Dear all,
Do you care about safety, inclusivity, and friendliness in the Wikimedia movement? Are you interested in the guidelines and policies that guide it? Do you have any experience with how they are applied? Do you have ideas about well-functioning enforcement pathways in general? This is your chance to get involved!
We are looking for volunteers to join the Drafting Committee for the guidelines of enforcement for the Universal Code of Conduct. If you are interested, please read the following important information for candidates and our essay on an ideal committee [1].
Who will be on the committee? - eight or nine volunteers, two or three affiliate staff members, and three or four Foundation staff members (depending on how many candidates apply)
When will the committee be active? - April 26 - November 30, 2021. Please be aware that we will prioritize a comprehensive community review over a hard deadline, so the active period for the committee might get extended. There will be a break in Committee duties for a rest period while community discussions are active. For a more detailed timeline see here [2].
What will they do? Understand the current Universal Code of Conduct [3]. Read background material and draft the enforcement strategies for the Universal Code of Conduct that will outline pathways of implementation. See more information here [4].
How will they work? They will meet online and work on shared documents. A facilitation team will help them to organize the work, and experts in different areas will be available to provide support. Sessions will include a combination of teamwork and asynchronous work and will have elements of multimedia, facilitated activities, discussion and collaborative work.
How much time should I plan to spend per week? There will be online meetings (1-2 hours per week), as well as background reading in the early phases resulting in up to 5-8 hours each week. There will be a full break and a period of reduced activity over the summer. For more details see the timeline here [2].
What skills should I bring to the process? Ideally you would have experience in policy drafting as well as in the application of policies and enforcement of rules, experience in cooperating online and in writing in English. We would also love our candidates to have empathy; for example, experience in mentoring, resolving difficult disputes, and communicating with compassion are valuable. Experience applying a trauma-informed lens and working within anti-racist and anti-oppresisve frameworks would be highly valued.
How will the committee members be selected? The Trust and Safety Team [5] together with the Legal Team [6] of the Wikimedia Foundation will vet all candidates. Then, the Vice president of Community Resilience and Sustainability, Maggie Dennis [7], will choose committee members based on the level of skills and experience of candidates in combination with diversity factors.
If you are interested in applying, please let us know before April 19 by signing up below or mail to Christel Steigenberger [8]. Please include your username and link to your userpage of your home wiki and provide links demonstrating your experience. Let us know about the roles you hold or held in Wikimedia or similar organizations. Feel free to add any additional information that will help us make an informed choice.
Please forward this message to any volunteers or affiliate staff members you think might be interested, and encourage them to apply and help us spread the word. We also welcome your help translating this message on meta [9].
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Christel Steigenberger
Senior Trust and Safety Specialist
[3] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct
[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct
[5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trust_and_Safety
[6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal
[7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mdennis_(WMF)
[8] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:EmailUser/CSteigenberger_(WMF)
Christel Steigenberger (she/her)
Senior Trust and Safety Specialist