Dear Wikimedians,
Following up on Katherine’s email from last week[1], we are today opening the call for Working Group members for 9 Thematic Areas (yes, we added one more!).
== Working Group members ==
The Working Groups will map the present situation of their Thematic Area, the obstacles and opportunities, as well as needed changes. They will identify possible strategies for making these changes and develop concrete recommendations for the movement on how to ratify and implement them.[2]
Working Group members will need to be able to invest a minimum of 5 hours per week, but that time might vary depending on the workflow that each group agrees upon. Members of the Working Groups are expected to act in the interest of the movement, not in the interest of their own organization or community.
== Selection of members ==
We are looking for a maximum of 15 members for each of the 9 groups. For best results we will need a diverse set of members from across the movement. We have developed a set of criteria, to ensure the necessary expertise, diversity, and representation.[3] We will assemble a Steering Committee to decide upon membership of the Working Groups in close coordination with the Core Strategy Team.[4]
== Apply to become a working group member ==
We encourage everyone with an interest in the strategic conversations to apply for becoming a Working Group member in their topic of expertise. We recommend that movement organizations and groups create internal processes for the selection of their candidates to avoid multiple, competing applications.
The call will be open until June 25, 2018. Please apply via this application form.[5] To prepare your application, you can consult the overview of the questions asked in the form on Meta.[6]
== Next steps ==
We expect to be able to announce the Working Group members in the second week of July, so that the working groups can be assembled, onboarded and ready to start working before Wikimania. The first step for the groups will be to agree upon their set-up and scope of work. At Wikimania, we plan to convene the attending Working Group members in the Strategy Space to discuss and refine their road to the recommendations and ensure exchange between the groups.[7]
We invite you all to familiarize yourselves with the existing documentation of the Working Group(s) of your interest,[8] add comments, additional input or share your concerns via talk pages Your comments will be then forwarded to the respective Working Groups for consideration.
We are looking forward to working and having these long-awaited conversations with many of you!
In the name of the Strategy Core Team,
Nicole
[1] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2018-June/090417.html
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Working_Groups
[5] https://goo.gl/forms/zVElm0hLT9eZvqwF3
[6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Working_Groups/Apply/Form