Dear *Arabic Affiliates Leaders*:

Sorry that I am writing to you in English, I trust you all understand English well.

I am reaching out to you today about the Call for Feedback: Board of Trustees election. The Board has shared three Key Questions for the Wikimedia community/affiliates to answer. Your feedback will help the Board of Trustees and the Election Committee make informed decisions about the future of Board elections.

Affiliates are an important part of the Wikimedia movement. Two seats of the Board of Trustees due to be filled this year were filled in 2019 through the Affiliate-selected Board seats process https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats. A change in the Bylaws removed the distinction between community and affiliate seats https://foundation.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bylaws&type=revision&diff=123603&oldid=123339_Affiliate-selected_Trustees.. This leaves the important question: How should affiliates be involved in the selection of new seats?

The Board of Trustees is seeking feedback about this question especially, although not solely, from the affiliate community. Everyone is invited to share proposals and join the conversation in the Call for Feedback channels.

In addition to collecting online feedback, several video calls will be held with trustees to discuss, answer your questions, and gather feedback. Trustees from the Board’s Election Task Force will be in attendance.

The scheduled times are:

Thursday Feb 3rd, @ 18:00 UTC https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1643911200 - 19:15 UTC https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1643915700 (Join Zoom Meeting: https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/81759228344?pwd=M05kQ1NPYk5BNDN5dWhXYTBwRGs2Zz09 )

Saturday Feb 5th, @ 18:00 UTC https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1643911200 - 19:15 UTC https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1643915700 (Join Zoom Meeting: https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/82879138938?pwd=bFI2TXZ2U05LSDh2OUNDL0MvZ1Z1dz09 )

(tentative) Sunday Feb 6th, @ 03:00 UTC https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1644116400 - 04:15 UTC https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1644120900 (Join Zoom Meeting:

https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/84307880605?pwd=V2dPNWpzbWhqcWZKSVNQU1E5NTBrZz09 )

Please reply to this message to let me know which call you will attend. Meetings will be held in English but interpretation may be available upon request. Let me know if you would like to request interpretation during the video calls.

Best,

*Mervat Salman (She/Her)* Movement Strategy and Governance Facilitator wikimediafoundation.org