Talk:Wikimedia South Africa

Content creation options.

"Running drives to acquire non-written information or information not available in written format (e.g. oral)" "Interfacing with the communities that can verify local oral history." "Documenting content which is only orally available"

What Wikimedia projects can use this if it's only verifiable to a Wikimedia published source? -- Jeandré, 2010-08-08t12:12z

If there's an attested recording (audio or audio-visual) published on a Wikimedia site, that could work. We'll really have to test what will be accepted. As and when we want to start doing this, I would recommend getting input from the guys at The English Wikipedia Reliable Sources Noticeboard. They have lots of experience discussing what is verifiable and what isn't. Remember that, for example, images have different (looser) criteria for inclusion already. --Slashme 19:24, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

The issue of much African content being available in oral form only was raised as a challenge. Many of us have experience of African content being rejected as not notable enough, and the difficulties of finding anything in any written form, much less online. In the English Wikipedia, and other established projects, this may require development of new standards of verifiability. The Swahili Wikipedia may have already developed an approach that could be useful.Greenman 22:47, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

If we can get recorded oral histories hosted by universities, like at the UCT archives, and give them transcriptions - that should be considered verifiable, tho the fact checking requirement will not be satisfied unless we can get academics to help us. -- Jeandré, 2010-09-13t10:30z

Ecological footprint.

"Apply to host Wikimania"

The 2010 FIFA world cup was 9 times worse wrt greenhouse gas emisions than the previous one in Germany because of all the long flights needed - if anything we should be pushing for virtual meetings instead, or at the very least Wikimanias only in the northern hemisphere. -- Jeandré, 2010-08-08t12:12z

If we can have Wikimania in the Northern Hemisphere and it's OK for us to videoconference into them, why not host a Wikimania in the South, and let them videoconference into us? That way, even less people would be travelling long distances: All the Europeans and Americans can sit at home and take part via the web and save the emission they would have spent on the plane to Aberdeen or wherever. --Slashme 19:32, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Wikimedia ZA vs Wikimedia SA

I saw this section name without any contents, but it seems to suggest a discussion on whether to refer to this project as Wikimedia ZA or SA... The choice is somewhat obvious, if one recognizes that this is a a sub-project of a greater global project. ZA is South Africa's unique country identifier, while SA is Saudi Arabia's. Being part of an internet based initiative, ZA makes more sense, since .za means a South African domain. While a local sub-project, one must remember that its global context. It's just one letter difference, but that one letter influences greater compatibility and future direction. Local members on an international site referring to our currency as SAR (instead of ZAR) may be understood by some other local members (though will confuse some local members who are accustomed to global standards), but will generally cause more problems due to ambiguity, and disregard for simple standards of the global context. Imagine articles using $, instead of USD - this would be considered culture-centric, and is no different. Anyhow, perhaps I misinterpreted the purpose of this section, but just in case - Wikimedia-ZA is the logical, longer-term, standard-compliant, choice. Autumnox 07:56, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

10 years Wikipedia

Hi there, I am Catrin (press spokesman from Wikimedia Germany) and I am looking for pictures from your birthday parties. Any idea, any links or pictures you could send to me? Since we need it for our newspaper http://www.wikimedia.de/wiki/Vereinszeitung it is urgent - hope you can help! Catrin Schoneville (WMDE) 16:10, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Hello Catrin. We did have birthday parties here, but I have not heard anything about it after the event. I am going to copy your message to our mailing list (http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaza/2011-March/000189.html). LouriePieterse 07:33, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Congratulations

For your approval. NOw, perhaps you wants do something with [1] ;-). Best.--Marctaltor 20:39, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Awareness of this organisation

I'm just an ordinary Wikipedian member of WikiProject South Africa on the English Wikipedia and very occasional contributor to the Afrikaans Wikipedia. If it wasn't for this post on the Wikiproject South Africa Talk page I would never have known this organisation exists!

If experienced South African Wikipedians such as myself, with several years of membership and thousands of edits, don't know about this, I think a more concerted effort to spread the word is absolutely vital.

Perhaps a bot be tasked to post a message about this organisation to all members of the en:WP's WikiProject South Africa and all registered editors of the other SA Languages Wikipedias? Dodger67 (talk) 09:39, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Proposed chapter for Botswana

Maybe some people would be interested in Wikimedia Botswana, but I know this notice might be considered off-topic for the Wikimedia ZA talkpage. πr² (t • c) 02:16, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Proposal for closing Xhosa Wikipedia

Please comment - Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Xhosa Wikipedia (again). Can we get some native speakers to contribute to xh.wikipedia.org? What about Outreach? πr² (t • c) 23:01, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Methods of promoting Xhosa Wikipedia: Start stubs on South African topics

One way to increase attention for the Xhosa Wikipedia is to find someone who speaks the language so he/she can write little stubs about these topics. That way South African Wikipedians will see a "Xhosa" link:

Which ones are you interested in writing?

• en:Mzoli's
• en:South African Airways
• en:Mango (airline) - South African airline
• en:Alexander family hostage crisis
• en:African Leadership Academy
• en:Rapport (newspaper)
• en:Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls
• en:1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash
• en:South African Sign Language
• en:Comair (South Africa) - South African airline
• en:kulula.com - South African airline
• en:South African Civil Aviation Authority - South Africa's civil aviation authority
• en:South African Maritime Safety Authority - South Africa's maritime safety group
• en:Takalani Sesame - South African version of Sesame Street
• en:Kami (Takalani Sesame character) - A character from Takalani Sesame
• en:Railway Safety Regulator
• en:Department of Home Affairs (South Africa)
• en:Abahlali baseMjondolo
• en:Debora Patta
• en:Hamilton Naki - Suid-Afrikaanse sjirurg
• en:Dichapetalum cymosum
• en:Tomato bredie
• en:Cook and Enjoy It
• en:Melktert
• en:Waterblommetjiebredie
• en:Oxalis pes-caprae
• en:Department of Basic Education
• en:The Witness (South African newspaper)
• en:City Press (South Africa)
• en:Krugerrand

WhisperToMe (talk) 23:46, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

South Africa as a location for a Wikimedia server

For establishing another Wikimedia server, would South Africa be a good location? On META I started a discussion at Meta:Babel#Wikimedia_servers_and_NSA_wiretapping regarding the establishment of other Wikimedia servers partially as a way to reduce potential for government wiretapping WhisperToMe (talk) 03:01, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

There is quite a stack of laws and regulations that would need to be studied before making such a decision:

• No. 36 of 2005: Electronic Communications Act, 2005. (PDF) and consequent regulations.
• No. 25 of 2002: Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002. (PDF) and consequent regulations.
• No. 70 of 2002: Regulation of Interception of Communication and Provision of Communication-related Information Act, 2002 (PDF) and consequent regulations.

The may be any number of others that I can't think of right now, or don't know about. However even if the legislation and regulations turn out to be the friendliest in the entire known universe, the criminally extortionate costs of internet connectivity in this country are bad enough to put it dead last (ok maybe it squeezes in just barely above the DPRK) on my list of desirable places to put a server for the fifth most popular website on the entire internet. Dodger67 (talk) 10:48, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

Wikimedia LGBT

		Wikimedia LGBT+
		Wikimedia LGBT+ is a proposed thematic organization that seeks to promote the development of content on Wikimedia projects which is of interest to LGBT+ communities. Proposed activities include outreach at LGBT events, Wikimania and other Wikimedia events, an international campaign called Wiki Loves Pride, and work on safe space policies, among other collaborations and interwiki projects. Active Wikimedians are welcome to join this cause! Please consider adding your name as a participant/supporter. Current tasks include translating pages, building a strong framework here at Meta, and achieving user group status (with the eventual goal of becoming a thematic organization). Your feedback is welcome on the discussion page.

--Another Believer (talk) 17:31, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

• You are invited to participate in Wiki Loves Pride (Wiki Loves Pride 2014 at English Wikipedia), a global campaign to create and improve LGBT-related content throughout the month of June, culminating with a multinational edit-a-thon on June 21. There are many ways to help, including translating the Wiki Loves Pride at Meta (or Wikipedia), hosting an LGBT edit-a-thon, uploading media files related to LGBT culture and history, or supporting an LGBT initiative at any Wikimedia project. Thank you for your consideration, and please let me know if you have any questions. --Another Believer (talk) 21:26, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

Request for comments on Wikimedia user group logos

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

The Affiliations Committee is requesting comments on proposed best practices for Wikimedia user group logos. The committee will seek community input until Saturday, May 24, 2014. After considering the community's input, the Affiliations Committee will publish on Meta-Wiki guidelines for Wikimedia user group logos.

There is already a standard format used by chapters, and that format is being applied to thematic organizations as well. Chapters and thematic organizations have also worked with Wikimedia Foundation legal in the past on custom logos. Wikimedia user groups may also create custom logos, and the new trademark policy allows for logos to be based off the community or Wikimedia Foundation logos. However, there remains a question of the best practice for standard user group logos.

Please make any comments or ask any questions on Meta-Wiki at Affiliations Committee/RFCs/Wikimedia user group logos.

Thank you - Wikimedia Affiliations Committee

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery on 23:08, 14 May 2014 (UTC) • Translate • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

Affiliations Committee call for candidates - September 2014

The Affiliations Committee is looking for new members. The committee's work requires communication with volunteers all over the World, negotiating skills and cultural sensitivity and the ability to understand legal texts. We try to get a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members.

Members are usually selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms. The applications will be voted on by the current members not seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisers, WMF staff and board liaisons based on the membership criteria. A final decision will be made by the end of October 2014, with new members expected to join on or around 1 November 2014.

Please read the full call for candidates for more information, membership criteria, and details on how to apply.

Best regards,
Carlos Colina
Chair, Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 07:46, 5 September 2014 (UTC) • Translate • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

eLearning Africa Conference (May 20-22, Addis Ababa)

Hello WMZA. I just came across a regional conference that seems relevant for you and community members. The 10th annual eLearning Africa conference will be hosted this year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the African Union HQ. I'm in the process of seeing if there's space for any involvement from the Wikipedia Education Program team, be it a conference session or pre-conference workshop. Could also be an opportunity to highlight some of the work you do as well! @Discott, Thuvack, and Islahaddow: Please share onwards as appropriate :) Tighe Flanagan (WMF) (talk) 17:47, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

Nominations are being accepted for 2015 Wikimedia Foundation elections

This is a message from the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee. Translations are available.

Greetings,

I am pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections. This year the Board and the FDC Staff are looking for a diverse set of candidates from regions and projects that are traditionally under-represented on the board and in the movement as well as candidates with experience in technology, product or finance. To this end they have published letters describing what they think is needed and, recognizing that those who know the community the best are the community themselves, the election committee is accepting nominations for community members you think should run and will reach out to those nominated to provide them with information about the job and the election process.

This year, elections are being held for the following roles:

Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the decision-making body that is ultimately responsible for the long term sustainability of the Foundation, so we value wide input into its selection. There are three positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at the board elections page.

Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations about how to allocate Wikimedia movement funds to eligible entities. There are five positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC elections page.

Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) Ombud
The FDC Ombud receives complaints and feedback about the FDC process, investigates complaints at the request of the Board of Trustees, and summarizes the investigations and feedback for the Board of Trustees on an annual basis. One position is being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC Ombudsperson elections page.

The candidacy submission phase lasts from 00:00 UTC April 20 to 23:59 UTC May 5 for the Board and from 00:00 UTCApril 20 to 23:59 UTC April 30 for the FDC and FDC Ombudsperson. This year, we are accepting both self-nominations and nominations of others. More information on this election and the nomination process can be found on the 2015 Wikimedia elections page on Meta-Wiki.

Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page on Meta, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-elections -at- wikimedia.org

On behalf of the Elections Committee,
-Gregory Varnum (User:Varnent)
Coordinator, 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, 04:56, 21 April 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help

Requests for comments on Wikimedia user groups approval process and agreements

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

The Wikimedia Affiliations Committee is requesting comments on the approval process and agreements for Wikimedia user groups.

Wikimedia user groups are groups of Wikimedia users who support and promote the Wikimedia projects in the offline world by organizing meetups and other projects. The Wikimedia Affiliations Committee's responsibilities include approval of new Wikimedia user groups.

The committee will seek community input until Friday, May 1, 2015. The committee will then review the community's input, and publish the new process and agreements on Meta-Wiki. The committee will again seek community input approximately six months after any changes are adopted to gauge effectiveness and if any additional changes are necessary.

Please see the RFC page on Meta-Wiki for more information and to provide feedback.

Thank you - Wikimedia Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 04:26, 24 April 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee elections 2015

This is a message from the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee. Translations are available.

Voting has begun for eligible voters in the 2015 elections for the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) and FDC Ombudsperson. Questions and discussion with the candidates for the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) and FDC Ombudsperson will continue during the voting. Nominations for the Board of Trustees will be accepted until 23:59 UTC May 5.

The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations about how to allocate Wikimedia movement funds to eligible entities. There are five positions on the committee being filled.

The FDC Ombudsperson receives complaints and feedback about the FDC process, investigates complaints at the request of the Board of Trustees, and summarizes the investigations and feedback for the Board of Trustees on an annual basis. One position is being filled.

The voting phase lasts from 00:00 UTC May 3 to 23:59 UTC May 10. Click here to vote. Questions and discussion with the candidates will continue during that time. Click here to ask the FDC candidates a question. Click here to ask the FDC Ombudsperson candidates a question. More information on the candidates and the elections can be found on the 2015 FDC election page, the 2015 FDC Ombudsperson election page, and the 2015 Board election page on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Elections Committee,
-Gregory Varnum (User:Varnent)
Volunteer Coordinator, 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery 03:40, 4 May 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help

Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections 2015

This is a message from the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee. Translations are available.

Voting has begun for eligible voters in the 2015 elections for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. Questions and discussion with the candidates for the Board will continue during the voting.

The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is the ultimate governing authority of the Wikimedia Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the United States. The Wikimedia Foundation manages many diverse projects such as Wikipedia and Commons.

The voting phase lasts from 00:00 UTC May 17 to 23:59 UTC May 31. Click here to vote. More information on the candidates and the elections can be found on the 2015 Board election page on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Elections Committee,
-Gregory Varnum (User:Varnent)
Volunteer Coordinator, 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery 17:20, 17 May 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help

Introducing the Wikimedia Affiliates mailing list

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

The Wikimedia Affiliations Committee is pleased to introduce the launch of the Wikimedia Affiliates mailing list, which is basically a place for all the affiliates (chapters, thematic organizations, user groups) to discuss issues related to affiliates, make announcements to other affiliates, and collaborate on activities and community-wide events. The idea is to help facilitate the dialogue affiliates across our movement, plus collaborative discussions like community-wide activities, joint edit-a-thons, regional conferences, blog/report posts, or other communications from affiliates.

Each Wikimedia movement affiliate is allocated three spots on the mailing list. All affiliates may contact the Affiliations Committee to request additional spots if needed.

Please find a bit more information on Meta-Wiki and do not hesitate to contact the Affiliations Committee if you have further questions.

Thank you - Wikimedia Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 07:51, 27 October 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

Your input requested on the proposed #FreeBassel banner campaign

This is a message regarding the proposed 2015 Free Bassel banner. Translations are available.

Hi everyone,

This is to inform all Wikimedia contributors that a straw poll seeking your involvement has just been started on Meta-Wiki.

As some of your might be aware, a small group of Wikimedia volunteers have proposed a banner campaign informing Wikipedia readers about the urgent situation of our fellow Wikipedian, open source software developer and Creative Commons activist, Bassel Khartabil. An exemplary banner and an explanatory page have now been prepared, and translated into about half a dozen languages by volunteer translators.

We are seeking your involvement to decide if the global Wikimedia community approves starting a banner campaign asking Wikipedia readers to call on the Syrian government to release Bassel from prison. We understand that a campaign like this would be unprecedented in Wikipedia's history, which is why we're seeking the widest possible consensus among the community.

Given Bassel's urgent situation and the resulting tight schedule, we ask everyone to get involved with the poll and the discussion to the widest possible extent, and to promote it among your communities as soon as possible.

(Apologies for writing in English; please kindly translate this message into your own language.)

Thank you for your participation!

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery 21:46, 25 November 2015 (UTC) • Translate • Get help

2015 Affiliations Committee call for candidates

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and advise the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee consists of twelve members, six of whom are selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms.

Key skills

Being a part of the Affiliations Committee requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We try to get a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members. The key skills and experience that we look for in candidates are:

• Excitement by the challenge of helping to empower groups of volunteers worldwide.
• Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps bureaucratic process.
• Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliations, and similar questions.
• Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly ~2 hour voice/video meeting.
• International orientation.
• Very good communication skills in English.
• Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.
• Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the WMF.
• Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organising are a plus.
• Effective communication skills in other languages are a major plus.
• Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus.
• Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.

We are looking for people who are not afraid of the workload and are motivated by helping other volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2015 member selection process will include a public review and comment period. All applications received by the committee will be posted on Meta (at Affiliations Committee/Candidates/2015), and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

At the end of the public comment period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee who are not seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, WMF staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made by mid-January 2016, with new members expected to join later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please send an application to affcom@lists.wikimedia.org by 31 December 2015. You will get a confirmation that your application was received.

Your application should include the following:

• Your full name
• Your contact information (including e-mail address and username)
• A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.

Your statement will be published for community review and feedback, so please do not include any information that you are not comfortable sharing.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

Best regards,
Carlos Colina
Chair, Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 16:53, 9 December 2015 (UTC) • Please help translate to your language • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

Get involved in Wikipedia 15!

This is a message from the Wikimedia Foundation. Translations are available.

As many of you know, January 15 is Wikipedia’s 15th Birthday!

People around the world are getting involved in the celebration and have started adding their events on Meta Page. While we are celebrating Wikipedia's birthday, we hope that all projects and affiliates will be able to utilize this celebration to raise awareness of our community's efforts.

Haven’t started planning? Don’t worry, there’s lots of ways to get involved. Here are some ideas:

• Join/host an event. We already have more than 80, and hope to have many more.
• Talk to local press. In the past 15 years, Wikipedia has accomplished extraordinary things. We’ve made a handy summary of milestones and encourage you to add your own. More resources, including a press release template and resources on working with the media, are also available.
• Design a Wikipedia 15 logo. In place of a single icon for Wikipedia 15, we’re making dozens. Add your own with something fun and representative of your community. Just use the visual guide so they share a common sensibility.
• Share a message on social media. Tell the world what Wikipedia means to you, and add #wikipedia15 to the post. We might re-tweet or share your message!

Everything is linked on the Wikipedia 15 Meta page. You’ll find a set of ten data visualization works that you can show at your events, and a list of all the Wikipedia 15 logos that community members have already designed.

If you have any questions, please contact Zachary McCune or Joe Sutherland.

Thanks and Happy nearly Wikipedia 15!
-The Wikimedia Foundation Communications team

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery, 20:53, 18 December 2015 (UTC) • Please help translate to your language • Help

eLearning Africa 2016 Conference submission extension

Want to represent and share your work with Wikimedia at the 1tth annual pan-African conference for ICT for development, education and training conference?

I've been notified by the organizers of the eLearning Africa Conference that submissions are still open to Wikimedia community members who wish to participate. This year's conference will be held in Cairo from May 24 - 26. If selected to present, Wikimedians could take advantage of the Travel and Participation Support (TPS) funds available through Community Resources. As the formal deadline has already passed, any proposals should be submitted as soon as possible.

Proposal Submission Form (direct link)

Noting that there is a reduced registration fee for speakers and students. Please share this announcement to potential participants, and let me know if you apply (on wiki or via email, tflanaganwikimedia.org) so I can follow up with the program organizers on your behalf. Tighe Flanagan (WMF) (talk) 19:33, 18 February 2016 (UTC)

Notification of Past Due Chapter Reporting

Greetings,

This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Chapters and thematic organizations are required to submit 2 reports each year: an activity report and a financial statement covering all accounts and all incoming and outgoing expenses . Both reports must cover the entirety of the 12-month annual period and must be written in English, posted to meta, and linked on the meta Reports page.

This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

Annual reporting is due no later than 4 months following the end of an organization's fiscal year.

As noted on the meta reports page, your organization’s 2014-2015 annual activities and financial reporting became past due in January.

Please be sure to:

1. Post your 2014-2015 annual activities and financial reporting to the meta Reports page as soon as possible to return to compliance with your chapter agreement.
2. Check that your groups reports page listing is also up to date for historical record-keeping, and
3. Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Best regards, JAnstee (WMF) (talk) 22:52, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

10,000 Challenge for Africa

Hi there, I'd be very grateful if you could help publicize and support this. I've made a grant proposal to cover Africa with reigonal contests and aim to make 10,000 improvements overall. If interested sign up on the Challenge page. You're welcome to invite other language wikis to participate too!Dr. Blofeld (talk) 17:15, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Visitors from Switzerland

Hi all, Lantus and Lantina are intending to stay in Cape Town in February 2017. We are quite active members of the Swiss community, writing a lot of articles aso. and would like to come in contact to active members of the ZA-community and to writing people in South Africa to exchange experiences. Perhaps we can have an meetup with several people? We want to learn a bit about your southafrican culture and normal living. Best regards Lantus (talk) 14:03, 26 November 2016 (UTC)

Inviting you to participate in the women editing contest "The women you have never met"

Dear Wikimedia South Africa,

Hope this message finds you all well :) On behalf of Iberocoop network I want to invite you to be part of the women editing contest we are organizing along with many other chapters and user groups in the movement. You are doing an excellent work on your local context and we will be so pleased to have you on board. In this very early stage, we are asking the organizations to add their interest in the following meta page Hope to see you there soon! Hugs--Anna Torres (WMAR) (talk) 15:04, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Anna Torres (WMAR), this sounds great. We have recently started doing consistent edit-a-thons and I feel this could be a good theme/focus for our next event on the 17th March. I will add WM ZA as interested now. Thanks for the heads up.--Discott (talk) 22:35, 11 February 2017 (UTC)

De-Recognition of Affiliates with Long-standing Non-Compliance

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

Recognition as a Wikimedia affiliate - a chapter, thematic organization, or user group - is a privilege that allows an independent group to officially use the Wikimedia name to further the Wikimedia mission. While most Wikimedia affiliates adhere to the basic compliance standards set forth in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation, a protocol has been developed to address the exceptional cases when a Wikimedia affiliate does not meet basic compliance standards and their continued recognition as a Wikimedia affiliate presents a risk to the Wikimedia movement.

In the past year, the Affiliations Committee - with support from Wikimedia Foundation staff - has made a concerted effort to address a handful of chapters with long-standing issues of non-compliance. As a result, in the coming days and months, a small number of chapters that have been unable to return to compliance through their efforts in the past year will not have their chapter agreements renewed. As a consequence, these organizations will no longer have the additional rights to use the Wikimedia trademarks, including the Wikimedia name, that had been granted under those agreements.

If you have questions about what this means for community members in the affected affiliates’ region or language areas, we have put together a basic FAQ. The FAQ talk page is available for additional questions and comments, and the Affiliations Committee is happy to answer questions directly.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 15:55, 13 February 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to your language • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

Review of initial updates on Wikimedia movement strategy process

Note: Apologies for cross-posting and sending in English. Message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.

The Wikimedia movement is beginning a movement-wide strategy discussion, a process which will run throughout 2017. For 15 years, Wikimedians have worked together to build the largest free knowledge resource in human history. During this time, we've grown from a small group of editors to a diverse network of editors, developers, affiliates, readers, donors, and partners. Today, we are more than a group of websites. We are a movement rooted in values and a powerful vision: all knowledge for all people. As a movement, we have an opportunity to decide where we go from here.

This movement strategy discussion will focus on the future of our movement: where we want to go together, and what we want to achieve. We hope to design an inclusive process that makes space for everyone: editors, community leaders, affiliates, developers, readers, donors, technology platforms, institutional partners, and people we have yet to reach. There will be multiple ways to participate including on-wiki, in private spaces, and in-person meetings. You are warmly invited to join and make your voice heard.

The immediate goal is to have a strategic direction by Wikimania 2017 to help frame a discussion on how we work together toward that strategic direction.

Regular updates are being sent to the Wikimedia-l mailing list, and posted on Meta-Wiki. Beginning with this message, monthly reviews of these updates will be sent to this page as well. Sign up to receive future announcements and monthly highlights of strategy updates on your user talk page.

Here is a review of the updates that have been sent so far:

• Update 1 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (15 December 2016)
  • Introduction to process and information about budget spending resolution to support it
• Update 2 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (23 December 2016)
  • Start of search for Lead Architect for movement strategy process
• Update 3 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (8 January 2017)
  • Plans for strategy sessions at upcoming Wikimedia Conference 2017
• Update 4 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (11 January 2017)
  • Introduction of williamsworks
• Update 5 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (2 February 2017)
  • The core movement strategy team, team tracks being developed, introduction of the Community Process Steering Committee, discussions at WikiIndaba conference 2017 and the Wikimedia movement affiliates executive directors gathering in Switzerland
• Update 6 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (10 February 2017)
  • Tracks A & B process prototypes and providing feedback, updates on development of all four Tracks

More information about the movement strategy is available on the Meta-Wiki 2017 Wikimedia movement strategy portal.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation, 20:27, 15 February 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to your language • Get help

Overview #2 of updates on Wikimedia movement strategy process

Note: Apologies for cross-posting and sending in English. This message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.

As we mentioned last month, the Wikimedia movement is beginning a movement-wide strategy discussion, a process which will run throughout 2017. This movement strategy discussion will focus on the future of our movement: where we want to go together, and what we want to achieve.

Regular updates are being sent to the Wikimedia-l mailing list, and posted on Meta-Wiki. Each month, we are sending overviews of these updates to this page as well. Sign up to receive future announcements and monthly highlights of strategy updates on your user talk page.

Here is a overview of the updates that have been sent since our message last month:

• Update 7 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (16 February 2017)
  • Development of documentation for Tracks A & B
• Update 8 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (24 February 2017)
  • Introduction of Track Leads for all four audience tracks
• Update 9 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (2 March 2017)
  • Seeking feedback on documents being used to help facilitate upcoming community discussions

More information about the movement strategy is available on the Meta-Wiki 2017 Wikimedia movement strategy portal.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation, 19:42, 9 March 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to your language • Get help

We invite you to join the movement strategy conversation (now through April 15)

This message, "We invite you to join the movement strategy conversation (now through April 15)", was sent through multiple channels by Gregory Varnum on 15 and 16 of March 2017 to village pumps, affiliate talk pages, movement mailing lists, and MassMessage groups. A similar message was sent by Nicole Ebber to organized groups and their mailing lists on 15 of March 2017. This version of the message is available for translation and documentation purposes

Dear Wikimedians/Wikipedians:

Today we are starting a broad discussion to define Wikimedia's future role in the world and develop a collaborative strategy to fulfill that role. You are warmly invited to join the conversation.

There are many ways to participate, by joining an existing conversation or starting your own:

Track A (organized groups): Discussions with your affiliate, committee or other organized group (these are groups that support the Wikimedia movement).

Track B (individual contributors): On Meta or your local language or project wiki.

This is the first of three conversations, and it will run between now and April 15. The purpose of cycle 1 is to discuss the future of the movement and generate major themes around potential directions. What do we want to build or achieve together over the next 15 years?

We welcome you, as we create this conversation together, and look forward to broad and diverse participation from all parts of our movement.

• Find out more about the movement strategy process
• Learn more about volunteering to be a Discussion Coordinator

Sincerely,

Nicole Ebber (Track A Lead), Jaime Anstee (Track B Lead), & the engagement support teams

05:00, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

Start of the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections

Please accept our apologies for cross-posting this message. This message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, I am pleased to announce that self-nominations are being accepted for the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Elections.

The Board of Trustees (Board) is the decision-making body that is ultimately responsible for the long-term sustainability of the Wikimedia Foundation, so we value wide input into its selection. More information about this role can be found on Meta-Wiki. Please read the letter from the Board of Trustees calling for candidates.

The candidacy submission phase will last from April 7 (00:00 UTC) to April 20 (23:59 UTC).

We will also be accepting questions to ask the candidates from April 7 to April 20. You can submit your questions on Meta-Wiki.

Once the questions submission period has ended on April 20, the Elections Committee will then collate the questions for the candidates to respond to beginning on April 21.

The goal of this process is to fill the three community-selected seats on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. The election results will be used by the Board itself to select its new members.

The full schedule for the Board elections is as follows. All dates are inclusive, that is, from the beginning of the first day (UTC) to the end of the last.

• April 7 (00:00 UTC) – April 20 (23:59 UTC) – Board nominations
• April 7 – April 20 – Board candidates questions submission period
• April 21 – April 30 – Board candidates answer questions
• May 1 – May 14 – Board voting period
• May 15–19 – Board vote checking
• May 20 – Board result announcement goal

In addition to the Board elections, we will also soon be holding elections for the following roles:

• Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
  • There are five positions being filled. More information about this election will be available on Meta-Wiki.

• Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson (Ombuds)
  • One position is being filled. More information about this election will be available on Meta-Wiki.

Please note that this year the Board of Trustees elections will be held before the FDC and Ombuds elections. Candidates who are not elected to the Board are explicitly permitted and encouraged to submit themselves as candidates to the FDC or Ombuds positions after the results of the Board elections are announced.

More information on this year's elections can be found on Meta-Wiki. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the election talk page on Meta-Wiki, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-electionswikimedia.org.

On behalf of the Election Committee,
Katie Chan, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
Joe Sutherland, Community Advocate, Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, 03:35, 7 April 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to your language • Get help

Voting has begun in 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections

This is a message from the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee. Translations are available.

Voting has begun for eligible voters in the 2017 elections for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.

The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is the ultimate governing authority of the Wikimedia Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the United States. The Wikimedia Foundation manages many diverse projects such as Wikipedia and Commons.

The voting phase lasts from 00:00 UTC May 1 to 23:59 UTC May 14. Click here to vote. More information on the candidates and the elections can be found on the 2017 Board of Trustees election page on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Elections Committee,
Katie Chan, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
Joe Sutherland, Community Advocate, Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery • Translate • Get help

19:02, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Join the next cycle of Wikimedia movement strategy discussions (underway until June 12)

Message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki

The Wikimedia movement strategy core team and working groups have completed reviewing the more than 1800 thematic statements we received from the first discussion. They have identified 5 themes that were consistent across all the conversations - each with their own set of sub-themes. These are not the final themes, just an initial working draft of the core concepts.

You are invited to join the online and offline discussions taking place on these 5 themes. This round of discussions will take place between now and June 12th. You can discuss as many as you like; we ask you to participate in the ones that are most (or least) important to you.

Here are the five themes, each has a page on Meta-Wiki with more information about the theme and how to participate in that theme's discussion:

• Healthy, Inclusive Communities
• The Augmented Age
• A Truly Global Movement
• The Most Respected Source of Knowledge
• Engaging in the Knowledge Ecosystem

On the movement strategy portal on Meta-Wiki, you can find more information about each of these themes, their discussions, and how to participate.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation • Please help translate to your language • Get help

19:25, 16 May 2017 (UTC)

Start of the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee elections

Translations of this message are available on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, we are pleased to announce that self-nominations are being accepted for the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee and Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson elections. Please read the letter from the Wikimedia Foundation calling for candidates at on the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation elections portal.

Funds Dissemination Committee
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations about how to allocate Wikimedia movement funds to eligible entities. There are five positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC elections page.

Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson
The Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson receives complaints and feedback about the FDC process, investigates complaints at the request of the Board of Trustees, and summarizes the investigations and feedback for the Board of Trustees on an annual basis. One position is being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC Ombudsperson elections page.

The candidacy submission phase will last until May 28 (23:59 UTC).

We will also be accepting questions to ask the candidates until May 28. You can submit your questions on Meta-Wiki. Once the questions submission period has ended on May 28, the Elections Committee will then collate the questions for the candidates to respond to.

The goal of this process is to fill the five community-selected seats on the Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee and the community-selected ombudsperson. The election results will be used by the Board itself to make the appointments.

The full schedule for the FDC elections is as follows. All dates are inclusive, that is, from the beginning of the first day (UTC) to the end of the last.

• May 15 (00:00 UTC) – May 28 (23:59 UTC) – Nominations
• May 15 – May 28 – Candidates questions submission period
• May 29 – June 2 – Candidates answer questions
• June 3 – June 11 – Voting period
• June 12–14 – Vote checking
• June 15 – Goal date for announcing election results

More information on this year's elections can be found at the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation elections portal.

Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page on Meta-Wiki, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-electionswikimedia.org.

On behalf of the Election Committee,
Katie Chan, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
Joe Sutherland, Community Advocate, Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery • Translate • Get help

21:03, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Translating Ibero-America is back! Come and join us :)

Dear Wikimedia South Africa,
Hope this message finds you well!
Again this year 2017 the Iberocoop network is launching the editing contest "Translating Ibero-American" aiming to position the Ibero-american culture outside our borders :)
You can find the contest page here
We hope your community can join us!
Hugs--Anna Torres (WMAR) (talk) 20:02, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Editathon

A significant number of new articles created during this exercise have been necessarily tagged for deletion. This is a shame because they were obviously written in good faith.. Please contact me on my en.Wiki talk page for details of the affected pages and users. Kudpung (talk) 00:10, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

Notification of Past Due Reporting

Greetings, This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Chapters are required to submit an annual activity and annual financial report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period due within 4 months of the end of the organizations fiscal year. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta, and linked on the meta Reports page.

This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2016 annual reporting became past due in January. Please be sure to

1. Post your 2016 annual reporting to the meta Reports page as soon as possible to return to compliance with your chapter agreement.
2. Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
3. Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Best regards, JAnstee (WMF) (talk) 15:36, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

Further to above notification, we thank you for updating your activities report, However, your 2015-2016 Annual financials reporting is still overdue. Please provide a link to the Reports page so that we can proceed with your Organization's eligibility status for WMCon 2018. Regards -- DNdubane (WMF) (talk) 11:28, 29 November 2017 (UTC)

The Zulu Wikipedia today

Being an active contributor to the ZU WP though a non-speaker of IsiZulu, I'm herewith approaching the Wikimedia ZA chapter for the following:

• See zu:Wikipedia:Umnyango wamgwamanda#presenting the project Wikipedia Cultural Diversity Observatory and asking for a volunteer in isiZulu Wikipedia - a current request for interwiki cooperation, with my initial response
• Is there a contact person among you available to review my activities and update me with the chapter's experience and assessment of the ZU WP?

-- Cheers, Deborahjay (talk) 21:21, 11 October 2017 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: October 2017

L&E Newsletter / Volume 4 / Issue 14 / October 2017
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#Learning Days
#CEInsightsReport

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
On-boarding new editors:
The skills-focused approach of WMIL

Leave your mark on Meta!
New AffCom corner, plus learning patterns you can contribute to.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:50, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Inviting you to participate in the women editing contest "The women you have never met"

Dear Wikimedia South Africa!

Hope this message finds you all well :) On behalf of Iberocoop network I want to invite you to be part of the women editing contest we are organizing along with many other chapters and user groups in the movement. You are doing an excellent work on your local context and we will be so pleased to have you on board. In this very early stage, we are asking the organizations to add their interest in the following meta page Hope to see you there soon! Hugs----Anna Torres (WMAR) --Anna Torres (WMAR) (talk) 15:31, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: January 2018

L&E Newsletter / Volume 5 / Issue 15 / January 2018
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#LeadershipDevelopment
#CaseStudies

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
Raising awareness of Wikipedia in Nigeria, one radio program at a time

Leave your mark on Meta!
Inspire New Readers campaign, and AffCom elections

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:45, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Share your feedback in this global Wikimedia survey

Dear Wikimedia Affiliates,
My name is María Cruz and I work for the Wikimedia Foundation on the Learning and Evaluation team. In one week or so, the Foundation is starting a global survey to learn about the experiences and feedback of Wikimedians. I am writing here, because I wanted to share with you a bit more about the project.
The survey is called "Wikimedia Communities and Contributors" and is conducted annually. We will send the survey to editors across all the Wikimedia projects, as well as Wikimedia affiliates and volunteer developers. This survey is going to be our way of making sure that we can hear feedback from a significant number of users from across the projects. This research supports editors and Wikipedia’s mission. This is our second annual CE Insights survey, and we look forward to improving it every year.
We will be contacting 2 people from each affiliate, based on the primary contact information that we have. Each affiliate will receive an additional third link which they can distribute to any leader in their chapter or user group.
Go to the project page to see the results of last year’s survey, and to see how your feedback helps the Wikimedia Foundation support communities. You can sign up to be notified about the results of the survey, or to learn how you can help with planning the survey next year.
If you have any questions or concerns about this project, please feel free to send them to Edward Galvez's talk page on Meta-Wiki or email him directly at surveyswikimedia · org in any language. You can learn more about this project and read about frequently asked questions. You can also share your feedback on Meta-Wiki.

Thank you for your time supporting this project!
María Cruz

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:42, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

#AfricaGap REQ: place names in ZU and XH - ASAP

In the ZU WP, User:GerardM has initiated activity to close the #AfricaGap on the ZU WP. In support, I've written an analysis of the situation based on my ten-months' daily contributing there. As I've nearly reached the extent of my ZU WP Wiki-Gnome activities, I now ask your guidance in continuing, with hopes for collaboration. Thank you! -- Deborahjay (talk) 09:51, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

Notification of Past Due Chapter Reporting

Greetings, @Discott: & @Bobbyshabangu:

This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Chapters and thematic organizations are required to submit 2 reports each year: an activity report and a financial statement covering all accounts and all incoming and outgoing expenses . Both reports must cover the entirety of the 12-month annual period and must be written in English, posted to meta, and linked on the meta Reports page.

This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

Annual reporting is due no later than 4 months following the end of an organization's fiscal year.

As noted on the meta reports page, your organization’s 2016-2017 annual activities and financial reporting became past due in February.

Please be sure to:

1. Post your 2016-2017 annual activities and financial reporting to the meta Reports page as soon as possible to return to compliance with your chapter agreement.
2. Check that your groups reports page listing is also up to date for historical record-keeping, and
3. Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Best regards, DNdubane (WMF) (talk) 20:22, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up on this DNdubane (WMF), our book keeper is currently working on this and we will be able to present the chapter's financials before the end of the month.--Discott (talk) 22:11, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Hi DNdubane (WMF), Wikimedia ZA has just posted its annual activity report for 2016/17 here and its financial report here. I am unable to share it on wikimedia-l unfortunately as, despite a number of requests, I have been unable to subscribe to that mailing list.--Discott (talk) 13:13, 26 June 2018 (UTC)

Thanks Discott, I have noted the report.--DNdubane (WMF) (talk) 15:48, 3 July 2018 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: June 2018

L&E Newsletter / Volume 5 / Issue 16 / June 2018
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#WikiWomen
#WikiEduAsia

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
Karvachar’s WikiClub, when getting knowledge is cool

Leave your mark on Meta!
Inspire New Readers campaign, and AffCom elections

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:45, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Article about fair use in SA copyright bill.

This is interesting, but will it also affect freedom of panorama rights? Moody, Glyn (2018-07-25). "South Africa's Proposed Fair Use Right In Copyright Bill Is Surprisingly Good -- At The Moment". Techdirt. Retrieved 26 July 2018.  -- Dodger67 (talk) 06:59, 26 July 2018 (UTC)

Join us on The AfroCine Project

Greetings!

This is to introduce you to a new Wikimedia project called The AfroCine Project. This new project is dedicated to improving the coverage of the history, works, people, places, events, etc, that are associated with the cinema, theatre and arts of Africa, African countries, the Caribbean, and the diaspora. If you would love to be part of this (or you're already active in this area), by coordinating local programmes around African cinema (independently or otherwise) in your community or local Wikipedia, kindly list your username or organization as a participant on the meta project page here.

Furthermore, In the months of October and November, we are organizing a global contest and edit-a-thon tagged: The Months of African Cinema. If you would love to join this exciting event, also list your username as a participant on the English Wikipedia page. If you would love to lead this contest (or any other relevant program) for a non-English Wikipedia community, please feel free to translate the English Wikiproject page to your local language Wikipedia, or you can create one from scratch!

If you have any questions, complaints, suggestions, etc., please reach out to me personally on my talkpage or the project talkpage! Cheers!--Jamie Tubers (talk) 20:50, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

Welcome to the Months of African Cinema!

Greetings!

The AfroCine Project welcomes you to October, the first out of the two months which has been dedicated to improving contents that centre around the cinema of Africa, the Caribbean, and the diaspora.

This is a global online edit-a-thon, which is happening in at least 5 language editions of Wikipedia (en, he, es, it, bn) and Wikidata. Join us in this exciting venture, by helping to create or expand articles which are connected to this scope.

On English Wikipedia, we would be recognizing Users who are able to achieve the following:

• Overall winner (1st, 2nd, 3rd places)
• Country Winners
• Diversity winner
• High quality contributors
• Gender-gap fillers
• Page improvers
• Wikidata Translators

For further information about the contest, the recognition categories and how to participate, please visit the contest page here.

If you'd love to organize this contest for your local wiki or organize in-person events centred around this project, or you need further information about the AfroCine Project, please leave a message on the project talkpage. See you around :).--Jamie Tubers (talk) 22:50, 03 October 2018 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: November 2018

L&E Newsletter / Volume 5 / Issue 17 / November 2018
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#CEInsights18
#GenderEquity

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
Editatona: Writing women back in history

Leave your mark on Meta!
AffCom corner and Wikimania Poster session

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:10, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

2018 Affiliations Committee call for candidates

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee.

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and advise the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee can include up to fifteen members, roughly half of whom are selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms. Those joining the committee during the current process will serve a two-year term ending in December 2020.

Key skills

Being a part of the Affiliations Committee requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members, including the following key skills and experience:

- Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps bureaucratic process.
- Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
- Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly two-hour voice/video meeting.
- International orientation.
- Fluency in English.
- Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.
- Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
- Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organizing are a plus.
- Skills in other languages are a major plus.
- Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus.
- Strong track record of effective collaboration (such as evidenced skills at facilitation, mediation, negotiation, and so forth) are a major plus.
- Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.

We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members selected will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2018 member selection process will include a public review and comment period. All applications received by the committee will be posted on Meta at Affiliations Committee/Candidates/December 2018, and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

At the end of the public comment period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee who are not seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made by mid-January 2019, with new members expected to join later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please post your application on the nomination page and send an email announcing your application to affcom@lists.wikimedia.org by 31 December 2018. Your application must include the following information:

- Your full name and Wikimedia username
- A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.
- 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?
   

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

Best regards,
Kirill Lokshin
Chair, Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 06:25, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

New Affiliations Committee appointments

AffCom is excited to share with you the news that the Wikimedia Foundation Board has unanimously approved the changes to the Bylaws during the last Board meeting on January 30, 2019.

This change allows the participation of User Groups in the Affiliate-selected Board seats (ASBS) 2019 process.

To read the Board's announcement, please click here

--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:45, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

Help us make Wikipedia talk pages more accessible to more participants

Hello!

Our team at the Wikimedia Foundation is working on a project to improve the ease-of-use and productivity of wiki talk pages. As an affiliate, I can imagine you’ve run into challenges explaining talk pages to first-time participants, or it is an consultation that would interest your members.

We want all contributors to be able to talk to each other on the wikis – to ask questions, to resolve differences, to organize projects and to make decisions. Communication is essential for the depth and quality of our content, and the health of our communities.

We're currently leading a global consultation on how to improve talk pages, and we're looking for groups that can discuss and report on their experiences using (or helping other people to use) wiki talk pages. We'd like to invite you to participate, with the user groups that you belong to. You can learn more about the consultation at Mediawiki.org and if you're interested in hosting a group discussion (on-wiki or off-wiki), you can sign up at the participant sign-up group.

If you’d like to participate or if you have any questions, please contact us and let us know. The more people participate from many horizons, the better the outcome will be.

Thank you! Trizek (WMF) 15:29, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

Call for complementary facilitators and more to get the ASBS 2019 process started!

Hi everyone, hope all is fine with you!

The next weeks will be intense, as affiliates figure out their participation in the process that will soon select 2 people for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. Since new Bylaws established that the user groups are for the first time going to be involved in such process, a lot more support than before is certainly going to be necessary, among other things, for big and healthy conversations on the topic. Hence, please encourage members of your group to become a complementary facilitator, or sign up yourself! You can add yourself to the list on Meta or reply to me to flag availability. One person from the facilitators group should soon be selected to liaise with the Foundation Board’s Chair, María Sefidari, on behalf of all affiliates, and it may be wise to also find a deputy for them.

Finally, if you can think of any huge obstacles that would prevent your group from participating to the process (for instance, a language barrier, or lack of good decision-making mechanisms, etc.), please reach out to me directly: it is really important that we hear about them as early as possible. Thank you! Elitre (WMF) 15:23, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

Update on the Affiliate-selected Board seats 2019 process

Hi all,

The Election Facilitators met on Friday, April 5. We finalized the resolution, which is now frozen. The Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation will be asked to approve the resolution.

We have made two small changes to be more inclusive. We extended the date for compliance with AffCom reporting and being in good standing to May 7 to allow time for as many Affiliates as possible to be current with these requirements. The Election Facilitators adjusted the language in case a quorum is not met during the election.

On the talk page of the resolution one issue was raised. The issue looks like to be about a possible candidate. Affiliates will have ample time to discuss the merits of candidates during nomination time, screening time, and they can cast their votes on candidates. The Election Facilitators didn't see the necessity for this change, and left the resolution on this point unchanged.

The Election Facilitators will be Abhinav Srivastava, Lane Rasberry, Jeffrey Keefer, Ad Huikeshoven, Neal McBurnett and Alessandro Marchetti. We will welcome more volunteers to assist us in this process, to reach out to the diversity in language and gender in our communities, and do so in an advisory role.

The nomination period opens on April 15. We are going to prepare nomination pages on Meta. You can expect a call for nominations. There is a draft call, including a candidates' profile section with non-binding guidelines about experience and characteristics for nominees. You are welcome to add your insights, or discuss on the talk page.

Erica Litrenta (WMF staff) supports us in this process. She will reach out to all affiliates through mail and other channels to make sure we are up to date with (user)name and contact details of your primary contact.

On behalf of the Election Facilitators, Ad Huikeshoven 10:52, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

Update about the Affiliate-selected Board seats process 2019

Hello everyone!

• The Resolution has been approved by the Board of Trustees;
• Nominations phase is now open, from April 15 00:00 UTC to April 30 23:59 UTC. See the Call for Candidates and Nominations pages;
  • Community members may ask questions of the candidates;
• Your main representative has just received an email to confirm that they are indeed the primary contact and will perform official actions on behalf of your group (such as endorsing candidates and then voting). Some groups also need to verify their eligibility status in due time, as explained in the email;
• New content is available to spread awareness around the process - the infographic on this page has clickable links and can be translated, and a primer is available, that we hope will be particularly helpful to those new to such a process;
• Finally, you are welcome to help with translations! Pick one page from the ASBS category and, in the next couple of weeks, please consider translating profiles of the candidates in particular.

Thanks for your attention! The Facilitators for ASBS 2019, 07:33, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

Affiliate-selected Board seats 2019 process: your representative

Hello. The name of the only person who will vote on behalf of this group to select the next two Board members is now at m:Affiliate-selected Board seats/2019/Eligible entities. Please contact me directly as soon as possible if you need any kind of corrections there. There's only a few hours left to endorse candidates, and only the official voter can do that. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that you can make a difference with the necessary translations.

Appreciate your attention and your support so far! Thank you! Elitre (WMF) and Facilitators of ASBS 2019, 12:15, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Thank you for Wikimedia South Africa's organization vote during the 2019 trustee election. With your organization’s, Igbo's, and AfroCrowd's votes, I was able to score better than expected. I look forward to working with the trustees. Geraldshields11 (talk) 19:00, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

Introducing Wikimedia Space: A platform for movement news and organizations

Hi Wikimedia South Africa,
I’m writing to let you know that the Community Engagement department at the Wikimedia Foundation is launching a new platform, Wikimedia Space. Here, you will find stories for and by contributors to the Wikimedia movement, and a space for discussions of different topics.

We know that finding information about Wikimedia activities and processes is very complicated, which makes the learning curve to enter our movement and be successful afterwards, really steep. By centralizing community stories and conversations in one shared space, we believe we are facilitating access and discoverability of topics across the movement, improving, in turn, connections among Wikimedians.

As an affiliated organization to the Wikimedia Foundation, we hope that you can share this platform with your local community, and we count on you to encourage them to add their voices. If you’d like to contribute stories, and overall, participate in the discussion section, please read our blogging guidelines and our code of conduct and join the conversation. Find more information about the project on its page on Meta.

Looking forward to seeing you at Wikimedia Space,
María Cruz, Communications and Outreach Manager, Wikimedia Foundation.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:53, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

References

AfroCine: Join the Months of African Cinema this October!

Greetings!

After a successful first iteration of the Months of African Cinema last year, we are happy to announce that it will be happening again this year, starting from October 1! In the 2018 edition of the contest, about 600 Wikipedia articles were created in at least 8 languages. There were also contributions to Wikidata and Wikimedia commons, which brought the total number of wikimedia pages created during the contest to over 1,000. About 9 in-person events were also organised for the edit-a-thon in different parts of the world.

The contest is organized by a Wikimedia project called The AfroCine Project, which is dedicated to improving the coverage of the history, works, people, places, and events, that are associated with the cinema, theatre and arts of Africa, African countries, the Caribbean, and the diaspora.

If you would love to join this exciting event, please list your username as a participant on the English Wikipedia contest page. If you would love to lead this contest for your country or community, please list your name in the coordinators' page here. The rapid grants team would be accepting proposals throughout October and November, in case you'd need funds to run local edit-a-thons or some other activities related to this event. Upon listing your name on the coordinators' page, you'd be contacted to talk about the resources you'd need to run the event in your community. You can also contact me directly for any clarifications.

Finally, We also need volunteers to handle some aspects of the AfroCine project. These aspects include:

1. Community Liaison: This role essentially involves closely engaging with local communities to support their activities within the scope of Afrocine.
2. Communications: This involves the communications aspects of the project. Sharing relevant information on mailing lists and social media would be the responsibility of this person.
3. MAC Jury: This role involves joining the jury of Months of African Cinema contest. We need as many people as we can get 🙂.
4. Tools: Going forward, we would need relevant tools to better track the metrics and also analyse the general impact of these events. We are calling for Wikimedia volunteers who can navigate wikimedia tools that can be useful for the project.

If you would love to help with any of these roles, or some other roles that have not been mentioned, please contact me directly or on: samoye_hotmail.com

If you have further questions, complaints, suggestions, etc., please reach out to me personally or right here or the project talkpages.

Thank you!--Jamie Tubers (talk) 17:10, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Introducing Wikimedia Diary: A memory book (notebook) for all

		Wikimedia Diary
		Hello Wikimedia South Africa, I wanna share you about Wikimedia Diary, a public memory book (notebook) in which Wikimedians from all over the world are free to write any worth noting event/activities/experiences by them or community in this Wiki world. It is a more casual place to write about what one is up to. As we all know, a diary is a book in which diarist keeps a daily record of events and experiences. Likewise, the basic idea of Wikimedia Diary is that we do many activities here in wiki world which we are proud of, but unfortunately it became only the history anytime. So, It is meant to record those activities on the happened date with a signature (~~~~) which is worth noting, and letting fellow Wikimedians know about what inspirational you've did. It would motivate users from all around the world to keep on cool activities and publish a note. I hope you share your activities with all of us on the page, and please let your friends know about Wikimedia Diary. Also, your feedback is welcome on the discussion page. Thank you! Kind regards, Tulsi Bhagat, Initiator of Wikimedia Diary, Wikimedia movement communications group. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:09, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

2019 Affiliations Committee call for candidates

The Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee consists of fourteen members, selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms. Those joining the committee during the current process will serve a two-year term ending in December 2021.

AffCom continues to closely monitor the Wikimedia 2030 Strategy process that was initiated in 2016. While the affiliation models continue to be discussed as part of the broader strategy discussion, as no decisions have been made to change the current affiliation models yet, AffCom will continue to work in the same manner with regard to affiliate recognitions and intervention support for affiliates with issues of non-compliance in 2020. Specifically, AffCom will continue to process applications for user group and chapter/thematic organization creation, while we await the strategy next steps and begin to prepare for a smooth transition of the committee and affiliates ecosystem to any changing movement structures and systems in 2021.

Being a part of the Affiliations Committee requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members.

Required and Recommended Skills for Affiliations Committee Members

Across all committee members there are additional relevant skills as well as requirements which help to support the committee and its sustainability which include both required and relevant general skills

Required Skills

• Fluency in English
• Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings.
• Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.
• Strong track record of effective collaboration
• International orientation

Relevant Skills

• Skills in other languages are a major plus.
• Public Communications (English writing and speaking skills)
• Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
• Documentation practices
• Interviewing experience
• Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organizing are a plus

• Experience with, or in, an active affiliate is a major plus.

• Teamwork
  • Focusing on shared goals instead of disagreements
  • Focusing on the conflict at hand and not past ones
  • Ensuring each member of the team has a clearly defined role, which can help reduce disagreements over areas of responsibility
  • Project and people management to coordinate different parties on a shared plan and seeing it through to completion.

• Problem-Solving
  • Ability to evaluate various solutions
  • Ability to consider multiple interests and points of view
  • Willingness to revisit unresolved issues
  • The capacity to recognize and respond to important matters
  • The ability to seek compromise and avoid punishing
• Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.

Given the expectations for maintaining course in 2020 and preparing for potential 2021 transitions, it is important that we are also clear about two different skill sets critical to committee support at this time. The first skillset is oriented to understanding affiliate dynamics and organizational development patterns to successfully process affiliate applications for recognition; the other is oriented to conflict prevention and intervention support for affiliates in conflict.

Affiliate Recognitions Relevant Skills

• Administration
  • Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps bureaucratic process.
  • Attention to detail

• Monitoring & Strategic Development
  • Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.

• Organizational Awareness
  • Understanding of and community building and organizational development
  • Understanding of group dynamics
  • Awareness of the affiliates ecosystem and models

Conflict Prevention & Intervention Relevant Skills

• Communication
  • Active listening
  • Reading nonverbal cues
  • Knowing when to interrupt and when to stay quiet
  • Being culturally sensitive at the same time remaining clear and concise when explaining a concept or opinion

• Stress Management
  • Patience
  • Positivity
  • Ability to inject a dose of humor to dilute anger and frustration when needed
  • Taking well-timed breaks that can bring calm in the midst of flared tempers
  • Ability to manage stress while remaining alert and calm

• Emotional Intelligence
  • Being emotionally aware,
  • Ability to control emotions and behaviors,
  • Ability to practice empathy,
  • Impartiality,
  • Don’t take anything personally,
  • Being aware of and respectful of differences.

• Facilitation skills
  • Meeting facilitation experience
  • Peer or community mediation training
  • Peer or community mediation experience

Do you have any of these skill sets and an interest to support movement affiliates?

We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members selected will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2019 member selection process will include a public review and comment period. We invite you to share with us you applications, specifying your focus area you’re interested in. All applications received by the committee will be posted on Meta, and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

At the end of the public comment period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee who are not seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made by mid-January 2020, with new members expected to join later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please post your application on the nomination page and send an email announcing your application to AffComlists.wikimedia.org by 10 January 2020. Your application must include the following information:

• Your full name and Wikimedia username
• A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.
• Answers to the following 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 uniquely qualified?
4. Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

On behalf of the committee,

Camelia Boban, AffCom member

Invitation to participate in Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos

Dear Wikimedia Affiliate Community,

We are inviting you to participate in Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos (WPWP), a new global contest scheduled to run from July through August 2020:

Participants will choose among Wikipedia pages without photo images, then add a suitable file from among the many thousands of photos in the Wikimedia Commons, especially those uploaded from thematic contests (Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Folklore, etc.) over the years.

WPWP offers a focused task for guiding new editors through the steps of adding content to existing pages. It can be used to organize editing workshops and edit-a-thons.

The organizing team is looking for a contact person at the Chapter, Thematic group & Wikimedia User Group level (geographically or thematically), or for a language WP, to coordinate the project locally. We’d be glad for you to sign up directly at WPWP Participating Communities

Thank you,

Deborah Schwartz Jacobs

On behalf of Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos Organizing Team - 21:19, 9 May 2020 (UTC)

Call for candidates - June 2020

Hi everyone,

The Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members!

The main role of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms. As the committee must hold mid-year elections to replenish its members at this time, those joining the committee during the current process will serve a slightly extended term from July 2020 through December 2022.

AffCom continues to closely monitor the Wikimedia 2030 Strategy process initiated in 2016. While the affiliation models continue to be discussed as part of the broader strategy discussion, as no decisions have been made to change the current affiliation models yet, AffCom continues to work in the same manner with regard to affiliate recognitions and intervention support for affiliates with issues of non-compliance in 2020. AffCom continues to process applications for user group and chapter/thematic organization creation, while we await the strategy next steps and begin to prepare for a smooth transition of the committee and affiliates ecosystem to any changing movement structures and systems in 2021.

Being a part of the AffCom requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a mix of different skill sets in our members.

Click here for further details.

James Heilman on behalf of AffCom

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:18, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee elections announcement June 2020

Hi everyone,

This is a friendly reminder that the Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members! The deadline to post your application on the nomination page is 30 June 2020.

• Application process: Considering the anticipated changes following the Strategy recommendations, we had a limited scope to introduce changes in the process. We have made a small but impactful addition to the application process by introducing the Self Assessment survey form which will help the committee know more about your engagement as endorsements are not consistently shared, may not be representative, and often do not speak to the specific skills needed.
• Selection process: No change; see: Membership.

If you have any questions, please contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to answer questions about our work if this helps people decide to apply. Please distribute this announcement among your networks. Good luck to all the candidates!

On behalf of the committee,

--Rosiestep (talk) 00:49, 19 June 2020 (UTC) via MassMessaging

June 21 All-Affiliates Brand Meeting

All Wikimedia affiliates are invited to join an urgent All-Affiliates Brand Meeting in two sessions on Sunday June 21, regarding the most recent developments.--Pharos (talk) 20:02, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Feedback on movement names

There are a lot of conversations happening about the future of our movement names. We hope that you are part of these discussions and that your community is represented.

Since 16 June, the Foundation Brand Team has been running a survey in 7 languages about 3 naming options. There are also community members sharing concerns about renaming in a Community Open Letter.

You should have received a separate affiliate survey via email. If you have not, feel free to email brandprojectwikimedia.org.

Our goal in this call for feedback is to hear from across the community, so we encourage you to participate in the survey, the open letter, or both. The survey will go through 7 July in all timezones. Input from the survey and discussions will be analyzed and published on Meta-Wiki.

Thanks for thinking about the future of the movement --The Brand Project team, 13:37, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Note: The survey is conducted via a third-party service, which may subject it to additional terms. For more information on privacy and data-handling, see the survey privacy statement.

Announcing a new wiki project! Welcome, Abstract Wikipedia

Hello everyone. I am posting the announcement below, which you may have missed elsewhere, and in the hope that you can share it with your local communities. Please note that it may be available in your language at m:Special:MyLanguage/Abstract Wikipedia/July 2020 announcement. Thanks for your attention! m:User:Elitre (WMF)

Hi all,

It is my honor to introduce Abstract Wikipedia, a new project that has been unanimously approved by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. Abstract Wikipedia proposes a new way to generate baseline encyclopedic content in a multilingual fashion, allowing more contributors and more readers to share more knowledge in more languages. It is an approach that aims to make cross-lingual cooperation easier on our projects, increase the sustainability of our movement through expanding access to participation, improve the user experience for readers of all languages, and innovate in free knowledge by connecting some of the strengths of our movement to create something new.

This is our first new project in over seven years. Abstract Wikipedia was submitted as a project proposal by Denny Vrandečić in May 2020 after years of preparation and research, leading to a detailed plan and lively discussions in the Wikimedia communities. We know that the energy and the creativity of the community often runs up against language barriers, and information that is available in one language may not make it to other language Wikipedias. Abstract Wikipedia intends to look and feel like a Wikipedia, but build on the powerful, language-independent conceptual models of Wikidata, with the goal of letting volunteers create and maintain Wikipedia articles across our polyglot Wikimedia world.

The project will allow volunteers to assemble the fundamentals of an article using words and entities from Wikidata. Because Wikidata uses conceptual models that are meant to be universal across languages, it should be possible to use and extend these building blocks of knowledge to create models for articles that also have universal value. Using code, volunteers will be able to translate these abstract “articles” into their own languages. If successful, this could eventually allow everyone to read about any topic in Wikidata in their own language.

As you can imagine, this work will require a lot of software development, and a lot of cooperation among Wikimedians. In order to make this effort possible, Denny will join the Foundation as a staff member in July and lead this initiative. You may know Denny as the creator of Wikidata, a long-time community member, a former staff member at Wikimedia Deutschland, and a former Trustee at the Wikimedia Foundation . We are very excited that Denny will bring his skills and expertise to work on this project alongside the Foundation’s product, technology, and community liaison teams.

It is important to acknowledge that this is an experimental project, and that every Wikipedia community has different needs. This project may offer some communities great advantages. Other communities may engage less. Every language Wikipedia community will be free to choose and moderate whether or how they would use content from this project.

We are excited that this new wiki-project has the possibility to advance knowledge equity through increased access to knowledge. It also invites us to consider and engage with critical questions about how and by whom knowledge is constructed. We look forward to working in cooperation with the communities to think through these important questions.

There is much to do as we begin designing a plan for Abstract Wikipedia in close collaboration with our communities. I encourage you to get involved by going to the project page and joining the new mailing list . We recognize that Abstract Wikipedia is ambitious, but we also recognize its potential. We invite you all to join us on a new, unexplored path.

Yours,

Katherine Maher (Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation) -16:51, 10 July 2020 (UTC)

Goethe Institute "Decolonise the internet"

I came across this page at the Goethe Intitute's website. It mentions collaboration with Wikimedia ZA but there's no mention at all about any of it here. So what's the story from this side? Is there any way for an experienced en.WP editor and admin to get involved? Dodger67 (talk) 13:45, 15 July 2020 (UTC)

Sunday August 23: Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Strategic flock of Wikimedians heading in a new direction.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a proposed forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

The idea is to follow up on the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting and other strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates, and you are all invited to RSVP here.--Pharos (talk) 21:42, 20 August 2020 (UTC)

Sunday September 20 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Birds of a feather flock together.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August SWAN meeting and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates, this month we are meeting on Sunday September 20, and you are all invited to RSVP here.--Pharos (talk) 01:57, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

Movement Strategy - What Are Your Choices For Implementation

Hello Wikimedia South Africa,

The time has come to put Strategy into work and everyone's invited to participate.

The Movement Strategy Design Group and Support Team are inviting you to organize virtual meetings with your community and colleagues before the end of October. The aim is for you to decide what ideas from the Movement Strategy recommendations respond to your needs and will have an impact in the movement. The recommendations are available in different formats and in many languages. There are 10 awesome recommendations and close to 50 recommended changes and actions or initiatives. Not everything will be implemented. The aim of prioritization is to create an 18-month implementation plan to take some of the initiatives forward starting in 2021.

Prioritization is at the level of your group, affiliate, and community. Think local and relevant! Regional and thematic platforms are great ways to prepare and share ideas. Afterwards, we will come together in November to co-create the implementation plan. More information about November’s global events will be shared soon. For now and until the end of October, organize locally and share your priorities with us.

You can find guidance for the events, the simple reporting template, and other supporting materials here on Meta. You can share your results directly on Meta, by email, or by filling out this survey. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions or comments, strategy2030wikimedia.org

We will be hosting office hours to answer any questions you might have, Thursday October 1 at 14.00 UTC (Google Meet).

MPourzaki (WMF) (talk) 16:18, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Sunday October 25 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Friendship is a movement value.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the September and August SWAN meetings, and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including the recent proposed changes to the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws, this month we are meeting on Sunday October 25, and you are all invited to RSVP here.--Pharos (talk) 17:11, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Join the Global Conversations on November 21 and 22

Hola, こんにちは, E kaabo, Ciao, ਸਤਿ ਸ਼੍ਰੀ, Hello, سلام, Halo, Salut, 你好, Nnọọ, হ্যালো, Hallo, สวัสดี, Dzień dobry, Gyebale ko, வணக்கம், Mi Kwabo, ନମସ୍କାର, приветствие, שלום, Mholo, नमस्ते, γεια, Ahoj, ഹലോ, 여보세요, مرحبا, Բարեւ Ձեզ, Xin chào, Hallå, ಹಲೋ, Sawubona, નમસ્તે, Здраво, Merhaba, Talofa, హలో, Olá, ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ

Wikimedia South Africa, we would love to see you at the upcoming Movement Strategy Global Conversations. It’s been a while.

The Movement Strategy Global Conversations will take place on Saturday November 21, 11:00 to 15:00 UTC, and Sunday November 22, 17:00 to 21:00 UTC, and you are warmly invited.

The focus will be to look at priorities identified by communities and affiliates, and to begin to create a movement-wide implementation plan for 2021. The main sessions will be in English. Any group interested to support live interpretation in another language may be able to receive a rapid grant. Let us know as soon as possible.

Please register by Nov. 20 so we can share the Zoom login information with you. If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Support Team via Telegram, Wikimedia Chat or by email at strategy2030wikimedia.org.

Looking forward to seeing you on November 21 or 22.

MPourzaki (WMF) (talk) 16:05, 16 November 2020 (UTC)

Call for insights on ways to better communicate the work of the movement

The Movement Strategy recommendations published this year made clear the importance of establishing stronger communications within our movement. To this end, the Foundation wants to gather insights from communities, including affiliates, on ways we all might more consistently communicate about our collective work, and better highlight community contributions from across the movement. Over the coming months, we will be running focus groups and online discussions to collect these insights. We hope your affiliate will decide to share your thoughts by participating in a focus group or joining the discussion on Meta-Wiki.

ELappen (WMF) (talk) 18:54, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

Sunday November 29 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Take flight with us.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, and October SWAN meetings, and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including the recent proposed changes to the Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws, this month we are meeting on Sunday November 29, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(Note that the UTC times of 03:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC are the same as before, although a number of places have had daylight savings time changes since our last meeting).--Pharos (talk) 18:45, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Global Conversations continue on December 5 and 6

Hola, こんにちは, Ciao, Hello, سلام, Halo, Salut, 你好, Nnọọ, হ্যালো, Hallo, สวัสดี, Dzień dobry, வணக்கம், приветствие, שלום, Mholo, हैलो, γεια, Ahoj, ഹലോ, 여보세요, مرحبا, Բարեւ Ձեզ, Olá, Xin chào, Hallå, ಹಲೋ, Sawubona, Здраво, Merhaba, Talofa, హలో

Global Conversations Dec. 5 & 6

Hi Wikimedia South Africa. 250 people participated in virtual Global Conversations that took place on November 21 and 22. The conversation continues on December 5 and 6 and we warmly invite you to take part. Registration is open until December 4. Looking forward to seeing you.

Since September, many groups have shared their local, regional, and thematic priorities for implementing the Movement Strategy recommendations. During the first set of Global Conversations on Nov. 21 and 22, we focused on initiatives that should be globally prioritized and coordinated. We invite you to read the selected global priorities. What do you like about them? What is missing? And what would make you want to play an active role in implementation? Share your thoughts in advance and continue the conversation on December 5 and 6.

Looking forward to seeing you again, or for the first time, on December 5 and 6.

MPourzaki (WMF) (talk) 20:58, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Sunday January 10 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Into the blue.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, and November SWAN meetings, and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including SWAN input on Interim Global Council and Movement Charter, this month we are meeting on Sunday January 10, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

To start the exchange of ideas on the IGC early, and to help prepare before the SWAN calls, we have set up and invite everyone to participate at this etherpad. If you like a more interactive way of discussing, we have also made a jamboard. Check here for more details.

--Pharos (talk) 18:36, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Project Grant Open Call

This is the announcement for the Project Grants program open call that started on January 11, with the submission deadline of February 10, 2021.
This first open call will be focussed on Community Organizing proposals. A second open call focused on research and software proposals is scheduled from February 15 with a submission deadline of March 16, 2021.

For the Round 1 open call, we invite you to propose grant applications that fall under community development and organizing (offline and online) categories. Project Grant funds are available to support individuals, groups, and organizations to implement new experiments and proven ideas, from organizing a better process on your wiki, coordinating a campaign or editathon series to providing other support for community building. We offer the following resources to help you plan your project and complete a grant proposal:

Weekly proposals clinics via Zoom during the Open Call. Join us for #Upcoming_Proposal_Clinics|real-time discussions with Program Officers and select thematic experts and get live feedback about your Project Grants proposal. We’ll answer questions and help you make your proposal better.

• Video tutorials for writing a strong application
  
• General planning page for Project Grants
  
• Program guidelines and criteria
  

Program officers are also available to offer individualized proposal support upon request. Contact us at projectgrants@wikimedia.org if you would like feedback or more information.

We are excited to see your grant ideas that will support our community and make an impact on the future of Wikimedia projects. Put your idea into motion, and submit your proposal by February 10, 2021!

Please feel free to get in touch with questions about getting started with your grant application, or about serving on the Project Grants Committee. Contact us at projectgrantswikimedia.org.
RSharma (WMF)MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:56, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Sunday February 21 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

We are a mosiac.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, November, and January SWAN meetings and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates, this month we are meeting on Sunday February 21, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

To help set priorities for the SWAN agenda, and also to help manage which global conversations should be a focus in general, we have set up and invite everyone to participate at this SWAN priorities form. Possible topics include Community Board seats, Interim Global Council, Strategy prioritization follow-up events, Branding, Universal Code of Conduct, Grant strategy, and WMF CEO search. That is a lot of things, which are most important to cover in our upcoming SWAN meeting?

--Pharos (talk) 18:47, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Sunday March 21 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Community as a hand-carved gem.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, and February SWAN meetings and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Grants relaunch and Community Board seats, this month we are meeting on Sunday March 21, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(Note that the UTC times of 03:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC are the same as before, although some places have had daylight savings time changes since our last meeting).--Pharos (talk) 04:10, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Sunday April 25 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Swanlings grow up together.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, and March SWAN meetings and June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Interim Global Council + Movement Charter, WMF Resolution about the upcoming Board elections, Community Resilience and Sustainability role in Movement Strategy coordination, Grants Strategy Relaunch, Wikimedia Enterprise / OKAPI, and WMF Executive Transition

This month we are meeting on Sunday April 25, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(Note that the UTC times of 03:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC are the same as before, although some places may have had daylight savings time changes since our last meeting).--Pharos (talk) 18:36, 21 April 2021 (UTC)

Invitation for Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2021

Hello there,

We are inviting you to participate in Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2021, a global contest scheduled to run from July through August 2021.

Participants will choose among Wikipedia pages without photo images, then add a suitable file from among the many thousands of photos in the Wikimedia Commons, especially those uploaded from thematic contests (Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Folklore, etc.) over the years.

In its first year (2020), 36 Wikimedia communities in 27 countries joined the campaign. Events relating to the campaign included training organized by at least 18 Wikimedia communities in 14 countries.

The campaign resulted in the addition of media files (photos, audios and videos) to more than 90,000 Wikipedia articles in 272 languages.

Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos (WPWP) offers an ideal task for recruiting and guiding new editors through the steps of adding content to existing pages. Besides individual participation, the WPWP campaign can be used by user groups and chapters to organize editing workshops and edit-a-thons.

The organizing team is looking for a contact person to coordinate WPWP participation at the Wikimedia user group or chapter level (geographically or thematically) or for a language WP. We’d be glad for you to reply to this message, or sign up directly at WPWP Participating Communities.

Please feel free to contact Organizing Team if you have any query.

Kind regards,
Tulsi Bhagat
Communication Manager
Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos Campaign
Message delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:48, 3 May 2021 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee Call for Candidates - June 2021

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms.

Being a part of the AffCom requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a mix of different skill sets in our members.

Responsibilities

• Availability of up to 5-8 hours per month

• Participate in monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings

• Commitment to carry out assigned tasks in a given time.

• Facilitate and support communications

• Affiliate Support and growth

Required and Recommended Abilities, Skills, Knowledge for Affiliations Committee Members

Strong interpersonal relationship among members of the committee and also with the Wikimedia community members. Across all committee members, there are additional relevant skills as well as requirements which help to support the committee and its sustainability which include both required and relevant general skills

Required

• Fluency in English
• Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings.
• Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.
• Strong track record of effective collaboration
• International orientation

Relevant for all members

• Public Communications (English writing and speaking skills)
• Skills in other languages are a major plus.
• Understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
• Documentation practices
• Interviewing experience
• Experience with, or in, an active affiliate is a major plus.
• Teamwork: Project and people management skills to coordinate and collaborate with different parties on a shared plan and see it through to completion.
• Problem-Solving: Ability to evaluate various solutions, consider multiple interests and points of view, revisit unresolved issues, seek compromise and work and communicate across languages and cultures.

Given the expectations for maintaining the course in 2021 and preparing for potential 2021 transitions as part of the Movement Strategy implementation process, it is important that we are also clear about two different skill sets critical to committee support at this time. The first skillset is oriented to understanding affiliate dynamics and organizational development patterns to successfully process affiliate applications for recognition; the other is oriented to conflict prevention and intervention support for affiliates in conflict.

Relevant to Affiliate Recognitions

• Administration & Attention to detail
• Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
• Awareness of the affiliates ecosystem and models and understanding of community building, organizational development, and group dynamics

Relevant to Conflict Prevention & Intervention

• Communication skills for active listening, clear instruction and turn-taking.
• Stress Management skills for maintaining patience and positivity
• Emotional intelligence to maintain awareness of emotions of oneself and others to practice empathy, impartiality, and mutual respect.
• Facilitation, negotiation, and mediation skills to guide diverse individuals and groups toward cooperation.
• Ability to work within a team

Do you have relevant skills and interest to support movement affiliates?

We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2021 member selection process will include a public review and comment period and a self-assessment survey for candidates to share their skills and experience. This self-assessment information will help the committee to identify the skill sets relevant to our affiliate support processes. We invite you to apply for membership to the committee and join us in supporting the affiliates. The data shared in the self-assessment will only be made available to the committee and the relevant staff support. The nomination, candidate Q&A, and endorsements will be posted on Meta for public review at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Candidates/June_2021. Here the global community is welcome to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

Once the nomination window closes June 30, 2021, the sitting members who are not candidates for re-election in this cycle will deliberate and then vote, taking into account all inputs from the meta page, self-assessment, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and committee member discussion.

A final decision will be made in late-July 2021, with new members to be notified for onboarding in August.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please:

Step 1. Post your application on the nomination page by 30 June 2021. Your application must include the following information:

1. Your full name and Wikimedia username
2. A statement describing your relevant education, experience, abilities, skills, knowledge, availability, and motivation for joining the committee.

Step 2. Complete the self-assessment survey between June 01, 2021 and June 30, 2021.

• The privacy statement that applies to the survey can be found here.
• NOTE: The survey will take 15 mins. Please do not close your browser. If you need a break, you are advised to keep the browser open. In case of losing the link, please reach out to mkaur-ctrwikimedia.org
• This survey must be completed before Steps 3 & 4, as it will provide more background as to the type of work and expectations of members of AffCom.

Step 3. Answers the following questions:

• NOTE: Questions 1-3 are required for all candidates.

• Question 4 & 5 should be answered by those interested in joining the Recognitions subcommittee.
• Question 6 & 7 should be answered by those interested in joining the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee.
• If you are willing to nominate yourself for both subcommittees, answer all questions.

1. What roles have you served across any Wikimedia projects and affiliates that you think have prepared you for this role?
2. AffCom members need to manage time, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and diverse situations across the global movement. How do you envision managing these?
3. Members of AffCom serve on one of two subcommittees: Recognitions OR Conflicts Intervention. Which one of these are you most interested in serving on?
4. If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think makes a group of Wikimedians ready to function together as an affiliate?
5. If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think are the benefits and responsibilities of functioning as formal affiliates?
6. If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe your experience working with conflicts resolution.
7. If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe how you have helped build consensus and support diversity.

Step 4. Once you have completed the above, send an email announcing your application to affcomwikimedia.org before the application deadline.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

On behalf of the committee,

-- FULBERT (talk) 15:30, 15 May 2021 (UTC) via MassMessaging

Join the new Regional Committees for Grants

Dear all,

We hope this email finds you well and safe. The COVID 19 situation continues to affect many of us across the globe and our thoughts are with everyone affected. We are also aware that there are several processes currently in progress that demand volunteer time and we do not want to add more work to anyone's plate.

We do want to draw your attention to our new Regional Committees for Grants though as they are an opportunity for you to have an active say in the future of our Movement!

📣 So today, we invite you to join our new Regional Committees for Grants! 📣

We encourage Wikimedians and Free Knowledge advocates to be part of the new Regional Committees that the WMF Community Resources team is setting up as part of the grants strategy relaunch [2]. You will be a key strategic thought partner to help understand the complexities of any region, provide knowledge and expertise to applicants, to support successful movement activities, and make funding decisions for grant applications in the region.

👉Find out more on meta [3].

Regional Committees will be established for the following regions:

• Middle East and Africa
• SAARC [4] region (Includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)
• East, Southeast Asia, and Pacific (ESEAP) region
• Latin America (LATAM) and The Caribbean
• United States and Canada
• Northern and Western Europe
• Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

👉All details about the Committees and how to apply can be found on meta [5]. Applications have to be submitted by June 4, 2021!

If you have any questions or comments, please use the meta discussion page [6].

Please do share this announcement widely with your Network.

Best wishes,

JBrungs (WMF) (talk) 10:06, 21 May 2021 (UTC) on behalf of the Community Resources Team JBrungs (WMF) (talk) 10:06, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

UCoC Affiliates consultation report

Hello,

We are pleased to announce the completion of the Universal Code of Conduct Affiliates consultation process early this month. The summary report of the direct consultations and survey is now available at this Meta page: https://w.wiki/3Pew.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to leave a message on the talk page of the report, or contact Mervat (msalman-ctr@wikimediaorg) and Ramzy (ramzym-ctr@wikimediaorg).

Regards,
UCoC Team, Wikimedia Foundation
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:51, 27 May 2021 (UTC)

Sunday June 6 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Swan of healing.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, and April SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter + Movement Strategy/Events, WMF Board elections, Wikimania 2021, and Grants Regional Committees.

This month we are meeting on Sunday June 6, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC – *Note that we have shifted the second call an hour earlier in UTC time due to popular demand and to accomodate daylight savings*.)--Pharos (talk) 20:10, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

Wikimania 2021: Affiliate Program Submissions and Scholarships

Dear Wikimedia Affiliates,

Wikimania 2021 will be hosted virtually for the first time in the event's 15-year history. Since there is no in-person host, the event is being organized by a diverse group of Wikimedia volunteers that form the Core Organizing Team for Wikimania 2021.

Event Program - The program design of this Wikimania accommodates affiliates for them to curate a portion of the program. Wikimedia affiliates have an opportunity to host a series of their own sessions.

Below are some links to guide you through;

• Program Submissions
• Session Submission Guidelines
• FAQ

Please note that the deadline for submission is 18th June 2021.

Affiliate Scholarships - Scholarships are available to all Wikimedia movement affiliates to support practical access to and participation in Wikimania 2021 in their communities. Please read more about it in the Affiliate Announcement section here.

Office Hour - If you are left with questions, the COT will be hosting some office hours (in multiple languages), in multiple time-zones, to answer any programming questions that you might have. Details can be found here.

Best regards,

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:23, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

On behalf of Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team

Final Call for Candidates for AffCom - June 2021

Want to help translate? Translate the missing messages.

Affiliations Committee (AffCom) logo

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

This is a final Call for Candidates for the June 2021 Affiliations Committee election.

If you are interested in running, please post your application and follow all four steps on the nomination page by 30 June 2021.

If you know somebody you think may be interested, please share this with them and encourage them to consider it. If you have any questions about this process or the requirements, please email affcom@wikimedia.org before the application deadline or reach out to any of the current members.

On behalf of the AffCom elections committee,

--- FULBERT (talk) 14:15, 20 June 2021 (UTC) via MassMessaging [[Category:AffCom Elections June 2021|]]

Sunday July 25 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

The swan or the egg?

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April, and June SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter + Drafting Committee, WMF Board elections, Wikimania 2021, and Grants Regional Committees.

This month we are meeting on Sunday July 25, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC – *Note that we have shifted the second call an hour earlier in UTC time due to popular demand and to accomodate daylight savings*.)--Pharos (talk) 14:44, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Indaba 2021 is here!

Hosted by the Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda, the first ever virtual Wiki Indaba conference is taking place online from the 5th to the 7th of November 2021 under the theme Rethink + Reset : Visions of the future.

Wiki Indaba 2021 is a unique opportunity to come together to build the capacity of African Wikimedians both within the continent and the diaspora to foster the growth of the coverage and our involvement in Wikimedia projects.

The call for submissions is open, please submit your session proposal either as a presentation, panel discussion, lightning talk, or workshop before September 24th 2021.

Most importantly, we would like to have you at the conference, please register here to get your free ticket and spread the word to your community members.

Looking forward to seeing you and hearing you speak at the conference.

Geoffrey Kateregga (talk) 23:46, 16 September 2021 (UTC) - On behalf of the Wiki Indaba 2021 Local Organizing Committee

Sunday September 26 SWANniversary Party and All-Affiliates Strategic Meeting

Celebrate our first anniversary with SWAN-shaped desserts!

Join the SWANniversary on September 26 as we mark the first year of the Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network!

We will have the regular All-Affiliates Strategic Meeting, to be followed by a SWANniversary Party in the after hours session, likely through spatialized chat on WorkAdventure.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April, June, and July SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, we'll look together at strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter + Drafting Committee, WMF Board elections, Wikimania 2021, and Grants Regional Committees.

This month we are meeting on Sunday September 26, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC.)--Pharos (talk) 20:06, 21 September 2021 (UTC)

Learn how the Implementation Grants can support your Movement Strategy plans

We are excited to announce the reopening of the Movement Strategy Implementation Grants. This program funds projects that advance a specific Movement Strategy initiative. The projects can be big or small, but they must all make a case for advancing one initiative. Affiliates that have received funding from the Simple/Annual Plan Grants are welcome to apply.

Read more about the criteria, what to apply for, and how to apply.

Best regards,
Movement Strategy and Governance Team
Wikimedia Foundation
15:31, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

Sunday October 31 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

A swan reflects.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

Following up on the August, September, October, November, January, February, March, April, and June, July, and September SWAN meetings, as well as last June's All-Affiliates Brand Meeting, as well as strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter Drafting Committee Set Up Process, Next Steps for Brand Work, 2021, Wikipedia Asian Month 2021, and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday October 31, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:30 UTC – *Note that we have shifted the second call a half-hour later in UTC time due to WikidataCon*.)--Pharos (talk) 01:55, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

(Initial Review) Notification of Affiliate Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting

Greetings group contacts,

This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.

This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2021 annual reporting became past due in 2021-06-30. Please be sure to:

• Post your 2021 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.

• Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and

• Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportalwikimedia.org.

Best regards,
Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal

Sunday November 28 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Chart a new course on the swan ferry.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Hubs+Hubs Workshop, Movement Charter+Drafting Committee, WMDE's 'Future of Wikimedia Governance' proposal, Wikipedia Asian Month 2021, and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday November 28, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC, note that some areas recently experienced daylight savings time changes).--Pharos (talk) 20:16, 24 November 2021 (UTC)

(First Reminder) Notification of Affiliate Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting

Greetings group contacts,

This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.

This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2021 annual reporting became past due in 2021-06-30. Please be sure to:

• Post your 2021 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.

• Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and

• Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportalwikimedia.org.

Best regards,
Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal

Affiliations Committee (AffCom) Call for candidates - January 2022

Translations are available.

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms.

Being a part of the AffCom requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a mix of different skill sets in our members.

Responsibilities

• Availability of up to 5-8 hours per month

• Participate in monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings

• Commitment to carry out assigned tasks in a given time.

• Facilitate and support communications

• Affiliate Support and growth

Required and Recommended Abilities, Skills, Knowledge for Affiliations Committee Members

Strong interpersonal relationship among members of the committee and also with the Wikimedia community members. Across all committee members, there are additional relevant skills as well as requirements which help to support the committee and its sustainability which include both required and relevant general skills

Required

• Fluency in English
• Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings.
• Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.
• Strong track record of effective collaboration
• International orientation

Relevant for all members

• Public Communications (English writing and speaking skills)
• Skills in other languages are a major plus.
• Understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
• Documentation practices
• Interviewing experience
• Experience with, or in, an active affiliate is a major plus.
• Teamwork: Project and people management skills to coordinate and collaborate with different parties on a shared plan and see it through to completion.
• Problem-Solving: Ability to evaluate various solutions, consider multiple interests and points of view, revisit unresolved issues, seek compromise and work and communicate across languages and cultures.

Given the expectations for maintaining the course in 2022 and preparing for potential 2022 transitions as part of the Movement Strategy implementation process, it is important that we are also clear about two different skill sets critical to committee support at this time. The first skillset is oriented to understanding affiliate dynamics and organizational development patterns to successfully process affiliate applications for recognition; the other is oriented to conflict prevention and intervention support for affiliates in conflict.

Relevant to Affiliate Recognitions

• Administration & Attention to detail
• Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
• Awareness of the affiliates ecosystem and models and understanding of community building, organizational development, and group dynamics

Relevant to Conflict Prevention & Intervention

• Communication skills for active listening, clear instruction and turn-taking.
• Stress Management skills for maintaining patience and positivity
• Emotional intelligence to maintain awareness of emotions of oneself and others to practice empathy, impartiality, and mutual respect.
• Facilitation, negotiation, and mediation skills to guide diverse individuals and groups toward cooperation.
• Ability to work within a team

Do you have relevant skills and interest to support movement affiliates?

We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2022 member selection process will include a public review and comment period and a self-assessment survey for candidates to share their skills and their experience. This self-assessment information will help the committee to identify the skill sets relevant and supportive to our affiliate support processes. We invite you to apply for membership to the committee and join us in supporting the affiliates. The data shared in the self-assessment will only be made available to the committee and the relevant staff support. The nomination, candidate Q&A, and endorsements will still take place posted on Meta for public review at January 2022 page. Here the global community is welcome to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

Once the nomination window closes 31 January 2022, the sitting members who are not candidates for re-election in this cycle will deliberate and then vote, taking into account all inputs from the meta page, self-assessment, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and committee member discussion.

A final decision will be made in late-February 2022, with new members to be notified for onboarding in February.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please:

Step 1. Post your application on the nomination page by 31 January 2022. Your application must include the following information:

1. Your full name and Wikimedia username
2. A statement describing your relevant education, experience, abilities, skills, knowledge, availability, and motivation for joining the committee.

Step 2. Complete the self-assessment survey between January 1, 2021 and January 31, 2021.

• The privacy statement that applies to the survey can be found here.
• NOTE: The survey will take 15 mins. Please do not close your browser. If you need a break, you are advised to keep the browser open. In case of losing the link, please reach out to mkaur-ctrwikimedia.org
• This survey must be completed before Steps 3 & 4, as it will provide more background as to the type of work and expectations of members of AffCom.

Step 3. Answers the following questions:

• NOTE: Questions 1-3 are required for all candidates.

• Question 4 & 5 should be answered by those interested in joining the Recognitions subcommittee.
• Question 6 & 7 should be answered by those interested in joining the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee.
• If you are willing to nominate yourself for both subcommittees, answer all questions.

1. What roles have you served across any Wikimedia projects and affiliates that you think have prepared you for this role?
2. AffCom members need to manage time, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and diverse situations across the global movement. How do you envision managing these?
3. Members of AffCom serve on one of two subcommittees: Recognitions OR Conflicts Intervention. Which one of these are you most interested in serving on?
4. If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think makes a group of Wikimedians ready to function together as an affiliate?
5. If you are interested in serving on the Recognitions subcommittee, what do you think are the benefits and responsibilities of functioning as formal affiliates?
6. If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe your experience working with conflicts resolution.
7. If you are interested in serving on the Conflicts Intervention subcommittee, please describe how you have helped build consensus and support diversity.

Step 4. Once you have completed the above, send an email announcing your application to affcomwikimedia.org before the application deadline.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a webinar call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

On behalf of the committee,

--FULBERT (talk) 13:18, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee (AffCom) Call for advisors - January 2022

Translations are available.

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia Chapters, Thematic Organizations, and User Groups – is looking for advisors!

The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and advise the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

We are looking for advisors who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee advisors selected will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

AffCom advisors can engage with the committee in a variety of capacities:

Consultant

Individuals with extensive movement experience can be engaged as Consultants for specific cases or initiatives by AffCom.

Trainer

Individuals with specific expertise may be engaged for short-term projects for training AffCom or Affiliates. They might also lead the Capacity Building initiatives for AffCom or affiliates.

Observer

AffCom can request specific or all advisors to act as an observer in different cases to ensure neutrality & compliance with guidelines.

AffCom Support

Development of Policies: While advisors cannot create legally binding policies for the committee, they can help create policies that provide direction and support for the committee.

Planning and Implementing Community Relations: The advisors are long-term wikimedians & also include influential community leaders who can be effective at spreading the word about initiatives and services.

Supporting Subcommittees: The advisors can support subcommittees that have assigned tasks in specific areas.

Other Tasks: Advisors can be engaged to address a specific need. Such engagements are usually short-lived and are disbanded as soon as their specific goals are met.

Key skills

We look for a healthy mix of different skill sets in our advisors, including the following key skills and experience:

1. Strong understanding of the structure and work of Wikimedia affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
2. Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
3. Availability of up to 2 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly two-hour voice/video meeting
4. International orientation and ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.
5. Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organizing are a plus.
6. Fluency in English is required; skills in other languages are a major plus.
7. Experience with or in an active Wikimedia affiliate is a major plus.
8. Strong track record of effective collaboration (such as evidenced skills at facilitation, mediation, negotiation, and so forth) is a major plus.
9. Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2022 advisors selection process will include a public review and comment period. All applications must be posted on Meta between January 01 and January 31, 2022 at Affiliations Committee/Advisors/2022, and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate. At the end of the nomination period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made in February 2022, with new advisors expected to begin later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in advising the committee, please submit your candidacy on Affiliations Committee/Advisors/2022 between January 01 to January 31, 2022. 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 as an advisor.
3. The advisor role you would like to serve
4. 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 as an advisor to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the committee. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

On behalf of the committee,

--FULBERT (talk) 13:17, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

Movement Strategy Implementation Grants

Dear all,

The Movement Strategy and Governance team wishes you a good start of the new 2022!

As we begin this year, we look forward to seeing more collaboration, increased support and connection between communities and affiliates. We would like to use this chance to share some information on the Movement Strategy Implementation Grants that aim to support volunteers and affiliates looking to help in implementing the Movement Strategy Initiatives within their communities.

These grants support big and small projects that aim to take the current state of an initiative and push it one step forward. Apply for a grant to implement a Movement Strategy initiative with a budget up to $25,000.  

We understand that ideas flow at their own pace, so Movement Strategy Implementation Grants  are designed to be flexible with no set deadline. Your applications are welcome at any time. Applications received after the 15th of each month will be reviewed in the following month.

Get in touch with us if you would like to discuss your project proposal or if you need more information about the program. The Movement Strategy and Governance team is happy to host conversations regarding these grants. Conversations may help answer your questions, develop your ideas, and connect with other communities with similar interests.

Please visit this meta page to look at some suggested examples, and you are welcome to join the “MS – Grants Community of Practice” group on Telegram!

Best regards,

Movement Strategy and Governance team

Zuz (WMF) (talk) 15:50, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

Subscribe to the This Month in Education newsletter - learn from others and share your stories

Dear community members,

Greetings from the EWOC Newsletter team and the education team at Wikimedia Foundation. We are very excited to share that we on tenth years of Education Newsletter (This Month in Education) invite you to join us by subscribing to the newsletter on your talk page or by sharing your activities in the upcoming newsletters. The Wikimedia Education newsletter is a monthly newsletter that collects articles written by community members using Wikimedia projects in education around the world, and it is published by the EWOC Newsletter team in collaboration with the Education team. These stories can bring you new ideas to try, valuable insights about the success and challenges of our community members in running education programs in their context.

If your affiliate/language project is developing its own education initiatives, please remember to take advantage of this newsletter to publish your stories with the wider movement that shares your passion for education. You can submit newsletter articles in your own language or submit bilingual articles for the education newsletter. For the month of January the deadline to submit articles is on the 20th January. We look forward to reading your stories.

Older versions of this newsletter can be found in the complete archive.

More information about the newsletter can be found at Education/Newsletter/About.

For more information, please contact spatnaikwikimedia.org.

---

About This Month in Education · Subscribe/Unsubscribe · Global message delivery · For the team: ZI Jony ^(Talk), Saturday 1:10, 21 December 2024 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee (AffCom) Member & Advisor Elections - Final Reminder for January 2022

Translations are available.

This is a friendly reminder that the Affiliations Committee – which is responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members and advisors! The deadline to post your application on the Member nomination page and Advisor nomination is 31 January 2022.

If you know somebody you think may be interested, please share and encourage them to consider applying. If you have any questions please email affcom@wikimedia.org before the application deadline or reach out to any of the current members. Good luck to all the candidates!

On behalf of the committee,
FULBERT (talk) 17:32, 25 January 2022 (UTC)

UCoC Ratification Voting Begins in March

Dear all,

The drafting period of the Universal Code of Conduct project is coming to a close. Thank you for your interest and for the valuable participation during the entire process.

After working with community members to develop a set of enforcement recommendations and receiving approval from the Wikimedia Board of Trustees, the UCoC enforcement guidelines will be up for ratification in March, with voting running from Monday, 7 March 2022 to Monday, 22 March 2022. Everyone in the movement, including affiliates’ staff, are invited to participate.

Voting will be done using SecurePoll. We would like to kindly ask you to encourage your staff members to vote. Voting is important to capture thoughts about the enforcement of the UCoC policy and to help find a way forward with the UCoC. Anyone can refer to the following guidelines to make sure they can understand the proposed enforcement structures. Everyone is of course encouraged to vote as they choose.

Every vote makes a difference, and the results will help decide how to proceed, so please consider participating. We will send a reminder when the voting is starting.

Best, Zuz (WMF) (talk) 14:49, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

Sunday February 27 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

To dance is to fly.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Hubs+Dialogue, Movement Charter, Universal Code of Conduct+Enforcement Voting, Brand, International Women's Day+Gender Gap and WikiForHumanRights campaigns, and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday February 27, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC).----Pharos (talk) 18:06, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Voting on the ratification of the UCoC enforcement guidelines begins today

This is a kind reminder that voting on the ratification of the UCoC enforcement guidelines starts today Monday, 7 March 2022 and will last until Monday, 21 March 2022. Staff and members of every community have the opportunity to vote. For instructions on voting using SecurePoll and voting eligibility, please refer to the voter information.

For any questions or concerns, please contact ucocproject@wikimedia.org

Best, Zuz (WMF) (talk) 10:00, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines ratification voting now closed

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.

More languages • Please help translate to your language

Greetings,

The ratification voting process for the revised enforcement guidelines of the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) came to a close on 21 March 2022. Over 2300 Wikimedians voted across different regions of our movement. Thank you to everyone who participated in this process! The scrutinizing group is now reviewing the vote for accuracy, so please allow up to two weeks for them to finish their work.

The final results from the voting process will be announced here, along with the relevant statistics and a summary of comments as soon as they are available. Please check out the voter information page to learn about the next steps. You can comment on the project talk page on Meta-wiki in any language. You may also contact the UCoC project team by email: ucocprojectwikimedia.org

Best regards,

Movement Strategy and Governance

Zuz (WMF) (talk) Zuz (WMF) (talk) 09:42, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Sunday April 3 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Bots in precious metals are part of our community too.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including UCoC Voting, Hubs Global Conversation held + CEE Hub update, Movement Charter + Leadership Development Working Group, Desktop Improvements, Celebrate Women in March + International Women's Day, Wikimania 2022 survey concluded + Wikimedia Hackathon 2022 May 20-22 + local events, and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday April 3, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC, note that some areas recently experienced daylight savings time changes).--Pharos (talk) 17:36, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

Sunday May 8 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Swans are musical creatures.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including 2022 Board of Trustees Call for Candidates, Movement Charter/Content preliminary narrative, Human Rights Policy Community Conversations, Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan Feedback, IP blocking and Open Proxies discussion, Wikimedia Hackathon 2022 May 20-22 + local events, and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday May 8, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC, note that some areas recently experienced daylight savings time changes).--Pharos (talk) 18:08, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

2022 Wikimedia Hackathon  - May 20th - 22nd

Hello all, This is to invite you for this year's Wikimedia Hackathon from  May 20-22. We hope to see you there! You can share the update with your community as well. The main event will be held online this year. We have an open call for sessions on our schedule page. If you'd like to host a session, you can simply pick an open slot in the category which best fits your topic. The developer advocacy team also put together some suggestions for how to create a fun session. You can also add project ideas to the Phabricator Board We will share more information soon about how to join the online space. You can also check through the list of local meetups holding around the world, you may find any closer to you. If you have any enquiry or translation requests, please contact hlepp@wikimedia.org See you there! Best regards, James Popoola On behalf of the 2022 Wikimedia Hackathon Committee.

James Moore200 (talk) 07:27, 6 May 2022 (UTC)

2022 Wikimedia Hackathon  - May 20th - 22nd

Hello all, This is to invite you for this year's Wikimedia Hackathon from  May 20-22. We hope to see you there! You can share the update with your community as well. The main event will be held online this year. We have an open call for sessions on our schedule page. If you'd like to host a session, you can simply pick an open slot in the category which best fits your topic. The developer advocacy team also put together some suggestions for how to create a fun session. You can also add project ideas to the Phabricator Board We will share more information soon about how to join the online space. You can also check through the list of local meetups holding around the world, you may find any closer to you. If you have any enquiry or translation requests, please contact hlepp@wikimedia.org See you there! Best regards, James Popoola On behalf of the 2022 Wikimedia Hackathon Committee.

James Moore200 (talk) 07:35, 6 May 2022 (UTC)

Sunday June 5 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Swan impressions.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter, Hubs Global Conversation this June, WMF Proposal for Movement Strategy Forum, New rounds of WMF Conference Funds including in-person events, WMF Proposal for Sound Logo Contest, WMF Elections Analysis Committee selection, wikimania:Program submissions due June 10 (scholarship and local event grants due June 3) and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday June 5, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC).--Pharos (talk) 20:49, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Sunday July 3 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

Swan celestial.

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Movement Charter, Hubs Global Conversation last week, Affiliate voting period to shortlist WMF Board candidates (July 1-15), Wikimania updates, Desktop improvements, Wikimedia Enterprise first customers, Call for program submissions and updates for a global diversity of regional/linguistic Wiki-Conferences, Wikidata:Wiki Mentor Africa and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday July 3, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 18:00 UTC).--Pharos via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:55, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

Propose statements for the 2022 Election Compass

More languages • Please help translate to your language

Hi all,

Community members in the 2022 Board of Trustees election are invited to propose statements to use in the Election Compass.

An Election Compass is a tool to help voters select the candidates that best align with their beliefs and views. The community members will propose statements for the candidates to answer using a Lickert scale (agree/neutral/disagree). The candidates’ answers to the statements will be loaded into the Election Compass tool. Voters will use the tool by entering in their answer to the statements (agree/disagree/neutral). The results will show the candidates that best align with the voter’s beliefs and views.

Here is the timeline for the Election Compass:

July 8 - 20: Community members propose statements for the Election Compass

July 21 - 22: Elections Committee reviews statements for clarity and removes off-topic statements

July 23 - August 1: Volunteers vote on the statements

August 2 - 4: Elections Committee selects the top 15 statements

August 5 - 12: candidates align themselves with the statements

August 15: The Election Compass opens for voters to use to help guide their voting decision

The Elections Committee will select the top 15 statements at the beginning of August. The Elections Committee will oversee the process, supported by the Movement Strategy and Governance team. MSG will check that the questions are clear, there are no duplicates, no typos, and so on.

Best,

Movement Strategy and Governance

Zuz (WMF) (talk) 15:37, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

Vote for Election Compass Statements

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More languages • Please help translate to your language

Hi all,

Volunteers in the 2022 Board of Trustees election are invited to vote for statements to use in the Election Compass. You can vote for the statements you would like to see included in the Election Compass on Meta-wiki.

An Election Compass is a tool to help voters select the candidates that best align with their beliefs and views. The community members will propose statements for the candidates to answer using a Lickert scale (agree/neutral/disagree). The candidates’ answers to the statements will be loaded into the Election Compass tool. Voters will use the tool by entering in their answer to the statements (agree/disagree/neutral). The results will show the candidates that best align with the voter’s beliefs and views.

Here is the timeline for the Election Compass:

• July 8 - 20: Volunteers propose statements for the Election Compass
• July 21 - 22: Elections Committee reviews statements for clarity and removes off-topic statements
• July 23 - August 3: Volunteers vote on the statements
• August 4: Elections Committee selects the top 15 statements
• August 5 - 12: candidates align themselves with the statements
• August 16: The Election Compass opens for voters to use to help guide their voting decision

The Elections Committee will select the top 15 statements at the beginning of August

Best,

Movement Strategy and Governance

This message was sent on behalf of the Board Selection Task Force and the Elections Committee

Zuz (WMF) (talk) 11:58, 27 July 2022 (UTC)

Commons:Wiki Loves Africa 2022 RSA.

When are there going to announce the Wiki Loves Africa 2022 south africa.

Sunday November 13 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting

bestiary (Q830560)⊆compendium (Q1459574)⊆reference work (Q13136).

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Wikimedia Research Fund, 2023 Ombuds commission and Case Review Committee appointments process, feedback on consultation and community session of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee, various Wikimania topics: (ideas/suggestions for Wikimania 2023, expressions of interest for Wikimania 2024 and beyond, expressions of interest to join Wikimania Steering Committee), and other ongoing activities.

This month we are meeting on Sunday November 13, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

(UTC meeting times are 02:00 UTC and 16:00 UTC
UTC times are different from before, and also note that some areas may have recently experienced daylight savings time changes.).--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:18, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Invitation to join the Wikimedia Affiliate strategy discussions

Hope this message finds you well. I am sharing an update about the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliate strategy initiative. In November, Nataliia Tymkiv, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees announced the beginning of Wikimedia Foundation Affiliate strategy.

We are working on the next steps of the Affiliate strategy. We invite you to a session with the Board of Trustees, AffCom, and supporting staff to provide input into this process. These sessions will be conducted in groups and the language will be English. If you are able to attend one of these meetings, please sign up here. If you prefer a 1:1 session for a detailed discussion, please reach out to me. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please respond via the survey or in writing to askcac@wikimedia.org or on the Talk page.

This message was also sent by email to affiliate primary contacts.

Best, MKaur (WMF) 22:30, 22 May 2023 (UTC)

WikiWomenCamp 2023 Scholarship Application

Hello all,

We are thrilled to announce the opening of the scholarship applications for Wiki Women Camp 2023 which will run from 20-23 October in New Delhi, India. The scholarship application deadline is July 4th, end of the day (anywhere in the world), and applicants will receive notification of decisions in mid-July.

Please submit your application directly through the provided forms available here.

If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at admin@wikiwomencamp.org.

Cheers,
Maffeth.opiana (talk) 11:25, 23 June 2023 (UTC)
On behalf of the WikiWomenCamp 2023 Team

Sunday July 16 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting (Global Council focus, now available in ar, es, fr!)

SWAN: The Next Generation

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas on the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for a future Global Council.

We'll focus on strategic and outreach topics of mutual concern to all affiliates including Wikimania Singapore, Future of SWAN, Movement Charter/Content new sections (particularly Movement Charter/Content/Global Council), other activities you submit, and we will top it all off with a grand finale AI Happy Hour / Doom Hour!

This month we are meeting on Sunday July 16, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

UTC meeting times are 02:00 UTC and 16:00 UTC
Note that we are now meeting on Zoom, with interpretation in the 2nd session in (Arabic) (Spanish) (French)--Pharos (talk) 02:41, 12 July 2023 (UTC)

Call for Affiliates & Call for Trainers WikiWomenCamp 2023

Dear all,

The WikiWomenCamp 2023 team is excited to announce that the calls for Affiliates and Trainers are open now!

Self-funded affiliates attendance

If your affiliate is interested, kindly fill out the registration form by 8 August 2023, anywhere on earth. Please note that self-funded attendance means participants will be responsible for their travel, accommodation, visa (if required), and related expenses. We have 10 seats reserved for affiliates. Here is the form link: Google Forms

Trainers

The call for trainers to facilitate gender-focused sessions at WikiWomenCamp 2023 is open. To propose your session(s), please submit the application form by 8th August 2023. More details about the call for trainers (benefits for trainers and key dates) are here: m:WWC2023/Program

To read more about the camp, please visit: m:WikiWomenCamp 2023

Cheers,
Maffeth.opiana (talk) 03:37, 29 July 2023 (UTC)
On behalf of the WWC23 team

Call for Highlight Videos for WikiWomenCamp 2023

Dear Community Members,

As we gear up for the upcoming WikiWomenCamp in India, we are excited to announce a unique opportunity to share your incredible work and its impact with the global community.

What We're Looking For: We invite you to submit short (3-5 minute) videos highlighting your projects, initiatives, or efforts that have made a significant difference in addressing gender gaps. We know that many of you are doing remarkable work in various corners of the world, and we want to shine a spotlight on your achievements.

Why Short Videos: Our camp sessions are extensive, covering a wide range of topics and discussions. In the interest of time and with a commitment to showcasing the amazing initiatives across our movement, we believe that short videos are an effective way to capture and share the essence of your work.

How Your Videos Will Be Used: The selected videos will be featured on our social media channels and played during breaks at the camp. This provides an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your work to a broader audience and inspire others to get involved or collaborate with you.

Submission Guidelines:

1. Videos should be 3-5 minutes in length.
2. Please focus on the impact of your work, highlighting how it contributes to addressing gender gap.
3. Be creative and engage in your presentation.
4. Ensure video quality is clear and audible.
5. Narration (optional): If possible, include a brief voiceover or text captions to provide context and explanation.
6. Language: While English is preferred for wider accessibility, videos in other languages are also welcome. Kindly ensure that non-English videos are accompanied by English subtitles or captions.

Submission Deadline:

To be considered for inclusion in our camp programming, please submit your videos by Thursday, 28th September 2023. Late submissions may still be featured later on our social media channels.

How to Submit:

To avoid any issues with file sizes, we recommend using a file transfer service like WeTransfer or Google Drive while sharing your videos with us at admin@wikiwomencamp.org. In your email, include a brief description of your project, affiliate name / your name or username, and contact information.

We believe that your stories and experiences are powerful tools for change. By sharing them with our community, you contribute to a collective effort to bridge the gender gap and empower women and girls worldwide.

Thank you for being a part of the camp initiatives, and we look forward to receiving your inspiring videos.

Warm regards,
WikiWomenCamp 2023 COT

Maffeth.opiana (talk) 09:57, 21 September 2023 (UTC)

Introducing the Wikimedia photo library and a workshop invite

Dear Wikimedia affiliates communications leads,

We are so excited to share a new resource with you: The Wikimedia Photo Library. In it you will find high quality images that help to tell the story of free knowledge. We hope that this library will help you in the important work you do as a communication lead. Alongside this library, we’ve also updated guidelines on how to effectively use imagery to tell brand stories.

Curious to learn more about these resources?

We will be holding a short workshop for 45 minutes on Tuesday 3 October 2023, at 16:00 UTC (add event to your calendar) and again on Thursday 5 October at 7:00 UTC (add event to your calendar) to accommodate different time zones. During these workshops, we will walk you through some examples of images that align with the Movement Brand Guidelines, some basics of quality photography and answer any questions you may have about this topic.

The need for a Wikimedia Photo Library

Our research showed that there are lots of photos available from Wikimedia events, usually featuring people using computers. There were very few images showing mobile editing or reading, and even fewer showing people using the projects in their everyday lives.

These images are the first steps in creating a photo library that is representative of the whole movement. We have added images that are aligned with the Movement Brand Guidelines in this category on Wikimedia Commons. Photography is a powerful tool to create cohesion in Wikimedia communication. Our hope is that all of you will help to build this resource out with images from your region.

By continuing to add to this category, we will be helping one another tell more impactful stories of the free knowledge movement – learn how on the Brand portal on Meta-wiki.

Thank you so much and please let me know if you have any questions. We hope to see you at one of the workshops!

Best,

Samir and the Brand Studio team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:54, 23 September 2023 (UTC)

Follow up on the last message about the photography workshop

Hi everyone,

This is a reminder about our photography sessions happening this week. Also, some people reached out with concerns about not being able to open the links to meetings in the previous message. Please find a direct link to the Google Meet sessions here:

• Tuesday session link - Dial phone numbers
• Thursday session link - Dial phone numbers

Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions. If you have any questions please reach out to selsharbatywikimediaorg . --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:21, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

Opportunities open for the Affiliations Committee, Ombuds commission, and the Case Review Committee

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki.

More languages • Please help translate to your language

Hi everyone! The Affiliations Committee (AffCom), Ombuds commission (OC), and the Case Review Committee (CRC) are looking for new members. These volunteer groups provide important structural and oversight support for the community and movement. People are encouraged to nominate themselves or encourage others they feel would contribute to these groups to apply. There is more information about the roles of the groups, the skills needed, and the opportunity to apply on the Meta-wiki page.

If you are aware of participants in your affiliate who may be interested in these roles, please share this message with them.

On behalf of the Committee Support team, Keegan (WMF) (talk) 20:23, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy: Summary and Report

Dear Wikimedia affiliate,

Last year, the Wikimedia Foundation Board announced they started the process with creating an Affiliates Strategy in collaboration with the Affiliations Committee, the affiliates, and the broader communities with the intention to develop a strategy that will help guide the Foundation’s immediate work in supporting affiliates for the next few years, with a primary focus on the recognition process, as a direct responsibility of the Board.

Over several months, the Wikimedia Foundation Board engaged with an outside consultant to drive a review process of what work the Foundation was doing to support affiliates. The end goal was to have several recommended actions.

You can read more about the findings and the recommendations on this Meta-Wiki page.

Best,

MPossoupe_(WMF) 09:36, 24 October 2023 (UTC)

Feedback invited on proposed requirements for affiliates & user groups recognition changes

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Dear Wikimedia Affiliates,

Following up on the development of Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy, we would like to invite you to give feedback on requirements for affiliates & user groups recognition changes. You can find the details of the proposed changes in this message from Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees liaisons to the Affiliations Committee, as well as the ways to give your feedback.

We have also reached out to your contact persons via the emails provided.

Best regards,

Xeno (WMF) (talk) 14:40, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Notification of upcoming reporting due date

Greetings Discott, Bobbyshabangu,

This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization reporting date is coming up in 96 day(s). Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.

This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2024 annual reporting will be due in 2024-06-30. Please be sure to:

• Post your 2024 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.

• Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and

• Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportalwikimedia.org.

Best regards,

Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal

--User:DNdubane_(WMF) 21:10, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

The full draft of the Wikimedia Movement Charter will soon be shared

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Hi there,

The Movement Charter Drafting Committee is happy to announce that the full draft of the Movement Charter will be published on April 2nd, 2024. This will kick off the community engagement period from April 2nd to April 22nd.

The Movement Charter is a proposed document to define roles and responsibilities for all the members and entities of the Wikimedia Movement, including to lay out a new Global Council for movement governance.

Everyone in the Wikimedia Movement is invited to share opinions on the full version of the Charter draft – this is the last chance to offer feedback before the Charter draft is updated for the ratification vote in June 2024.

How to share your feedback?

• share your message or question on the Movement Charter Talk page;
• attend a community drop-in session on April 4th at 15.00-17.00 UTC;
• or email movementcharter@wikimedia.org.

Read the Committee's latest updates for more information.

On behalf of the MCDC,

RamzyM (WMF) 13:58, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

The full Movement Charter draft awaits your review on Meta

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Hi everyone,

The full draft of the Movement Charter has been published on Meta for your review.

Why should you care?

The Charter is important as it will be an essential document for the implementation of the 2030 strategy recommendations. Participating in the Charter discussions means that you ensure that your voice is heard and your interests are represented in shaping the future of the Movement.

Community Engagement – April 2nd to April 30th, 2024

The Movement Charter Drafting Committee (MCDC) cordially invites everyone in the Wikimedia movement to share feedback on the full draft of the Movement Charter.

Let your voice be heard by sharing your feedback it in any language on the Movement Charter talk pages, attend a community drop-in session, or email movementcharter@wikimedia.org.

Please read the Committee's latest updates for more information.

Thank you.

On behalf of the MCDC,

RamzyM (WMF) 13:07, 3 April 2024 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee News (January-March 2024)

Group photo of the 2023 EduWiki Conference in Belgrade, organized by Wikipedia & Education User Group

You can find this newsletter translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Quarterly newsletter sharing news and events about the work of Wikimedia's Affiliations Committee.

Affiliate Recognition and Derecognition: Recognition of Cyprus, Botswana, Niger, and Telugu user groups

Affiliate Activities Report: Reports from Belgium, South African, and Ukrainian chapters

AffCom Movement Contribution: AffCom engagement with the new Affiliates Strategy and Movement Charter drafts

AffCom Administration: New AffCom members and advisors

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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:55, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

Board of Trustees selection call for candidates

Hello all,

The call for candidates for the 2024 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees selection is now open from May 8, 2024 - May 29, 2024 at 23:59 UTC. The Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia Foundation's work, and each Trustee serves a three-year term. This is a volunteer position.

This year, the Wikimedia community will vote to fill four (4) seats on the Foundation Board in August 2024. You can see the timeline of the full selection process here.

Traits

Wikimedia is a global movement and seeks candidates from the broader community. Ideal candidates are thoughtful, respectful, community-oriented and align with the Wikimedia Foundation mission. Candidates should think about what experiences and perspectives they will bring to the Board.

The Board would like to find perspectives and voices that are essential but underrepresented in our movement. Accordingly, all candidates will be asked to include statements in their application that speak to their experiences in the world and in the movement and share how those experiences have equipped them to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Trustees commitment

Trustees serve a three year term and can serve up to three consecutive terms. The expectation is that Trustees serve on at least one of the Board’s committees. The time commitment is about 150 hours per year, excluding travel. This time is not evenly spread throughout the year. The time is concentrated around meetings.

Trustees requirements

English is the language of business for the Board. Candidates must be fluent in written and spoken English. Previous experience serving on a collective decision-making body, especially Boards or committees, and significant experience in Wikimedia (or equivalent) movement building and organizing are expected from candidates.

Apply

Candidates from all projects and communities who meet the criteria to become a Wikimedia Trustee are welcome to apply. Could you - or someone you know - be a good fit to join the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees? Encourage them to run for election. Candidates can find information and submit their nomination on the candidate application page. If you want to learn more about the role of Trustees or have questions, refer to this candidate resources page.

Community questions for candidates

All community members, including affiliates, are invited to submit questions for the Board of Trustees candidates to answer. From the list of questions, the Election Committee selects 5 questions for candidates to answer, which the candidates are expected to answer. The selected questions may be a combination of what’s been submitted from the community, if they’re alike or related. Questions can be submitted between May 8 - June 12 at 23:59 UTC. Learn more about how to submit your questions on this Meta-wiki page.

Best regards,

The Elections Committee and Board Selection Working Group

MPossoupe_(WMF) 18:33, 8 May 2024 (UTC)

Notification of upcoming reporting due date

Greetings Discott, Bobbyshabangu,

This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization reporting date is coming up in 47 day(s). Wikimedia Affiliates are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal.

This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2024 annual reporting will be due in 2024-06-30. Please be sure to:

• Post your 2024 annual reporting to the meta via the Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.

• Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and

• Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to wadportalwikimedia.org.

Best regards,

Wikimedia Affiliates Data Portal

--User:DNdubane_(WMF) 19:56, 13 May 2024 (UTC)

Feedback invited on Procedure for Sibling Project Lifecycle

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Dear Wikimedia Affiliates,

The Community Affairs Committee (CAC) of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees invites you to give feedback on a draft Procedure for Sibling Project Lifecycle. Affiliates play important roles in the Movement, working with communities and external partners, and thus they bring valuable perspectives to the table. We warmly welcome you to the conversations. In addition, please share information about this with your affiliate membership, and any project communities your affiliate works with or supports. You can also help translate the procedure into more languages so that people can join the discussions in their language.

This draft Procedure outlines proposed steps and requirements for opening and closing Wikimedia Sibling Projects. It aims to ensure any newly approved projects are set up for success. This is separate from the procedures for opening or closing language versions of projects, which is handled by the Language Committee. It is also separate from the closing projects policy.

You can find the details of the proposal on this page, as well as the ways to give your feedback from today until the end of the day on June 23, 2024, anywhere on Earth.

We have also reached out to your contact persons via the emails provided.

On behalf of the CAC,

RamzyM (WMF) 16:08, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

The final text of the Wikimedia Movement Charter is now on Meta

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Hi everyone,

The final text of the Wikimedia Movement Charter is now up on Meta in more than 20 languages for your reading.

What is the Wikimedia Movement Charter?

The Wikimedia Movement Charter is a proposed document to define roles and responsibilities for all the members and entities of the Wikimedia movement, including the creation of a new body – the Global Council – for movement governance.

Join the Wikimedia Movement Charter “Launch Party”

Join the “Launch Party” on June 20, 2024 at 14.00-15.00 UTC (your local time). During this call, we will celebrate the release of the final Charter and present the content of the Charter. Join and learn about the Charter before casting your vote.

Movement Charter ratification vote

Voting will commence on SecurePoll on June 25, 2024 at 00:01 UTC and will conclude on July 9, 2024 at 23:59 UTC. You can read more about the voting process, eligibility criteria, and other details on Meta.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment on the Meta talk page or email the MCDC at mcdc@wikimedia.org.

On behalf of the MCDC,

RamzyM (WMF) 08:43, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy: Affiliate health criteria and changes to User Group recognition process

This communication has been adapted from the original message.

More languages • Please help translate to your language

Dear all,

We would like to thank all of you who shared feedback with us during this phase of the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy process that started in November 2022, both on- and off-wiki. You can read the report from the first phase here.

Since that point, AffCom has been working with the Board of Trustees, Foundation staff, affiliates, and wider community members to enable them to provide appropriate guidance to affiliates regarding what it means to be an active and healthy Wikimedia organisation. As a result of those conversations, the committee has voted to adopt the following 10 criteria for affiliates, grouped into four main areas:

• Goal delivery
• Organisational Development
  • Good governance & communication
  • Financial & legal compliance
  • Affiliate health & resilience
• Leadership & Inclusion
  • Diverse, skilled, and accountable leadership
  • Diversity balance (especially gender)
  • Universal Code of Conduct compliance)
• Engagement & Collaboration
  • Internal (membership) engagement
  • Community connection
  • Partnerships & collaboration

You are encouraged to read more details about each of these criteria here, including guidance on how each can be met. All criteria will be tracked for all affiliates, except for the criteria around financial and legal compliance, which only apply to those affiliates receiving funds and/or that are incorporated.

Staff and AffCom are working on streamlining affiliate reporting requirements, and responding to feedback raised during the community feedback period about the reporting burden. The new requirements of data collected in reports would be useful also for different Foundation teams and departments, and allow for the creation of detailed regional or global reports that demonstrate affiliate health and impact.

In July 2024, AffCom will work to finalise the implementation plans for the changes to the affiliate requirements and application process. In August 2024, updates will be made to Meta-wiki and other supporting platforms.

You can follow the process here.

The insights from the 2023 process also included recognising a need to strengthen AffCom processes for evaluating potential User Groups’ furtherance of shared movement goals, sustainability, and general ability to be healthy and active movement participants. AffCom has adopted a revised process for User Group recognition, and will be pausing new User Group recognitions until September 2024.

No immediate changes are happening, except the pause of considering new User Group recognitions until September, for applications received after today, June 12, 2024. Once more detailed implementation plans are developed, there will be an update here and on the relevant Meta pages with the next steps after Wikimania.

To provide your feedback, please leave a comment on the main talk page on Meta.

Alternatively, you can join AffCom's open office hours on June 19 at 14:00 UTC or request a conversation as a part of Talking:2024. You can use the Let’s Talk to sign up for a time to speak with us.

Looking forward to your feedback!

Best regards,

Nat, Mike & Lorenzo

Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Liaisons to the Affiliations Committee

Sunday June 23 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting (WMF BoT statement on Movement Charter ratification)

A group of SWANs heading to the meeting

Hello everyone!

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas about current developments in the Wikimedia Movement. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for further Wikimedia 2030 strategy process work.

At this meeting we will focus on the recent statement by the WMF Board of Trustees liaisons statement on the Movement Charter in which the liaisons stated that they will be recommending the Board of Trustees not to ratify the final draft of the Movement Charter. The community and affiliate votes on the ratification are supposed to start on Tuesday, 25 June. This meeting offers a venue to discuss the situation and formulate the "next steps".

This month, we are meeting on Sunday, June 23, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 16:00 UTC

Nadzik (talk) 16:30, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

Chapter website is dead

FYI the chapter website at http://wikimedia.org.za/ is currently showing

Sorry! This site is experiencing technical difficulties.

Try waiting a few minutes and reloading.

(Can't contact the database server: Access denied for user 'vnnkydit_wmza'@'localhost' to database 'vnnkydit_wmza' (localhost))

* Pppery * _{it has begun} 00:14, 2 July 2024 (UTC)

I've repointed the wmza: interwiki to point to https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_South_Africa instead of the dead site. This can be reverted if the site comes back up. * Pppery * _{it has begun} 15:50, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee News (April-June 2024)

AffCom group photo at Wikimedia Summit 2024 in Berlin, Germany

You can find this newsletter translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Quarterly newsletter sharing news and events about the work of Wikimedia's Affiliations Committee.

Affiliates Strategy Updates: Adoption of a new affiliate health criteria and changes to User Groups recognition process

Affiliate Recognition and Derecognition: Recognition of Madagascar, Senegal, Republic of Congo, and Namibia user groups

Affiliate Activities and Compliance Report: Activities reports around the world

AffCom Conflict Intervention: Six active conflicts, no new reports for Q4

AffCom Movement Contribution: AffCom engagement at Wikimedia Summit and ESEAP Conference

AffCom Administration: Officers elections and departing members

Upcoming AffCom Events: AffCom at Wikimania 2024

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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:20, 15 July 2024 (UTC)

Sunday July 28 Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network meeting (Results of Movement Charter ratification)

SWANs gathering for a conversation

Hello everyone!

The Strategic Wikimedia Affiliates Network (SWAN) is a developing forum for all Wikimedia movement affiliates to share ideas about current developments in the Wikimedia Movement. It expands on the model of the All-Affiliates Brand Meeting to help lay some of the groundwork for further Wikimedia 2030 strategy process work.

At this meeting we will focus on the results of the Movement Charter ratification. We will also discuss the aftermath of the Board of Trustees' decision to veto the Movement Charter, including their recent proposals. We will also cover updates about upcoming Wikimania 2024.

This month, we are meeting on Sunday, July 28, and you are all invited to RSVP here.

UTC meeting times are 03:00 UTC and 16:00 UTC

Nadzik (talk) 19:55, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Wiki Indaba planning

Hello! Very eager to confirm attendance for folks for the conference. Is there any expected timeline about where in Joburg the events may take place, schedules, etc? Any information helps, with thanks, from Black Lunch Table Wikimedians Raggachampiongirl (talk) 16:49, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

@Raggachampiongirl: it is possible this page is not actively monitored. I encourage you to ask on the WikiIndaba conference 2024 talk page, or to use one of the contact methods listed there by the organizing team. Asaf (WMF) (talk) 10:17, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

@Asaf (WMF) Thanks for redirection, will try on conference page! Raggachampiongirl (talk) 15:49, 26 August 2024 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee News (July-September 2024)

AffCom session at Wikimania 2024

You can find this newsletter translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to your language

Quarterly newsletter sharing news and events about the work of Wikimedia's Affiliations Committee.

Affiliates Strategy Update: Implementation status of a new affiliate health criteria and changes to User Groups recognition process

Affiliate Recognition and Derecognition: Recognition of Togo, Wayúu, and Singapore user groups

Affiliate Activities and Compliance Report: Activities reports around the world

AffCom Conflict Intervention: Updates on conflict intervention cases

AffCom Movement Contribution: AffCom engagement at Wikimania

AffCom Administration: Results of the officers elections

Upcoming AffCom Events: AffCom at WikiIndaba and a strategy meetup

Other Movement News: Regional conferences, mental health support, and new committee support inbox

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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:53, 7 October 2024 (UTC)