Dear all,

I echo the words Dennis said, in a personal capacity.

I remember that we took the first steps on the strategy in 2018, but we had already started talking in July 2017, 7 years ago. During the two years of Diversity Working Group discussions - which then led to the 10 recommendations - 5 children were born in our group. Something that struck me a lot and a measure that I give of the time and life that flowed outside, while inside we discussed the movement. And I think it gives a great idea of the effort that community volunteers have already made back then, I can't imagine how much this effort has increased in recent times.

To remain on the subject of the commitment that the community of volunteers has put into this process, I also remember that at first I had decided not to vote the UCoC ratification, given that it remained and still remains a good thing on paper, which on a concrete has little margin for action in cases of harassment and abuse. But not ratifying it meant not being grateful and nullifying all the work of those who had worked.

I don't like corporate language, which we have to accept in our work off wifi and not here, and it has little to do with who believes in this movement. Without making financial calculations, if the community agreed to spend 7 years of its life, as Dennis says, dedicating them to discussions on strategy, instead of enjoying life out there or creating wiki events or creating content, it is because they believed in it. We believed we could change the things from inside, we believed that there was a point in "sitting at the table" of discussions, we thought the words "we are listening to you" and "every voice counts" were genuine and powerful at the same time.

Now I'm no longer so certain and I wonder what the personal or affiliate motivations could be to move forward, if not just forget about the thousands of useless discussions, good intentions that bring few concrete things and strategy, and focus on advocacy, projects and creating open content.

Sincerely,
Camelia

Camelia Boban (she/her)

| Java EE Developer |

camelia.boban@gmail.com

M. +39 3383385545

WikiDonne Chair & Founder | WMF Gender & Climate Change Certified Organizer | NW Europe Grants Committee

Wikipedia | WikiDonne Project | WikiDonne UG | WikiDonne APS

WMIT - WMSE - WMCH - WMDC - WMBE - WCS-UG - WGR-UG Member

On Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 2:46 PM Dennis Tobar <dennis.tobar@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Wikimedia Community

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to each of you for your tireless participation in the strategic planning process over the years. I also want to applaud the individuals who have dedicated nearly five years of their lives to serving our community, meticulously crafting a vision for a more inclusive, diverse, and collaboratively built movement.

During the recent Wikimedia Summit, I posed the question "What happens if ratification fails?" during my last panel. An uncomfortable silence filled the room. It seemed that this possibility had never been considered, at least not by the MCDC, as there was no apprehension that the collective will could falter.

I am not disappointed with the Wikimedia Foundation's BoT resolution; rather, I am concerned that the dedicated volunteers who spent countless hours debating, even traveling to far-off countries to meet in person, to craft a charter that establishes minimum standards, were essentially replaced by a decision to simply assume that "experiments" are the best approach for our community. This undermines the credibility of future processes for those of us who have been involved in the movement for a long time: it alienates those of us who have spent years talking, discussing, and advocating, using our free time to build the movement, instead of dedicating it to Wikimedia projects or our personal lives.

The Wikimedia Summit has been discontinued this year, leaving us without a dedicated space for affiliated groups to discuss the future of our movement. Wikimania, on the other hand, is not a suitable forum for community-wide discussions, as it primarily serves as a celebratory event. We are now devoid of space for such discussions, and I urge the Wikimedia Foundation to establish mechanisms for bringing communities together. It is not enough to claim to be a global movement if we are unable to unite in one place. Even the UN convenes annually, and we have lost this opportunity. Organizations like ours also require face-to-face interactions to address our concerns, challenges, and aspirations for the movement's future. I vividly recall being inspired by the CEE and the Romanian community's work in challenging circumstances at the last Wikimedia Summit, learning about the progress of colleagues in my region, and feeling saddened by the changes in far-off countries that jeopardize the movement's existence there. This is what we have lost, and we no longer have it, nor will we have this forum for discussion.

Therefore, I leave you with lingering questions arising from this process: Can we maintain trust when the WMF calls for another community consultation process?, How can we be certain that the measures being taken by the WMF are the right path to ensure that we can think beyond 2030? What observable criteria will be used to determine the success of the plan?
Many questions arise in my mind, but I do not expect answers. I am simply appealing to the fact that the community has invested nearly six years (not counting other parallel processes) in an effort that is now being reduced to the implementation of the Foundation's interpretation of the resulting documents.

These are my thoughts and ideas, and they do not represent any affiliated organization.

Thank you for your attention. I sincerely hope that the community will be actively involved in future strategy exercises, perhaps with the next generation of the movement already in place (there is still a long way to go until 2030).

Kindly

(PS: I used IA to translate the message: seems curious a diverse movement where your voice isn't heard if it isn't written in English)

On Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 7:32 AM Gnangarra <gnangarra@gmail.com> wrote:
The MC has been a very long process, I think in some ways it was tiring and draining the community with slow progress. While I was disappointed in how the last few weeks have played out I'm not entirely sure that was going to ever achieve what was envisaged when we started. This is not the first plan that I have seen over the last 19-20 years where too much time spent trying to make everything all things to all people rather than just getting small steps done quicker, though I'm sure somewhere in there time was lost due Covid too.

I feel for the people over the last 6 years that have acted in good faith working on getting us to this point. I welcome the Boards decision to continue the process but in smaller pieces. As someone who has been around so long I recognise that so many people have come and gone over the years, priorities do change, combined with so many new perspectives, ideas, and thoughts on how to do something different.

Just looking at the community now there have been so many changes, greater diversity, efforts to bring previously unheard voices into the room. When we sat in Berlin starting the strategy process all the Chapter Presidents were men, and there were no Usergroups, just chapters and one thematic organisation. In our meeting we took a vote to make a conscious effort to ensure that there would be more Women in the room from then on. We are so much more now than we have ever been, the movement has changed for the better it will keep changing. Once the dust settles we will learn from this, Wikimedians are always at the cutting edge of doing what has been said to be impossible. We dont need to right every time, we just need to keep going.

On Fri, 12 Jul 2024 at 18:50, <denisobarthel@gmail.com> wrote:
Thank you very much, Maciej, for expressing my thoughts and feelings so clear. This is a sad day. There never was a process so extensively executed with all stakeholders, so much effort, so much hope for a redesign of the powers in the movement, so much work and energy and self-sacrifice beautifully put in the process. So many community members put their hopes in it.
All the work of years now drowned in a meager and cold letter of corporate vagueness, cementing the status quo for years to come. And after that move of shattering hopes even daring to ask for "input/feedback", of those who just have been disappointed....
"What's next?" you ask? Board Elections are next. Have fun.
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--
Boodarwun
Gnangarra
'ngany dabakarn koorliny arn boodjera dardon nlangan Nyungar koortabodjar'

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Dennis Tobar Calderón

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