Lila Tretikov
Lila Tretikov | |
|---|---|
| Born | Olga (Lyalya) Tretyakova January 25, 1978 Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Occupation(s) | Engineer, executive |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Known for | Executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation |
Lila Tretikov () (originally named Olga (Lyalya) Tretyakova, , born January 25, 1978) is an engineer and executive with Russian-American background.
Early life and education
Tretikov was born in Moscow, Soviet Union, to parents working as a mathematician and a filmmaker.[1] At the age of 15, she relocated to New York City,[2] where she acquired English skills while employed as a waitress. She enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on computer science and art with a concentration on machine learning research, though she did not complete her degree.[3]
Career
Starting in 1999, Tretikov worked as a software engineer in California, contributing to multiple software patents and concentrating on enterprise software. Her early professional experience includes a position at Sun Microsystems, where she developed the Java server for the Sun-Netscape Alliance. Subsequently, she established GrokDigital, a company specializing in technology marketing, and held leadership roles as chief information officer and vice president of engineering at SugarCRM Inc. In 2012, she received a Stevie Award honoring her as "Female Executive of the Year" in the Computer Hardware & Software category. Her portfolio includes several patents related to intelligent data mapping and applications involving dynamic languages.
In May 2014, Tretikov was named executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, taking over from Sue Gardner and officially starting on June 1, 2014. Although her experience with Wikipedia editing was limited prior to this appointment, she directed the foundation until her departure on March 31, 2016. Her resignation followed disputes connected to the Knowledge Engine initiative and internal organizational conflicts. Her successor was Katherine Maher.
In March 2016, she became part of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders network. Tretikov holds board positions at OpenEd, Rackspace, and has been on the board of Volvo Cars since March 2021. She joined Microsoft Corporation in 2018 as Corporate Vice President and Deputy Chief Technology Officer before moving to a role as Partner and Head of AI Strategy at New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for Xylem Inc..
See also
Further reading
External links
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- 1978 births
- 21st-century American engineers
- 21st-century American women
- American Wikimedians
- American women chief executives
- Living people
- Russian businesspeople in the United States
- Russian emigrants to the United States
- Sun Microsystems people
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Wikimedia Foundation staff members
- Women nonprofit executives
- Microsoft employees