Sue Gardner

Sue Gardner (born May 11, 1967) is a Canadian journalist, not-for-profit executive and business executive. She was the executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation from December 2007 until May 2014, and before that was the director of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) website and online news outlets.

Sue Gardner in 2012

Quotes

• The difference between Wikipedia and other editorially created products is that Wikipedians are not professionals, they are only asked to bring what they know. Everyone brings their crumb of information to the table. If they are not at the table, we don't benefit from their crumb.
  • Quoted by Noam Cohenjan "Define Gender Gap? Look Up Wikipedia's Contributor List" The New York Times (January 30, 2011)

• This basket exists for one reason: the free and open sharing of personal-grooming items. For many of us, most of us, this basket has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Help protect it now. Please make a donation
  • A sign Sue Gardner made and placed in the WMF employee bathroom above the aspirin and dental-floss basket according to Wikipedia’s Librarian To The World published April 4, 2011

• It [Wikipedia] was built 10 years ago and hasn’t changed that much, [but] we are looking for ways to increase serendipity. We are happily dependent on the inventiveness of the people who join us of their own volition.
  • Sue Gardner Calls for Librarians to Dive in to the World of Wikipedia posted June 26, 2011

• The heart and soul of everything the Wikimedia project does is volunteer driven, it's volunteer energy, volunteer time, altruism, people's commitment to create this massive educational endeavour that's really available to everybody
  • Sue Gardner addresses 1st Bangla Wikipedia unconference, March 2012

• Assume good faith. This is so easier said than done ;/ But for real, assume good faith. When someone asks a question and you think they are trolling, it’s entirely possible they are not. (Maybe they are 15 years old, or their English is imperfect, or they have an impairment of some kind.) Even if they are trolling: there will always be onlookers who don’t know it, and who, whatever the provocation, will recoil if you are curt or unkind. Trolling also gives you an opportunity to equip onlookers with reasonable arguments that they can go on to use themselves.

Publish early, publish often. If you are building a plan or a proposal, don’t wait until it’s flawless and polished to publish: release it while it’s still raw and half-baked. For folks from a non-community background this will feel dangerous, like you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to criticism. But in a community context it builds trust and empathy, and will be understood as an invitation to collaborate.

• • A little guide to working with online communities March 21, 2016

• Since 1995 what the data says is each new generation of young people has become successively less supportive of democracy than the generation that preceded it.
  • The Long Conversation: Why public broadcasting is more crucial than ever Posted: November 5, 2020

Quotes about Gardner

• Sue came in when we were very tiny. We were based in Florida, still a handful of employees. She deserves credit for building the Wikimedia Foundation from, I’m going to venture to say, probably five or six employees, into quite a large organization after several years of time.
  • Jimmy Wales An Oral History of Wikipedia, the Web’s Encyclopedia

• Sue Gardner, who is apparently still a special advisor to the wmf, is giving a keynote speech.
  • according to WikiConference North America 2023 ( Oct 28, 2023)

See also

• Katherine Maher

External links

• Sue Gardner's personal blog
• Radio documentary by Gardner about Al Purdy, Canadian poet, for This Morning Sunday
• Wikipedia's Librarian to the World Fast Company interview