Language capabilities (language and level of proficiency): Native understanding of Polish Completely fluent in English Intermediate understanding of German – Level 3 – I can handle basic work commands and social phrases. I can carry on limited casual conversations but only basic, not advanced conversations
Regional experiences: Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Northern and Western Europe
What experience do you have participating on committees, within or outside the Wikimedia movement?
Inside the Wikimedia Movement: I participated in the Wiki Loves Monument Poland selection multiple times. I served as a president of Wikimedia Poland general assembly once and as a member of a praesidium (vice president or secretary) five more times. In 2020–2022 I was a member of the governance board responsible for institutional relations of WMPL. I participated in a Wikimedia Europe working group that met in Q1-Q3 of 2022 and led to the creation of Wikimedia Europe and have been serving as a member of its first board since its formation. I am a lead of the Wikimania 2024 Core Organizing Team. Outside of the Wikimedia Movement: In high school, I was a member of and chair of a Warsaw Youth Council for the Warsaw Downtown district. During my university education, I chaired a committee that created the University of Warsaw Students' Code of Conduct. Earlier I served as the President of the university's audit committee. Between 2020 and 2022 I served 2 terms as a member of the University's Senate's Development Committee, as one of only 2 student representatives.
What skills, experience, or perspective would you bring or contribute to the committee, if appointed?
I have been a Wikimedian since 2016, but my first experience with the Movement was only in 2019, during Polish Wikipedia's 18th birthday. Since then, in just 4 years, I learned about Wikimedia and collected insights about the way it operates. My community entrusted me with administrator tools in 2020 with over 80% of support. I am also a global-rollbacker and global-renamer, a high-trust tools awarded by the global community. I understand the way that Wikimedia communities function. To this, I bring my extensive experience in working within one of Wikimedia's largest affiliates. I have been actively involved with Wikimedia Poland since 2019, serving on its governance board in 2020-2022. With the new Board elected in 2022 and my election to the WMEU Board, my activity lowered, but I successfully coordinated the CEO search in Q3 2022 which led to hiring the current CEO. I have presided over the affiliate's GA meetings and have worked together with members that I have not always agreed with. Over the last few years, I have had a chance to exchange best practices and information with members, staff and management of multiple Wikimedia affiliates from many regions, serving as both an advisor and advisee. This combination of Wikimedia community knowledge with affiliate management experience offers me valuable insights into the functioning of the Wikimedia affiliate system. In my professional life, I am a process facilitator. My goal is to create an inclusive space where all stakeholders can meaningfully participate and come to a fair conclusion and solution. I completed a basic 40-hour mediation training at the Polish Mediation Center, a first step in becoming a certified mediator in Poland. I served as a founder and president, later vice-president, of an NGO (Ludwik Rajchman Foundation), which was once the largest youth-run organisation in Poland. The organisation's role was to help disadvantaged youth and societal minorities in Poland. In this role, I coordinated with multiple organisation in Poland and abroad, which gained me an understanding of many governance models, and their advantages and disadvantages. I bring a cross-sectional private and non-profit sector experience in problem-solving and solution management.
Is there any other pertinent information that you would like us to take into account when reviewing your application?
In 2021 and 2022 I was a part-time independent contractor for the Wikimedia Foundation in Trust and Safety and the Movement Governance Team. In this role, I was responsible for facilitating the process of the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines. I served as a community ambassador for Central and Eastern Europe, facilitated internal discussions with WMF staff and held meetings with chapters' representatives. I know the policy well and actively participated in its development and following changes. In this role, I helped with organising the 2021 and 2022 Board of Trustees elections. I am especially proud of organizing the 2021 candidates' debate, which at its peak gathered over 80 participants, and to the best of my knowledge was the largest of such events. This allowed me to establish a connection between the Wikimedia Foundation and the communities of the region, in some cases, I was the first representative of the WMF that ever talked to some community members (not counting mass-spamming Village Pumps or Central Notice banners...). While deciding on this application, I thought and tried to organize my thinking about the direction which I believe the affiliate system should follow. It is my belief that the current model doesn't work as it should and that it is not fit for the challenges that the Wikimedia Movement will experience in the coming years. Significant changes and improvements have to be made to the current system, which will at the same time allow us to maintain a delicate balance that has been created over the years. The Affiliations Committee has to be ready for the arrival of the Hubs, while some already exist, more will come. It is vital that the Hubs should be their own form of the Movement organisation and not just an addition to the affiliates, they should be their extension – a tool to maximize the "goods", while minimizing the "bads" of the current system. Disclaimer: I am interested in actively participating in Affcomm's activities and am prepared to offer the necessary time commitment. However, due to my work on Wikimania 2024, my involvement during the first two quarters may be reduced and be less proactive, but I expect to be fully available after the event has passed, hopefully with many new experiences and skills helpful to Affcomm's mission.
Which sub-committee are you interested in working with (Conflict Intervention, Recognitions)?: Either - wherever there's a need for
What do you think are the benefits and responsibilities of functioning as formal affiliates, and when is a group of Wikimedians ready to form an affiliate?
In this, I will agree with some of the other candidates. An affiliate is supposed to be a tool that makes it easier for people to support the mission of Wikimedia. It doesn't have to only support a specific community, it should support our common goals (a pursuit of Free Knowledge and the Free Culture). To create an affiliate, a community is needed to keep it operational. Ideally, it would be created by a diverse group of people, who are connected through common goals, rather than friendships and personal relations. The latter may change or decay, but the former tends to remain the same over time. Once a group like that is established and is able to demonstrate that it already completed some basic activities over a period of time, it should be allowed to form an affiliate. The exact meaning of this word and the division of affiliate types is a discussion for another time, but no one should stand in the way of a group of people wanting to increase their activity. Functioning as a formal affiliate brings a benefit to the Wikimedia brand and access to the Movement resources (not only financial). It allows for a better representation of the volunteer cause in the Movement and makes volunteers' jobs easier, as it takes certain administrative tasks away from their workload. At the same time, having a formal affiliate brings many responsibilities for the people in the leadership (and the entire membership). Legal and financial obligations should be considered, as well as an increased demands by the local community should be expected. A group wanting to form an affiliate should have some knowledge about creating and running an organisation before applying to become one.
Please describe your experience working with conflict resolution, and how you have helped build consensus and support diversity.
I would like to start with my understanding of what a conflict is. Conflicts are a natural part of social life and in some cases may be necessary for a group of people or an organisation to realise that it needs to change itself or its ways. That being said, there should be no place for uncivilized conflicts in the Wikimedia Movement. In some cases, an experienced mediator, a neutral third party or a strong arbiter needs to join the process and stop the conflict before it inflicts too much damage to those involved. It has always been important to me to resolve conflicts civilly and with the benefit of all sides whenever possible. When at university, I was elected by my peers to chair a committee to create the University of Warsaw's Students' Code of Conduct. I engaged multiple stakeholders to make sure that the final text was representative of the entire body and that a good compromise was found. In 2021 I completed a 40-hour mediation training at the Polish Mediation Center, a first step in becoming a certified mediator in Poland. In 2020-2022 [https://www.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/lista_komisja-dyscyplinarna-do-spraw-studentow-i-doktorantow-2020-2024.pdf] I was a member of the Disciplinary Committee for students and PhD students at the University of Warsaw and participated in many delicate cases concerning different types of conflicts. Despite being a young person, I had a chance to gain extensive experience in conflict management and dispute resolution. I understand that I myself am not a person free of conflict, like almost everyone, but I believe that an advantage of working together in an experienced group leads to increasing our strengths and minimizing our shortcomings. I hope to use my experience to enrich the group's skills, but also to learn from the others how they themselves deal with conflicts. To efficiently intervene in conflicts in Wikimedia Affiliates, Affcom has to be able to possess a diverse set of skills and an understanding of many cultures, both human and organisational.
Support Nadzik is an active Wikimedian and had multiple opportunities to work with diverse communities. Apart from assisting Wikimedia Poland in some processes, he has also researched problems in managing ahierarchical organisations on the example of the Wikimedia Movement as his MA thesis. I believe AffCom can benefit from his experience in this matter. Msz2001 (talk) 12:18, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nadzik is a thoughtful and passionate Wikimedian with a profound understanding of the movement and our communities. He will be a huge asset for this committee. --CDG (WMAT staff) (talk) 20:21, 25 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nadzik is an active Wikimedian and had multiple opportunities to work with diverse communities. Apart from assisting Wikimedia Poland in some processes, he has also researched problems in managing ahierarchical organisations on the example of the Wikimedia Movement as his MA thesis. I believe AffCom can benefit from his experience in this matter. Msz2001 (talk) 12:18, 18 November 2023 (UTC)