We had the Wikimedia UK Board elections two weekends ago, and regrettably continue to have an all-male Board - pretty much an inevitable consequence of having no female candidates.
Interestingly, we'd had expressions of interest from a number of women who didn't end up standing, even though they had great experience and could have been strong candidates. That kind of accords with what I've heard from people who work on increasing the gender balance of British politics, who say men are much more likely to assume they should stand for election, even if they actually aren't very good.
However, all is not lost, as we can co-opt up to three further Trustees, and co-opting three men isn't an option.
If you know any women who you think would be good please invite them to get in touch; chris.keating@wikimedia.org.uk
There's a bit more information about our current Board here: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Boardhttp://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_meetings - and also the skills and characteristics we are looking for in a balanced Board, here: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board/Characteristics
Many thanks,
Chris
I'm all for private, voluntary QUOTAS myself. What a fun debate that would be working for them within wiki organizations. :-)
On 6/23/2013 5:05 AM, Chris Keating wrote:
We had the Wikimedia UK Board elections two weekends ago, and regrettably continue to have an all-male Board - pretty much an inevitable consequence of having no female candidates.
Interestingly, we'd had expressions of interest from a number of women who didn't end up standing, even though they had great experience and could have been strong candidates. That kind of accords with what I've heard from people who work on increasing the gender balance of British politics, who say men are much more likely to assume they should stand for election, even if they actually aren't very good.
However, all is not lost, as we can co-opt up to three further Trustees, and co-opting three men isn't an option.
If you know any women who you think would be good please invite them to get in touch; chris.keating@wikimedia.org.uk mailto:chris.keating@wikimedia.org.uk
There's a bit more information about our current Board here: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_meetings - and also the skills and characteristics we are looking for in a balanced Board, here: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board/Characteristics
Many thanks,
Chris
I'd suggest, Chris, that you go back to the women who made early inquiries, and have a good conversation about what made them decide not to run. It is quite possible that one or more of them are ideal candidates who stepped back for reasons that can be addressed through the co-opting process. The election process can be quite daunting, and actually has almost nothing to do with how effective a person is in the role for which they seek election.
Risker/Anne
On 23 June 2013 05:05, Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
We had the Wikimedia UK Board elections two weekends ago, and regrettably continue to have an all-male Board - pretty much an inevitable consequence of having no female candidates.
Interestingly, we'd had expressions of interest from a number of women who didn't end up standing, even though they had great experience and could have been strong candidates. That kind of accords with what I've heard from people who work on increasing the gender balance of British politics, who say men are much more likely to assume they should stand for election, even if they actually aren't very good.
However, all is not lost, as we can co-opt up to three further Trustees, and co-opting three men isn't an option.
If you know any women who you think would be good please invite them to get in touch; chris.keating@wikimedia.org.uk
There's a bit more information about our current Board here: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Boardhttp://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_meetings - and also the skills and characteristics we are looking for in a balanced Board, here: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board/Characteristics
Many thanks,
Chris
Gendergap mailing list Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap
On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 5:05 PM, Risker risker.wp@gmail.com wrote:
I'd suggest, Chris, that you go back to the women who made early inquiries, and have a good conversation about what made them decide not to run. It is quite possible that one or more of them are ideal candidates who stepped back for reasons that can be addressed through the co-opting process. The election process can be quite daunting, and actually has almost nothing to do with how effective a person is in the role for which they seek election.
Hi Anne - that is definitely on our list of things to do.
Carol - that would indeed be an interesting debate but I've got no plans to kick it off right now....
But if anyone has any personal contacts or suggestions please let me know.
Chris