Grants:Project/MSIG/Researching a North American Hub/Report

Movement Strategy Implementation Grant Report
Report Accepted

Please review the notes below before submitting your report.

Your draft implementation plan document should address the following questions clearly:

  • What movement strategy initiative or goal are you addressing?
  • What activities will you be doing to address that initiative?
  • What do you expect will happen as a result of your activities? How do those outcomes address the movement strategy initiative?
  • How will you measure or evaluate your activities? What tools or methods will you use to evaluate your activities?

To create a draft implementation plan, we recommend the use of a logic model, which will help you and your team think about goals, activities, outcomes, and other factors in an organized way. Please refer the following resources to develop a logic model:



Outcomes

edit
 
Wikiconference North American, North American Hub workshop

Where have you published your draft plan? Share the link to it here:

What Movement Strategy initiative is this draft plan supporting?

In June of 2023, Peter Meyer and Ariel Cetrone of Wikimedia DC met with Barbara Klen, coordinator of the CEE Hub. The goal of this initial meeting was to learn about the structure, services, and priorities of an established hub.

Using findings from the initial conversations with Klen of CEE along with previous organizational knowledge gained as an active Wikimedia chapter, Wikimedia DC developed a survey to help determine the overall desire for, and potential scope of, a North American collaborative hub or hub-like entity. From there, we facilitated focus groups and conducted interviews with the goal soliciting feedback from North American Wikimedians on the desire for and potential scope of a North American Wikimedia hub. We also continued to have conversations with representatives from hubs and large affiliates in various stages of their life cycles.

Our efforts resulted in the identification of core service and support areas through which a hub could help the community.

The establishment of a North American Wikimedia hub aligns with the hub initiative of Movement Strategy 2030. It would also address additional elements of the various Movement Strategy 2030 initiatives. The core service and support areas are shared below along with the initiatives with which they align.

Core service and support areas

edit
1. Community and capacity building Proposed activities or services Movement strategy initiative alignment

(In addition to 4.26: Regional & thematic hubs)

Programs, events, and initiatives
  • Small, rapid grants to eliminate the administrative burden often required for small amounts
  • Joint event calendar
  • Relationship-building activities/initiatives with external and internal partners
  • Master North American directory organized by region with a special focus on areas w/o active chapters or user groups
  • Conference support, including potential facilitation of WCNA and smaller regional meetings
  • Support for editing events (admin and financial)
  • Support for outreach initiatives (admin and financial)
  • Coordination with regional, thematic hubs
  • Promotions
  • GLAM outreach coordination
  • Fiscal sponsorship
  • Funding for Wikimedians to attend and present on Wikimedia at external conferences
  • Language revival
  • Incubation of new projects
  • Project management assistance

Comments: Support for programs, events and initiatives furthering outreach efforts and subsequent growth for chapters, affiliates, and smaller or emerging communities should be prioritized.

1. Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement
1.1 Systematic approach to improve satisfaction and productivity
1.2 ​​Funding for underrepresented communities


2. Improve User Experience

2.14 Peer spaces


4. Ensure Equity in Decision-Making

4.27 Flexible resource allocation framework


8. Identify Topics for Impact

8.40 Build capacity to improve high-impact content in underrepresented communities
Education
  • Launch a space to:
  • amplify existing educational resources and organizations
  • host new materials
  • share organizational best practices and engagement models
  • provide K-12 faculty resources
  • Create a network of regional educators
  • Conduct training series for students, teachers trainers, networks
  • Support development of tools to measure time vs. skills learned for event metrics

2. Improve User Experience

2.13 Resources for newcomers


7. Manage Internal Knowledge

7.36 Establish a movement wide knowledge base
Administration
  • Administrative support for smaller groups or emerging groups
  • Pooled assistance in legal, research, design, taxes, auditing, insurance, public relations, and media
  • Templates for operation
  • Management of funds
  • Alternative fundraising
  • Documentation about events, activities
  • General operating grants
  • Fiscal sponsorship
  • Financial due diligence
  • Payroll
  • Transparency
  • Transition planning
  • Administration of conference

Comments: Hub should develop tax expertise Hub capabilities can free Wikimedians to do Wikimedia work and not administration

1. Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement

1.1 Systematic approach to improve satisfaction and productivity
Professional development
  • Training in:
  • succession planning
  • sustainability
  • technology
  • event planning
  • best practices for boards and organizations
  • GLAMs and partnership development
  • governance
  • taxes
  • public speaking
  • grant writing
  • board management
  • conflict resolution
  • codes of conduct
  • Funding for non-wiki conference travel and registration fees, to support making Wikimedia-related presentations or develop partnerships and networking
  • Could include peer-to-peer opportunities

6. Invest in Skills and Leadership Development

6.32 Global approach for local skill development - gathering data, matching peers, mentorship, recognition
6.34 Skill development infrastructure
Communications
  • Press releases
  • Media relations
  • Promotions: Events, programs, initiatives, partnerships
  • Directory of NA Wikimedians

Comments: Hub messaging may be less restricted than that of WMF

1. Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement

1.3 Increased awareness about the Wikimedia Movement

5. Coordinate Across Stakeholders

5.30 Enhance communication and collaboration capacity with partners and collaborators
2. Movement Proposed activities or services Movement strategy initiative alignment
Policy and advocacy (i.e. government, non-wiki)
  • Provide training and/or recommendations for effectively advocating for the movement in areas such as law and regulation on copyright, privacy, online access, censorship, etc.
  • Centralized toolkit to help advocate for Wiki-friendly policies
  • Could include directory of representatives
  • Past advocacy activity

3. Provide for Safety and Inclusion

3.22 Local capacity development for advocacy
Online safety
  • Toolkit/shared playbook
  • Match making new or smaller organizations/groups and users with safety experts
  • Planning for incidents like Zoom bombing
  • Safety onboarding for trainers and new users
  • Teachings on cultural context
  • Live support
  • Guidance for sensitive topics (suicide), cultural sensitivities
  • Advice on when to seek outside support for experts of WMF
  • Intermediary for advice and complaints
  • Cybersecurity expertise
  • Directory of experts

3. Provide for Safety and Inclusion

3.18 Code of Conduct
3.19 Private incident reporting
3.20 Healthy community atmosphere
3. Product Proposed activities or services Movement strategy initiative alignment
Tools
  • Tech support for GLAM tools (high priority for NA and other communities)
  • A regional hub product for this would be useful
  • Facilitate technical wishes team
  • Hackathon science fair
  • Photo walks, mobile apps, engagement tools
  • Toolkits for GLAMS
  • Event banners for seasonal multi-local campaigns
  • WikiSalon identifier - Use data from editing to find potential markets for wiki salons/events that have not been previously considered (e.g. edit activity, mass signups, high theme density)
  • Tool promotion, customization

Comment: It's most important to support failing GLAM tools, though a hub may not have the capacity to take this on.

2. Improve User Experience
2.16 Cross-project tool development and reuse

In which community channels have you announced your draft plan?

The recently published plan has been shared with:

  • Wikimedia North American research planning committee

It will be shared with the following groups by the end of May.

  • Wikimedia NA conference telegram
  • Wikimedia Canada list
  • Wikimedia Mexico list
  • Wikimedia-l
  • Wikimedia DC and NYC lists
  • Wikimedia WALRUS/NARWAL

Finances

edit

Grant funds spent

edit

Grant funds were used to pay Ariel Cetrone, Wikimedia DC's Institutional Partnerships Manager, for the hours she worked on the project. A minimal amount of <$150 was used to cover the supplies needed for one in-person focus group. All other focus groups were held virtually.

Remaining funds

edit

No

Anything else

edit

Based on the positive community response to this project, we intend to apply for additional funding to assist with the launch of the hub.