[Wikimediaindia-l] Welcoming Subhashish Panigrahi

[Pradeep Mohandas]

Welcome, Subha!

Pradeep
Handheld

On 22/12/2011, Hisham <hisham at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> As you might be aware, the Consultant, Team Support position is to be filled
> as part of the India Programs team.
> (http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-September/004251.html.)
>
>
> I am really pleased and excited to announce that Subhashish Panigrahi has
> agreed to join as Consultant, Community & Program Support.
>
> Some of you might know Subhashish (or Subha as he's also called.) He is all
> of 23 and a wonderful Wikimedian from Odisha.  He has a BE in Biotechnology
> from Sapthagiri College of Engineering, Bangalore.  He has worked for about
> 1 1/2 years in business development and is currently based in Bangalore.
> He's been an active Wikimedian since a friend of his attended a Wikipedia
> 10th event in Bangalore in January and told Subha about Wikipedia.  Subha
> then spent considerable time - quite a bit of it in Shiju Alex's living room
> apparently :-) - learning about Wikipedia.  Since then, he's been on fire!
> He's helped the Bangalore community organise the monthly meet-ups, been a
> central figure in building community & momentum for Odia Wikipedia and has
> conducted outreach programs for Odia projects back home in Odisha as well as
> in Bangalore. He's also been helping out other projects and communities; a
> couple of weekends ago he was in Chennai conducting a WikiAcademy there.  He
> is a fantastically inspiring example of a complete outsider being welcomed
> into the family, having his hand held in his growth as a newbie, charging
> forward taking responsibility & ownership and then spreading his skills &
> knowledge to others. He is also one of the sweetest human beings I have ever
> met. He is a perfect example of the Wikimedia Dream.
>
> His interests (outside of Wikimedia) are cooking, graphic design and
> handwriting analysis.  (I bet most of you who know Subha don't know that
> last bit about him.  So the next time you see him, show him your writing and
> get him to reveal your deep dark secrets!)  He has also been involved with
> campaigns for social work during the floods and cholera outbreak in Odisha
> and been involved with a Odisha community organisation, eOdissa.com.
>
> Originally, the Consultant, Team Support position
> (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs#Team_Structure)
> was to manage the back-end aspects of India Programs (basic accounting,
> basic personnel management, office administration, travel support, expense
> statement management, logistics support for the community, etc.) I have been
> looking at the actual work load involved and I do not think this is a full
> time role.  The functions listed are essential and need to be done - but
> there is an opportunity to improve the richness of the position and it's
> value to the community.  I'm therefore proposing that the Consultant, Team
> Support be redesignated to Consultant, Community & Program Support.   I
> envisage this position to have about 1/3 of time spent on the back-end work
> listed above but 2/3 of time can be very productively utilised supporting
> community efforts - such as helping community building & outreach and
> supporting community-led initiatives.  An important consideration I have for
> this redesignation is after looking at the specific skills that Subha brings
> to the table; I want to make sure that he has the required space to realise
> his potential and to support the community and movement.
>
> Subha will of course continue to pursue his personal voluntary work for and
> as part of the Wikimedia community.  The one question that he emphasized
> during the selection process was whether he would retain the flexibility to
> continue to pursue his personal passions on Wikimedia; the answer he got was
> a loud Y-E-S!!!  :-)  I'm delighted to have another community member joining
> the team.
>
> He'll formally start in Delhi on January 9th 2012.
>
> Do join me in welcoming him.
>
> Warmest Regards,
>
> hisham
>
>


-- 
Pradeep Mohandas
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