[Wikimedia-l] Extensive feedback from WMDE to the FDC process

Thu Jan 16 17:41:15 UTC 2014

Dear Anasuya,

thank you for your mail and the very good points you are raising in it. I
would like to address one point in particular, my idea of reworking the FDC
process at the Wikimedia Conference in April.

My intention is not to hijack the timetable of the FDC, or to circumvent
established channels. I simply believe that, if you face a rather
complicated process such as the FDC, it can be very helpful to rethink the
whole idea from scratch. So instead of asking: "How can we improve the
current process", we would start from: "What goals do we want to reach,
which strengths of our movement can we use for this, and which values and
principles should guide us."
At the end, we would not have a "new or improved FDC process", but a way
forward to reach our goals. This way may or may not look like the current
FDC, but in any case it can be used as an inspiration when it comes to
review (and maybe change) the FDC process.

So please do not see our suggestion to discuss this at the Wikimedia
Conference as a counter-proposal to the original timeframe. As ED and as a
member of the FDC AG, I fully support the process that you outlined in your
mail, and I am very confident that it will lead to fruitfull discussions
and  ultimatly to a good recommendation.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Pavel Richter
Vorstand

Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
Tel.: +49 - 30 - 219 158 260
Twitter: @pavel

2014/1/16 Anasuya Sengupta <asengupta at wikimedia.org>

> Hi Pavel,
>
> Thanks very much for the thoughtful feedback from WMDE on the FDC. We
> certainly want to be (and hope we are) wiki in nature: a work in progress,
> with continued room for improvement. So I think the FDC, the FDC Advisory
> Group (of which you are a member, of course), the Board and the staff will
> all be considering these comments as we move forward.
>
> I want to be equally thoughtful of the fact that we already have a number
> of processes in place that are part of the FDC Framework - and that the FDC
> and staff have expanded upon in the past year and a half - and that are
> designed to incorporate feedback of this kind. I'm also conscious that the
> FDC will be in the middle of reviewing Round 2 applications in April, and
> it would be difficult on them - and the applicants - if we were to do an
> intensive process of consultation with all 9 members and 2 Board
> representatives at the time. Most significantly, we have a meeting with the
> FDC Advisory Group (FDC AG) planned, as you know, for end May, in which we
> are scheduling a time to overlap with the FDC members, so that feedback in
> both directions can then be incorporated into the FDC Advisory Group's
> recommendations to the WMF ED and Board as per the FDC Framework.[1]
>
> As a reminder, the FDC AG was meant to have had a meeting in March this
> year, to recommend the continuance of the FDC or not. On consultation with
> the AG late last year, we decided to move this meeting to May, so that it
> would be at the end of two years and four rounds of the FDC, and could have
> useful input from both FDC members and all participants. According to the
> Framework, this counsel from the AG will then feed into the WMF ED's
> recommendation to the Board, on the FDC's continued existence and its form
> (due, according to the Framework, roughly in mid-August this year).
>
> The current members of the AG are Richard Ames/Ariconte, Ting Chen (former
> member of WMF Board), Jan-Bart de Vreede (WMF Board), Thomas d'Souza
> Buckup/TSB, Peter Ekman/Smallbones, Sue Gardner (WMF ED), Crystal Hayling
> (Philanthropy Advisor), Christophe Henner (WMFR), Kathy Reich (Packard
> Foundation), Pavel Richter (WMDE), Osmar Valdebenito (WMAR) and Stu West
> (WMF Board).[2] Since I replaced Barry Newstead, I will host and facilitate
> this meeting as he did the original FDC Advisory Group, with support from a
> small sub-committee of the AG.
>
> I had originally planned to ask this sub-committee of the FDC AG if they
> would be willing to lead an on-wiki conversation post the WM Conference
> that would feed into the meeting in May, but this conversation pre-empts
> that, somewhat, so here would be my suggestion for a practical and
> constructive way to move forward:
>
> * We have a full and frank conversation at the Wikimedia Conference - as we
> did last year - with everyone interested, on the FDC process and
> constructive suggestions for improvements. We do this with two FDC members
> and staff present, and take detailed notes.
> * This feedback will then be shared with the FDC Advisory Group when it
> meets in May. We are planning to have the FDC members overlap with the FDC
> AG for half a day so that there is collective sharing, after which the AG
> will consider all the different inputs that we have collected so far:
> feedback from the many F2F meetings, including site visits; the anonymised
> surveys we have conducted after every round of the FDC recommendations; the
> ongoing progress reports and program evaluations; and the many
> on-wiki/email/phone/skype/IRC conversations we have had with each
> organisation throughout the FDC process.
>
> All of these suggestions could then usefully feed into the FDC Advisory
> Group's recommendation to the WMF ED and Board, and in time for shaping the
> next year of the FDC process. I'm hoping that the AG will be able to share
> its recommendations publicly, soon after its meeting, which can then
> continue this conversation much more constructively on-wiki.
>
> It's worth all of us remembering that the FDC process - supporting the
> annual plans of Wikimedia organisations - is ultimately meant to have
> impact on our online Wikimedia projects. We are all shared stewards of
> movement resources, and having the contributions and thinking of different
> community members is therefore critical. I would rather not turn to
> Wikimania as the only place to have this conversation however, instead
> seeing it as the space at which we can perhaps present the recommendations
> of the Advisory Group, and include a broader conversation about the
> movement's goals and how all Wikimedia organisations can support achieving
> those goals better.
>
> I'd be glad to hear your thoughts on this, both as WMDE ED and as a member
> of the FDC Advisory Group.
>
> Warmly,
> Anasuya
>
> [1]
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_the_Creation_and_Initial_Operation_of_the_FDC#Assessment_and_continuous_improvement_of_the_funds_dissemination_process
>
> [2]
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/FDC_Advisory_Group
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 8:36 AM, Pavel Richter
> <pavel.richter at wikimedia.de>wrote:
>
> > Hello everybody,
> >
> > I have just posted an extensive feedback from WMDE on the FDC process
> here
> > on meta:
> >
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Comments/Extensive_feedback_from_WMDE_to_the_FDC_process
> >
> > The statement was drafted by WMDE's Supervisory Board and myself.
> >
> > We are very much looking forward to a discussion and I would like to
> > encourage everybody to share their thoughts. At the same it would be
> great
> > if we could keep the discussion on meta so that we have everything in one
> > place.
> >
> > All the Best,
> >
> > Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
> >
> > Pavel Richter
> > Vorstand
> >
> > Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
> > Tel.: +49 - 30 - 219 158 260
> > Twitter: @pavel
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>
>
>
> --
>
>
> *Anasuya SenguptaSenior Director of GrantmakingWikimedia Foundation*
>
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