Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board Governance Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes on Meta for discussion https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-_Affiliate-selected_trustees,_term_limits,_and_diversity prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for January 23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As usual in these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from December 7 to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to achieve three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100 recognized User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User Groups combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to the selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy process may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement, including the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make now to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the trustee selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did not want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019 trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time, there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects. The changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in that regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices as candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The Board believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for the potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who bring essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of serving one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the Board and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding. Raising the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the practice of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be served consecutively does not change the fact that the community, including affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years whether or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge equity for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia Foundation and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We want to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all voices, throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board
Hello,
I posted some comments and questions to the talk page. < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_20...
I would appreciate anyone else jumping in to comment, fill in information gaps, or advance the conversation in any way.
Thanks -
On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 10:46 AM María Sefidari msefidari@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board Governance Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes on Meta for discussion < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-_...
prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for January 23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As usual in these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from December 7 to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to achieve three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100 recognized User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User Groups combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to the selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy process may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement, including the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make now to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the trustee selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did not want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019 trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time, there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects. The changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in that regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices as candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The Board believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for the potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who bring essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of serving one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the Board and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding. Raising the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the practice of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be served consecutively does not change the fact that the community, including affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years whether or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge equity for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia Foundation and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We want to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all voices, throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board _______________________________________________ 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
Same here!
TL:DR – This might not be a great idea, because it’s not what User Groups were designed for. And shouldn’t the WMF Board be thinking more broadly than this sort of fiddling round the edges?
Chris
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Lane Rasberry Sent: 07 December 2018 17:13 To: Wikimedia Mailing List Cc: wikimediaannounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Proposed changes to the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws
Hello,
I posted some comments and questions to the talk page. < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_20...
I would appreciate anyone else jumping in to comment, fill in information gaps, or advance the conversation in any way.
Thanks -
On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 10:46 AM María Sefidari msefidari@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board Governance Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes on Meta for discussion < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-_...
prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for January 23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As usual in these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from December 7 to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to achieve three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100 recognized User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User Groups combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to the selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy process may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement, including the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make now to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the trustee selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did not want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019 trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time, there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects. The changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in that regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices as candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The Board believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for the potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who bring essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of serving one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the Board and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding. Raising the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the practice of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be served consecutively does not change the fact that the community, including affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years whether or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge equity for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia Foundation and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We want to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all voices, throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board _______________________________________________ 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
Indeed, the proposed changes do not seem to be an improvement at all, for the reasons stated in the talk page.
Paulo
Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com escreveu no dia sábado, 8/12/2018 à(s) 09:46:
Same here!
TL:DR – This might not be a great idea, because it’s not what User Groups were designed for. And shouldn’t the WMF Board be thinking more broadly than this sort of fiddling round the edges?
Chris
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Lane Rasberry Sent: 07 December 2018 17:13 To: Wikimedia Mailing List Cc: wikimediaannounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Proposed changes to the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws
Hello,
I posted some comments and questions to the talk page. <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_20...
I would appreciate anyone else jumping in to comment, fill in information gaps, or advance the conversation in any way.
Thanks -
On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 10:46 AM María Sefidari msefidari@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board
Governance
Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes
on
Meta for discussion <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-_...
prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for January 23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As usual
in
these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from December
7
to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to
achieve
three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100
recognized
User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User
Groups
combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to
the
selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy
process
may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement,
including
the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make
now
to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the trustee selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did not want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019 trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time, there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects.
The
changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in that regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices
as
candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The Board believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for the potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who bring essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of serving one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the
Board
and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding. Raising the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the
practice
of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be served consecutively does not change the fact that the community,
including
affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years
whether
or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge
equity
for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia
Foundation
and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We want to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all
voices,
throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board _______________________________________________ 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
-- Lane Rasberry user:bluerasberry on Wikipedia 206.801.0814 lane@bluerasberry.com _______________________________________________ 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
I think that the proposals are worth considering, although my wish list for reforming the WMF Board has other priorities at this time (especially regarding transparency, and the changing of the Founder's seat to a community-selected seat). I think that these proposals should wait until after the Strategy process is further along.
I note the concerns that people have expressed about both proposals, both here and on the talk page. I encourage the Board and staff to avoid becoming locked into defending the proposals and pushing them through in their current forms.
However, I think that the Board should be encouraged to make proposals to the community like this, and I thank the Board for making these proposals open for public discussion.
Hi all,
I want to express my concerns regarding this proposal to amend the WMF bylaws at this moment.
It is a clear attempt to change the structure of our movement, and it seems to be a logic step after the endorsement of the Movement Direction (“Structure follows strategy”). However this proposal interferes with our common commitment to the second step of the Movement Strategy.
After the endorsement of the Movement Direction 9 working groups have been installed. Their basic assignment is: “[...] map the present situation of their respective Thematic Areas, including the obstacles and opportunities, as well as changes needed for the movement to advance in our Strategic Direction. They will identify possible strategies for making these changes and develop concrete recommendations for the movement on how to *ratify and implement* [italics mine] them.
This wording is in accordance with the email of Maria Sefidari of July 19, 2018 in which she expressed the commitment of the Board of Trustees to this process. I quote from her email: “Now our task as a movement is to apply the Strategic Direction to our own work. We need to answer questions that define our path forward: What kind of *structures* [again, the italics are mine] are ideal for achieving our strategic direction?”
Issuing a proposal to change the bylaws clearly trespasses the work of all those involved in the Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Process. I urge the Board of Trustees to postpone a decision about this matter and I suggest to hand over the recommendations of the Affcom to the appropriate working groups.
Finally: Of course I do not want the Board of Trustees to act passively during the Movement Strategy Process. But this proposal is only a part of the bigger problem that we have to solve: the organization of the affiliates (chapters, user groups, new forms of affiliation) and the whole decision making process that goes with this, and as such it concerns the very heart of the international community. It needs a more careful consideration than the one-time consultation that has now been started. Let's not undermine this process, let's stick to the process that we have committed ourselves to.
Frans Grijzenhout (chair WMNL, moderator Affiliate Chairpersons meetings)
*Frans Grijzenhout*, voorzitter / chair +31 6 5333 9499
Hi Maria,
I wondered if there was any news about whether the Board had, in the end, adopted any of these proposals.
I see that the ASBS process is now on the agenda for the Wikimedia Summit in late March. There is now not much time to figure out who is going to run this process and what the process will look like!
Many thanks,
Chris
On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 3:46 PM María Sefidari msefidari@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board Governance Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes on Meta for discussion < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-_...
prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for January 23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As usual in these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from December 7 to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to achieve three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100 recognized User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User Groups combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to the selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy process may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement, including the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make now to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the trustee selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did not want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019 trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time, there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects. The changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in that regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices as candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The Board believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for the potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who bring essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of serving one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the Board and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding. Raising the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the practice of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be served consecutively does not change the fact that the community, including affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years whether or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge equity for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia Foundation and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We want to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all voices, throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board _______________________________________________ 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
I just wanted to re-iterate Chris' point - meetings and plans are starting to be put together for the summit, so if this is actually happening, it should start soon. (Just to appear as non-committal as possible ;-) )
Cheers, Philip
On Thu, 7 Feb 2019 at 16:43, Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Maria,
I wondered if there was any news about whether the Board had, in the end, adopted any of these proposals.
I see that the ASBS process is now on the agenda for the Wikimedia Summit in late March. There is now not much time to figure out who is going to run this process and what the process will look like!
Many thanks,
Chris
On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 3:46 PM María Sefidari msefidari@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board
Governance
Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes
on
Meta for discussion <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-_...
prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for January 23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As usual
in
these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from December
7
to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to
achieve
three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100
recognized
User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User
Groups
combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to
the
selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy
process
may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement,
including
the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make
now
to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the trustee selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did not want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019 trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time, there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects.
The
changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in that regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices
as
candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The Board believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for the potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who bring essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of serving one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the
Board
and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding. Raising the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the
practice
of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be served consecutively does not change the fact that the community,
including
affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years
whether
or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge
equity
for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia
Foundation
and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We want to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all
voices,
throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board _______________________________________________ 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
El dom., 10 feb. 2019 22:15, Philip Kopetzky philip.kopetzky@gmail.com escribió:
I just wanted to re-iterate Chris' point - meetings and plans are starting to be put together for the summit, so if this is actually happening, it should start soon. (Just to appear as non-committal as possible ;-) )
Cheers, Philip
Hey there - thanks for your messages. Just wanted to signal that info will be coming out very shortly.
Kind regards,
María
On Thu, 7 Feb 2019 at 16:43, Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Maria,
I wondered if there was any news about whether the Board had, in the end, adopted any of these proposals.
I see that the ASBS process is now on the agenda for the Wikimedia Summit in late March. There is now not much time to figure out who is going to
run
this process and what the process will look like!
Many thanks,
Chris
On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 3:46 PM María Sefidari msefidari@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is considering amending the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws. Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board
Governance
Committee, is leading this process. She has posted the proposed changes
on
Meta for discussion <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_bylaws/December_2018_-_...
prior to our vote on them during the Board meeting scheduled for
January
23, 2019. We invite you to comment on the proposal's talk page. As
usual
in
these cases, two weeks are provided for community comment, from
December
7
to December 21.
By making the proposed changes to the Bylaws, the Board intends to
achieve
three goals:
*1. Include User Groups in the trustee selection process*
Though User Groups have existed as a model of affiliation within the Wikimedia movement for a number of years, they have not been included together with Chapters and Thematic Organizations as participants in selecting Wikimedia Foundation trustees. There are now over 100
recognized
User Groups, many of which represent emerging communities within the Wikimedia movement. The Board believes that the perspectives of User
Groups
combined with those of Chapters and Thematic Organizations will lead to
the
selection of the best trustee candidates.
The Board acknowledges that the ongoing Wikimedia movement strategy
process
may result in changes to many aspects of the Wikimedia movement,
including
the structure of movement affiliates. As a result, any changes we make
now
to the Foundation Bylaws regarding the role of affiliates in the
trustee
selection process may need to be modified again in the future, in turn requiring additional amendments to the Bylaws. However, the Board did
not
want to delay providing User Groups with a voice in the upcoming 2019 trustee selection process.
*2. Raise term limits for trustees from two to three consecutive terms*
Term limits for trustees were added to the Bylaws in 2015. At the time, there was a desire on the Board to bring in new voices and specific skill-sets needed for the growth and development of Wikimedia projects.
The
changes made at that time have resulted in some notable successes in
that
regard. The Board remains committed to seeking out new voices, and providing the community with ample opportunities to promote such voices
as
candidates for the Board.
As the Wikimedia movement and the Wikimedia Foundation think forward further to the future, the Board will need to oversee the Foundation in setting, following through on, and achieving longer-term goals. The
Board
believes it will be better able to fulfill its role if it allows for
the
potential of a longer time on the Board for individual trustees who
bring
essential expertise and insight to the Board. The possibility of
serving
one additional term on the Board also reduces the amount of time the
Board
and Foundation staff spend on trustee recruitment and onboarding.
Raising
the maximum number of consecutive terms a trustee may serve from two to three terms achieves these goals, and is also consistent with the
practice
of many other boards. Raising the maximum number of terms that can be served consecutively does not change the fact that the community,
including
affiliates, will continue to be able to determine every three years
whether
or not to re-elect currently serving trustees or whether to elect new candidates - just as is the case now.
*3. Reaffirm the Board’s commitment to diversity*
The Wikimedia movement is global, built on a vision of reaching every single human being and working toward a strategic goal of knowledge
equity
for all. The Board believes that it can best serve the Wikimedia
Foundation
and the movement by reflecting a wide range of human experiences. We
want
to underscore and codify this belief in the Bylaws by adding express language affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all
voices,
throughout our communities - new, older and emerging.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board _______________________________________________ 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
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