Maryana Iskander - Wikipedia
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American social entrepreneur (born 1975)
Maryana Iskander
ماريانا إسكندر
Iskander in 2017
Born
1975-09-01
September 1, 1975
(age 50)
Cairo
, Egypt
Citizenship
United States
Education
Rice University
BA
Trinity College, Oxford
MSc
Yale University
JD
Occupations
Social entrepreneur
lawyer
Awards
Rhodes Scholarship
(1996)
Skoll Award
(2019)
Chief Executive Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation
In office
January 5, 2022 – January 20, 2026
Preceded by
Katherine Maher
Succeeded by
Bernadette Meehan
Maryana introducing herself
Recorded October 2021
Website
Wikimedia Page
Maryana Iskander
(born September 1, 1975)
is an American
social entrepreneur
and lawyer. In 2022, she became the
chief executive officer
(CEO) of the
Wikimedia Foundation
, succeeding
Katherine Maher
. Iskander left the role in 2026, being succeeded by
Bernadette Meehan
. Prior to her position, Iskander was the CEO of the
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
and a former
chief operating officer
of the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
in
New York
Early life and education
edit
Maryana Iskander was born in
Cairo
, Egypt, where she lived before emigrating to the United States with her family at the age of four. Her family settled in
Round Rock, Texas
Iskander matriculated at
Rice University
on a
Harry S. Truman Scholarship
, graduating with a
B.A.
magna cum laude
, in
sociology
in 1997.
In 1999, Iskander obtained her
M.Sc.
from
Trinity College, Oxford
, as a
Rhodes Scholar
where she founded the Rhodes Association of Women. Afterward, she enrolled at
Yale Law School
, graduating with a
J.D.
in 2003.
Career
edit
Iskander during Wikimania 2023
After graduating from Oxford University, Iskander began her career as an associate at
McKinsey and Co
. Following her graduation from Yale Law School, Iskander clerked for
Diane P. Wood
on the
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
in
Chicago, Illinois
. She then served as the adviser to the president of Rice University,
David Leebron
. After two years, Iskander left her job at Rice to take the role of
chief operating officer
for
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
in New York.
She has also worked as a strategy consultant for
W. L. Gore & Associates
, and a law clerk at
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
in New York, and
Vinson & Elkins
in
Houston
After her time at Planned Parenthood, in 2012, Iskander became the chief operating officer of
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
in South Africa before becoming its
chief executive officer
(CEO) a year later (2013). Harambee is focused on connecting employers to first-time workers to reduce youth unemployment and increase retention. Speaking at the 2019 Conscious Companies Awards in Johannesburg, Iskander explained that she wanted "business to understand that the hiring of young people in their first jobs is not a charitable exercise but talent ... We treat young people like customers and not like beneficiaries."
On September 14, 2021, Iskander was named as CEO of the
Wikimedia Foundation
, assuming her post on January 5, 2022.
She has stated in interviews that her priorities after taking her role were to diversify Wikipedia's volunteer writers and editors and to promote the Wikimedia Foundation's mission of advocating for access to information.
In May 2025, she announced to staff that she will step down from the role as part of an organized succession plan, seeking a new CEO by January 2026.
10
Iskander was compensated $512,179 in 2023 and $472,629 in 2024 for her role as CEO.
11
In 2023, Iskander was elected to the
Yale Board of Trustees
12
On October 17, 2025, during
WikiConference North America
at
Civic Hall at Union Square
in Manhattan, Iskander's speech to around 100 persons in the audience was interrupted when a man stormed to the stage, brandished a loaded firearm, and threatened suicide. The gunman was restrained and disarmed by two trust and safety volunteers at the conference. According to
Bill Adair
, Iskander was grateful to the two trust and safety volunteers, and told the crowd, "Richard and
Andrew
have been very busy... I thank them for saving my life."
13
Recognition
edit
Iskander has been the recipient of several awards and fellowships including the
Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship
and the Yale Law School Distinguished Alumnae Award.
14
In 2002, she was awarded the
Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans
15
which is given to immigrants or the children of immigrants "who are poised to make significant contributions to US society, culture or their academic field".
She was awarded a
Rhodes Scholarship
16
and also received the
Harry S. Truman Scholarship
16
She was a member of the 2006 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the
Aspen Institute
and of their Aspen Global Leadership Network.
17
See also
edit
List of Wikipedia people
Notes
edit
ær
ər
MARR
-ee-
AN
-ə isk-
AN
-dər
Arabic
ماريانا إسكندر
References
edit
Maryana Iskander, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
. Devex. June 18, 2019.
Archived
from the original on July 22, 2022
. Retrieved
September 14,
2021
Who's who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges
. Vol. 62. Randall Publishing Company. 1996. p. 714.
"Maryana F. Iskander, 2001"
Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
. P'unk Ave.
Archived
from the original on February 25, 2020
. Retrieved
February 25,
2020
"Scholar Listing"
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation
Archived
from the original on May 17, 2023
. Retrieved
May 5,
2023
"About Our Team"
Harambee
Archived
from the original on September 26, 2020
. Retrieved
February 26,
2020
"Conscious Companies awards applauds 2019 finalists"
IOL
. Independent Media and affiliated companies. April 24, 2019. Archived from
the original
on November 6, 2021
. Retrieved
February 15,
2024
Lima, Cristiano (September 14, 2021).
"Wikimedia taps leader of South African nonprofit as its next CEO"
Washington Post
ISSN
0190-8286
Archived
from the original on September 14, 2021
. Retrieved
September 14,
2021
"Wikipedia parent's new CEO wants to make it more global"
The Seattle Times
. September 27, 2021.
Archived
from the original on March 31, 2022
. Retrieved
October 8,
2021
Iskander, Maryana (May 6, 2025).
"Marking a transition at the Wikimedia Foundation"
Wikimedia Diff
. Wikimedia Foundation
. Retrieved
December 9,
2025
Fried, Ina (May 6, 2025).
"Exclusive: Wikipedia CEO is leaving"
Axios
Archived
from the original on May 11, 2025
. Retrieved
May 10,
2025
"Wikimedia Foundation Org (EIN: 20-0049703)"
Nonprofit Explorer
ProPublica
. June 30, 2024.
Archived
from the original on April 20, 2021
. Retrieved
August 18,
2025
Peed, Andrea Thompson (June 13, 2023).
"Yale announces new alumni fellow trustee and two new successor trustees"
YaleNews
Archived
from the original on October 4, 2023
. Retrieved
October 3,
2023
Newman, Andy (October 17, 2025).
"Wikipedia volunteers avert tragedy by taking down gunman at conference"
New York Times
. Retrieved
October 20,
2025
– via
Star-Advertiser
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (
link
Edwards, Caryn (February 9, 2018).
"Yale honours CEO of South African youth employment accelerator"
The South African
. Blue Sky Publications Ltd.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2020
. Retrieved
February 26,
2020
"Maryana Iskander"
University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service Speaker Series
. Clinton School. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020
. Retrieved
February 26,
2020
"Maryana Iskander '03 J.D. | Yale Corporation Alumni Fellow Election"
alumni-fellow-election.yale.edu
. Retrieved
October 21,
2025
Already several years removed from her bachelor's degree (magna cum laude in sociology from Rice University, where she was a Harry S. Truman Scholar), she had been a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford and a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company.
"Maryana Iskander"
AGLN
. The Aspen Institute.
Archived
from the original on February 25, 2020
. Retrieved
February 25,
2020
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edit
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