Kassia Echavarri-Queen (She/Her) Director, Community Investment |
Dear Wikimedians,
The Community Resources team is excited to announce on Diff the launch of the new Wikimedia funding strategy focused on decentralized decision-making, regional committees and reaching underrepresented communities [1]. Over the last 10 months we have worked together with communities to discuss, understand and develop an approach that addresses their needs and moves us towards the realization of the 2030 strategic direction [2]. Thank you for all of your participation to make this a reality.
The three new funding programs:
The Wikimedia Community Fund
The Community Fund is a unified program with flexible support and funding for Wikimedians working on knowledge equity aligned with the movement’s strategic direction.
The Wikimedia Alliances Fund
The Alliances Fund, for mission-aligned organizations in underrepresented communities who want to collaborate and amplify our work.
The Wikimedia Research and Technology Fund
The Research and Technology Fund for improving technology, tools, and research to nurture a more responsive and accessible environment for contributions.
This people-centred approach is built on the principles of equity & empowerment, collaboration & cooperation, and the promotion of innovation and learning.
Our team has also adapted to provide consistent regional support and the establishment of a learning mindset for the funding approach. We know this is just the beginning and it will be an iterative process. As we implement and learn we will adapt. We also understand the worldwide impact of the continuing COVID pandemic and our first priority is to be in solidarity and have flexibility with communities around the world.
The three programs will be introduced in a phased approach throughout the year. We will first launch with the Wikimedia Community Fund now in July. We invite you to learn more about the programs on our meta page [3].
We have hosted a series of office hours throughout June and July [4] and will continue in the coming weeks to discuss the new programs. Each program officer is also reaching out and answering questions with individual grantees as part of the transition process.
Office Hours:
03:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Asia-Pacific friendly time)
18:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Europe-Africa-Americas friendly time)
We thank you again for all of the collaboration to arrive at this new strategy and we are excited to begin this journey together.
Wishing everyone the best,
Kassia on behalf of the Community Resources team
