Recommendation 11: Invest in the leadership potential of community members.

Q 1 What is your Recommendation?

Wikimedia should invest in the leadership potential of all movement leaders to support their continued work within Wikimedia and to bring the values of openness to other areas.

Community leaders work based on their values a sense of service and intrinsic motivation. We recognise that there are many forms of leadership which are useful and valued in different situations, Wikimedia should support our community to find what works for them.

This could include paying for people to attend or organising leadership programs as an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge and also to network outside of Wikimedia, gaining new perspectives on leadership and community organising. to empower and support leadership work on partnerships, conducted by individuals.

Q 2-1 What assumptions are you making about the future context that led you to make this Recommendation?

That individuals will remain an important part of our work.

That leadership training remains exclusive and exclusionary to people without significant funding.

Q 2-2 What is your thinking and logic behind this recommendation?

Much of the outreach work of Wikimedia is the result of work and dedication of individuals, often because no organised group exists in that context.

People who lead partnerships work are an important category of a Movement Organizer. These people, who contribute to Wikimedia in other ways than by creating content, and who - in particular - help to reach out into new communities - have been identified as crucial for Wikimedia’s long-term strategy. We see the role of individuals as complementary to that of strong affiliate institutions, working in a model of distributed responsibility and effort. These people need to be provided with stronger support and obtain skills - in particular leadership skills - that will allow them to facilitate successful partnerships.

There are many needs of our community leaders:

Leadership skills and knowledge by individuals who are on their own conducting the challenging work of establishing and sustaining partnerships
Connecting individuals working on partnerships into a network that can provide mutual support, mentorship and recognition
A sense of worth and being valued to those working on partnerships
Strengthen connections between movement entities and partners
Feeling valued is one of the great motivations of volunteers.

Q 3-1 What will change because of the Recommendation?

Movement leaders will be more capable and accomplished, furthering our mission.

Q 3-2 Who specifically will be influenced by this recommendation?

Movement members who are playing a key role in establishing and developing partnerships. Our partners

Movement Strategy/Recommendations/Iteration 2/Partnerships/11

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