Announcing our new Executive Officer

{{blog post
 | date        = 2022-09-19
 | image       = WP20Symbols WikiSource.svg
 | image_origin = 0,0
 | mode        =
 | author      = James Gaunt
 | keywords    =
 | description = Welcoming Belinda Spry to Wikimedia Australia
}}__NOTOC__
Wikimedia Australia is happy to announce Belinda Spry as our new Executive Officer.

Belinda (she/her) will join us in October, bringing over 25 years experience in training, libraries, and education.

"I'm very excited to be joining Wikimedia Australia and the Wikimedia community to work together in this new phase of growth," Belinda said. "My passion for open, accessible, accurate information for everyone has been core to many of my roles, and I look forward to supporting community collaboration as we grow the open knowledge movement in Australia."

Belinda has spent the past 15 years working in the not-for-profit sector achieving positive outcomes for lifelong learners everywhere.

She has a passion for Early Childhood programs, and has worked to support families and educators with children’s language and literacy development.

Across Australia and the UK, Belinda has been involved on projects including developing digital learning resources and support for teachers, metadata and taxonomy knowledge management, research, and training. 

Now, Belinda is excited to be working Wikimedia Australia and shared her memory of using Wikipedia for the first time.

"I remember Jimmy Wales visiting Australia in 2007, and the attention it brought to open knowledge built by and for everyday people. I was curious to explore Wikipedia at that time, and now I'm very much looking forward to my first edit-a-thon," Belinda said.