Grants:Project/Rapid/YWpgh/Young Leaders of YWCA Greater Pittsburgh Editathon

statusFunded

Rapid Grants

YWpgh/Young Leaders of YWCA Greater Pittsburgh Editahon

YWCA Greater Pittsburgh's Young Leaders Board is hosting an Editahon in honor of the YW's 150th Anniversary. YW's Young Leaders aim to address disparities by training new editors and adding or improving content related to women's social impact.

targetOur project will target English language articles related to women's social impact.

start date10/01

end date11/01

budget (local currency)$1,350 USD

budget (USD)$1,350 USD

grant typeOrganization

non-profit statusYes

grantee• YWpgh

contact(s)• hmarcellaywcapgh.org• esheppard@ywcapgh.org

organization (if applicable)• YWCA Greater Pittsburgh

website (if applicable)• www.ywcapgh.org

friendly space expectations

ucc

privacystatement

Review your report

Please see the sample Editathon/Training application before drafting your application.

Project Goal

Choose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.

1. Recruit new editors: YWCA Greater Pittsburgh’s entire Young Leaders Board – comprised of 14 young women ages 20-35 – will be trained in editing. Additionally, we will provide training and one-on-one assistance for new editors throughout our editathon event.
2. Add or improve content: YWCA Greater Pittsburgh’s editathon will address disparities by adding or improving content relating to women’s social impact, including, but not limited to, women in community organizing, social justice movements, and politics.

Project Plan

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:

1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?

We are planning one editathon in Fall 2017.

2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.

YWCA’s Young Leaders Board will use social media and direct outreach to engage their personal networks of young professionals, including contacts at organizations like Black Tech, Alloy, and Google, as well as universities like Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and Chatham University. YWCA will also announce the event through our webpage, Facebook, Twitter, and enewsletter, which collectively reach thousands of YW supporters.

3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?

YWCA Greater Pittsburgh’s entire Young Leaders Board will be trained in editing prior to our editathon. We will engage a Wikipedia Ambassador local to our region for training, and also complete online courses to develop editing proficiency. In addition, we will work to identify at least five experienced editors to assist during the event.

4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?

We will support participants with resources, training, and assistance to ensure they are equipped to contribute high quality content. A resource packet (including lists of relevant webpages, articles, and books) will be made available for participants before and during our editathon. Also during our editathon, two group trainings – one in the morning and one in the afternoon– will be held for new editors. At midday, a presenter will address the role of women in social impact work and the importance of having diverse Wiki contributors.Participants will bring their own laptops for editing, and have access to a wifi connection at our event location.

5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?

After our editathon, we will send participants follow-up emails to thank them for their participation, share editathon wrap-up info (like number of articles created and improved), and invite them to upcoming YWCA events. We will also create a wiki event page to remain active and accessible after the editathon.

6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?

YWCA Greater Pittsburgh’s Young Leaders Board is hosting this editathon in honor of the YW’s anniversary. For 150 years, YWCA Greater Pittsburgh has worked to advance women and girls, promote equality and civil rights, and challenge social and racial injustice. This work began in 1867 when a group of Pittsburgh women met to sew for the suffering families of Union soldiers. Simple as it seems, it was a real pioneering venture. Women’s clubs were unknown, social agencies were non-existent, and women had almost no opportunities for civic engagement. This unmet need for women’s leadership sparked the YW’s growth. Similarly, a need for women (and other diverse) wiki contributors provides the impetus for the Young Leaders Board’s editathon.

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:

1. Number of events: 1
2. Number of participants: 50
3. Number of new editors: 20
4. Number of of articles created or improved: 30
5. Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events): n/a

Resources

What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

YWCA has a dedicated, volunteer Young Leaders Board to organize this project. They bring personal networks, are committed to the project’s success, and will be trained on editing in preparation for the editathon. We will have five experienced editors to assist during the event. Our venue (Repair the World, Pittsburgh) is being provided at a special discounted rate. YWCA’s Development and Communications Department will assist with event marketing. We also have the full support of YWCA’s Board of Directors and 150th Anniversary Planning Committee, who will share event details with their networks, help generate editathon participation, and assist with identifying wiki pages to improve/add.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

• Food and drink = $17 x 50 participants = $850
• Space Rental = $250
• Marketing/Promotion (promoted social media posts, printing costs, etc.) = $100
• Miscellaneous supplies (pens, paper, printing, power strips, etc.) = $150

Total = $1,350 USD

Endorsements

Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!

•  Support The YWCA Young Leader's Board of Greater Pittsburgh is stepping up and creating a platform for the world to know more about phenomenal women who have left footprints, not only in Pittsburgh but throughout the world. Events like this, that encourage women in creating a voice and narrative of other women, while encouraging and supporting other organizations to collaborate in the efforts together is important for the Pittsburgh community. Bringing together non-profits, businesses, students and community leaders, in an effort to chronicle history, is an amazing way to honor those who have stood up and stood out when it was difficult for a woman to do so. tori2504 14:00, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

•  Support The YWCA Greater Pittsburgh's Young Leader's Board is excited to host a Wikipedia Editathon this October to as a part of the YW's efforts to promote gender and racial equality, advance the rights of women and girls, and challenge social and racial injustice. By adding pages to Wikipedia on prominent women leaders we will be recognizing their contributions and (through greater visibility of women in leadership) we will be paving the way for more women to step into fields where they are currently underrepresented. I endorse the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh's project request and look forward to the event. Aguadagnino (talk) 16:22, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

•  Support The YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh's Young Leader's Board in support of a Wikipedia Editathon is a fantastic way for women who have been silenced in their achievements to receive the acknowledgment and due right of the works they do in the community. I fully support the work that the YW does and look forward to multigenerational approach and collaborative effort that will create and empower the leaders of tomorrow.
• The YWCA of Great Pittsburgh's Young Leaders Board is doing incredible work within the community to give voice to those silenced by gender, race, social position, and income. It is critical that we recognize prominent female leaders and topics in the Pittsburgh region and give visibility to these often untold and underrepresented stories. JMarsili (talk) 14:24, 29 August 2017 (UTC)
•  SupportWikipedia suffers from a lack of diversity. Women account for only about 15% of editors and there is documented systemic bias in the content of the encyclopedia due serious under-representation of people of color as editors. An edit-a-thon would provide an opportunity to engage with Pittsburghers in a way that would relate the mission of the YW to a resource used daily hundreds of thousands of people. Additionally, it could provide lasting improvements to the diversity of Wikipedia and Wikipedian culture.FrindleandInk (talk) 17:33, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

•  Support The YWCA Young Leader's Board seeks to help increase the diversity and improve representation of women on Wikipedia. This edit-a-thon would provide an opportunity to do our part in dismantling systemic bias in a way that would relate the mission of the YW. This is a fantastic way for people in Pittsburgh to empower each other and recognize the contributions of our fellow women.

•  Support It's great to see events around diversity happening in Pittsburgh - especially as my work grows within the region, creating allies with groups like these will help spread and further institutionalize the work of WiRs like me. I'm looking forward to attending and helping if needed! KellyDoyle (talk) 14:39, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

•  Support This is a great initiative to help increase the awareness and recognition of our diverse champions! I fully support the work of the YWCA and look forward to helping with the event! JessicaHobson 14:39, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

•  Support Wonderful event to promote diversity in Pittsburgh and update and create some much-needed pages for our region. I endorse this project and will share with my colleagues. TheLeaper (talk) 17:13, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

• as a woman of color living in Pittsburgh, and as an archivist and information professional, I believe these kinds of opportunities to uplift women's accomplishments is critical to a progressive society. Luster luster (talk) 18:00, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

•  Support This event is a wonderful opportunity for the YWCA to engage community members and work towards increasing the representation of women on Wikipedia. This is just one example of the many ways the YWCA and the Young Leader's board is continuing to empower women and eliminate racism within the community. I believe this event will serve as an opportunity to engage, educate and help to increase representation of our community in a time when it is especially important due to our political climate. Catiercohn (talk) 21:41, 15 September 2017 (UTC)