Hello, everyone.
I'm writing with information about the Ombudsman Commission (OC), the small group of volunteers who investigate complaints about violations of the privacy policy, and in particular concerning the use of CheckUser and Oversight tools, on any Wikimedia project for the Board of Trustees. I apologize for the length of the announcement. :)
The application period for new commissioners for 2020 recently closed. The Wikimedia Foundation is extremely grateful to the many experienced and insightful volunteers who offered to assist with this work.
As with last year, this year’s OC will consist of eight members, with a two-member advisory team who will guide the new commission and also, if necessary, fill in in the event that the OC is unable to act due to incapacity or recusal.
I am pleased to announce the composition of the 2020 OC: Ajraddatz https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ajraddatz
Ajraddatz has been an active user on Wikimedia since 2010, and has served in various roles of community trust in that time, including as a Wikidata Oversighter since 2013, a steward since 2014, and a Meta CheckUser since 2015.
Emufarmers https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Emufarmers
Emufarmers has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2005. He is a Metapedian who primarily edits the English Wikipedia; he is also a bureaucrat and sysop on MediaWiki.org, and has provided software support to many third-party, non-Wikimedia wikis over the years. He has served as an OTRS administrator since 2015. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019.
DeltaQuad https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:DeltaQuad
Amanda has been editing Wikipedia since 2009, when she made her first edits to English Wikipedia. She has served many roles in the past including being a sysop, holding advanced permissions and serving on an Arbitration Committee for 4 years. Her work now focuses on the Ombudsmen Commission and the re-development of a Global Unblock Ticket Request System (UTRS).
Kelapstick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kelapstick
Kelapstick has been a Wikimedian since 2006. He is primarily active on English Wikipedia, where he is an Admin and former Oversighter and was an Arbitrator between 2016 and 2018.
Taketa https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Taketa
Taketa has been a Wikimedian since 2008 and has held a number of positions in his time here, including Administrator and Bureaucrat on the Dutch Wikipedia, Arbitrator on Dutch Wikipedia, Administrator on Wikidata, Steward, and member of the Ombuds Commission. He has created about 7000 new articles in several language Wikipedias. He currently serves on the board of Wikimedia Belgium.
Teles https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Teles
Lucas became a Wikipedian in 2007 and started to engage with CheckUser rights in 2009, when he became a local CU on the Portuguese Wikipedia. He held both Oversight and Checkuser rights on Ptwiki between 2015 and 2017, when his term with the rights expired. He is currently an administrator on Commons and Ptwiki. His traditional main focus has been on anti-vandalism work. In 2012, the global community elected him as a steward, a position he has held since. He served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018.
Uzoma Ozurumba https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Uzoma_Ozurumba
Uzoma Ozurumba has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2017. She contributes primarily to Meta, Commons, and the Igbo Wiktionary, of which she is a founder. She is a co-founder of the Igbo Wikimedians User Group and serves as a Strategy Liaison for that group.
Wikilover90 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wikilover90Rupika has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2014. A free knowledge advocate, she edits primarily on Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata and is administrator on Punjabi Wikisource. She organizes events such as Wiki Loves Folklore https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Folklore and Wiki Loves Women https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Women_South_Asia_2020. She has been supporting in activating the Open Movement in North India via various Open GLAM initiatives such as Heritage GLAM https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Heritage_GLAM. She has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019. ---------------
The 2020 OC’s advisors are: Elmacenderesi https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Elmacenderesi
Elmacenderesi has been working on Wikimedia projects since 2007, primarily on the Turkish Wikipedia. There, he has been a CheckUser and a Bureaucrat since 2008 and an Oversighter since 2011. He is also a member of Wikimedia OTRS and serves as a global outreach coordinator, working with academic institutions and GLAMs, for The Wikipedia Library. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018.
Galahad https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Galahad
Carlos, currently editing as user:Galahad, has been contributing to Wikimedia Projects since 2009. He is a member of Wikimedia Venezuela and Wikimedistas de Perú User Group. He primarily contributes to Spanish-language projects including Spanish Wikipedia and Spanish Wikivoyage. He has been an administrator and bureaucrat of Spanish Wikivoyage since 2013. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019.
Their willingness to remain, to bring their familiarity with processes and their experience to the new arrivals, is greatly appreciated! -------------
Please join me in thanking the following volunteers who are leaving OC, who have given substantially of their time to serve the commission: Dyolf77 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Dyolf77
Habib started editing in 2010 and has been heavily engaged in community affairs, both onwiki and as part of user groups, for years. A native of Tunisia, he has been a free-culture advocate on a wide range of issues in and beyond the movement. Onwiki, you can mainly find him helping out on Commons, where he is a sysop, as well as the Arabic and French language editions of Wikipedia. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018.
EVinente https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:EVinente
Edilson has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2013. He is primarily active on the Portuguese Wikipedia, where he is a checkuser, oversighter, and administrator. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019.
Jamie Tubers https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jamie_Tubers
Sam, who edits as Jamie Tubers, joined the English language Wikipedia community in 2011 and has over the years expanded his activities into a wide range of movement activities including co-founding the Wikimedia user group Nigeria and helping to organize events like Wiki Loves Africa and Wiki Loves Women. He is dedicated to correcting our content gaps and biases related to Africa and raising awareness of the projects on the continent. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018.
Krd https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Krd
Krd, who is primarily active on German Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, and also serves at the Volunteer Response Team as an agent and OTRS admin, and was a member of the German Wikipedia Arbitration Committee. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2017.
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I'd also like to say a big thank you to those returning and those coming aboard for the first time, as well as to all those applied. Again, it was an extremely able group of volunteers, and while this mix of users may best serve the need for this year, I hope that those who applied will consider applying again for future commissions.
Regards,
Karen