-- Ilario Valdelli Wikimedia CH Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Association pour l’avancement des connaissances libre Associazione per il sostegno alla conoscenza libera Switzerland - 8008 Zürich Wikipedia: Ilario https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ilario Skype: valdelli Tel: +41764821371 http://www.wikimedia.ch ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:44:14 +0100 From: Andrea Zanni zanni.andrea84@gmail.com To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT Message-ID: CAC=VxyYUzNW7oHp3Df3WmAvaVkJC3o_8PAsoFT0RsSjWL8+O5w@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Thanks Ido. For what is worth, and in my personal capacity (I'm not affiliated with Wikimedia Italia any more) I completely second your concern, Discussions are ongoing from months now and BoT seems frozen in silence. People really don't understand why. I would also like to thank you for expressing it in such a delicate, polite but clear tone. Aubrey On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 11:15 AM, Ilario Valdelli valdelli@gmail.com wrote: > Hi Ido, > your email is interesting and reveals an important issue: the governance of > a no for profit organization is a little bit different from that of a > "commercial" company. > > In my opinion there is an unclear definition of the stakeholders and the > definition of the importance of these stakeholders and the relations they > have. > > Missing a clear definition of these entities and how they are related and > what kind of potential conflicts can be generated by them, it can only > drive to the current picture. > > Kind regards > > On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 9:04 AM, ido ivri idoivri@gmail.com wrote: > > > Dear members of the WMF Board of Trustees, > > > > I’ve been following the recent events silently - from the voting out of > > James Heilman, to the unfortunate timing of recruiting Arnnon Geshuri and > > the lack of clear, timely communication around WMF strategy in in general > > and specifically around the so-called “Knowledge Engine” grant, received > by > > the Knight Foundation. > > > > Even more alarming to me, is the slew of exceptional community-facing > > employees who left (or are leaving) the Foundation, accompanied by > muffled > > sounds of discontent from staying Foundation employees. > > > > I’m breaking my silence because I’m very concerned. My concerns stem from > > my past experiences with facilitating strategic changes and my experience > > in grantmaking - both in and outside of the Movement. > > > > I’m concerned because it’s evident that the Foundation is undergoing a > > deep, strategic change. But this change is not accompanied by the > required > > transparency, honesty and accountability required by the Foundation in > > order to truly transform in a way that's beneficial for the organization > > and its community. > > > > I’m concerned, because while the “Knowledge Engine” grant provides only a > > specific example, it underlines a larger picture that is disturbing: > > concealment (rather than openness) as a default, lack of consultation > with > > the community and weak, general communication around important matters > only > > after bad press. I also suspect that the vocal members of the community > are > > right, and that a $250K grant is not the issue, but it part of a bigger > > move that will require significantly more resources for the Foundation to > > implement. > > > > Lastly, I’m concerned because all this stirs no clear communication from > > the Board of Trustees. A Board of Trustees implies there should be trust > > between the Board and its constituents. I suspect this isn’t the case > > anymore. > > > > If any APG-receiving affiliate conducted itself in such a non > transparent, > > dishonest manner and with lack of clear, timely communication with its > > community and stakeholders, it would get seriously reprimanded by the > > Foundation: its board audited, its budget cut, etc. Expecting the > > Foundation to be held to a lower standard than any of its worldwide > > affiliates is just hypocritical. > > > > I urge the Board of Trustees - Don’t forget that the community of > > volunteers and affiliates is a major stakeholder of the Wikimedia > > Foundation - and many of us are concerned. I think the community deserves > > to better understand where the Wikimedia Foundation is going, and get > > honest answers about the changes in the organization, for us to be > trusting > > again. Please start communicating clearly about those topics. > > > > With utmost respect, > > > > Ido (AKA AlleyCat80) > > > > > > Board Member, WMIL > > > > Member, Simple APG & GAC. > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe > > > > > -- > Ilario Valdelli > Wikimedia CH > Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens > Association pour l’avancement des connaissances libre > Associazione per il sostegno alla conoscenza libera > Switzerland - 8008 Zürich > Wikipedia: Ilario https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ilario > Skype: valdelli > Tel: +41764821371 > http://www.wikimedia.ch > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe > ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:54:03 +0100 From: Cristian Consonni kikkocristian@gmail.com To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT Message-ID: CAEs8i0jZvieC7gxMEgnw=zq3L0z2FHqq0ONDci++XnUQWog3VQ@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Hi, 2016-02-18 11:44 GMT+01:00 Andrea Zanni zanni.andrea84@gmail.com: > Thanks Ido. > For what is worth, and in my personal capacity (I'm not affiliated with > Wikimedia Italia any more) I completely second your concern, > Discussions are ongoing from months now and BoT seems frozen in silence. > People really don't understand why. > > I would also like to thank you for expressing it in such a delicate, polite > but clear tone. strong +1 Thanks Ido for your thoughtful email, which I wholeheartedly support. I like very much your email because it voices what I think many Wikimedians are feeling but may not be keen on expressing themselves publicly. 2016-02-18 9:04 GMT+01:00 ido ivri idoivri@gmail.com: > I’m concerned because it’s evident that the Foundation is undergoing a > deep, strategic change. But this change is not accompanied by the required > transparency, honesty and accountability required by the Foundation in > order to truly transform in a way that's beneficial for the organization > and its community. I share this concern completely. The only thing I would add to what Ido said is: is there a way that we - as a community - could help? Remember that the community is not only a shareholder but also the greatest asset we have. Cristian ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l ------------------------------ End of Wikimedia-l Digest, Vol 143, Issue 85 ********************************************