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Affiliations Committee/Candidates/June 2017

< Affiliations Committee | Candidates

If you would like to be be considered for an appointment to the Affiliations Committee during our mid-2017 recruitment cycle, please post your application on this page. All applications must be submitted by 30 June 2017.

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See also: Affiliations Committee/Candidates/December 2017

Your application must include the following information:

  1. Your full name and Wikimedia username
  2. A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.
  3. Answers to the following three questions:
  1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
  2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
  3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

All Wikimedians are invited to share endorsements and comments about candidates. If you provide a negative comment, please cite appropriate evidence for your concerns; it is not appropriate to simply state a negative opinion without factual evidence, and we would like to maintain a friendly space for candidates to state their interest without fear of public ridicule.

Raphael Berchie (Rberchie)

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I am Raphael Berchie, a Wikimedian from Ghana. I have been an active volunteer for over four years and worked on different projects and under different capacities as a volunteer.

I have had experience as an Inspire Grant Grantee for the Wiki Needs Girls I was also one of the Organizer of the 2nd edition of Wiki Indaba the African Regional Conference for Wikimedians which impacted Wikimedians on the continent in various ways and has led to the start of a community of Developers in Africa through the formation of the African Wikimedia Developers Group. On the Education front I was part of the Team that helped start Ashesi University Education Program and set up the Ashesi Wiki Club at Ashesi University in Ghana which happens to be the first Education program in Sub Sahara and also first Wiki Club on campus. I am also part of the Team working on the GLAM Ghana project.

I participated in WikiAfrica/OpenAfrica15#OpenAfrica15, and was the Wikimedian-in-Residence Wiki Loves Women in Ghana. I have also helped organized thematic projects like Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiki Loves Africa and Wiki Loves Women.

I am a member of the Wikimedia User Group Ghana, the Wikipedia Library User Group, Wikimedia Belgium and whose knowledge. I have been an active member of the Wikimedia User Group Ghana and was part of the core team that helped start the User Group from the Planning Wikimedia User Group Ghana. I am currently working with a colleague Wikimedian on Activating African Communities

  1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
    1. Affiliates should look more at collaborations and extensive partnerships with other Affiliates I believe by so doing there is a lot to be achieved in that regard since experiences and best practices could be easily transferred. I think proposals like Wiki Cities or some kind of adoption whereby a bigger and an experience chapter could mentor a new User Group will be very beneficial and should be revisited or looked into again.
  1. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
    1. Affiliates should be a major players in helping promote the course the Wikimedia Foundation. This could be done by taking up initiatives to create awareness for the movement in their respective geographic location,recruiting, training and managing new volunteers to keep the goals of the foundation met. They should chart the course and help set the foundation for the implementation of the movement strategies for 2030 in their respective areas of operation. Affiliates should lead conversation around the movement strategies for 2030, develop custom made plans for their place of operation set the stage for implementation and begin the process of implementation.
  1. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
    1. I will bring diversity coming from the Global South and the Sub Sahara which seem to be under-represented in most situations. Again I will bring varied experience I have accrued volunteering on different projects within the movement which include;education, GLAM, conference and community activation and volunteer support in the Sub Sahara where there is little or no activity of the Foundation and most likely to have emerging communities starting up. This will be very beneficial to understanding the needs and what will work for Affiliates within this region.

Endorsements

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Questions for the candidate

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Questions from Wikicology

Hi Rberchie, thanks for volunteering at Wikimedia User Group Ghana and your willingness to join the membership of Affiliation Committee. However, I have some questions for you.

  • You wrote that you are a Wikipedia in residence Wiki Loves Women in Ghana. Where did you serve as Wikipedian in Residence? Can you link us to the project page like this one showing your activities? How many months or weeks did you worked in-house with the organization?
  • You wrote I am a member of the Wikimedia User Group Ghana, the Wikipedia Library User Group, Wikimedia Belgium and whose knowledge.. What have been your contributions to Wikimedia Belgium and Whose Knowledge?
  • What are the roles of AffCom in affiliates dispute resolution?
  • What are the roles of AffCom in Chapters governance using the recent Wikimedia France Governance as a case study?
  • Do you think AffCom has a role to play in paid editing? If yes, why? if no, why?
  • What is your philosophy on Chapter De-recorgnition? Comment on the recent de-recorgnition of Wikimedia Hong Kong

Regards. Wikicology (talk) 21:31, 6 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

  •   Comment Hi Rberchie, it's been over a month since I asked the questions above but I'm a bit reluctant to conclude that you ignored the questions. Thus, I have pinged you again with the understanding that you will answer these questions. Thanks for your willingness to volunteer at AffCom. Regards. Wikicology (talk) 20:58, 8 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Comment - Hi Rberchie, since it is pretty clear from your comment below that the model of Wiki Loves Women project does not followed the scope of Wikipedian in Residence,I am not comfortable seeing this impression not corrected. I would be glad if the claimed that you were Wikipedian in Residence is struck. Thank you. Wikicology (talk) 07:54, 18 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Wikicology sorry if it seemed I ignored your questions, I have been off the Wikis for sometime now and I did not see this notification pardon me for that.
  • Touching on your questions, the TORs of the WiRs for WLW involved primarily helping train identifiable female based organizations on how to contribute to Wikipedia and content rich organizations on how to add contents on the various Wikimedia projects.It did not require any in house activities by the WiR other than training and content addition.
  • I have been part of the Wikimedia Ghana since its inception. I have recruited members to join, I have trained volunteers and I have been involved in the organization of lots of events. For WMBe I basically joined with the hope of learning a lot from how a structured bigger community like a Chapter works so I could apply what I learned someday when the need be.Touching on Whose Knowledge I liked the idea and concept underlying it so I decided to support its bid to be a Usergroup. I have however been in close contact with Anasuya and Siko some of the key persons and we are hoping to do some collaborations when an opportunity comes up.
  • I think Affcom being a body of the Foundation tasked and entrusted with advising the Board of Trustees on approval of new movement affiliates they certainly have roles to play when it comes to dispute resolution. They can do this by advising the parties involved on the stance of the Foundation on certain issues and I believe with these the parties can come to a consensus. Again they can also do some Arbitration when the need be.
  • I understand there was some conflict within the Wikimedia France Organogram but I do not know the details to its entirety so I may not be able to comment on it.
  • Well I think AFFCOM can have a role to play if it wants but left to me alone I think AFFCOM should not because of the limitation. Paid editing can happen in jurisdictions where there are no Affiliates since an individual in such a place can do so in that situation AFFCOM can do little hence I believe paid editing should be tackle by an organogram of the foundation that can function where there are no Affiliates.
  • I don't know if it was a derecognition you wanted to type but judging from your question I guess that was what you meant. I think a non functional affiliate being cautioned and given a time frame within which to justify its inclusion as it was done in the case of Hong Kong and yet showed no intention to act in response to such concerns does not merit its existence.

Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight (Rosiestep)

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I'm Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight and I live in a small town in northeastern California (USA), a quarter mile down a gravel road, in a neighborhood which has no cell phone coverage, but thankfully, there is internet! I've self-disclosed my name to the community on my userpage, in interviews, and formally to WMF. I earned an MBA 20 years ago and coupled with my work experience, I have skills in strategy, risk management, human resources, and so forth. I'm a cultural anthropologist at heart and this is my motivation for wanting to be immersed in the multi-culture experience unique to the affiliates movement.

I became a Wikipedian (enwiki) in 2007, and an admin in 2009. I have made >120,000 edits; and have created >4,200 new articles on enwiki, hundreds of them being translations from the Spanish, Asturian, Catalan, and French Wikipedias. With various levels of proficiency, I'm a polyglot (Serbian, Spanish, French). I also spend time on Commons and Wikidata.

On enwiki, I founded en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Women writers; and co-founded en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Women and en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red. Women in Red was one of five organizations shortlisted for the ITU/UN Women's GEM-TECH awards in 2016, in the category "Apply Technology for Women’s Empowerment and Digital Inclusion". I've presented at Wikimania 2015 (featured speaker), Wikimania 2016, Wikimedia Diversity Conference 2016 (keynote), WikiConUSA 2015, WikiConference North America 2016. I have served on various committees (scholarship committee: WikiConUSA 2015, WikiConference North America 2016, Wikimania 2016, Wikimania 2017; program committee: WikiWomenCamp 2017, Wikimedia Diversity Conference 2017). Sydney Poore and I were co-grantees (US$50,000) for WikiConference North America 2016; I am co-organizer of the 2017 conference. This year, I began a volunteer position as Wikipedia Visiting Scholar at Northeastern University, Women Writers Project; and a temporary, contractor position for the WMF as the Gender Diversity Mapper. In 2016, Emily Temple-Wood and I were honored as co-Wikipedians of the Year for our anti-harassment work and efforts towards improving Wikipedia's content gender gap.

  1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
    1. I believe the intersection of work is the best place for affiliates to form partnerships. For example, Wikimujeres UG, Wikidonnes UG, and WikiWomen UG have collaborated on various projects together, such as UN-Her-Story and BBC-100-Women. WikiConference North America UG has collaborated with all the North American affiliates (Chapters and UGs) to coordinate an annual conference. These examples are short-term partnerships, but they have long-term impact through the synergy of relationships.
  2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
    1. I think affiliates will be engaged in various roles within the Wikimedia movement in the next few years. Some of these include: (a) develop new communities based around shared interests, (b) provide mentorship between mature affiliates and newer ones, not just regarding content production, participation (recruitment/retention), and partnerships, but addressing the transformative impact each affiliate is uniquely positioned to achieve, (c) align with and actively engage in activities which support the 2030 movement strategy vision.
  3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
    1. As a co-founder of WikiWomen's User Group and WikiConference North America UG, I understand how it feels to be a community making the big decision to form a UG, and I understand some of the challenges UGs face after formation.
    2. I am a Board member of Wikimedia DC, so I understand some of the challenges facing Chapters. Before I joined the board, I was the Chapter's 2015 Volunteer of the Year. After joining it, I've learned about the responsibilities associated with the role and the work of a Chapter from another vantage point.
    3. I joined AffCom in January 2016; most of my first year was spent listening and learning. In January 2017, I became the committee's Secretary. If I'm selected to serve another term, I will amplify my voice. Thank you for your consideration.

Endorsements

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Questions for the candidate

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Tanweer Morshed (Tanweer Morshed)

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I am Tanweer Morshed. I reside in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh - a country in South Asia - nestled by the Bay of Bengal in the south and Himalaya in the north. I am a recent graduate and I studied architecture in university.

I discovered Wikipedia during my school days and have been an active Wikimedian since 2009. Initially I started editing the English and Bengali Wikipedias. Later I started contributing to other Bengali Wikimedia projects and Commons as well. I have a total over 12000 edit counts in the Wikimedia projects and have been a Sysop in the Bengali Wikipedia since early 2015. I was active for some time in the Small Wiki Monitoring Team in 2016 with a view to fighting vandalism. I became involved in the offline Wikimedia movement, particularly with organizational activities in 2010.

I, along with some other active Wikimedians, founded the chapter Wikimedia Bangladesh in 2011. Since then I have worked for the chapter in volunteer capacity in matters like organizational development issues, community engagement, partnership with relevant entities (NGOs, Govt. agencies and like-minded organizations) and imparting training to Wikimedians. Currently, I serve as the Treasurer of the chapter. In 2015, I traveled across Bangladesh as part of a project undertaken by the chapter to provide hands-on training to university students. I also worked as a co-organizer for the Wiki Loves Monuments and Wiki Loves Earth competitions. Apart from my involvement within my country, I’ve engaged in the global movement through regional and international platforms. I was actively involved in the effort to foster the collaboration of Bengali Wikimedia communities between Bangladesh and India. I served as a member of the Programme Team for the Wikimedia Conference 2015. I participated in Wikimania and WMCON several times on behalf of my chapter and made presentations in the WMCON14 and WMCON16. Since January 2016, I have been serving as a member of the Affiliations Committee.

  1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
    1. Affiliate tends to partner on projects effectively in which they have some sort of commonality or shared values. The output of such initiatives amplify when there are strong management and community engagement. The Wikipedia Asian Month is a great example of such initiative. The regional frameworks of affiliates (i.e. Iberocoop, CEE) are undertaking projects that are contributing with substantial impact and this trend is on the rise around communities.
  1. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
    1. The Wikimedia movement thrives on the activity of the volunteer contributors. Today the mobilization of the contributors are mostly being done by the affiliates around the world, with more impact and dimension of contribution than ever before. As we embark on the 2030 movement strategy with a view to achieving more impact and reaching more people, the significance of affiliates in sustaining the dissemination and growth of the Wikimedia projects will be critical in the days to come.
  1. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
    1. I don’t feel like I will have an unparalleled uniqueness in the committee, given the fact that each Wiki(p/m)edian possess an array of qualities, marked by his/her locality, language, culture, background and other factors. In general, I have been closely involved with the growth of the Wikimedia movement in my country since its early days and have an understanding of the dynamics of the movement in this part of the world as well as the challenges in the emerging communities.

Endorsements

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Questions for the candidate

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Bodhisattwa Mandal (Bodhisattwa)

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I am Bodhisattwa Mandal from a small town in the district of Purulia situated in the Indian state of West Bengal. I am a Wikimedian for last 5 years with >120,000 edits till date. I am one of the administrators in Bengali Wikipedia, where I have created >1,200 articles on topics like history of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, ancient Indian kingdoms, archeological sites of West Bengal and various other subjects. Currently I am more active in Bengali Wikisource, where I am entrusted with the sysop role, where I have proofread more than 50 books, out of which 5 have been selected as featured texts. I am also a file-mover and patroller in Wikimedia Commons, where, I have uploaded more than 800 public domain books in Bengali, English, Assamese, Persian and Armenian combined, many of them are extremely rare, which have been used in corresponding language Wikisource projects. I do maintenance work in Commons specially correcting categorisation of files, renaming etc. I am also involved in Wikidata where I try to add more data on Bengali writers. Apart from that I am also active in Translatewiki.net, Transifex and Openstreetmap.

I was also involved in a highly-imapactful collaborative project to develop a tool to integrate Google-OCR with Wikisource. I attended First International Wikisource Conference in Vienna in November, 2015, where I advocated to the international Wikisource community and WMF staffs present, for an automation tool which can feed Indic language Wikisource scanned pages directly to Google OCR and managed to enlist the proposal as a top priority community need and placed this proposal in 2015 Community Wishlist Survey, where it was one of the two most-voted proposal of Wikisource wishes, but unfortunately could not manage to get in top 10. So, soon we formed a team to get the thing done by ourselves in India, and as a result of which T. Shrinivasan, the programmer of the project, successfully developed a python script using Google Drive API to automate the process in Linux operating system. The script is currently being utilized massively by Bengali and Tamil communities and > 1 million pages were OCRed in these two language projects combined in just 4-5 months (check the stats). This project proved to be a game-changer for Indic Wikisource communities, as was claimed in the wishlist survey. Later Community Tech team developed another javascript which utilizes Cloud Vision API to generate Google-OCRed text and installed it in different compatible Indic Wikisource projects. I was invited by CIS-A2K to participate in a Marathi Wikisource workshop in Pune as a resource person of Wikisource, where I gave hands-on demonstrated basic workflow of the project with special emphasis on OCR automation to different library representatives, who took part in the event.

I was one of the core organizer of Bengali Wikipedia 10th Anniversary Celebration International Conference held at Jadavpur University, Kolkata in January, 2015 and WikiConference India, 2016 held in Chandigarh. I also try to organize Bengali Wikimedia meetups in Kolkata regularly, where we address various relevant community issues and act accordingly. I have also taken initiative to organize and participate in regular online edit-a-thons in Bengali Wikipedia, on various special occasions to increase content and new editors like Wikipedia Asian Month, Wikipedia 15 Good Article Translation Competition etc. Apart from that, I have also organized a Wikipedia Takes City photo-walk in Asansol, West Bengal in 2014 and two Wikipedia Treks Mountains projects in 2014, one at Sammed Sikhar, Jharkhand and another at Madhyamaheshwar, Uttarakhand, to increase the photo-contents of these area. I am also the core organizer of the 7-months long Bengali Wikisource 10th Anniversary Proofreading Contest, which is happening right now till July 2017.

I am also the co-founder of West Bengal Wikimedians User Group to better organize Wikimedia related activities in the state of West Bengal. As one of the user group activity, I have organized a documentation event to cover the Dutch heritage of Chinsurah in collaboration with Wikimedia Nederlands.

  • How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
    • Affiliates have worked together and built high-impact projects together before and I believe, they will do it afterwards. Common interests and issues are the main driving force towards such initiatives. Projects and events like Wikiconference India 2016 and Wikipedia Asian Month came to life from such common regional interests.
  • What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
    • The major role of affiliates should be to interact with the volunteer communities regularly to realise their ground-reality issues, their strength and weakness and provide more support by addressing them, be it technical, organisational or moral. Affiliate decision makers need to realise by their hearts that volunteer communities are the primary force to build great Wikimedia projects. A completely detached affiliate can never understand the primary need of communities and shall waste upon those projects with no or less impact.
  • What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
    • I am an active online and offline volunteer in Wikimedia movement for last 5 years. In these years, I have worked closely with other community members in West Bengal and have shared the responsibility to solve various issues faced by them and that is the reason, that I co-founded West Bengal Wikimedians User Group to better organise the Wikimedia activity in the region. As like other common Indian, I speak at least three languages fluently, which helps me reach and interact with other Indian volunteers. I have always tried to understand the diverse complex dynamics of Indian communities and the unity in the diversity. I do believe that for a multi-cultural multi-lingual nation like India, a single chapter is not sufficient to support the diverse communities, that makes me a strong supporter for creation of more user groups by active volunteers.

Endorsements

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Questions for the candidate

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Wang Yi-Sheng (Aotfs2013)

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I am Wang Yi-Sheng, a Taiwanese Wikipedian. “Aotfs2013” is my Wikimedia username, and I have been an active Wikipedian since 2014. My current work field in Chinese Wikipedia includes updating any inaccurate articles, creating and amending the Wikipedia guidance. Promoting the establishment of a reward system among volunteer editors in Wikipedia, the “Wikipedia HONOUR & AWARDS” is my current focus in Chinese Wikipedia. Over the past three years as Wikipedian, I have made approximately 10,000 edits in the Wikimedia projects.

Apart from being a Wikipedian, I have worked for a number of large organization, such experience develops my skills and broadens my knowledge. As a result, I considered myself competent at certain aspects, even compared to veterans.

Having varied working experience at local association made me proficient in many aspects, especially communication.

I worked as a consultant for “Taichung Public Transport Promotion Association” (TPTPA) a few years ago. As a consultant, my duty is to advise on proposing events of TPTPA and exchange ideas with colleges, communications between individuals is unavoidable. Thus, I had a deep understanding of message delivery and interpretation, and also a rich knowledge on the management of the non-government organization. Another thing which is worth mentioning is that the “National Academy for Educational Research” has approved my capability and has invited me to work there as a consultant, and I will take the position in early August 2017.

Apart from my profession in different large associations, I am also a co-founder of an information company “T.ONE”. I took charge of the product packaging, marketing and the web page design of “T.ONE”. During the years that I have been in the company, I acquired abundant financial knowledge and manpower management skills.

With my ability and experience, I think my participation will definitely bring numerous benefits for the Affiliations Committee.

大家好，我是一位以Aotfs2013為用戶名的台灣維基人，我自2014年起活躍於維基媒體運動，在維基媒體的各項目中我已經做出了大約10,000次的編輯。我在中文維基百科主要參與的工作包括：創建並提升條目品質、修改與訂定方針與指引。順帶一提，我還是中文維基百科中維基榮譽與獎勵證書制度的主要推動者。

除了在維基百科的參與外，我也曾歷任多項重要職務，我認為我足以勝任維基地方自治體委員會的工作。

這些經驗包括：在民間協會擔任顧問，作為顧問我具備有良好的組織溝通能力；在企業擔任共同創始人，使我獲得了豐富的財務知識與人事管理實務經驗。值得一提的是，基於對我的認同，台灣政府部門已經邀請我擔任顧問的職務。憑藉我的能力與經驗，我相信我的加入將能為自治體委員會帶來更豐富的價值。

How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think Affiliates are the essential components of the Wikipedia movement. Yet, affiliates lack collaborations between each other for quite a while. If I became a member of the committee, I would encourage the cross-border linkage between Affiliates, and Asia would act as the starting point. Regional programs with Affiliates would also be promoted. The regional programs will try to break the boundary of Wikipedia and the Internet and expand to our daily life. I think such a collaboration will grant Affiliates a significant improvement in the visibility and influence among countries.

我認為自治體是維基百科全球性運動的重要一環。在過去，各地的自治體缺乏合作。如果我成為委員會成員，我將透過我出身於亞洲的地緣背景，以亞洲作為出發地鼓勵各地自治體的跨國聯繫，與自治體共同推動以各區域為核心且不僅限於維基百科的區域計畫，這些計畫將不僅限於網路，而是能夠擴及到日常生活中。我認為我們將使自治體在各國的能見度與影響力獲得顯著的提升。

What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

In the next three years, I expect frequent interactions and collaborations between Affiliates through the promotion of the Wikipedia Committee. Resource-sharing would undoubtedly help the foundations of Affiliates around the world. There will be more cross-border and cross-regional interactions between Affiliates, which will greatly renovate the operation of Affiliates. Affiliates will eventually break the language barrier and borders, and become a "centrum of resources" one after another.

透過維基地方自治體委員會的鼓勵與資源挹注，在接下來的三年中，我認為我們將會看到自治體間更頻繁的互動與合作。透過資源的共享，更多國家將能夠在其他自治體的協助下扶植出屬於當地的自治體。我認為自治體將出現更多跨國與跨區域間的互動，大大地改變過去自治體單打獨鬥的情況。未來，自治體將打破語言與國家的隔閡，成為一座又一座的「資源中心」。

What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

First of all, I do not consider there is a so-called “uniquely qualified candidate" among the candidates. The Wikimedia movement involves millions of volunteers, most of the volunteers are very competent and have made good contributions to Wikipedia Movement in diverse fields. Therefore, I think a “uniquely qualified candidate" does not exist in neither the candidates nor the Wikipedians.

If I become a member of the Committee, I will strive to achieve our common goals in the region alongside with the committee. And during the tenure, I will endeavor to resolve any communication barriers by acting as a lubricant to smooth over value clashes and misinterpretations.

I believe that my skills and knowledge will make a significant contribution to the Wikimedia movement and may even bring a new perspective to the committee.

首先，維基媒體運動在全球擁有數以萬計的志願參與者，他們中有許多人在現實中取得相當好的成就，具備相當好的能力，因此我並不認為有所謂的「唯一合適的候選人」存在。如果我成為委員會成員，我將會在委員會的支持下在區域間努力實現我們的共同目標，竭力化解溝通障礙，作為使者的角色串起自治體間的橋樑，並充當本地社群對外的潤滑劑。透過我的能力與經驗，我相信我將能夠給委員會帶來嶄新的思維，為維基媒體運動作出顯著的貢獻。


Wang Yi-Sheng
June 27, 2017

Endorsements

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  •   Support Frankly, I never have a chance to see User:Aotfs2013 in Taiwan with affiliate event, but he is very active on our telegram community chatroom, and also improve some of the policies in Chinese Wikipedia. I would see more people who can bring the global community to our local editors (sometimes we are a bit distant from the global community). --Liang(WMTW) (talk) 03:34, 9 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support It's quite unexpected that I only acquaint Wang for about half of a year, but he is the one that makes deep impression for me since I have been an active Wikipedian. He is very fascinated on amending Policies and makes it more close to how sysops usually execute, as Wang's self-introduction, I could always see he is active in Village pump, I believe it is relate to his experience in real life. After I view his manifesto, I believe he can use his experience to encourage cross-border Affiliates linkager, and become an important contact person for WMTW. He is a person with activity and patience, he is going to make integrated environment change powerfully, so I think he can fit the bill perfectly.
    事實上我與Aotfs2013認識的時間並不滿半年，但是他卻是我進入維基以來令我印象深刻的用戶之一。他是一個願意且積極改善各方針使其更符合現況的人，如同他的自介，我總能在互助客棧看到他的身影，而我認為這與他現實中的經歷有關。在檢視過政見之後，我相信他可以依據經驗促進各國自治體交流更加緊密，並作為WMTW一個非常重要的窗口。他是一個行動力十足的人，將巨大的改變整體環境，因此我認為他有能力作為地方自治體委員會中的一員。--Subscriptshoe9 (talk) 17:50, 18 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support I acquaint User:Aotfs2013 for only around two weeks, I met him on our Chinese Wikipedians community chatroom on telegram. He is very nice, I often ask him some question that we all know, but he answer and explain the question attentively. I believe that if he be a member of Affiliations Committee, he will get along well with other members, and he will improve the development of wikimedia in Asia area (especially Taiwan,China,Hong Kong and Macau).Tank you! --小培の良民證※来讨论？ 09:38, 19 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 06:14, 22 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support - Checkingfax (talk) 22:20, 15 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Questions for the candidate

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Tia Kangaspunta (Tiakangaspunta)

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I have recently started as the Coordinator of Wikimedia Finland. In 2016, I worked for the Anna Lindh Foundation, which – like WMF – is a large organization and one of the biggest actors in intercultural dialogue in Europe and possibly the world. The Anna Lindh Foundation brings together 42 national networks into one big network, which means that I gained substantial experience in large networks. A major focus of my work was reviewing the reports and applications of member networks and organizations, and I also took part in organizing a large event, an intercultural forum that took place in October 2016 in Malta link. In addition to my work in Wikimedia Finland, I currently work for the Foundation for the Finnish Institute in the Middle East (FIME for short). Here, I have continued the work with ALF, particularly the Finnish network and its cooperation with other national networks. I’m currently focusing on organizing three projects in three different countries, one which is led by the Finnish network and specifically FIME.

I have experience and understanding in often bureaucratic application procedures as well as intercultural communication and cooperation. I have recently concluded my studies and I’m graduating as Master of Arts with Middle Eastern Studies as my major. If you’re interested, you can read (or skim) my thesis on the Arab Spring revolutions and their effects on women here. In addition to English – and Finnish -, I speak French and Swedish and some Arabic (Egyptian). I can read Spanish, German, and Standard Arabic, as well as some Russian.

I believe I would be an excellent addition to the Committee: as a person, I’m organized, motivated, and passionate about politics – especially freedom of speech and minority and women’s rights. I’m academically educated and professionally experienced. I also believe my status as a minority in the Wikimedia community – being a woman and a Nordic national – would also prove useful. Below, you will find my answers to the questions posed in the Call for Candidates:

1.       How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

First, in my experience, time is of the essence and cannot be overemphasized: partner organizations need sufficient time for the planning and implementation of projects. This is something that should be taken into account both by the organizing parties as well as the grant-giving organization. Second, communication is another key aspect of all projects: partners should agree on means of communication and be open and proactive in their communication both with their partners and their communities. These both might seem like something to be taken for granted, but my experience has shown that they are not. This brings me to my third point - planning, which should always be inclusive, effective and sufficient.

2.        What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

My experience in the Wikimedia movement is not long, but in my opinion affiliates are the future of Wikimedia. Affiliates can react to the circumstances in their countries and environments quickly, and they have relevant and crucial knowledge of their surroundings. The members know best what they need, and the needs and expectations of members vary from country to country. Wikimedia has the potential to be an influential grass-root, bottom-to-top network of affiliates that work separately, but in constant cooperation and on shared themes and values.

3.       What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

I believe my background as an expert in intercultural affairs and my experience in organizations like WMF would be useful for the Wikimedia community.

Tia Kangaspunta 29.6.2017  

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Olaniyan Olushola ( Olaniyan Olushola)

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My name is Olaniyan Olushola, an accountant by profession, founding member and president of Wikimedia User Group Nigeria. I am an active member of the community with various contributions to Wikimedia projects. I have organised several Wikimedia project in the last few years. I organised Wiki Loves Africa 2015 and 2016 in Nigeria. I participated in Wiki Indaba 2014 and WikiAfrica/OpenAfrica15#OpenAfrica15, a conference for Wikipedians In Residence, organised by WikiAfrica in Johannesburg, South Africa. I coordinated Wikipedia 15 in Nigeria and Wiki loves Nigeria Writing Contest, organized as part of Wikipedia @15 celebration in Nigeria. I coordinated Wiki Loves Women in Nigeria and my work was extensively covered by multiple newspapers in Nigeria. I coordinated Wiki Photo Tour in Nigeria through a Wikimedia Foundation grant support in 2016. I conceptualized a media partnership between Wikimedia UG Nigeria and Blackface Media, a radio program that runs every Wednesday called Time-Out with Wikipedia. I am the lead presenter on Wikimedia Radio and TV program. I established Wikimedia Fan Club at Lagos State University, University of Ibadan and Wikimedia Hub, Nigerian Institute of Journalsim (NIJ). I am also the project coordinator for "She Can with ICT", a project that focus on training Nigerian female students on how to contribute to Wikimedia project. We are currently mentoring over twenty five potential editors, through Wikimedia Outreachdash board this project

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives through collaboration, shared and transparent decision – making process and effective communication. Our movement is a peculiar one and a combined efforts is an integral part of our movement. I also think that trust and respect for each other’s contributions is not an option.

2.  What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

What I see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years include:

  1. Providing supports for the editing community in terms of capacity buildings, and developments of new tools that would make editing easy
  2. Encouraging and supporting the establishment of new user groups and existing one becoming a chapter
  3. Providing financial supports for user groups and other vision-aligned organization.
  4. Organizing an awareness campaign that would in turns increase the number of contributors to Wikimedia projects
  5. Helping the community to fight against paid editing
  6. Promoting the vision of the movement in their country
  7. Providing platform for engagement of existing and potential wikimedians
  8. Serve as a point of call for solution provider to the designated community
  9. Serve as the mediator between the community and the foundation

3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

As a founding member and president of Wikimedia User Group Nigeria, I know what it takes to build a community, retains volunteers and the challenges facing planning User Group, existing User Group and Chapters especially, the affiliates in global south. I established Wikimedia Hubs in three universities in Nigeria. This was not an easy task but I was able to achieve it with the support of my community members. I am very knowledgeable in establishing and building a Wikimedia community. I am sure I will be an asset to AffCom if my application is given a consideration.

Endorsements

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  •   Support Olaniyan Olushola because he is a serious motivated candidate who can bring value to the committee. Mompati Dikunwane (talk) 12:18, 14 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Your effort in the Usergroup is appreciated. I believe you can add value to the committee.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 12:37, 15 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support I have met different types of people in this world, and more specifically in the WM community, and my experience have made me realize that the best set of people to have in a team are the extremely passionate ones. Mr Olaniyan is not only quite passionate and knowledgeable about the movement, he's a workaholic and always ready to listen to varying opinions on issues. These are also evident in his interpersonal skills and the manner he manages situations. His maturity in complex situations was what attracted me to him in the first place. I have known him for 2-3 years and he has never given me any reason to doubt his competency as an AffCom member. He scores very high in this regard. Darreg (talk) 21:37, 3 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Olaniyan Olushola basically because he is a great team player and leader. Your input in the Wikimedia user group Nigeria is unparallel. His analytical skills and workhacolic nature makes him a suitable candidate in the AffCom committee and i have no doubt that with his presence as been part of the committee will record unparallel progress.

Kaizenify (talk) 1:29, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

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Sami Mlouhi (Sami Mlouhi)

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I am Sami Mlouhi, a Wikimedian from Tunisia since 2015. I have been contributing to the french, english and arabic Wikipedias, Wikimedia Commons, wikiquote, wikidata and Meta. I have more than 10 075 edits, 2900 photos and 200 articles.

I am an active membre in Wikimedia Tunisia User Group, I made various tasks related to community building. These included conducting workshops for new Wikipedians, training Wikipedians, hosting meetups, recruitment of volunteers etc. Also, I was involved with organizing events. These included Wikipedia workshops, seminar, conferences, Wiki loves Africa, Wiki loves Earth, Wiki loves Monuments, editathons, unconference, school programs.

I helped Wikimedia France during the month of francophonie celebration by organizing an editathon in Tunis.

I served as a member of MedinaPedia project, Tunisia Project and medicine project in Wikipedia. In Wikidata, I am member of WikiProject Medicine.

I have participated in many National and International Events related to Wikimedia projects such as WikiConvention francophone 2016 in Paris and wikimdia Tunisia meeting in Sousse.

I can speak arabic, french, english and italian. I have many experience on social media and international cooperation. I'm familiar with the organizational governance, international policies and political system and conditions in various countries as a member of Amnesty international and the Tunisian Red Crescent, that could be benefit to global social movement like Wikimedia.

Apart from being a Wikipedian, I am member of Carthagina association that aims to promote and raise awareness about Tunisian History, photo club of Tunis and Médecins Sans Frontières. I encourage the Creative Commons movement and google maps where I edit frequently.

I have good communication skills in general but with volunteers more specifically and you can witness that through my workshops. I won the AISEC debate challenge in 2015.

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think that frequent meetings between affiliates that share common interests is the key to built high-impact projects such as WikidataCon (the meeting of Wikidata community) and WikiConvention francophone (the meeting of users talking french). Also, an interchange between new and old affiliates can be beneficial. In fact, the new user groups have the enthusiasm while the old affiliates have the experience.

2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

I believe the affiliates should not only recruit more volunteers for the different projects of Wikimedia, but also play more role in developing the skills of the wikimedian by making frequent training and workshops (about the new tools of Wikidata, the new projects of Wikimedia...). Also, affiliates should develop partnerships and plan activities which support the 2030 movement strategy vision.

3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

  1. I am from Tunisia, almost the only democracy, after the revolution of 2011, in the MENA region so I know the minorities in this region and I will aim to more involve them in affiliates because Wikimedia is for all.
  2. I have an international experience and I know the specificities of several countries.
  3. I have a big knowledge in law (certificate from university of Monastir) and how to manage the human resources (certificate from the Tunisian Red Crescent).
  4. I am enthusiastic and I will be available whenever you want.

Sami Mlouhi 29.6.2017

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Questions for the candidate

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Salvador Alcántar Morán (Salvador_alc)

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Hi I'm Salvador. I am running again to be AffCom member because I have found in this committee an excellent way to serve the Wikimedia community. I think my main experience lies on that I have witnessed the last 4 years of AffCom and Wikimedia affiliates evolution. During such years the WMF consideration about affiliates have changed a lot — I remember at least 3 models of affiliation applied by this commitee. Besides I keep many of the institutional memory of the processes and rationales of AffCom rules both current and past: I´ve helped to create the last chapters and the only ThOrg that has existed before WMF BoT solved to create the 2 years moratorium, I helped to create the new User Group model and I helped to recognize many of them and consequently I know many of AffCom stakeholders. Besides that, I think I have some important skills such as empathy, a deep knowledge in law (I am a lawyer), team work, sincerity (sometimes is not an skill :P) and I am worried about gender gap issues, diversity and Global south issues within our movement.

(1) How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think the ongoing growing in number of affiliates is a great oportunity to create sinergy among them but at the same time it is a source of conflict and doubts about the role of every affilliate in the issue or geography they work on. So, it is necessary to create a system of rules to avoid such conflicts at the same time we keep up the initiative of cooperation. Another important thing is to educate affiliates in the idea that affiliation is a way and not an end, consequently affiliation means just a new manner to seek cooperation and not to become closed to others.

(2) What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

Affilites should become fathers/mothers of new communities related or not with Wikimedia world. Besides, they should appear to local communities like a way of contact with global community, projects and WMF. Finally, I consider the affiliates shall evolve in little ecosystems of knowledge, ideas and innovation for Wikimedia movement.

(3) What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

Good vibes! Usually, I try to bring wherever I am humor, hope and patiente. AffCom has passed through difficult times and keeping that good mood is always needed to keep people conected. I can bring my social perspectives, my time (very day shorter but committed) and the knowledge about Wikimedia I have collected during my years of sBoervice.

Thanks for reading :) --Salvador (talk) 00:30, 30 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Francisco Carvalho Venancio (Chicocvenancio)

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My name is Francisco Carvalho Venancio, User:Chicocvenancio, I have been a volunteer since 2006, with a few wikibreaks. I currently work in IT though I hold a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Brasília. My hometown is São Luís, the capital of northeastern state in Brazil.

I currently own a small tech company and work for the state government of Maranhão analysing data in the Health Department. I have also worked for the city of São Luís, in a more managing role overseeing the different city databases and assisting with purchasing and specification of IT services and goods. Currently, I am also the Portuguese language strategy coordinator for the movement strategy process; this has been a great opportunity to see the movement as whole and discuss with a diverse set of members of our movement the direction we should move to.

Upfront, there are situations before the committee about the Brazilian User Groups that I have obvious conflicts of interest in analysing if I became part of the committee, I expect to not take any part in those decisions.

I am participating in the Wikimedia Community User Group Brazil since the beginning of 2016 and we are in the process of greatly expanding our activities. In that area, I organized my first outreach events this year and am planning quite a few more for the second semester. I'm actively participating in the process of organizing our budget, setting targets, and preparing the work for our incorporation (hopefully this year). I went to my first WMCON this year, it was a very enriching experience to be able to meet wonderful people from affiliates in very diverse realities.

As a Wikipedian I believe in working to a more inclusive community, and have participated in a number of debates in ptwiki to move us in that direction.

My most relevant skill to the committee is the ability to find enjoyment in tasks that are boring to most people; analysing proposed bylaws and helping foster frameworks for user groups and chapters requires work that most people find tedious. Teamwork and constant communication are also traits that I think essential for Affcom's work. My academic background, as well as my work managing IT in the city of São Luís, have placed me in contact with different forms of norms and bureaucracies and I can understand the impact that rules, written or otherwise, can have in the development of communities.

My main motivation for applying to join Affcom is that I believe it is a good way that I can contribute to the movement. I can commit to time and effort required by the committee and believe my skills and experience would be an asset.

(1) How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think this is an area that we have a lot of space for improvement in our movement. A lot of the cooperation among affiliates is done today in informal exchange of experience settings, or within very specific areas. This leads to some duplication of efforts that beyond waste can even lead to conflicts. Affcom can play a bigger role in pairing affiliates to partner among certain projects or even to exchange experiences on how to tackle certain problems, but this is a problem that the affiliates themselves must work to overcome the hurdles to cooperation.

(2) What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

I see affiliates as an essential part of our movement. They are the forum for organized outreach and cooperation for online and offline activities that can foster communities and empower their members to develop projects that need resources beyond volunteer time.

Geographically based affiliates are essential to becoming a more diverse and stronger movement, while thematic based affiliates can foster cooperation around that theme and deepen the link between the theme and the movement as whole.

(3) What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

My diverse set of skills from my academic background and my experience growing a small user group (in a conflictual situation with another user group) could be assets to the committee should it choose me as member.

Cheers,

Chico Venancio (talk) 14:26, 30 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Questions for the candidate

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Biplab Anand (Biplab Anand)

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I am Biplab Anand from Nepal. I have involved with Wikimedia projects since 2013 and have been actively involved in Maithili, Nepali and Hindi Wikipedia as well as other Asian language Wikipedias. I have founded the Maithali Wikimedians User Group with other Wikimedians from Nepal and I am also one of the major contributor for the formation of Maithili Wikipedia (maiwiki). I have got the opportunities to meet different Wikimedians of different languages at major wiki event like Wikimania 2015, BN10, TTT 2015, WCI 2016 and Wiki Conference 2017 to enhance the knowledge of how Wikimedia projects work. I have been involved in all the major events (Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Monuments, Wikipedia Education Program) of Wikimedia movement organized in Nepal in most of the case as Organizing member and Coordinator. My statistics in the involvement of wiki projects reflect my active contribution in Wikimedia.

Due to my deep interest in Wikimedia Projects and my contribution in it during such short time period shows my active involvements in wiki movements that in turns enforces me to apply to be the member of affiliates committee.

  • How do you think affiliates work best to together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Affiliates have quite active wikimedians as members from around the globe that's make it helpful for them to take effective decisions on recommendations. As a result of such committee with diverse experience also helping out all those enthusiastic Wikimedians around the world.

  • What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

As far as my views are concerned on affiliates role I think affiliates will take major responsibilities towards the expansion of active user groups and chapters to all the regions where there is lack of Wikimedia movements and it's advantages to the community. Affiliates should also support existing user groups and chapters for their more effective and active involvements.

  • What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

I am from Nepal and currently we have started our Maithali Wikimedians User Group and I am also one of the active Wikimedian in my region and member of Wikimedians of Nepal User Group. In our region there is not enough user groups and even chapter so if I get opportunity to be the member of affiliates committee my experience of Wikimedia movement in the region will help the committee to make better recommendations for the expansion user groups and chapter in this region as it really need.

Endorsements

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  •   Support-- It's been a couple years I've been working with Bibplab Anand collaboratively in various Wikimedia events and projects. Throughout the time he has proved himself as a good team member, leader and responsibility taker. I'll be proud to endorse him as a deserving candidate for Affcom. -- Nabin K. Sapkota (talk) 05:15, 9 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Questions for the candidate

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Farah Jack Mustaklem (Fjmustak)

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Farah here, known online as Fjmustak: Wikipedian since 2005, editing in Arabic and in English, as well as an occasional Commons contributor. Mathematician by education (MBA holder as well), software engineer by profession, free knowledge advocate by passion. A founding member of the Wikimedians of the Levant User Group, I represented the group in the last two Wikimedia Conferences. On the field, I'm the coordinator of the Wikipedia Education Program in Palestine, as well as organizing meetups in Palestine, most prominently the WikiArabia Conference Tech Meetup 2016 (video).

While recognizing the online origins of Wikipedia, and the right of anyone to anonymously contribute to the encyclopedia, I believe community organizing is critical at this stage, as a way to encourage new contributors and increase exposure to the free knowledge movement, be it through educational institutions, meetups, conferences, or the media. WM affiliates are a great vehicle for this.

I'm excited to be considered for seat on the Affiliations Committee, bringing my experience in our User Group, as well as cooperation among groups, and representing an under-represented community. As a member of the Wikimedia movement strategy advisory group, I've had a pleasant experience working with Wikimedians from different affiliates towards a common goal, and I believe working with the members of AffCom will be just as rewarding.

  • How do you think affiliates work best to together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
Affiliates do not exist in a vacuum, but exist to complement each other. Partnership and collaboration between different affiliates is critical to the success of the movement; while each affiliate brings a unique perspective, and serves different interests, we all aspire for the dissemination of free knowledge. To do that, one must learn from the successes and failures of others, as well as partner with them to reach segments that are otherwise unreachable. A great example of a partnership that has occurred is the collaboration of six user groups representing the Arab World in organizing regional conferences. Another example is partnership of the Wikimedians of the Levant with Wikimedia Chile to start a cross-cultural editing competition.
  • What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
Over the next three years, I see the role of affiliates as increasing the presence of Wikipedia (and other free knowledge) in the local area served (for geographically based affiliates), by reaching out to the communities through schools, through the media, and through partnerships with local organizations. This is especially important in the developing world, or in small language communities.
  • What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
As mentioned above, I feel I will bring experience in community building, as well as working within a diverse group. Additionally I will bring new ideas and perspectives to the committee to help bring the affiliates together, and work towards the common ultimate goal.

--Fjmustak (talk) 21:28, 30 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Questions for the candidate

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Stuart Prior (Battleofalma)

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Hi, I’m Stuart Prior, I am currently a Programme Coordinator at Wikimedia UK, and my professional background is in project management, event management and financial services.

Firstly, why am I, staff of an affiliate applying to be on AffCom? Well, I am a volunteer too; I’m not a heavy editor, but I spend a lot of my free time promoting, discussing and training people how to edit, I chaired the Scholarships Committee for Wikimania in 2015, and was on the Wikimania Jury in 2015, and felt that this was a good way I could give my time and efforts to the community. I think I could help in the same way for AffCom. (However, given the field of candidates, I’m confident that if not selected the movement is still in good hands)

I believe affiliates represent some of the bigger successes and failures of our movement, but overall are vital to achieving some of our larger goals. If run well, they will be key to us achieving our goals of growing in developing communities, and helping us build more diverse communities where we are already established.

If I’m accepted onto AffCom my priorities would be encouraging diversity, inclusivity and growth in our movement. I’ve helped facilitate this in my day job, I’d like to facilitate this in another way in the movement.

Additionally, I would be interested in a discussion of AffCom's remit. It feels like the focus is quite narrow considering the name of the committee, and considering some of the gaps between existing bodies within the Wikimedia movement.

(1) How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

In my experience, cooperation between affiliates is often desired and looked for, but sometimes hard to achieve in a way that meets both parties’ goals.

But I would say that global initiatives can offer opportunities for some affiliates to support others in terms of capacity though, where a more established affiliate can help administer or fund another, smaller affiliate’s work.

Or an opportunity for one affiliate with a global partner or project, such as the BBC or Art + Feminism, can be made an opportunity for many to run events and tap into something bigger if it can be made to fit each affiliate’s local situation.

Thirdly, affiliates working closely with their regional affiliates does seem to encourage activity, in that groups don’t feel isolated and have a stronger feel that they are not alone.

(2) What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

We might go faster alone, but we can go further together: The individual volunteer will always be the most important thing to Wikimedia, but organisations can achieve things that individuals can’t.

Building institutional relationships: The role of affiliates is and will largely be about allowing Wikimedia to communicate and work with other organisations in a way those organisations understand, respond to and trust, rather than just try and make them fit around us. We need to be in cultural, governmental, educational and scientific organisations everywhere.

Communicating about and representing our movement: Affiliates are already showing that they can be great ambassadors for Wikimedia in parts of the world where public knowledge of Wikipedia is minimal. If supported, their local or specialist knowledge will be invaluable to increasing public understanding in their own areas.

Recruiting the next generation of Wikimedians: It’s the Holy Grail, and creating new editors is a huge challenge, but enthusiastic affiliates with good volunteer training and support structures can do this, and will certainly be key to this in areas where we aren’t well known.

Make our established communities a diverse place: We can’t wait for our community to become more diverse, we have to make it happen, and to make it happen we need to be organised. Affiliates' stability and their requirements to commit to strategic goals can ensure that diversity is not forgotten or put aside in favour of other achievements.

(3) What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

My experience working in an established affiliate, and seeing the opportunities, responsibilities and problems that being a funded organisation offers or involves. I think this might be a useful perspective to contribute to the committee.

What I’ve taken from it is a belief that not all affiliates need to work the same way or aspire towards the same model of organisation, that they need to find their own ways.

With this in mind we need to have a flexible attitude how we expect affiliates to be formed and run, and not too much of a prescriptive idea.

Thank you for your consideration. Battleofalma (talk) 23:00, 30 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Endorsements

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  •   Support As Chair of Wikimedia UK, Stuart's employer, I'm happy to support his proposal to join the Affiliations Committee on behalf of the staff and board. Stuart is an active member of the global Wikimedia community, as well as being part of the Programmes team for Wikimedia UK, and would therefore bring a broad range of knowledge to the committee including specific insight into the role of a Chapter. Of course, it's important to ensure that any voluntary role within Wikimedia is separate and distinct from a paid role at an affiliated organisation, and we would work with Stuart to ensure that he is able to fulfil both roles, recognising and acknowledging any conflicts of interest as they arise. I'm confident Stuart would be excellent in this role. Josie Fraser
  •   Support I've known Stuart for a few years now and have come to know him as a hard-working Wikimedian. With his expertise in the Wikiverse and his ideas on how to improve AffCom he would undoubtedly be a valuable addition to this committee. Philip Kopetzky (talk) 16:27, 15 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support I would love see Stuart and his experience in this committee. Learning from their own challenges, WMUK's volunteers and staff contributed a lot to developing the governance structures in our movement over the last years, this expertise is invaluable for AffCom. Ki7sun3 (talk) 16:46, 15 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support - having worked with Stuart for a while at Wikimedia UK, I think he would be great in this role. Chris Keating (The Land) (talk) 19:08, 15 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support I got to know about Stuart during Wikimania 2014, and realized the larger work he has been doing eventually. Stuart understands the complexity of the Wikimedia movement in general, and is a very sensitive person with a deeper cultural and political understanding of the world outside his home institution WMUK and his home country. I personally believe he would be a great value addition in this role. --Subhashish Panigrahi (talk) 11:14, 16 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Wittylama (talk) 11:47, 17 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Stuart has an excellent understanding of chapters, user groups and the various different interest groups across the Wikimedia movement. --John Cummings (talk) 20:37, 18 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support --Lingveno (talk) 20:40, 18 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Hardworking and thoughtful member of the community and WMUK. Panyd (talk) 08:21, 21 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Deep understanding of Wikimedia Affiliates. Rehman 03:24, 22 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support --Gnom (talk) Let's make Wikipedia green! 10:57, 23 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support --Pakeha (talk) 13:38, 25 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support.—Teles «Talk to me ˱C L @ S˲» 20:27, 27 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support I've known Battleofalma for a few years now, and he can be trusted not to ruin everything. "We might go faster alone, but we can go further together." Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (talk) 15:39, 30 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support I have had the chance to know Stuart for several years now, and during that time I have seen first hand how devoted he is to the movement and how knowledgeable he is of its workings. He has great experience of Wikimedia affiliates, as a chapter staffer himself of course, and particularly as he works closely with other chapters, usergroups and non-formally-affiliated groups. On a more personal note, Stuart has always struck me as a culturally sensitive person, someone who puts himself in other people’s shoes to better understand where they’re coming from − traits which I believe would help him understand the perspective of prospective affiliates. Overall, I believe Stuart will be a great asset to AffCom. Jean-Fred (talk) 19:11, 8 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support. Fine answers. RadiX∞ 01:01, 15 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support —DerHexer (Talk) 18:54, 15 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Oppose - just kidding!!! Somebody had to do it!!!
  •   Support - Checkingfax (talk) 22:50, 15 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support - --Gereon K. (talk) 19:32, 16 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  •   Support Having worked with Stuart as a colleague and fellow volunteer in the UK I'm confident he can bring his experience and sound judgement to complex discussions that have to factor in perspectives as a reader, editor, staff member or external partner. We need people on Affcom who are prepared to be frank when affiliates aren't meeting our collective movement values, and work openly to engage new groups to consider affiliated status. Leela0808 (talk) 17:49, 23 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Questions for the candidate

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From the perspective of someone who is on the Funds Dissemination Committee, which has some overlapping responsibilities with AffCom, what do you see as the ways in which the concept of 'movement accountability' can be improved in our processes - with specific regards to the question of equity in approach to affiliates, and capacity of our movement/committees? Wittylama (talk) 11:47, 17 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]


A. Thanks, it's quite a big question. But as we're in the middle of the Movement Strategy Process, it's probably a good time for those types of questions. My sense is that there’s been a gap in the function of organisational developmental support and affiliate oversight over the past few years or so.

And using your word, if we are to encourage greater equity between all of the affiliates, and also between affiliates and WMF, this role needs to be fulfilled.

AffCom does seem to fit into a role of having oversight on this, but doesn’t seem to have been equipped with the resources or tools it would need, or given a strong mandate to do so. Issues such as:

  • It doesn’t have any staff support the same level of staff support as other committees, which is vital to the effectiveness of say, the FDC.
  • It is not an elected body like the FDC or Board, so does not have the same level of moral authority to act.
  • It only has a “ban hammer” which is unsuitable for anything but the most extreme cases of affiliate misconduct.

As I said before, the Movement Strategy Process offers us a chance to ask questions about roles and responsibilities within the movement. Were I to join the committee, I would like to encourage a discussion about this within AffCom and its advisers about this oversight role and whether there was a case for change, scope to be more assertive, what resources it would take to be so, and whether this would require any changes in terms of how it is formed in the future.

Additionally, adding my experience of having been through the FDC APG process with WMUK to the committee (something I’m not sure is present among existing members) could help the group’s collective understanding of the accountability required by a significant portion of affiliates, and might help guide an understanding of how to create that equity.

In terms of “capacity within movement/committees” if the above were to happen and AffCom’s remit were larger or it was better resourced, it would help share the load a bit more. Does that answer your question? Battleofalma (talk) 12:47, 18 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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