(Apologies for cross-posting!)
The Community Resources team is inviting you to an exciting opportunity to
be a committee member as part of the grants programs' participatory
grantmaking practice.
Participatory grantmaking ensures that resourcing community efforts in the
movement is diverse, equal and inclusive. This practice aligns with
movement strategy recommendation 4. Ensure Equity in Decision-making:
Establishing shared responsibility and accountability for decision-making
and distribution of resources.
Serving committee members will have the opportunity to inform and advise
funding decisions and proactively share recommendations and mentorship to
support grantees worldwide in their development, growth, and sustainability
strategies; that contribute to a world in which every single human being
can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.
You will also strengthen your capacity in participatory decision-making
processes while learning about our community's incredible work and the
different contexts that influence their work.
Here is statement by a current committee member, Thepwnco, on their
experience;
My experiences with Wikimedia Foundation grant programs have been very
rewarding, and I feel fortunate to have served as a volunteer committee
member since 2014. Grant programs contribute to equity and sustainability
in our movement through funding unmet and under-resourced needs. Under our
participatory approach to grantmaking, volunteers play a key role in
decision-making. Volunteers also help support and strengthen community-led
initiatives by reviewing grant proposals for impact and providing feedback
and other support to prospective grantees. But being a volunteer committee
member is much more than just a way to share your knowledge and insights,
it’s also an incredible opportunity to learn and be inspired by the breadth
of amazing and innovative work taking place across the movement and in
diverse communities and regions.
Here are the committees that are currently soliciting new members:
* Project Grants:* https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project
** Project Grants Committee reviewing Community Organizing proposals: This
committee reviews proposals for projects that inspire and coordinate
volunteers, via campaigns, training, contests and other forms of community
organizing. You can learn more about Project Grants here:
** Project Grants Committee reviewing Research and Software proposals: This
committee reviews proposals for projects that create or maintain software
that supports the Wikimedia movement, or that conduct research to answer
questions important for Wikimedia communities and projects. *Simple Annual
Plan Grants: *https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Simple/About
** Simple APG Committee: This committee reviews proposals to fund a group
or organization's programs and operating expenses for 12 months. The groups
and organizations need to have experience managing programs and grant
funding already.
Orientation and training is provided for new members, and you don’t have to
have previous experience to sign up.
Committee responsibilities include:
- Providing review and constructive feedback to help support applicants
and strengthen grant proposals
- Evaluating and recommending promising proposals for funding
- Helping recruit and spread the word about grants
- Optional: Becoming a project advisor for proposals that interest you
Eligibility requirements for committee members can be found here:
* Project Grants:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Committee/Eligibility#commit…
* Simple APG: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Simple/Committee
You can sign up as a candidate for a committee here:
* https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Committee/Candidates
* https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Simple/Committee/Candidates
Deadlines for submitting committee candidacy:
- Project Grants Committee reviewing Community Organizing proposals
--February 5, 2020
- Project Grants Committee reviewing Research and Software proposals --
March 5, 2020
- Simple APG Committee -- February 5, 2020
Please reach out to projectgrants(a)wikimedia.org for questions on the
Project Grants Committee and simple(a)wikimedia.org for questions on the
Simple APG Committee.
Warm regards,
Veronica Thamaini, Program Officer for Simple APG
Marti Johnson, Program Officer for Project Grants
--
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/> *Veronica Thamaini *(She/Her)
Senior Program Officer, Community Resources
Wikim <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>edia Foundation
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Hi there, Wikimedians of Colorado!
As recently announced, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is
organizing a call for feedback about community-and-affiliated seat
selection processes between February 1 and March 14. You can find all the
information on Meta-Wiki:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Foundation_Boa…
I wanted to reach out personally to connect with you. 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. I am the community facilitator for
English language communities and Meta discussions about the Board
Governance updates.
During this call for feedback we will publish weekly reports and we will
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.
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.
*How to participate*
You can choose your preferred language and way of participation. A team of
facilitators is watching multiple channels and capturing the outcome of
conversations in weekly reports (see below).
- Discuss in the Talk page for each idea, or in this Talk page [1] for
general comments. Translated pages welcome discussions in their respective
languages.
- Discuss in the WM Board Governance Telegram [2] group created for this
call for feedback.
- Join a conversation or an online meeting near you. We are organizing
multiple conversations on wiki projects, with affiliates, and other groups.
If there are no conversations or meetings organized for your project or
your affiliate, contact us here, on Telegram, or via email at
community-board-seats-cff(a)wikimedia.org. A facilitator will contact you to
organize one.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything you suggest to
better help me connect and gather feedback from your community. Thanks for
taking the time to participate in this process.
Best,
Jackie
--
*Jackie Koerner*
*she/her*
Communication Facilitator, Board Governance
*English language communities and Meta*
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees…
[2] https://t.me/wmboardgovernanceannounce