Dear Micru,
Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the current composition of the Working Groups. It is valuable feedback and relates to some of the offline conversations we have been having within the Core Team and with different stakeholders. The points you bring out resonate well with the current status of the process.
It saddens me that in the selection of candidates our digital projects are
not directly represented. Where is the representation of volunteers from our digital communities like Commons, Wikidata, Wikisource, Wiktionary...? It is not the same to have members that work in those communities, that to have members chosen by those communities.
I acknowledge that it is difficult to bridge the gap between digital
communities and real-life ones, but if some effort is not made the only possible outcome is even more alienation. I hope that the Working Groups do not repeat the errors of WMFR outlined in the governance review by having discussions away from the volunteer community.
The messages about our application process that we ran in June were not distributed directly to the broad variety of project communities. Our focus was indeed on the organized part of the movement, and then to work with the Working Groups on getting the message to the project communities and to those who would be interested in such discussions and enrich them. We would like to be especially careful to not create too much noise for people not interested in or fatigued by the strategy process. If you have ideas, I would be really interested in hearing them.
The Working Groups will also be tasked with developing a variety of engagement approaches and opportunities to ensure an inclusive and collective process.
You say that "the Working Groups don't yet have the level of diversity
that represents the movement", but you don't mention *which* diversity aspect is lacking. Is diversity only considered as region, gender, race, organization, "new voices"? Or can we have a more inclusive definition of diversity by considering also "diversity of thought"? How can we get to know what the participants think of their assigned area?
With regards to Diversity, the parameters for the diversity considerations are outlined here, and do include voices that are not yet included in strategic discussions.
We are seeking a large spectrum of diversity, including volunteer project communities. Diversification of the membership of the Working Groups helps us to prevent recreating the existing biases with our strategic process.
We will be having discussions with the Working Group members and the Steering Committee to map the existing gaps and proactively work on filling these gaps. As the names and background of the Working Group members is also published on meta, it is also possible for everyone to share your thoughts regarding the existing gaps, just like you have done in your letter.
Also with so many "exceptional applications" that you said you have
received, it is unclear to me why volunteers represent only 30% of the total (40% staff members, 30% board members). Isn't the wikimedia movement a volunteer-based movement? If so, why to give so much weight to staff members?
In the first round of applications, 36% were from volunteers. As we accept further applications, and select additional Working Group members, we expect the overall ratio of volunteers will increase and these proportions will change
Thank you for your kind attention and time in bringing these issues up in a more public manner and look forward to hearing from you and maybe other interested members of our communities in resolving the issues related to the diversity of the Working Groups and inclusion of diverse voices in the strategy process.
Have a great weekend! Kaarel
On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 3:49 PM David Cuenca Tudela dacuetu@gmail.com wrote:
Dear Kaarel & Nicole,
It saddens me that in the selection of candidates our digital projects are not directly represented. Where is the representation of volunteers from our digital communities like Commons, Wikidata, Wikisource, Wiktionary...? It is not the same to have members that work in those communities, that to have members chosen by those communities. I acknowledge that it is difficult to bridge the gap between digital communities and real-life ones, but if some effort is not made the only possible outcome is even more alienation. I hope that the Working Groups do not repeat the errors of WMFR outlined in the governance review by having discussions away from the volunteer community.
You say that "the Working Groups don't yet have the level of diversity that represents the movement", but you don't mention *which* diversity aspect is lacking. Is diversity only considered as region, gender, race, organization, "new voices"? Or can we have a more inclusive definition of diversity by considering also "diversity of thought"? How can we get to know what the participants think of their assigned area?
Also with so many "exceptional applications" that you said you have received, it is unclear to me why volunteers represent only 30% of the total (40% staff members, 30% board members). Isn't the wikimedia movement a volunteer-based movement? If so, why to give so much weight to staff members?
Cheers, Micru
On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 10:12 AM Nicole Ebber nicole.ebber@wikimedia.de wrote:
Dear Wikimedians,
Thanks to everyone who applied to participate in a Working Group and for your interest and engagement in the process! We received a lot of exceptional applications and we are excited to announce the first round of selected members for our nine Working Groups. You can find all names on the respective Working Group pages on Meta.[1]
Even though we received many exceptional applications, the Working Groups don't yet have the level of diversity that represents the movement and brings in new voices. This means we will increase our outreach efforts and accept additional applications.
We will use Wikimania to reach out existing contacts from previous processes, and will identify more connectors and multipliers to get their expertise and support. This also means that the first task for the selected members is to map the gaps and increase the diversity of their Working Groups in consultation with the Core Team. After that, we will also start bringing in external expertise to the groups.
== Wikimania Strategy Space == At Wikimania, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Core Team will be hosting Strategy Sessions, and a Strategy Bar, to provide an update, seek your feedback, harvest your expertise, and respond to all questions as the Movement Strategy advances. Please check the detailed schedule on-wiki.[2] All are welcome at these sessions, and we look forward to seeing many of you.
Following Wikimania, we will provide an update on progress to date, as well as information on the process and timelines for collectively advancing the Movement Strategy. We are thankful for your ongoing contribution to the Movement Strategy process and look forward to hearing from you during future consultations.
In the name of the Core Team Kaarel & Nicole
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Working_...
[2] https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_2030
-- Nicole Ebber Adviser International Relations Program Manager Wikimedia Movement Strategy Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin http://wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207.
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