, 2013). "The New Westphalian Web: The future of the Internet may lie in the past. And that's not a good thing". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on March 5, 2015.
  • Maher, Katherine (March 19, 2014). "No, the U.S. Isn't 'Giving Up Control' of the Internet". Politico. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  • Maher, Katherine (December 5, 2016). "The Sum of All Knowledge" (Video). Google Talks.
  • Maher, Katherine (October 4, 2017). "How Wikipedia Changed The Exchange Of Knowledge (And Where It's Going Next)". Forbes.
  • Maher, Katherine (October 17, 2017). "Will Wikipedia Exist in 20 Years?" (Video). Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Boix, Montserrat; Sefidari, María (September 3, 2016). "Maher: "La Fundación necesita reflejar la cultura que queremos ver en la comunidad"" (Video). Wikimujeres. Wikimanía Esino Lario 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lorente, Patricio; Henner, Christophe (June 24, 2016). "Foundation Board appoints Katherine Maher as Executive Director". Wikimedia Blog.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Gardner, Sue (April 15, 2014). "Katherine Maher joins the Wikimedia Foundation as Chief Communications Officer". Wikimedia Blog.
  4. ↑ "More than half of Wilton High makes honor roll" (PDF). Wilton Bulletin. May 10, 2001. pp. 3D.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "AUCians Recognized Among Top 99 Foreign Policy Leaders Under 33". The American University in Cairo. October 8, 2013.
  6. ↑ Rooney, Ben (June 28, 2012). "Web Can Foment Openness as Corrupt Regimes Fall". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012.
  7. ↑ "2000s" (PDF). NYU Alumni Magazine. No. 22. Spring 2014. p. 59.
  8. ↑ Heather Ann (August 2, 2009). "SXSW 2009 Interview – Katherine Maher and Guarav Mishra" (Video). AustinLifestyles.com.
  9. ↑ Maher, Katherine (June 26, 2016). "Wikimania 2016 – Q&A with the ED of Wikimedia Foundation Katherine Maher" (Video). Wikimania 2016[broken anchor]. Wikimanía Esino Lario 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  10. ↑ "Tech in the Egyptian Revolution" (Video). frogdesign Design Mind. March 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Curley, Nina (October 9, 2012). "Resisting Internet Censorship: Katherine Maher of Access at SHARE Beirut" (Video). Wamda.
  12. ↑ York, Jillian (April 3, 2012). "A Seat at the Table: A Twitter-ful list of women crucial to foreign policy". Levo League. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  13. ↑ York, Jillian C. (June 20, 2012). "Introducing the FPwomerati: Why didn't Foreign Policy include more women in its Twitterati list? Here's a list of 100 female tweeters around the world that everyone should follow". Foreign Policy.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lorente, Patricio (March 16, 2016). "Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees welcomes Katherine Maher as interim Executive Director". Wikimedia Blog.
  15. ↑ Fletcher, Lisa (August 8, 2012). "Predicting crime online and offline". The Stream. Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original (TV show) on September 26, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ Fitzsimmons, Michelle (January 16, 2016). "Wikipedia is still disrupting after 15 years". TechRadar.
  17. ↑ Bradley, Diana (May 15, 2014). "Wikimedia hires Maher to fill chief comms role". PRWeek.
  18. ↑ Tretikov, Lila (February 25, 2016). "[Wikimedia-l] Thank you for our time together" (Mailing list post). Wikimedia-l. Wikimedia Foundation.
  19. ↑ Maher, Katherine (October 29, 2016). "MozFest Speaker Series: Privacy and Harassment on the Internet" (Video). Mozfest 2016.
  20. ↑ "Innovators: Katherine Maher". The Diplomatic Courier. September 10, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  21. ↑ "People: Katherine Maher". Youth for Technology Foundation. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Team: Katherine Maher". Truman National Security Project. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Politico Magazine: No, the U.S. Isn't 'Giving Up Control' of the Internet". Truman National Security Project. March 2014. Archived from the original on April 15, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Advisory Council: Katherine Maher". Open Technology Fund. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  25. ↑ "People: Katherine Maher". World Economic Forum.
  26. ↑ "The Future of Human Rights". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  27. ↑ OxfordUnion (May 6, 2016). "Oliver Stone - Full Q&A - Oxford Union" – via YouTube.
  28. ↑ "Meet the 2019 Class of Young Global Leaders". World Economic Forum.

Other websites

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Katherine Maher.
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