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New ESF subsidiary will manage Lernu, other web projects
New ESF subsidiary will manage Lernu, other web projects
The Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) is establishing a wholly-owned company to manage the ongoing development of projects such as lernu.net, the well-known multilingual website for learning Esperanto.
Meeting in Montreal, Canada for its annual strategy session, the ESF Board of Directors appointed Erin Piateski as the founding CEO of the new company, to be registered in Washington, DC under the name ESF-enrete.
"Our goal is to make the various web projects self-sustaining, while ensuring that they don't come to dominate the Foundation's overall agenda," said ESF president Mark Fettes. "We are extremely encouraged by the development of Lernu, and will continue to build on its success. Erin has played a key role in our strategic planning for the web projects over the past few years, and we are delighted to welcome her in this new role."
An MIT-educated mechanical engineer, Piateski has been actively involved with Lernu since before its launch in 2002. As CEO she will work closely with others in the site's core management team. Her priorities include strategic planning, building partnerships with individuals and organizations, and management of the site's hundreds of volunteers.
"Lernu is already the largest online community of Esperanto speakers and learners," noted Piateski. "ESF has played an essential role in the site's development, and we look forward to building on this relationship through ESF-enrete. We see the project as uniquely positioned to foster collaboration among Esperanto speakers worldwide and to raise Esperanto's profile with the general public."
One day of the Montreal meeting was dedicated to plans to modernize and expand Lernu with new courses, forums, and an extensive library, all built on an improved technical foundation. A launch of the new site is planned to roughly coincide with Lernu's tenth anniversary in late 2012 or early 2013
Did you learn Esperanto with Lernu? Do you know someone who learned Esperanto thanks to Lernu? Do you support the idea of a comprehensive, effective Esperanto learning website accessible throughout the world? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, please show your support with a donation to the “100,000 euros for ESF” campaign http://kampanjo.ikso.net/en/ !
2012-07-18 19:11:38