This is a good point.

In addition some affiliates don't receive money from WMF (even big affiliates).

I think that the rationale should be clarified because applied as is it's quite discriminatory. 

I understand that there should be a turnover but for grants the experience is the main value to assure the accountability.

This is an important parameter. Renouncing to expert volunteers in name of their affiliation is something strange for volunteers. 

WMF has a long history of demotivating longtime volunteers in the name of "new blood" and this action is on the same bad attitude used in the past.

Experience and years of activity are values and should be valued.

Being served in the committee for longtime I have seen a good mix of expert people and new people that assured different points of view. If this solution worked well, as the grantmaking team said, I don't know why to change. 

Kind regards 

On Sun, 23 May 2021, 01:58 Pharos, <pharosofalexandria@gmail.com> wrote:
I would like to echo Bodhisattwa's concern, and add that there is a great ambiguity here.

What is the definition of "affiliate board member" being used here? A large number of affiliates are small and do not have a board, but are more informally organized.

Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)

On Fri, May 21, 2021 at 10:19 AM Bodhisattwa Mandal <bodhisattwa.rgkmc@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,

I am concerned about the exclusion of affiliate board members in the regional committees. This decision would exclude a large portion of experienced volunteers who are there in different user group decision making committees. For global south countries, that would diminish the pool of volunteers who are experienced and suitable for this kind of work. 

Regards,
Bodhisattwa

On Fri, May 21, 2021, 19:27 Risker <risker.wp@gmail.com> wrote:
I am very concerned that you think you're going to get about 80 qualified and committed volunteers to do this work within the next few weeks.  This is unrealistic. I also agree with Florence's concerns. 

Risker/Anne

On Fri, 21 May 2021 at 08:33, Florence Devouard <fdevouard@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Julia


I apology if I missed a step at some point.
In this application, I read that

"All the current grant committees (both active and inactive) will cease to function with the implementation of the new grants strategy of the Community Resources Team effective from 1 July 2021. We strongly encourage current and former committee members to apply to be part of the regional committees."

So... is it to understand that absolutely ALL grants provided by the Wikimedia Foundation will go through those yet uncreated committees ?

Does that mean all current recipients of APG grants will have to address their annual request to those yet unknown teams in the future ? (september in some cases)

To whom will grants requests have to be addressed to for those groups who are not related to a specific region ? Do they have to pick up a region of their choice and consider themselves attached to it, or will they be appointed a region by default ?

Sorry if the questions seem to be unrelated to your call but...
1) I am trying to understand and measure how much unstable our current situation is as grantees so that we can anticipate...
2) I am trying to evaluate the responsibilities that will be on the shoulders of those new regional committee members


Best


Florence


Le 21/05/2021 à 08:06, Julia Brungs a écrit :
Dear all,

We hope this email finds you well and safe. The COVID 19 situation continues to affect many of us across the globe and our thoughts are with everyone affected. We are also aware that there are several processes currently in progress that demand volunteer time and we do not want to add more work to anyone's plate.

We do want to draw your attention to our new Regional Committees for Grants though as they are an opportunity for you to have an active say in the future of our Movement!

📣 So today, we invite you to join our new Regional Committees for Grants! 📣

We encourage Wikimedians and Free Knowledge advocates to be part of the new Regional Committees that the WMF Community Resources team is setting up as part of the grants strategy relaunch [1]. You will be a key strategic thought partner to help understand the complexities of any region, provide knowledge and expertise to applicants, to support successful movement activities, and make funding decisions for grant applications in the region.

👉Find out more on meta [2].

Regional Committees will be established for the following regions:
  • Middle East and Africa
  • SAARC [3] region (Includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)
  • East, Southeast Asia, and Pacific (ESEAP) region
  • Latin America (LATAM) and The Caribbean
  • United States and Canada
  • Northern and Western Europe
  • Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
👉All details about the Committees and how to apply can be found on meta [4]. Applications have to be submitted by June 4, 2021!  

If you have any questions or comments, please use the meta discussion page [5].

Please do share this announcement widely with your Network.
Best wishes,
Julia on behalf of the Community Resources Team


--
Julia Brungs
Senior Community Relations Specialist 
Wikimedia Foundation		 

_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org