Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

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Pine W

13 Jul 2018 13 Jul '18

3:30 p.m.

Hello WMF folks, I have some concerns about this job posting: https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/1239209 In some ways I appreciate that WMF wants to invest more money and time in identifying and developing potential volunteer leaders. However, I also have some concerns. * This role appears to have multiple redundancies with efforts that are already being done, or are planned to be done, in areas of WMF such as GLAM, Community Resources, and Audiences, plus activities that are undertaken by affiliates and grantees, so I wonder whether this position is adding unnecessary overhead expense and/or attempting to take over work that is already being done by community members. Can you clarify what value this position is adding, and whether WMF intends to take over scopes of work that are currently generally done by affiliates and grantees? * Was this position described in the 2018-2019 WMF Annual Plan? I was not able to find this position, or a scope of work that seemed to fit this position, in the Community Engagement Annual Plan. I was able to find a statement that talked about researching the needs of community organizers (which I think is a good idea!), but this position seems to have multiple objectives that are outside of that scope of work. Where is this specific position, or its specific scope of work, articulated in the Annual Plan for Community Engagement? * I have a more general concern. The idea of WMF placing itself in the position of managing community development is problematic. I generally would not want community organizers to learn directly from WMF how the Wikimedia community works and/or give new aspiring community leaders the idea that they should look to WMF for guidance. WMF's purpose is to serve the community, not to manage it, and generally WMF's idea of managing the community seems to go something like this: "We will decide what choices you get to make" (such as with Superprotect) and "We will decide what to fund and how the trademarks are used" (given WMF's centralization of funding and its legal monopoly on Wikimedia trademarks). If this position will be funded then I think that "Community Development Support Specialist" would be a much better title, and could be aligned with a scope of work that is more supportive of community goals and respectful of community autonomy. Thank you for listening to my concerns. I look forward to reading your response. Pine( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )

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Maggie Dennis

13 Jul 13 Jul

4:04 p.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

Hi, Pine. Sorry for my brevity. It's rather late on Friday, and I'd like to give you a response. This position is output 1.2 of the CE "Strategy" program discussed on Meta in Community Engagement's plan here <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Engagement/Annual_Plan_2018-2019#Program_Name:_Strategy>. This role consolidates some of the work that is currently distributed in Community Resources and some that is currently being done in Learning & Evaluation and also plays a part in the Movement Organizers program. The full scope of what this team is and what they do will be determined in conjunction with phase 2 of strategy and subsequent Foundation plans. The role is designated as "Manager" as they will have staff for whom they are responsible, just as other manager positions in the Foundation do. Best regards, Maggie On Fri, Jul 13, 2018 at 4:31 PM Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

-- Maggie Dennis Interim Chief of Community Engagement Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

Pine W

14 Jul 14 Jul

1 a.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

Hi Maggie, Thank you for getting back to me. I would have been understanding if the response came next week, so thanks for the quickness. I have some additional thoughts to which I hope that you can reply next week. 1. It sounds like WMF intends to centralize the training and leadership development work that in recent years has largely been done by affiliates and grantees, meaning that affiliates should probably expect budget cuts, and individual grants that have been used for outreach work would also probably be reduced as WMF moves to take over this type of work. Is that the plan, and if so, why? It seems to me that the wikiverse is well served by having wide diversity in training initiatives that are customized to individual languages and projects. I do not know what would be gained by centralizing these functions. I could understand WMF supporting research about effective practices, and supporting peer-to-peer communications among community members and affiliates regarding effective practices, but moving toward centralizing training and leadership development seems like it would do more harm than good. 2. In addition to the practical considerations that I mention above, for political and wikilegal reasons I am concerned about the idea of WMF centralizing community development work under itself. I am generally opposed to the idea that WMF should directly train community members, particularly on leadership subjects. I am aware that WMF provides financial support for training that affiliates and grantees do, and given the scarcity of non-WMF funding sources for this type of work I see little choice but to accept WMF financial support for this work. However, given the differences in culture, values, priorities, motivations, and ways of working between the WMF and the community, and WMF's previous demonstrations of its willingness to grab power from the community, I believe that WMF increasing the centralization of community development work under itself is inappropriate and unwise. Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) -------- Original message --------From: Maggie Dennis <mdennis(a)wikimedia.org> Date: 7/13/18 2:04 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting Hi, Pine. Sorry for my brevity. It's rather late on Friday, and I'd like to give you a response. This position is output 1.2 of the CE "Strategy" program discussed on Meta in Community Engagement's plan here <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Engagement/Annual_Plan_2018-2019#Program_Name:_Strategy>. This role consolidates some of the work that is currently distributed in Community Resources and some that is currently being done in Learning & Evaluation and also plays a part in the Movement Organizers program. The full scope of what this team is and what they do will be determined in conjunction with phase 2 of strategy and subsequent Foundation plans. The role is designated as "Manager" as they will have staff for whom they are responsible, just as other manager positions in the Foundation do. Best regards, Maggie On Fri, Jul 13, 2018 at 4:31 PM Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

-- Maggie Dennis Interim Chief of Community Engagement Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. _______________________________________________ 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(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Robert Fernandez

15 Jul 15 Jul

10:44 a.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

On Sat, Jul 14, 2018 at 2:00 AM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

1. It sounds like WMF intends to centralize the training and leadership development work that in recent years has largely been done by affiliates and grantees, meaning that affiliates should probably expect budget cuts, and individual grants that have been used for outreach work would also probably be reduced as WMF moves to take over this type of work.

Pine W

4:35 p.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

Rob, I think that you and I are asking similar questions. Hopefully, WMF will be able to explain how this position as currently described will exist in harmony with the current distributed nature of training programs, instead of being a step on the way to internalizing programs in WMF and building up a central staff to develop and run these programs. If WMF wants to fund more work in this area, which I think could be beneficial, then I think that the better way to go would be to enhance support for affiliates and community members in leading training development, perhaps by running a grant campaign with training as a theme. Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) -------- Original message --------From: Robert Fernandez <wikigamaliel(a)gmail.com> Date: 7/15/18 8:44 AM (GMT-08:00) To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting On Sat, Jul 14, 2018 at 2:00 AM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

My chapter is unaware of any of this type of work that we do that will be taken over by the Foundation and we don't believe that a single paid position at the Foundation will somehow lead to the elimination of any of our many events or programs in these areas. We welcome more support from the Foundation in these areas. Could you provide a specific example of a program by any chapter that will be absorbed into this position? _______________________________________________ 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(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Ad Huikeshoven

2:19 p.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

Dear friends, Pine wrote "The idea of WMF placing itself in the position of managing community development is problematic." I disagree with Pine. It has been recognized in the past that community is the key asset in the movement. I do belief that it is a fiduciary duty to manage your key asset wisely and responsively. Editing / contributing to Wikimedia projects has a radically decentralized nature. Your concern regards paying due respect to that radically decentralized nature. Community health has been or is an issue for example. I am very glad there is going to be a person leading a team of professionals to provide guidance to volunteer leaders. And the person will have a challenge to gain trust of the community, and to build trust within the communities. Have a nice weekend, Ad

Pine W

4:57 p.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

Hi Ad, I agree that WMF support for training can be beneficial (although, given the choice, I would prefer non-WMF funding sources in order to minimize conflicts of interest between community/affiliate goals and WMF). However, the more firmly that WMF tries to elevate itself as the manager of the wikiverse and to tell community members what to do, the more strongly I object. Community autonomy should be respected, and WMF's purpose in the wikiverse is to offer support rather than to assert centralized management. I have been thinking about these issues for a few days. I think that WMF providing technical support and training, such as a document regarding "How to create a citation", is much safer than non-technical training, such as "How to apply notability guidelines" which may refer to policies and practices that are almost exclusively established by community consensus instead of WMF edict. Regarding WMF involvement in community health, I think that there are ways that WMF can be supportive without placing itself in control or asserting leadership. For example, WMF can usefully and safely improve technical tools for sockpuppet detection, and WMF can research the prevalance of incivility on wikis over time, and WMF can research the effectiveness of interventions that the community decides to implement. Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) -------- Original message --------From: Ad Huikeshoven <ad(a)huikeshoven.org> Date: 7/15/18 12:19 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting Dear friends, Pine wrote "The idea of WMF placing itself in the position of managing community development is problematic." I disagree with Pine. It has been recognized in the past that community is the key asset in the movement. I do belief that it is a fiduciary duty to manage your key asset wisely and responsively. Editing / contributing to Wikimedia projects has a radically decentralized nature. Your concern regards paying due respect to that radically decentralized nature. Community health has been or is an issue for example. I am very glad there is going to be a person leading a team of professionals to provide guidance to volunteer leaders. And the person will have a challenge to gain trust of the community, and to build trust within the communities. Have a nice weekend, Ad _______________________________________________ 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(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Nathan

5:19 p.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

I agree with Ad and keyed on the same objection when reading Pine's complaint. The WMF has been the primary organization responsible for developing the community since the inception of the Wikimedia movement. That isn't changed by the titles of any particular position. To the extent that conflicts of interest develop between the WMF and affiliates, I question the objectives of the affiliates. Affiliates that fund Wikidata, GLAM projects and other efforts that source significant volumes of high quality content do good work. The value of edit-a-thons, "management effort" dedicated to organizing organizations and paying staff and all that entails and other soft efforts is less well established. I don't think the creation of a management layer position over existing staff and work at the WMF is a great moment to consider the pros and cons of these efforts, however, whether at the WMF or affiliates. That opportunity is the strategy development process. On Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 5:58 PM Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Hi Ad, I agree that WMF support for training can be beneficial (although, given the choice, I would prefer non-WMF funding sources in order to minimize conflicts of interest between community/affiliate goals and WMF). However, the more firmly that WMF tries to elevate itself as the manager of the wikiverse and to tell community members what to do, the more strongly I object. Community autonomy should be respected, and WMF's purpose in the wikiverse is to offer support rather than to assert centralized management. I have been thinking about these issues for a few days. I think that WMF providing technical support and training, such as a document regarding "How to create a citation", is much safer than non-technical training, such as "How to apply notability guidelines" which may refer to policies and practices that are almost exclusively established by community consensus instead of WMF edict. Regarding WMF involvement in community health, I think that there are ways that WMF can be supportive without placing itself in control or asserting leadership. For example, WMF can usefully and safely improve technical tools for sockpuppet detection, and WMF can research the prevalance of incivility on wikis over time, and WMF can research the effectiveness of interventions that the community decides to implement. Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) -------- Original message --------From: Ad Huikeshoven <ad(a)huikeshoven.org> Date: 7/15/18 12:19 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Wikimedia Mailing List < wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting Dear friends, Pine wrote "The idea of WMF placing itself in the position of managing community development is problematic." I disagree with Pine. It has been recognized in the past that community is the key asset in the movement. I do belief that it is a fiduciary duty to manage your key asset wisely and responsively. Editing / contributing to Wikimedia projects has a radically decentralized nature. Your concern regards paying due respect to that radically decentralized nature. Community health has been or is an issue for example. I am very glad there is going to be a person leading a team of professionals to provide guidance to volunteer leaders. And the person will have a challenge to gain trust of the community, and to build trust within the communities. Have a nice weekend, Ad _______________________________________________ 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(a)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(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Maggie Dennis

18 Jul 18 Jul

9:01 a.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

Hi, all. I wanted to drop a few more thoughts as the hiring manager of the particular role under discussion and the interim chief of CE. First, as noted, the full scope of this role will be defined in conjunction with the community consultation in strategy phase 2. There is a track for Capacity Building in which the Foundation is an active participant, along with many others. There is no plan to centralize all activities related to Community Development within the Foundation. I personally wouldn't consider that a good idea - we have different experiences and expertise and work best when we work together. And there is plenty to be done. The Foundation is already and has long been quite active in this area. In addition to facilitating peer-to-peer development, Foundation staff have been directly taking a role in training for years, from many specific sessions at Learning Days <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Learning_Day_events> to the dedicated Community Capacity Development program < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Capacity_Development> and many other points between. While I’m here, I’ll note that we knew that this particular job was going to happen when we were writing the annual plan in January and February, and hence we included it by name in our plan, but CE is organizing our structures in ways intended to help us take on the new work necessary to reach our strategic direction, while continuing to provide the core support and services to which we are already committed. This will result in more roles being developed under executive review and in accordance with Board guidance for Foundation staffing. I imagine everyone here is familiar with the “Work With Us” page at < https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Work_with_us>gt;. CE’s plans for work done by these roles will be developed in conjunction with the movement strategy, just as the plan for this role will be. Hope this helps. Best, Maggie On Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 6:19 PM Nathan <nawrich(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

However,

the more firmly that WMF tries to elevate itself as the manager of the wikiverse and to tell community members what to do, the more strongly I object. Community autonomy should be respected, and WMF's purpose in the wikiverse is to offer support rather than to assert centralized

management.

I have been thinking about these issues for a few days. I think that WMF providing technical support and training, such as a document regarding

"How

to create a citation", is much safer than non-technical training, such as "How to apply notability guidelines" which may refer to policies and practices that are almost exclusively established by community consensus instead of WMF edict. Regarding WMF involvement in community health, I think that there are

ways

that WMF can be supportive without placing itself in control or asserting leadership. For example, WMF can usefully and safely improve technical tools for sockpuppet detection, and WMF can research the prevalance of incivility on wikis over time, and WMF can research the effectiveness of interventions that the community decides to implement. Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) -------- Original message --------From: Ad Huikeshoven <

ad(a)huikeshoven.org>

Date: 7/15/18 12:19 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Wikimedia Mailing List < wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting Dear friends, Pine wrote "The idea of WMF placing itself in the position of managing community development is problematic." I disagree with Pine. It has been recognized in the past that community

the key asset in the movement. I do belief that it is a fiduciary duty to manage your key asset wisely and responsively. Editing / contributing to Wikimedia projects has a radically decentralized nature. Your concern regards paying due respect to that radically decentralized nature. Community health has been or is an issue for example. I am very glad

there

is going to be a person leading a team of professionals to provide

guidance

to volunteer leaders. And the person will have a challenge to gain trust

the community, and to build trust within the communities. Have a nice weekend, Ad _______________________________________________ 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(a)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(a)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(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

-- Maggie Dennis Interim Chief of Community Engagement Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

Pine W

23 Jul 23 Jul

9:23 p.m.

New subject: Concerns about WMF's "Manager of Community Development" job posting

Hi Maggie, Thanks for the comments. I wanted to wait to respond to this until I was able to be a little clamer, and until after Wikimania as people return to business as usual. I am glad to hear that the plan does not include centralizing all community development-related activities inside of WMF. I remain concerned about the community-WMF relationship and the way in which training could be done by WMF in such a way that conveys the notion that community members and affiliates are under the management and direction of WMF. I have tried to be supportive of Learning Days, partly because my perception is that affiliate volunteers appreciate learning tools for self-evaluation, and partly because of my belief that WMF's Learning and Evaluation team shares my personal interest in analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of programs and uses of resources. In the larger picture, I would like to see WMF hand off more of that type of work to peer leadership among affiliates and individual community. I hope that this type of evolution is considered as a part of the strategy process. Given the degree of uncertainty about where the strategy process will lead and the associated uncertainty about the deliverables for the person who is hired into the Manager of Community Development position, it sounds to me like this position should be frozen until the strategy process is complete. Is there a reason to continue with the hiring process prior to the completion of the strategy process? Can you expand on what you envision this person doing? The job description gives me the impression that WMF intends to hire numerous people to work under this person, and it is difficult for me to see how that can be done without taking over work from affiliates and grantees. I should also add that WMF staff are often much more expensive than affiliate staff and grantees, so even if there is training work that WMF would like to do, hiring more WMF staff seems like the most expensive option available. Is there a reason to hire more WMF staff to do what affiliates and grantees can almost certainly do less expensively? Thanks, Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 2:01 PM, Maggie Dennis <mdennis(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Hi, all. I wanted to drop a few more thoughts as the hiring manager of the particular role under discussion and the interim chief of CE. First, as noted, the full scope of this role will be defined in conjunction with the community consultation in strategy phase 2. There is a track for Capacity Building in which the Foundation is an active participant, along with many others. There is no plan to centralize all activities related to Community Development within the Foundation. I personally wouldn't consider that a good idea - we have different experiences and expertise and work best when we work together. And there is plenty to be done. The Foundation is already and has long been quite active in this area. In addition to facilitating peer-to-peer development, Foundation staff have been directly taking a role in training for years, from many specific sessions at Learning Days <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Learning_Day_ events> to the dedicated Community Capacity Development program < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Capacity_Development> and many other points between. While I’m here, I’ll note that we knew that this particular job was going to happen when we were writing the annual plan in January and February, and hence we included it by name in our plan, but CE is organizing our structures in ways intended to help us take on the new work necessary to reach our strategic direction, while continuing to provide the core support and services to which we are already committed. This will result in more roles being developed under executive review and in accordance with Board guidance for Foundation staffing. I imagine everyone here is familiar with the “Work With Us” page at < https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Work_with_us>gt;. CE’s plans for work done by these roles will be developed in conjunction with the movement strategy, just as the plan for this role will be. Hope this helps. Best, Maggie On Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 6:19 PM Nathan <nawrich(a)gmail.com> wrote:

extent

that conflicts of interest develop between the WMF and affiliates, I question the objectives of the affiliates. Affiliates that fund Wikidata, GLAM projects and other efforts that source significant volumes of high quality content do good work. The value of edit-a-thons, "management effort" dedicated to organizing organizations and paying staff and all

that

entails and other soft efforts is less well established. I don't think

the

creation of a management layer position over existing staff and work at

the

WMF is a great moment to consider the pros and cons of these efforts, however, whether at the WMF or affiliates. That opportunity is the

strategy

development process. On Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 5:58 PM Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Ad, > > I agree that WMF support for training can be beneficial (although,

given

the choice, I would prefer non-WMF funding sources in order to minimize conflicts of interest between community/affiliate goals and WMF).

However, > the more firmly that WMF tries to elevate itself as the manager of the > wikiverse and to tell community members what to do, the more strongly I > object. Community autonomy should be respected, and WMF's purpose in

the

wikiverse is to offer support rather than to assert centralized

management. > > I have been thinking about these issues for a few days. I think that

WMF

providing technical support and training, such as a document regarding

"How > to create a citation", is much safer than non-technical training, such

> "How to apply notability guidelines" which may refer to policies and > practices that are almost exclusively established by community

consensus

instead of WMF edict. Regarding WMF involvement in community health, I think that there are

ways > that WMF can be supportive without placing itself in control or

asserting

> leadership. For example, WMF can usefully and safely improve technical > tools for sockpuppet detection, and WMF can research the prevalance of > incivility on wikis over time, and WMF can research the effectiveness

interventions that the community decides to implement. Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) -------- Original message --------From: Ad Huikeshoven <

ad(a)huikeshoven.org>

is > the key asset in the movement. I do belief that it is a fiduciary duty

> manage your key asset wisely and responsively. Editing / contributing

Wikimedia projects has a radically decentralized nature. Your concern regards paying due respect to that radically decentralized nature. Community health has been or is an issue for example. I am very glad

there

is going to be a person leading a team of professionals to provide

guidance > to volunteer leaders. And the person will have a challenge to gain

trust

-- Maggie Dennis Interim Chief of Community Engagement Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. _______________________________________________ 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(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

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participants (5)

Ad Huikeshoven
Maggie Dennis
Nathan
Pine W
Robert Fernandez