Affiliations Committee/Call for Candidates 2013

Dear all,

The Affiliations Committee, the committee that is responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Chapters, User Groups and Thematic Organizations ("affiliates" in short) and approving them when they are ready, is looking for about 6 new members.

The main focus of AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers in forming affiliates. We make sure that the group is large enough to be viable (and advise them on how to get bigger), review bylaws for compliance with the requirements and best practices, and advise the Board of the Wikimedia Foundation on issues connected to Chapters, Thematic Organizations and User Groups.

This requires communication with volunteers all over the World, negotiating skills and cultural sensitivity and the ability to understand legal texts. We try to get a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members.

Key skills/experience that we are looking for in candidate members, are typically:

• Excitement by the challenge of helping empower groups of volunteers worldwide
• Willingness to work in a sometimes bureaucratic, sometimes political process
• 4 hours per week availability
• International orientation
• Very good communication skills in English
• Ability to work and communicate with other cultures
• Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the WMF
• Communication skills in other languages are a major plus
• Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus

With the help of the Affiliations Committee, 2012 has been an exciting year of transformation for the movement with the introduction of new types of affiliation. This means that the workload of the Committee has increased and diversified and help is wanted! Currently many applications to become a Chapter, Thematic Organization or User Group are in the pipeline and can use your attention and dedication!

You can send your applications with your name, contact data (e-mail, wiki username), experience and motivation to join to the AffCom email address, affcomlists.wikimedia.org by January 12, 2013. You will get a confirmation that your application came through.

Members are usually selected every twelve months for staggered two year terms. The applications will be considered by the current members and outgoing members and Committee advisers, who are not seeking re-selection.

Since I will be a candidate for re-selection myself, this process will be managed by another committee member, Lodewijk Gelauff. I hope for many suitable applications. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me or Lodewijk privately. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work, if this helps them decide to apply.

Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested.

Best regards,
Bence Damokos
Chair,
Affiliations Committee