I would want to add a bit discussion about the English requirements.

English is needed not because it is a working language, but also as it being needed to read and understand documents of legal consequences, e.g. legal communications, contracts, reports, etc. The movement is very large and it means that movement governance decisions now have serious legal (and sometimes political) consequences when  communications are misinterpreted (particularly not in English).

Issues arising from within the community due to misunderstanding or miscommunication has far fewer consequences than misinterpreting legal duties, requirements, documents, which is very hard to solve even with a translator as they're are always the issue of "lost in translation".

Contributing or being a regional advocate to the movement is different from being a trustee for a large US-based nonprofit that operates throughout the world.

In short, I do believe a minimum level of CEFR B1/2 level of English is needed as being a trustee is different from being a member of the Wikimedia movement to meaningfully participate in board discussions.

Regards,
William

On Thu, 30 Jul 2026, 02:48 Owen Blacker, Wikimedia LGBT+ via Wikimedia-l, <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hi Victoria,

I'm only going to comment on 1 aspect here, as others are handling other aspects already.

I have to object to the idea that all candidates must be able to communicate in good English.

As an international movement that values Knowledge Equity, it feels bizarre that we would exclude what I presume is the majority of the movement who might lack the confidence to contribute in high-detail conversations and understand high-detail documents in English.

Given the size of the Movement, I find it mildly offensive that we would privilege English so highly, merely to avoid the expense of translation and interpretation of Board documents and at Board meetings.

I would urge the Board to reconsider on this specific point, as well as on the points that have been raised by other wikimedians.

Thank you.

In pride and solidarity,

Owen
-- 
Owen Blacker, Cardiff GB
User:OwenBlacker (meta, enwiki, frwiki)
Chair, Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group (meta)
Recognised on the Pinc List 2026


On Sun, 19 Jul 2026 at 22:09, Victoria Doronina via Wikimedia-l <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hello Sam,

You say bureaucracy, I say governance. Please forgive me for stating the obvious, but WMF is a very large international organisation. It's much easier to scale up the experience from a smaller Wikimedia organisation than to start from scratch. 

And people who have Wikimedia governance experience usually have experience with outreach campaigns and education in some form.

I also agree that knowing several languages is valuable, but I don't think we should discriminate against "English as a native and only language" speakers  - it's our working language.

Lastly, while I don't have time to gather the statistics about the current and past candidates, I know that I would've qualified when I first ran - as a former member of the Russian Wikipedia ArbCom and a former member of the Funds Dissemination Committee - note that I've never been on a board of an affiliate.

And lastly, I hope that the current criteria will encourage people to serve on the global committees such as AffCom, U4C etc, and people who serve on them to participate in the Board elections as candidates - we need all the talent we can get.



On Sat, Jul 18, 2026 at 1:06 PM Samuel Klein via Wikimedia-l <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
Thanks so much Margo. The base requirements seem good.  

The Categories of Governance or Community Experience seem to trend mostly towards bureacratic experience, not related to experience with knowledge work (like education or contribution), or outreach (like partnerships or campaigns), or multilingualism (including translation and multinational initiatives).  It also singles out incorporated affiliates with paid staff over all other forms of community organizing and project work, as demonstration of community experience; can you say more about that?  

Have you analyzed which current and past trustees / candidates would have fit these proposed criteria?  That might be a useful appendix for the discussion.

Sam


On Fri, Jul 17, 2026 at 10:40 PM Margo Lee via Wikimedia-l <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:

Hello everyone,


Following the 2025 elections, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees committed to reviewing the selection process of new Trustees, soliciting and receiving feedback and suggestions and proposing changes. The Board received extensive comments posted on Meta, which helped inform this approach.


The Board has discussed the following goals for reforms: 

  • Clarity and consistency of the electoral process

  • Clarity of roles and responsibilities

  • Transparent communications and timeline

  • A slate of candidates who strengthen the board through the experience they bring

  • Reduced need for shortlisting

  • Strong voter participation


The Board is now ready to publish its draft eligibility requirements for feedback from the community. The requirements are more specific and detailed than in years past, to both inform the community of what the Board needs and to create multiple pathways to the Board for Wikimedians. They are also presented as requirements for candidates, not desirable qualities.


The Board is also emphasising the need for previous governance experience, including these key elements of experience:

  • Understanding the role of oversight vs. governance vs. management

  • Understanding Fiduciary Duties

  • Understanding the "Group Dynamics" of a board or committee (and other collective decision-making bodies): working well with others to ask probing questions, voice different views and contribute to informed decisions for the good of the whole, not an individual agenda


The Board is now looking for specific feedback on the proposed eligibility criteria.


Regards,

The Board Governance Committee 


Margo Lee on behalf of the Governance Committee


Margo Lee (she/her)
Deputy Chief of Staff
Wikimedia Foundation
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Kind regards, Victoria   
Victoria Doronina (she/her), UTC
Wikimedia Foundation Trustee
Community and Affiliates Liaison 
Human Rights Liaison    

Wikimedia Foundation 

"Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Please help us make it a reality."

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