Dear New England Wikimedians,
This is just a quick reminder that community elections for the board of trustees for the Wikimedia Foundation are occurring, and voting ends tomorrow night (just like the Massachusetts State Primary, which you should also vote in if you live in MA!)
Instructions and a link to the voting portal is here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2022/Communit...
There are six candidates, all of whom are qualified, and there are two open seats. There's links to community questions and answers that might be helpful and there's also a new experimental election compass tool here: https://board-elections-compass-2022.toolforge.org/ (though I cannot vouch for the tool's accuracy/usefulness). The voting is a ranked-choice system. Anyone who has made at least 300 edits on any project, plus at least 20 edits between January 5th and July 5th of this year, is eligible to vote. Many developers, staff and grant recipients are also eligible: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2022/Voter_el...
The Wikimedia Foundation trustees are volunteers who provide oversight of the WMF CEO and who approve the WMF operating budget, annual plan, fundraising, and high-level policies. While this role typically doesn't directly affect day to day work on the projects, there are implications for what strategic directions the WMF pursues and the relationship between the WMF and affiliates. Let me know if you have questions about the trustee role. And I encourage everyone active in Wikimedia and Wikipedia to vote if you are eligible!
best, Phoebe