Biographies

Nicholas Michael Bashour

Nicholas Michael Bashour (User:AutoGyro) has been contributing to the English Wikipedia since 2007. As a member of the founding Board of Directors of The Wiki Society of Washington DC (which eventually became Wikimedia DC), Mr. Bashour has assisted in laying the basic foundations of the organization. In his current role, he hopes to expand the membership of the organization by organizing outreach events with various groups and organizations in the region. His interests include Open Source policies in government, Wikinomics, international collaborations in arts and sciences, and access to free knowledge in developing regions. Outside of Wikimedia DC, Mr. Bashour works as an IRTA Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. He is a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit with a dual-degree in Journalism and Biology. He can be followed on Twitter or LinkedIn

John Gallagher

Biography forthcoming

James Hare

James Hare is the president of Wikimedia DC and one of the founding board members. He has been a Wikipedia volunteer since 2004, where he has made numerous small contributions as well as some larger ones. He edits under the username Harej. Being involved in many aspects of Wikipedia content and administration over the years, his current focus is on United States federal law, including administrative law. Originally from New Jersey, he was actively involved with the Wikimedia New York City chapter before moving to Washington, D.C. in 2010 and participating with the local meetup group there. In 2012, he was the lead organizer for the Wikimania 2012 conference. He has a degree in political science from American University. He tweets regularly under the name @harej.

Kirill Lokshin

Kirill Lokshin (User:Kirill Lokshin) is a founding board member and secretary of Wikimedia DC. He has edited Wikipedia since June 2005, contributing to military history and other topics, and became an administrator in October of the same year. From February 2006 to February 2008, he served as the lead coordinator of the Military history WikiProject; having stepped down from that position, he was elected coordinator emeritus in September 2008. He was first elected to the Arbitration Committee in December 2006, and served as the coordinating arbitrator from January 2009 until his resignation from the committee that July. He was re-elected to the committee in December 2009. In May 2011, he helped found Wikimedia District of Columbia. Since that time, he has served on the chapter's Board of Directors, holding the position of Secretary. Professionally, he is an engineer, helping to design and build ground systems for satellites and other spacecraft.

Dominic McDevitt-Parks

Biography forthcoming

Peter Meyer

Peter Benjamin Meyer (User:Econterms) joined the Board in 2013 and is Treasurer of Wikimedia-DC. He was a software engineer in a past career. Now he's an economic researcher, active in the fields of economic history and the history of technology. His research focuses on how pools of information—like wikis—support invention and the start of new industries. On Wikipedia he has added content on early aviation, nineteenth-century science, on economics, and in new subjects with each edit-a-thon. He is a longtime user of MediaWiki and co-founded one available across the US government called Statipedia. He usually attends the annual Wikimania and WikiSym conferences, gave a couple of talks and led an edit-a-thon in 2012-13, and aspires to continue and improve at it. He chairs Wikimedia DC's new public policy committee.

Gerald Shields

Gerald Shields (User:Geraldshields11) is a tax attorney, who happens to work with the Department of the Treasury. In the past, he worked with the Department of the Interior. He graduated with as a Juris Doctor with a certificate in international law. He was awarded an Admissions Scholarship Award, the Gillis Long Public Service Award, and his law school's Skills Curriculum Award. Gerald graduated from another law school with a Master of Laws degree in Taxation. From 2001 to 2003, he was a Presidential Management Fellow. He is admitted to practice law in District of Columbia, Louisiana (currently inactive), U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Gerald happens to work with the Department of the Treasury, but his activities related to wiki projects and the Wikimedia DC Board are performed in his personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of his past, current, or future employers.

He can be followed on on Twitter or on LinkedIn.

Emily Temple-Wood

Biography forthcoming

Leo Zimmermann

Biography forthcoming