I'm going to take a moment here to encourage people on this list to consider whether they may be willing to stand as candidates for any of these positions.

While there's generally a reasonable idea of what the Board of Trustees do, there are also 5 Funds Dissemination seats and the FDC Ombudsman seat up for grabs.

The FDC does have a very important role to play in determining funding for many large movement chapters and affiliates, and makes recommendations to the board about the distribution of about $6 million US annually. So far, the board has agreed with the FDC recommendations. There is a fair amount of reading to be done going in to each session (the November round is quite heavy) and generally speaking members will be expected to go to San Francisco for a week in November, and then to a European location (this year it is Berlin) in May to meet face-to-face and make their decisions. Sitting members of the FDC are also invited to attend Wikimania wherever it may be held, as that is where the annual new-member orientation is held. Dependent on how quickly you assimilate sometimes-complex material, the non-meeting time commitment is in the range of about 250-350 hours over the course of the year, with concentrated effort in September to November, and April-May. You do not need to be a member of a chapter or affiliate to be on the FDC - in fact it is important that the FDC have "non-aligned" members from the community as well. FULL DISCLOSURE - I am currently a member of the FDC.

The FDC ombudsman has the role of reviewing certain FDC decisions at the direction of the Board, and may have additional tasks added in. Based on the current ombudsman's report in August 2014, the total time commitment is in the range of 60-100 hours/year.

Please consider whether you might be a good candidate for any of the roles currently open for election. Women have been important participants in all of these roles, and it would be good to keep it that way. Women from outside of North America/Europe would add even more to the diversity of these groups.

Risker/Anne

On 20 April 2015 at 19:29, Risker risker.wp@gmail.com wrote:

FYI

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Gregory Varnum gregory.varnum@gmail.com Date: 20 April 2015 at 18:59 Subject: [Wikitech-l] Nominations being accepted for 2015 Wikimedia Foundation elections To: Wikimedia developers wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org

Greetings,

I am pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections. This year the Board and the FDC Staff are looking for a diverse set of candidates from regions and projects that are traditionally under-represented on the board and in the movement as well as candidates with experience in technology, product or finance. To this end they have published letters < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015/Call_for...

...

describing what they think is needed and, recognizing that those who know the community the best are the community themselves, the election committee is accepting nominations < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#Informat...

...

for community members you think should run and will reach out to those nominated to provide them with information about the job and the election process.

This year, elections are being held for the following roles:

*Board of Trustees* The Board of Trustees is the decision-making body that is ultimately responsible for the long term sustainability of the Foundation, so we value wide input into its selection. There are three positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015/Board_el... .

*Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)* The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations about how to allocate Wikimedia movement funds to eligible entities. There are five positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015/FDC_elec... .

*Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) Ombud* The FDC Ombud receives complaints and feedback about the FDC process, investigates complaints at the request of the Board of Trustees, and summarizes the investigations and feedback for the Board of Trustees on an annual basis. One position is being filled. More information about this role can be found at

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015/FDC_Ombu... .

The candidacy submission phase lasts from 00:00 UTC April 20 to 23:59 UTC May 5 for the Board and from 00:00 UTCApril 20 to 23:59 UTC April 30 for the FDC and FDC Ombudsperson. This year, we are accepting both self-nominations and nominations of others. More information on this election and the nomination process can be found at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015.

Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page on Meta, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-elections@wikimedia.org

On behalf of the Elections Committee, -Gregory Varnum (User:Varnent) Coordinator, 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l