Wikimedia Europe/Board Elections 2025/Candidates
Claudia Garad
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- Background and experience
I completed my formal education in the fields of politics and communication with a focus on social movements and civil society organisations. Even though my university years ended longer ago than a middle aged lady such as myself cares to admit sometimes, I still draw from this conceptual knowledge in my work for the Wikimedia Movement (institutionalism is such a powerful framework to understand some of our troubles in the Movement - but that is a topic for evening drinks at the GA in Prague ;) ).
Apart from Wikimedia Europe, I also serve on the board of the Cultural Broadcasting Archive cba and the advisory board of Open Knowledge Maps. I’m also an active member of the netpolitical scene in Vienna and Austria, as an organiser and speaker of events on digital rights and civic tech. Since 2024 I have also been part of the Digital Commons Task Force of the NGI Commons project.
Last but not least, I have been serving as the Executive Director (ED) of Wikimedia Austria since 2012, helped to build the organisation from scratch and steered it through stormy weathers as well as calm seas over the years. I’m an expert on organisational development and worked with different movement organisations of various sizes and structures on this matter - as a fiscal sponsor and organisational backbone structure for their projects, strategy advisor, or interviewer to help choose their first ED. During Phase 2 of the 2030 Movement Strategy Process I have been part of the Roles and Responsibilities Working Group, which laid the conceptual groundwork and produced strategic recommendations for intensified regional cooperation such as WMEU or the CEE Hub.
- Why I would like to continue on the Wikimedia EU board
When I started my current term at WMEU, my goal was to build a solid governance structure as a basis for strategic growth and development of the organisation.This was an interesting exercise, as Wikimedia Europe was a brand new organisation that was built on the ten plus years of quite successful informal governance structures of the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU. I think we achieved this mission over the past 2,5 years - of course always bearing in mind that organisations are never finished and need to constantly change and evolve with the opportunities and challenges they face. I’m now looking forward to the next step: building a feasible multi-year strategy for Wikimedia Europe that aligns all central stakeholders and gives us clear directions for the future.
I also believe that Wikimedia Europe and the work that is done here, has become more important than ever. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace and unfortunately mostly not for the better. For me personally, this work gives me purpose and a sense of agency that is often lost when we feel helpless watching the news and are tempted to just retreat into the private sphere to find häppiness and fulfillment. I feel honoured and blessed to put my talents into the service of the Wikimedia Movement and particularly Wikimedia Europe, as I truly think Wikipedia and the European Union are the two most wonderful social experiments of mankind that together can be a quite powerful force for Good. And yet, or probably rather because of that, both are currently under threat and I would like to contribute my tiny little part to make them last beyond our generation.
Marian Grubben
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- Background and experience
I have a Master’s degree in European Studies from the University of Amsterdam. My first job was at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands. In 1990 I moved to Brussels for a post at the European Commission.
I worked there from 1990 until 2021 in different roles, the last ten years as a manager. I started in the area of external relations and EU enlargement negotiations. In 1995 I moved on to the department for telecommunications and the information society, working on the telecommunications data protection directive and on policy and legislation development in related areas.
In 2003 I switched to the internal market department where I worked on setting up networks and information systems to support the functioning of the single market. I took up the development of the SOLVIT problem solving network, the Internal Market Information system and the integration of a range of online information, advice and problem solving services for EU citizens and businesses. My last project at the EC was the creation of the so-called Single Digital Gateway, with its public interface Your Europe. It aims to provide EU citizens and businesses with all information and procedures they need to exercise their internal market rights in cross-border situations. Moreover, the gateway also requires open access formats for all national and EU data covered by it.
After I retired from the European Commission in 2021, I took up silversmith training and started volunteering for Wikimedia NL and EU.
- Why I would like to join the Wikimedia EU board
I have always been a great fan of the Wikipedia project. It seems to be the only platform from the early days of the internet that has not sold its soul to big money. Instead it has managed to hold on to important values such as free access to reliable information, transparency, democracy, inclusivity, right to privacy and human rights. It is a miracle that a project built on donations and volunteers has survived for more than 20 years while steadily increasing brand recognition, reputation and impact.
During my 30+ years at the European Commission I have gained considerable expertise in how the EU functions and how to get things done in a complex multi-cultural environment. The larger part of my career I worked in EU digital policy areas and my interest in all digital developments, policies and legislation has remained as strong as ever. I want to put my skills and experience to good use for a worthy cause.
Moreover, I love working together with motivated and inspiring people to organise Europe wide projects, actions and activities for the common good. I am very impressed by the people active in the different Wikimedia branches and chapters and would like to make a useful contribution to the joint effort.
Finally, these are dark times for those who believe in peaceful, cooperative, democratic and inclusive society models. All these and related values are seriously under threat. We must urgently coordinate and strengthen the countervailing forces. What better place to work on this than at Wikimedia EU?
Alek Tarkowski
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Background and experience
I have an MA in sociology from the University of Warsaw and a PhD in sociology from the Polish Academy of Science. My academic interests focused on social movements and sociology of technology - giving me ideas that have been useful in my work until today. I ended my academic career with the PhD and moved on to jobs primarily in the civic sector. My first real job was as coordinator of the Polish chapter of Creative Commons, and I also worked for four years as an advisor on digital strategy to the Prime Minister of Poland. I later went on to establish, in 2010, a Polish think tank called Centrum Cyfrowe, which i led for 10 years. In 2020, I co-founded Open Future, a European think tank for the digital commons - where I work as the Director of Strategy.
I have two decades of experience in the free knowledge / open movements. Many of my roles have been tied to Creative Commons: I co-founded the Polish chapter, advised on European policy matters, co-chaired the global strategic review process in 2015-2017 and sat on the Board of Directors in 2021-2024. I also have experience with public interest advocacy for the commons (with the Communia Association), and have worked on issues such as European copyright reform and policies related to Open Data, Public Sector Information, Open Access or Open Education, both in Europe and globally.
I have been involved in the Movement Strategy process, as a member of the Working Group on Partnerships. I joined the process as a representative of the Creative Commons network and to my knowledge I was the only person in the process from outside the Wikimedia Movement. I believe that this gave me an opportunity to bring an outside perspective to the process, and - even more importantly - to build bridges with the broader ecosystem. I continue to be interested and involved in debates about the strategy and have also been building partnerships, especially on advocacy. At Wikimania 2024, I co-organized Common(s) Causes, a cross-movement advocacy meet-up. I am a member of Wikimedia Poland association, and a lot of my advocacy work in Poland has been done in collaboration with WMPL.
I have experience both with running organisations and sitting on their boards. I have been managing organisations that I co-founded for 15 years, and have been on the boards of Creative Commons, Centrum Cyfrowe, Internet Governance Forum Poland, and Inspiring Girls Poland.
Why I would like to join the Wikimedia EU board
Firstly, I deeply care about Wikimedia, which I consider the flagship of the free knowledge / A2K / open movements. It is a key achievement for the digital commons. Joining the WMEU board will allow me to do more to support it.
Secondly, advocacy work for openness and the digital commons has been my passion for many years. It is also very much needed at a time when the open internet and various digital rights are under attack. There is a need for policies that support Wikimedia, and for those that protect us from harms like disinformation or censorship. I believe that this needs to be a collective effort, coordinated in a network of various activists, experts and organizations. I have been impressed both by Wikimedia Europe's advocacy work and its structure, as an organization representing and supporting the various european Wikimedia affiliates.
Finally, I have organizational experience that I hope I can use to support Wikimedia Europe. I have been both running and overseeing organizations for a long time and have experience with organization governance, finances, fundraising and strategy. These are skills that I hope will be also valuable for Wikimedia Europe.
I am keen to build on the foundations established by WMEU's Directors, current Board and Team, and help the organization further grow. And on a personal level, I am looking forward to getting to know more closely the various people, affiliates and communities that are involved.
Capucine-Marin Dubroca-Voisin
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Background and experience
Hi! I’m Capucine. I will be 30 very soon, and I’ve been contributing to the Wikimedia projects as a volunteer for the past 15 years. I wrote articles on niche subjects, participated in heated debates about editing standards, ranked the importance of articles for wikiprojects, ran robots that could do some work for me, and forgot to write learning patterns on Meta. Well, I’m a Wikimedian. I transmitted this Wikimedia hands-on experience by animating more than a hundred editathons, appearing on WikiMOOCs, and chatting with my fellow volunteers. Obviously, I’ve been very involved in Wikimedia governance for the past few years: I’ve been the chair of Wikimédia France between 2021 and 2024, where we realized some great projects 😊
In non-Wikimedian life, I hold a PhD in transport, and I’m currently a researcher in a public company. I'm based in Paris and the Pyrénées. I also teach in several universities. I have a strong interest in diversity questions, and i'm involved in LGBT+ communities.
I served on the Initial Board of Wikimedia Europe in the last 3 years, where I was the treasurer.
Why I would like to join the Wikimedia EU board
I would love to keep up the good work with the amazing Wikimedia Europe team. In 3 years, with the Initial Board, we’ve been able to set a very efficient organisation, with (I hope) the adequate level of documentation. (I think to the fundraising framework where I was particularly involved, with amazing work by Valentina to keep it clear, fair, and concise.)
Wikimedia Europe will be a key Wikimedia organization in addressing our global challenges in the coming years, given the geopolitical context. I think it is both important to maintain some stability in its governance and get some new energy and knowledge. I’m then particularly enthusiastic about continuing to use my financial and organizational skills in the WMEU Board, while welcoming amazing new Board members.