I find this email better worded than the other one in this list a few days
back which was also about different issues.
Some of these issues, though I'm not personally aware of, certainly need to
be addressed by WMF.
Thank you for upholding the importance of the community by saying -- "I am
okay with WMF staff being paid, but it should not undermine unpaid
volunteers and the movement's ethos." Can't agree more.
While I see public listing of WMF staff and contractors both on-wiki [1]
and the Foundation's official site, WMF staff in India might mean staff and
contractors who are hired both for long-term and short-term and part-time
roles. It could also mean those who play global roles (say, engineering
staffers) but reside in India and don't necessarily interface only with the
India-based community. Their participation in a national level event could
be an one-off thing.
But those nuances apart, the volunteer and staff dynamics certainly is a
topic worth discussing.
A worse social phenomenon in India is a foreigner being treated with more
dignity than a local. The intersectionality of caste, gender, fluency in
English, intergenerational privilege and many other social factors play a
role. I still think this is not a standalone issue and should be discussed
(and investigated if needed) keeping in mind the intersectionality.
1.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_Foundation_staff
Subha
On Wed, May 3, 2023, 11:09 PM Jayantilal Kothari <jayantilalkkd(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Dear Maryana Iskander and Wikimedia Foundation,
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to request more
transparency about the roles and responsibilities of WMF staff in India. I
am assuming good faith and believe that any issues arising are
unintentional; however, these occurrences seem to be negatively impacting
the overall movement.
It has come to my attention that WMF allocates a relatively small amount
of funds to the Indian community. This implies that a significant portion
of donor money is spent on staff, making it crucial to ensure that donors
and the Wiki community are aware of how the funds are being utilized and
the impact generated.
Firstly, I have noticed that WMF hires non-community staff members who may
be initially unfamiliar with the Wikimedia community and movement in
general. This is not an issue as long as newly recruited staff members are
willing to work collaboratively with the community, rather than competing
with them. Unfortunately, there have been instances where this has not been
the case, such as WMF India staff paying Instagram users without consulting
the community, and the recent WikiConference India, where WMF staff
overshadowed volunteer committees and took over volunteer roles during
conference planning.
Initially, I thought that privacy concerns might be the reason behind the
lack of transparency. However, during the recent conference, I observed
that such staff members were comfortable being on stage and being
identified as WMF Staff amongst friends from the industry whom they invited
to the conference. It appears that more people from the industry are aware
of WMF India staff's existence than the community itself. Some staff
members were keen to take credit for the entire movement and even
conference planning in front of the volunteer community and friends from
the industry. It might help and advance the careers of WMF India staff by
showcasing WikiConference India on their resumes, but the main purpose of
such community events is to give a chance to community leadership and to
celebrate unpaid community members. I am okay with WMF staff being paid,
but it should not undermine unpaid volunteers and the movement's ethos.
The Wiki community looks up to WMF staff for support, but now there is a
fear that WMF staff may hijack community programs and stages, with
WikiConference India being a recent example.
There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding the roles and
responsibilities of WMF India staff members and their interactions with
volunteer communities. The Wiki community is dedicated to the mission and
will continue to thrive even without WMF staff. I believe it is crucial for
WMF to publicly share the roles, responsibilities, and outcomes of the WMF
India staff over the last few years. This transparency will enable
community members and donors to appreciate the efforts of WMF India staff,
as currently, the impact of their work remains unknown.
I kindly request that WMF provides a list of all WMF India staff members
and their achievements, so we can celebrate their accomplishments and
collaborate with them more effectively.
Looking forward to your response.
With Regards,
Jayantilal
--
Regards,
Jayantilal
Sent from my iPhone
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