Dear everyone,
We are happy to share that Houcemeddine Turki, Wojciech Pędzich, Linar
Khalitov and Mardetanha are new members who have been appointed to the
Affiliations Committee.
Here are Houcemeddine Turki, Wojciech Pędzich, Linar Khalitov and Mohsen in
their own words:
1.
Houcemeddine Turki:
I am Houcemeddine Turki. I speak Tunisian Arabic as a native language.
However, I am keen on other varieties of Arabic including Modern Standard
Arabic, Algerian Arabic, Libyan Arabic, Egyptian Arabic and North Levantine
Arabic. I speak French and English as an upper-intermediate user (CEFR B2)
and Italian as an elementary user (CEFR A2) and I am a beginner in German
and Maltese (CEFR A1). So, I consider myself as a polyglot. In my real
life, I am a medical student and a research assistant in Biomedical Data
Science, Computational Linguistics, Library and Information Science and
Semantic Web at University of Sfax, Tunisia. As a Wikimedia volunteer, I
have been a Wikipedian between 2009 and 2019 before shifting all my
interest to Wikidata. I am mainly interested in developing tools and
efficient methods to ameliorate reference support and data quality of
Wikimedia projects and in ameliorating the coverage of regional and
scholarly topics in Wikipedia and in sister projects.
1.
Wojciech Pędzich:
I feel I can enrich the AffCom with my experience as Wikimedia Polska's
functionary and the functionary of the Wikimedia projects. I have a
background in English and in organisational management, with my M. Sc. on
content creation limitations on Wikipedia; I have also made a failed
attempt at a Ph. D. in leadership in open collaboration projects. I am also
a translator, including of Wikimedia and open collaboration-related books.
1.
Linar Khalitov:
I am a long-term Wikimedian mainly active in Russian Wikipedia and
Commons. I started contributing in 2007, and during that time, I have been
in different roles: sysop and bureaucrat in ru.wiki, OTRS member, sysop on
Commons (still keep the status), ombudsman, member of IEG and PEG (still
hold position), Wikimedia RU member (still there). I am also an active bot
owner with more than 1 mln edits on the bot account.
I am based in Kazan, Russia, have a financial degree and have practically
finished my EMBA in London Business School (graduation in July 2021). I
know English, Russian and Tatar languages (though my English is better
despite being a Tatar native). I have a full-time executive job in Russia.
Still, I am sure that I will be available enough as my MBA finishes, and my
grant committee participation will be over soon, too, due to the relaunch
of the grant approach by WMF.
I believe in the mission of Wikimedia movement and have always tried to
help and participate in promoting knowledge. I am sure that there is much
work to do as even in my region (European part of Russia) most people still
don't understand how Wikimedia projects operate, what benefits they provide
and how others can contribute. I think that chapters are the way of
promoting Wikimedia values around the globe and want to dedicate my
experience and knowledge in helping chapters to build sustainable models.
1.
Mardetanha:
Having joined wikimedia in 2005, I have been more serious about
contributing in 2007. Since then, I have been full time Wikimedian,
actively involved in many projects and in different languages, and been an
administrator for many, including Meta and Commons. After graduating, I
worked in a different field, but I have a background in engineering.
Currently, I'm living in Zanjan, Iran. Farsi and Azerbaijani are my native
languages. Additionally, I know English well, have extensive knowledge of
Turkish, and I am familiar with many Iranian language. My belief has always
been that affiliates are the heart of our movement, so the stronger the
affiliates, the greater the movement overall, In light of this, I feel
compelled to join AffCom and strengthen the movement.
Please join me in welcoming the newly-appointed members of AffCom.
*Kindly,---*
*Mehman Ibragimov*
*Vice-Chair*
*Affiliations Committee
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee>*