Hi,
All of the Annual Planning Grants (APGs) to Wikimedia affiliates are next year paid through Tides Advocacy. Wikimedia Foundation has communicated this change to all of us affiliates that are affected many months ago, and there is nothing secretive going on. Please assume good faith.
Best,
John Andersson Executive Director Wikimedia Sverige
Den sön 13 dec. 2020 13:02 wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org skrev:
Send Wikimedia-l mailing list submissions to wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org
You can reach the person managing the list at wikimedia-l-owner@lists.wikimedia.org
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Wikimedia-l digest..."
Today's Topics:
- Re: WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" (Christophe Henner)
Message: 1 Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2020 12:39:31 +0100 From: Christophe Henner christophe.henner@gmail.com To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" Message-ID: <CAFaJbjehxW5Rq5gaqzN=_wMS=_e_=AJPmoXMx2n9=rUQTB6= Ww@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
It is the endowment.
Le dim. 13 déc. 2020 à 10:37 AM, Yair Rand yyairrand@gmail.com a écrit :
No, the Wikimedia Endowment is a separate thing.
-- Yair Rand
בתאריך יום א׳, 13 בדצמ׳ 2020 ב-4:18 מאת Michael Peel < email@mikepeel.net>:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment ?
On 13 Dec 2020, at 08:33, Yair Rand yyairrand@gmail.com wrote:
According to the recent Independent Auditors' Report of the WMF [1], at some point prior to the end of June 2020, an entity called the
"Wikimedia
Knowledge Equity Fund" was established, and $8.723 million was
transferred
to it by the WMF, in the form of an unconditional grant. The Fund is "managed and controlled by Tides Advocacy" (a 501(c)(4) advocacy
nonprofit
previously led by the WMF's current General Counsel/Board Secretary, who served as CEO, Board Secretary, and Treasurer there). Given that a
search for "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" yields zero results prior
to
the release of the report, it is clear that the WMF kept this
significant
move completely secret for over five months, perhaps over a year. The Report FAQ additionally emphasizes that the WMF "has no right of return
to
the grant funds provided, with the exception of unexpended funds."
The WMF unilaterally and secretly transferred nearly $9 million of movement funds to an outside organization not recognized by the Affiliations Committee. No mention of the grant was made in any Board resolutions or minutes from the relevant time period. The amount was not mentioned in the public annual plan, which set out rather less than this amount for the entire grantmaking budget for the year. No application
was
made through any of the various Wikimedia grants processes. No further information has been provided on the administration of this new Fund,
or on
the text of the grant agreement.
I am appalled.
-- Yair Rand
[1]
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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 <wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>>
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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
Hi John,
Well that is part of the answer - though Tides will evidently also be making other grants as well (what, to whom and what for is unclear)
But this also raises quite a lot of questions about the APG grants. Who is now determining who gets how much? The FDC has been de facto abolished, after it was 'paused' to allow more time for the strategy process. Has their work been outsourced to the Tides Foundation? If so how are they going to be going about it?
I don't know if any information about this has been communicated to the affiliates whose budgets are affected, but of course they are not the only stakeholders!
Chris
On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 3:56 PM John Andersson john.andersson@wikimedia.se wrote:
Hi,
All of the Annual Planning Grants (APGs) to Wikimedia affiliates are next year paid through Tides Advocacy. Wikimedia Foundation has communicated this change to all of us affiliates that are affected many months ago, and there is nothing secretive going on. Please assume good faith.
Best,
John Andersson Executive Director Wikimedia Sverige
Den sön 13 dec. 2020 13:02 wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org skrev:
Send Wikimedia-l mailing list submissions to wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org
You can reach the person managing the list at wikimedia-l-owner@lists.wikimedia.org
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Wikimedia-l digest..."
Today's Topics:
- Re: WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" (Christophe Henner)
Message: 1 Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2020 12:39:31 +0100 From: Christophe Henner christophe.henner@gmail.com To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" Message-ID: <CAFaJbjehxW5Rq5gaqzN=_wMS=_e_=AJPmoXMx2n9=rUQTB6= Ww@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
It is the endowment.
Le dim. 13 déc. 2020 à 10:37 AM, Yair Rand yyairrand@gmail.com a écrit :
No, the Wikimedia Endowment is a separate thing.
-- Yair Rand
בתאריך יום א׳, 13 בדצמ׳ 2020 ב-4:18 מאת Michael Peel < email@mikepeel.net>:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment ?
On 13 Dec 2020, at 08:33, Yair Rand yyairrand@gmail.com wrote:
According to the recent Independent Auditors' Report of the WMF [1], at some point prior to the end of June 2020, an entity called the
"Wikimedia
Knowledge Equity Fund" was established, and $8.723 million was
transferred
to it by the WMF, in the form of an unconditional grant. The Fund is "managed and controlled by Tides Advocacy" (a 501(c)(4) advocacy
nonprofit
previously led by the WMF's current General Counsel/Board Secretary,
who
served as CEO, Board Secretary, and Treasurer there). Given that a
search for "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" yields zero results prior
to
the release of the report, it is clear that the WMF kept this
significant
move completely secret for over five months, perhaps over a year. The Report FAQ additionally emphasizes that the WMF "has no right of
return to
the grant funds provided, with the exception of unexpended funds."
The WMF unilaterally and secretly transferred nearly $9 million of movement funds to an outside organization not recognized by the Affiliations Committee. No mention of the grant was made in any Board resolutions or minutes from the relevant time period. The amount was
not
mentioned in the public annual plan, which set out rather less than
this
amount for the entire grantmaking budget for the year. No application
was
made through any of the various Wikimedia grants processes. No further information has been provided on the administration of this new Fund,
or on
the text of the grant agreement.
I am appalled.
-- Yair Rand
[1]
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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 <wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>>
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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
Hello
Still waiting for explanation. But wanted to point out that the statement from John below is a bit problematic to me.
Wiki in Africa has been under APG for a year now. At no point have we been informed of any changes that would involve a "Tides Advocacy" organization.
Note that I completely assume good faith and I trust everything will be right. I am not worried.
But must point out that... if the information was meant to be public and communicated to all APG orgs... then it was not.
Florence
Le 13/12/2020 à 16:56, John Andersson a écrit :
Hi,
All of the Annual Planning Grants (APGs) to Wikimedia affiliates are next year paid through Tides Advocacy. Wikimedia Foundation has communicated this change to all of us affiliates that are affected many months ago, and there is nothing secretive going on. Please assume good faith.
Best,
John Andersson Executive Director Wikimedia Sverige
Den sön 13 dec. 2020 13:02 <wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org> skrev:
Send Wikimedia-l mailing list submissions to wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org> You can reach the person managing the list at wikimedia-l-owner@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-l-owner@lists.wikimedia.org> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Wikimedia-l digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" (Christophe Henner) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2020 12:39:31 +0100 From: Christophe Henner <christophe.henner@gmail.com <mailto:christophe.henner@gmail.com>> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" Message-ID: <CAFaJbjehxW5Rq5gaqzN=_wMS=_e_=AJPmoXMx2n9=rUQTB6=Ww@mail.gmail.com <mailto:Ww@mail.gmail.com>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" It is the endowment. Le dim. 13 déc. 2020 à 10:37 AM, Yair Rand <yyairrand@gmail.com <mailto:yyairrand@gmail.com>> a écrit : > No, the Wikimedia Endowment is a separate thing. > > -- Yair Rand > > בתאריך יום א׳, 13 בדצמ׳ 2020 ב-4:18 מאת Michael Peel < > email@mikepeel.net <mailto:email@mikepeel.net>>: > >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment> ? >> >> On 13 Dec 2020, at 08:33, Yair Rand <yyairrand@gmail.com <mailto:yyairrand@gmail.com>> wrote: >> >> According to the recent Independent Auditors' Report of the WMF [1], at >> some point prior to the end of June 2020, an entity called the "Wikimedia >> Knowledge Equity Fund" was established, and $8.723 million was transferred >> to it by the WMF, in the form of an unconditional grant. The Fund is >> "managed and controlled by Tides Advocacy" (a 501(c)(4) advocacy nonprofit >> previously led by the WMF's current General Counsel/Board Secretary, who >> served as CEO, Board Secretary, and Treasurer there). Given that a Google >> search for "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" yields zero results prior to >> the release of the report, it is clear that the WMF kept this significant >> move completely secret for over five months, perhaps over a year. The >> Report FAQ additionally emphasizes that the WMF "has no right of return to >> the grant funds provided, with the exception of unexpended funds." >> >> The WMF unilaterally and secretly transferred nearly $9 million of >> movement funds to an outside organization not recognized by the >> Affiliations Committee. No mention of the grant was made in any Board >> resolutions or minutes from the relevant time period. The amount was not >> mentioned in the public annual plan, which set out rather less than this >> amount for the entire grantmaking budget for the year. No application was >> made through any of the various Wikimedia grants processes. No further >> information has been provided on the administration of this new Fund, or on >> the text of the grant agreement. >> >> I am appalled. >> >> -- Yair Rand >> >> [1] >> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikimedia_Foundation_FY2019-2020_Audit_Report.pdf <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikimedia_Foundation_FY2019-2020_Audit_Report.pdf> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines> and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l> >> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l>, < >> mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org>?subject=unsubscribe >> <wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe <http://wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines> and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l> >> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l>, >> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org>?subject=unsubscribe> >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines> and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l>, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org>?subject=unsubscribe> >
wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org