Talk:Movement Charter/Affiliates by Region/North America

A possible process

Adapted from Talk:Movement Charter/Affiliates by Region#Process for the Western and Northern European Affiliates

Context

There are 73 candidates running for the committee. Communities will elect 7 members, Affiliates will select 6 members, and the WMF will select 2, so 15 members in total.

It is now up to us, as a geographic region[2], to choose one “selector”. We need to agree upon that one person by October 10.

So what does a selector do?

The selector which we choose will convene with the selectors of the other 8 regions, and together, they will create a preferential list from which the 6 members of the committee will be appointed. This will happen before October 25. Kaarel’s mail has more details, and for those who prefer more visual approach, here is also the timeline infographic.[3]

Our selector

(we) suggest we choose our selector in an open and straightforward way, and propose the following steps:

1) By 7 October: Those of you who would be interested in taking on that role sign up on the Meta page. Keeping in mind that our selector should add a different perspective than the popular vote which elects other members we would suggest that the only requirements for a selector are that they are a board or staff member of an affiliate^{(see "Process discussion" below)} from our region and are not already drafting committee candidates.

2) By 9 October: Each affiliate has one public vote for a selector of their choice. Votes are counted and the person with the most votes will be the selector (details to be clarified).

3) By 10 October: On this talk page, we gather criteria that we think the MCDC candidates must fulfill, and provide the selector with some guidance on how to select the best candidates. This could be complemented by a meeting with the selector and the affiliate representatives.

4) By 10 October: The affiliates provide the selector with the mandate to create their preferential list according to above mentioned criteria.

5) By 25 October: The selector makes their choice together with the other selectors.

6) 1 November: The MCDC members will be announced.

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[1] Movement Charter/Drafting Committee

[2] Movement Charter/Affiliates by Region

[3] File:Wikimedia Movement Charter Draft Committee formation timeline - en.pdf (fr / es)

• RightCowLeftCoast and others: I adapted this from a post on the parent talk page by Jan-Bart, however it's just one potential way of choosing, posted to help generate discussion. Realizing that Wikiconference North America is also occurring this week, the Movement Strategy and Governance team is able to help facilitate discussions for this process as needed. Xeno (WMF) (talk) 01:20, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

2021-10-08 Meeting

• @Sodapopinski7 and RightCowLeftCoast: Thank you for responding to the RSVP. I've scheduled a meeting (google calendar link) at 9 PM Eastern / 6 PM Pacific Friday October 8 based on your comments. Will that work? Xeno (WMF) (talk) 02:14, 8 October 2021 (UTC)
  • @Sodapopinski7 and RightCowLeftCoast: Are you available to meet now? Xeno (WMF) (talk) 01:02, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

Process discussion

There was a general agreement that it's not necessary for the selector to be a board or staff member if affiliates wish to nominate a selector outside this criteria.

Next steps

Given the short timeline, we will hold another meeting on Sunday 10 October with the goal to to have a selector chosen by the end of the meeting. Over the weekend and during the conference, we will seek for volunteers to put their name forward and affiliate representatives to provide input.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Xeno (WMF) (talk) 02:00, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

2021-10-10 Meeting

Current status

WikiConference North America occurred this weekend, demanding time and attention from affiliates in this region. While some have been considered and asked to stand for the role, a selector is still being sought.

Summary

Advice on messaging about this topic was communicated. Attendees expressed a general desire for a few extra days to increase overall awareness in the region about the affiliate role in the set up process and provide for inclusion and transparency.

Process discussion

A representative to handle procedural aspects of the role in the interim was chosen. A table was created for affiliates to signal their support for a selector.

Next steps

Posts were made to affiliate talk pages seeking selectors to come forward. Affiliates will stand up a rapid process to finalize the selector from among these candidates.

Thank you to everyone who attended tonight's meeting. Xeno (WMF) (talk) 03:40, 11 October 2021 (UTC)

Notice posted

I posted the following notice to the orgs listed on this page.

Wikimedia Movement Charter vote and informational meetings

Movement Charter
- group vote by 13 October
- personal vote by 24 October

Our Wikimedia community organizations are invited to vote in a process relating to future Wikimedia Movement governance. We are inviting you to informational meetings on the evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Oct 12 and 13, which you can access through our event page. Your group's vote is due by 11:59 p.m. PST on Wednesday 13 October, which is tomorrow. The voting details are at m:Movement Charter/Affiliates by Region/North America (or https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Affiliates_by_Region/North_America) Additionally, all individual members have a personal opportunity to vote in the another arm of this selection process from 12-24 October at m:Movement Charter/Drafting Committee/Elections.

We welcome your group to nominate candidates, discuss, or vote, or otherwise participate in a governance process. We are not advocating for any specific candidate or cause, other than for increasing community engagement. The matter at hand is that Wikimedia volunteers have negotiated a right to draft the Wikimedia Movement Charter, which will serve as a constitution or governance document for the movement. A small group of Wikimedia community drafters will form a Movement Charter Drafting Committee to produce that document. A group of 9 selectors chosen by affiliates will help complete the selection of the Drafting Committee. The negotiated arrangement is that the North America affiliates get to choose 1 of the 9 selectors. We are making that choice by polling all North American Wikimedia community affiliates to nominate and/or vote for selectors.

The process is complicated and we regret the late notice here, but we did not choose this situation. As volunteer organizers, we can help advocate that our values are built into the Movement Charter.

The page m:Movement_Charter/Affiliates_by_Region/North_America is the central coordination page for North American affiliates to their vote/preference for a selector. You are free to use whatever process makes sense for your group to make a determination, whether it is informally by email, online chat, or video call. To record your decision, please have an official representative note your affiliate's decision in the table.

For more information, contact any of us. Wikimedia Foundation staff User:Xeno (WMF) and User:JKoerner (WMF) are supporting the process. For general discussion about the issues at stake or development process, please post to Talk:Movement Charter. For future discussion about Wikimedia governance with the volunteer community, please join Wikimedia community organizations such as WALRUS for discussing United States issues, or Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) for global issues. The notes of the meeting which produced this message are available at WALRUS/October 2021.

This process is rushed, but we are acting in good faith here to encourage participation in Wikimedia movement governance.

-Thanks user:econterms and Blue Rasberry (talk) 13:08, 12 October 2021 (UTC)