Hi John,
Well that is part of the answer - though Tides will evidently also be
making other grants as well (what, to whom and what for is unclear)
But this also raises quite a lot of questions about the APG grants. Who is
now determining who gets how much? The FDC has been de facto abolished,
after it was 'paused' to allow more time for the strategy process. Has
their work been outsourced to the Tides Foundation? If so how are they
going to be going about it?
I don't know if any information about this has been communicated to the
affiliates whose budgets are affected, but of course they are not the only
stakeholders!
Chris
On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 3:56 PM John Andersson <john.andersson(a)wikimedia.se>
wrote:
Hi,
All of the Annual Planning Grants (APGs) to Wikimedia affiliates are next
year paid through Tides Advocacy. Wikimedia Foundation has communicated
this change to all of us affiliates that are affected many months ago, and
there is nothing secretive going on. Please assume good faith.
Best,
John Andersson
Executive Director
Wikimedia Sverige
Den sön 13 dec. 2020 13:02 <wikimedia-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
skrev:
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> 1. Re: WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity
> Fund" (Christophe Henner)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2020 12:39:31 +0100
> From: Christophe Henner <christophe.henner(a)gmail.com>
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF transfers $8.7 million to "Wikimedia
> Knowledge Equity Fund"
> Message-ID:
> <CAFaJbjehxW5Rq5gaqzN=_wMS=_e_=AJPmoXMx2n9=rUQTB6=
> Ww(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> It is the endowment.
>
> Le dim. 13 déc. 2020 à 10:37 AM, Yair Rand <yyairrand(a)gmail.com> a écrit
> :
>
> > No, the Wikimedia Endowment is a separate thing.
> >
> > -- Yair Rand
> >
> > בתאריך יום א׳, 13 בדצמ׳ 2020 ב-4:18 מאת Michael Peel <
> > email@mikepeel.net>:
> >
> >>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment ?
> >>
> >> On 13 Dec 2020, at 08:33, Yair Rand <yyairrand(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> According to the recent Independent Auditors' Report of the WMF [1], at
> >> some point prior to the end of June 2020, an entity called the
> "Wikimedia
> >> Knowledge Equity Fund" was established, and $8.723 million was
> transferred
> >> to it by the WMF, in the form of an unconditional grant. The Fund is
> >> "managed and controlled by Tides Advocacy" (a 501(c)(4) advocacy
> nonprofit
> >> previously led by the WMF's current General Counsel/Board Secretary,
> who
> >> served as CEO, Board Secretary, and Treasurer there). Given that a
> Google
> >> search for "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" yields zero results
prior
> to
> >> the release of the report, it is clear that the WMF kept this
> significant
> >> move completely secret for over five months, perhaps over a year. The
> >> Report FAQ additionally emphasizes that the WMF "has no right of
> return to
> >> the grant funds provided, with the exception of unexpended funds."
> >>
> >> The WMF unilaterally and secretly transferred nearly $9 million of
> >> movement funds to an outside organization not recognized by the
> >> Affiliations Committee. No mention of the grant was made in any Board
> >> resolutions or minutes from the relevant time period. The amount was
> not
> >> mentioned in the public annual plan, which set out rather less than
> this
> >> amount for the entire grantmaking budget for the year. No application
> was
> >> made through any of the various Wikimedia grants processes. No further
> >> information has been provided on the administration of this new Fund,
> or on
> >> the text of the grant agreement.
> >>
> >> I am appalled.
> >>
> >> -- Yair Rand
> >>
> >> [1]
> >>
>
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikimedia_Foundation…
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