Dear Friends from the Indian Wikimedian Community,
An important election of community volunteers to the Board of Trustess was
announced by the Wikimedia Fondation on MetaWiki in mid-June. You can
access more details about this election here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021
This was also announced on this list on 25 June by Krishna Chaitanya Velaga
here:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedi…
The forthcoming Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Community Election
2021 is a great opportunity for our Indian Wikimedian community. The Board
of Trustees is the highest forum that governs the Foundation. It decides
the course of action to be taken for the present and the future. It
allocates resources and decides what are the priorities.
Four seats are up for election this time, and represents a great
opportunity for our community to get one or more of our representatives
elected.
India is likely the world’s largest user of Wikimedia Projects among
nations. The Indian Community is one of the world’s most diverse, large
communities in Wikimedia with 96 projects in 27 languages. However, the
Indian Community has no representation in the Board even today.
The Indian Wikimedian Community can ensure their voice is heard in the WMF
simply by voting for a member of our Community to this post. We can ensure
that our concerns and matters that are important to us are discussed and
that we also get equitable access to resources and priority for our cause.
I would like to inform you that I am now a candidate in the forthcoming
election for Community volunteer seats of the WikiMedia Foundation’s Board
of Trustees.
I am an active member of Indian English language and Marathi language
Wikimedian communities. I have been an active online editor since 25 March
2006, and became an offline activist of the Pune Wikimedian Community in
January 2011. Since then, I have been deeply involved in conducting
training sessions in the culture of Wikimedia and basic editing skills in
many cities over many years. I have also mentored many young Wikimedians
and informally advised CIS-A2K, Chapter, etc.
You can access more details on my candidacy page on MetaWiki here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Candida…
My vision for Wikimedia Movement is:
“an equitable, sustainable, safe, inclusive, accessible Wikimedia movement
that presents the knowledge of the world to all parts of humanity in a
manner best suited to the needs of the many communities.”
I have remained an unpaid volunteer because I believe that being a paid
employee or consultant of WMF would cause a conflict of interest with my
values. I believe this is an essential requisite for being a member of the
Board of Trustees as well.
Based on my Wikimedia experience with the Indian community, both online and
offline, my real life-experience, and my independence from the Foundation
and its affiliates, I feel confident of representing the Global South
faithfully, of which the Indian Community is a very important part.
In this election, besides me, we have a number of other good candidates
standing for election as well. I urge you all to visit the site links given
above and learn as much as you can about the election and these candidates,
so that you make an informed choice. The election is on 4 August 2021 so
there is adequate time for you to do this.
You are most welcome to contact me here for any queries or information at
this email address:
ashlin.wikimedian(a)gmail.com
Sincerely,
Ashwin Baindur, User:AshLin