On 4 November 2014 20:49, Richard Symonds richard.symonds@wikimedia.org.uk wrote:
I don't think this should be done by a formal group of representatives
- in my experience committees aren't an amazing way of doing things like
this. The team who have been put together seem to be bright young things and I have no doubt that they will do the best job they can - but I think that the first version can be improved with a lot more buy-in from the rest of the movement :-)
This.
The concept behind the 'finance fellows' is a great one: dedicated contact people for the Chapters to help coordinate, standardise, streamline, clarify the financial information among a variety of very diverse Wikimedia Organisations. Something like this is something that many people have wanted for a long time. Newer or smaller chapters can feel 'left out' and overwhelmed by what kind of information they need to report, when, how... especially for the majority of Chapters that have no dedicated financial administration professional.
However, by keeping the team's formation a secret, and not involving the Chapters' financial staff in the conceptualisation stage (even as advanced warning), does not start the concept off with good will. In fact, what could/should have been a great day for the movement in helping to support and coordinate its various parts, makes the very people who are going to be working closest with the Finance Fellows (e.g. Richard, above) skeptical and wary of being 'audited'. This is a great shame.