Greetings Wikimedians,
This is a reminder to inform the Open Community Call which is scheduled on 15
January 2023 (Today) will start in half an hour at 6 pm. This call intends
to clarify questions around the conference and the Program/Scholarships,
and plan on hosting regular calls to help answer any questions, concerns,
or clarifications.
Please add the following to your respective calendars and we look forward
to seeing you on the call.
[WCI 2023] Open Community Call
Date: 15 January 2023
Time: 1800 - 1900 [6 pm to 7 pm] (IST)
Google Link: https://meet.google.com/rtq-fhbz-ywf
Furthermore, we have a telegram group for the community members who are
interested to be a part of WikiConference India 2023. Please feel free to
share any thoughts, inputs, suggestions, or questions. Link to join the
telegram group: https://t.me/+X9RLByiOxpAyNDZl
Alternatively, you can also leave us a message on the Conference talk page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WikiConference_India_2023>.
Looking forward to connecting with you all.
Thank you!
On Behalf of,
WCI 2023 Organizing team.
Forwarding the email in case you missed it.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Abbad Diraneyya <adiraneyya-ctr(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2021 at 19:10
Subject: [Wikimediaindia-l] South Asia's Selector for the Movement Charter
Process
To: <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Dear Wikimedians,
I am reaching out to you in regarding the Movement Charting Drafting
Committee
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Drafting_Committee>setup
and to have a selector on behalf of the South Asian region (SAARC).
Although the representatives of the region's affiliates have been notified
in advance, I would like, upon requests, to extend the information to the
community that the decision on the selector from South Asia should be made
by *10 October*.
In order to help make a decision, a meeting has been proposed on *October
9, 2021, *to be facilitated by Wikimedia Bangladesh, during which we hope
that decision will be reached. More details about the meeting and the
process are on the *SAARC selection page*
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Affiliates_by_Region/SAARC>
on Meta.
The chosen selector will be one of 9 selectors who will select, on behalf
of affiliates, six members of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Drafting_Committee/Candida…>.
The process is an opportunity to take part in choosing the members of the
committee, who will be responsible for writing a governance document that
is expected to be of much importance to affiliates and for the Wikimedia
Movement's future.
Please note that this announcement is regarding a process that is *limited
to Wikimedia affiliates (only local user groups and chapters*). The
wikiproject communities will be able to cast their votes for the Movement
Charter's Drafting Committee through a separate election process that will
open on 11 October.
Apologies if this information comes a bit late. Please feel free to share
around in the relevant spaces, and let me know if there's anything I can
help with.
All the best,
Abbad.
--
Knowledge Management Coordinator
Strategy Team
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Dear Wikimedians,
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2021 Board election. The
Elections Committee has reviewed the votes of the 2021 Wikimedia Foundation
Board of Trustees election, organized to select four new trustees. A record
6,873 people from across 214 projects cast their valid votes. The following
four candidates received the most support:
- Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
- Victoria Doronina
- Dariusz Jemielniak
- Lorenzo Losa
While these candidates have been ranked through the community vote, they
are not yet appointed to the Board of Trustees. They still need to pass a
successful background check and meet the qualifications outlined in the
Bylaws. The Board has set a tentative date to appoint new trustees at the
end of this month.
Read the full announcement here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Foundation_ele…>
.
--
Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (he/him)
Movement Strategy and Governance, Wikimedia Foundation
Dear Wikimedians,
As you may already know, the 2021 Board of Trustees elections are from 4
August 2021 to 17 August 2021. Members of the Wikimedia community have the
opportunity to elect four candidates to a three-year term.
After a three-week-long Call for Candidates, there are 20 candidates for
the 2021 election
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:WMF_elections_candidate/2021/candi…>.
This event is for community members of South Asian and ESEAP communities to
know the candidates and interact with them.
The event will be on 31 July 2021 (Saturday). For timings, registration and
other details, please visit the event page at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Meeting…
Let me know if you have any questions. Please share this in your
communities.
--
Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (he/him)
Movement Strategy and Governance, Wikimedia Foundation
Hello all,
As you may be aware, the Wikimedia Foundation has started elections[1] for
community seats on the Board of Trustees. While previously there were three
community seats on the Board, with the expansion of the Board to sixteen
seats last year, community seats have been increased to eight, four of
which are up for election this year.
In the last fifteen years of the Board's history, there were only a few
candidates from the South Asian region who participated in the elections,
and hardly anyone from the community had a chance to serve on the Board.
While there are several reasons for this, this time, the Board and WMF are
very keen on encouraging and providing support to potential candidates from
historically underrepresented regions. This is a good chance to change the
historical problem of representation from the South Asian region in
high-level governance structures.
Ten days after the call for candidates began, there aren't any candidates
from South Asia yet[1], there are still 10 days left! I would like to ask
community members to encourage other community members, whom you think
would be potential candidates for the Board. While the final decision is
completely up to the person, it can be helpful to make sure that they are
aware of the election and the call for candidates.
Let me know if you need any information or support.
Best
--
Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (he/him)
Board Governance Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Candida…>
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Candida…
Hello all,
The 2021 Board of Trustees election[1] is coming soon. Candidates from the
community are needed to fill the available seats.
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia
Foundation's operations. Community trustees and appointed trustees make up
the Board of Trustees. Each trustee serves a three-year term. The Wikimedia
community has the opportunity to vote for community trustees.
Wikimedia contributors will vote to fill four seats on the Board in 2021.
This is an opportunity to improve the Board's representation, diversity,
and expertise as a team.
For potential candidates:
- *Traits:* Wikimedia is a global movement and seeks candidates from the
broader community. Candidates should think about what experiences and
perspectives they will bring to the Board. Ideal candidates align with the
Wikimedia mission and are thoughtful, respectful, and community-oriented.
The Board would like to find perspectives and voices that are
under-represented and essential for our movement. They should bring what
Wikimedia needs from a new Trustee.
- *Commitment: *Trustees serve a three-year term and can serve up to
three consecutive terms. The time commitment is about 150 hours per year,
excluding travel. This time is not evenly spread throughout the year. The
time is concentrated around meetings. The expectation is that Trustees
serve on at least one of the Board’s committees.
- *Requirements*[2]: English is the language of business for the Board.
Candidates need a basic understanding of English, but support and training
are part of onboarding. Candidate applications will be translated into
several languages to reach a broad audience of voters.
- *Apply*[3]: Candidates from all projects and communities who meet the
needs of Wikimedia Trustee are welcome. If you know someone who could be a
good trustee, encourage them to run for election. Candidates can find
information and submit their nomination on the Apply to be a Candidate page.
- *Resources*[4]: A toolkit has been developed for community members who
are considering submitting their candidacy for the Wikimedia Foundation
Board of Trustees, and who want to better understand what to expect and how
to prepare for the role.
Thank you for your support,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Foundation_ele…
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Foundation_ele…
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Apply_t…
[4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/Candidate_Re…
--
Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (he/him)
Board Governance Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation
*(long email incoming)*
Dear Wikimedians in and from SAARC region,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is organizing a call for
feedback about community selection processes between February 1 and March
14. Below you will find the problem statement and various ideas from the
Board to address it. We are offering multiple channels for questions and
feedback. With the help of a team of community facilitators, we are
organizing multiple conversations with multiple groups in multiple
languages.
During this call for feedback we publish weekly reports and we draft the
final report that will be delivered to the Board. With the help of this
report, the Board will approve the next steps to organize the selection of
six community seats in the upcoming months. Three of these seats are due
for renewal and three are new, recently approved.
*Participate in this call for feedback and help us form a more diverse and
better performing Board of Trustees!*
*Problems:* While the Wikimedia Foundation and the movement have grown
about five times in the past ten years, the Board’s structure and processes
have remained basically the same. As the Board is designed today, we have a
problem of capacity, performance, and lack of representation of the
movement’s diversity. This problem was identified in the Board’s 2019
governance review, along with recommendations for how to address it.
To solve the problem of capacity, we have agreed to increase the Board size
to a maximum of 16 trustees (it was 10). Regarding performance and
diversity, we have approved criteria to evaluate new Board candidates. What
is missing is a process to promote community candidates that represent the
diversity of our movement and have the skills and experience to perform
well on the Board of a complex global organization.
Our current processes to select individual volunteer and affiliate seats
have some limitations. Direct elections tend to favor candidates from the
leading language communities, regardless of how relevant their skills and
experience might be in serving as a Board member, or contributing to the
ability of the Board to perform its specific responsibilities. It is also a
fact that the current processes have favored volunteers from North America
and Western Europe. Meanwhile, our movement has grown larger and more
complex, our technical and strategic needs have increased, and we have new
and more difficult policy challenges around the globe. As well, our
Movement Strategy recommendations urge us to increase our diversity and
promote perspectives from other regions and other social backgrounds.
In the upcoming months, we need to renew three community seats and appoint
three more community members in the new seats. What process can we all
design to promote and choose candidates that represent our movement and are
prepared with the experience, skills, and insight to perform as trustees?
*Ideas:* The Board has discussed several ideas to overcome the problems
mentioned above. Some of these ideas could be taken and combined, and some
discarded. Other ideas coming from the call for feedback could be
considered as well. The ideas are:
1. *Ranked voting system*. Complete the move to a single transferable
vote system, already used to appoint affiliate-selected seats, which is
designed to best capture voters’ preferences.
2. *Quotas*. Explore the possibility of introducing quotas to ensure
certain types of diversity in the Board (details about these quotas to be
discussed in this call for feedback).
3. *Call for types of skills and experiences*. When the Board makes a
new call for candidates, they would specify types of skills and experiences
especially sought.
4. *Vetting of candidates*. Potential candidates would be assessed using
the Trustee Evaluation Form and would be confirmed or not as eligible
candidates.
5. *Board-delegated selection committee*. The community would nominate
candidates that this committee would assess and rank using the Trustee
Evaluation Form. This committee would have community elected members and
Board appointed members.
6. *Community-elected selection committee*. The community would directly
elect the committee members. The committee would assess and rank candidates
using the Trustee Evaluation Form.
7. *Election of confirmed candidates.* The community would vote for
community nominated candidates that have been assessed and ranked using the
Trustee Evaluation Form. The Board would appoint the most voted candidates.
8. *Direct appointment of confirmed candidates*. After the selection
committee produces a ranked list of community nominated candidates, the
Board would appoint the top-ranked candidates directly.
*Call for feedback:* The call for feedback[1] runs from February 1 until
the end of March 14. We are looking for a broad representation of opinions.
We are interested in the reasoning and the feelings behind your opinions.
In a conversation like this one, details are important. We want to support
good conversations where everyone can share and learn from others. We want
to hear from those who understand Wikimedia governance well and are already
active in movement conversations. We also want to hear from people who do
not usually contribute to discussions. Especially those who are active in
their own roles, topics, languages or regions, but usually not in, say, a
call for feedback on Meta.
You can participate by joining the Telegram chat group[2], and giving
feedback on any of the talk pages on Meta-Wiki. We are welcoming the
organisation of conversations in any language and in any channel. If you
want us to organize a conversation or a meeting for your wiki project or
your affiliate, please write to me. I will also reach out to communities
and affiliates to soon have focused group discussions.
An office hour[3] is also happening tomorrow from 12 pm to 1 pm (UTC) to
discuss this topic. Access link will be available 15 minutes before the
scheduled time. In case you are not able to make it, please don't worry,
there will be more discussions and meetings in the next few weeks.
Regards,
Krishna Chaitanya
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees/Call…
[2] https://t.me/wmboardgovernancechat
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees/Call…
Hey Folks,
Its been a while since we created this mailing list. Now, I guess it is time to move forward with this idea and turn it into action. But before that let me cordially welcome you all and together, we, the South Asian communities would do better because we've such diverse communities in the movement.
For those who are new to this idea, Back in 2015 during Wikimedia Conference in Berlin, Representatives of Wikimedia Bangladesh, India and Nepal chapters decided to create a regional collaboration platform where communities of South Asia can help each others pooling resources, hosting events and promoting Wikimedia projects. It was felt that these regions have common history and tradition along with issues and problems, which can be addressed easily from this platform.
After that conference, we've arranged 3 meet-ups during international conferences in Mexico city, Italy and India. Pakistan and Sri Lanka community also joined us along the way. During this long way, we've created this mailing list for collaboration and a website (http://wikimediasaarc.org/) to get the word out. But unfortunately, that was it. Now it's time to do some actual on-wiki works together, I guess.
As a first step, we can arrange an article contest or a photography contest. If we start with article contest, it can be 'Wikimedia SAARC loves women" where each community will translate only women related article in their respective Wikipedia. Some of the agendas we discussed during WikiConference India can also be found in here at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_India_2016/Meetups/Wikimedia…
Now dear friends, Whatever we want to do, let's do it :)
Cheers,
Nahid Sultan
User:NahidSultan<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:NahidSultan> on all Wikimedia Foundation<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation>'s public wikis
Secretary, Wikimedia Bangladesh<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Bangladesh>
Twitter: @nahidunlimited<https://twitter.com/nahidunlimited>
http://blog.nahidsultan.xyz/