Wikimedia Foundation elections/2021/Candidates/Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight

Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight

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Rosiestep (talk meta edits global user summary CA  AE)

Candidate details
 
WikiConference North America 2019
Video statement
  • Editorial:
    • Wikimedian since: June 2007
    • Active wikis: English Wikipedia, Commons, Wikidata
statement (Not more than 450 words) About me

I became an English Wikipedia editor in 2007; administrator since 2009. In 2014, I founded WikiProject Women Writers. As a strong believer in the power of volunteerism and community organizing, I have been very active in the affiliates’ world. In 2015, I co-founded Women in Red and WikiWomen's User Group. In 2016, I joined the Board of Wikimedia District of Columbia (WMDC); was elected a member of the Affiliations Committee (AffCom); and was honored as co-Wikimedian of the Year, while Women in Red was shortlisted for the ITU/UN Women GEM-TECH award. I was co-grantee for WikiConference North America 2016, and co-founder of its User Group. In 2017, I was elected WMDC vice-president and AffCom secretary. Involved with movement strategy (MS) since 2016, I joined the Community Health Working Group in 2018. In the same year, I was knighted by the Republic of Serbia, my family’s homeland, in part because of my Wikipedia work. Since 2019, I am associated with WikiCred. In 2020, the article I created on Maria Lauder was honored as the 6th million article on English Wikipedia. Also in 2020, I was elected AffCom chair; re-elected this year. I hold a BS degree in Business Management and a Master of Business Administration. My professional career focused on contract management, project management, talent acquisition; retired in 2016. I have served as an adjunct professor (organizational behavior; healthcare administration) also lecturer (talent acquisition). In 2017, I was WMF contractor, Gender Diversity Mapping project, first of its kind. Since 2017, I am a Visiting Scholar at Northeastern University.

About my goals
  1. I advocate for diversity in its many forms/perspectives, including (alphabetically) content, donors, editors, enthusiasts, partners, readers, and so forth.
  2. I’m a veteran editor on EN-WP (+220K edits, 1,300+ DYK articles, created 5,300+ articles). Also, +6K WikiCommons uploads (mostly Public Domain photos). Also, +44K Wikidata edits, (including Wikidata WikiProject Women Writers in Review). I rely on and support tech, AI development, tools and our tech community.
  3. My initial work on the MS Community Health Working Group focused on community interviews and data collection. When we developed Recommendations, my focus centered on skills training, community safety, newcomer experience (editors, Affiliates, WMF staff, BoT, and organizational partners), and leadership development. I continue to champion these areas.
  4. More support for community organizations. I am keen for us to establish the Global Council and Hubs in order to provide more equitable models for governance, advocacy, capacity building, resource allocation. I believe they will also have a positive affect on readership, partnerships, etc.. I support the continued existence of affiliates and champion efforts to help them thrive; same for non-affiliate communities (e.g. Women in Red).
Top 3 Board priorities Hire and onboard a new CEO

Improve Board governance + community relations

Continue to support Movement Strategy

Top 3 Movement Strategy priorities Ensure equity in decision making

Provide for safety and inclusion

Invest in skills and leadership development

Verification Identity verification performed by Wikimedia Foundation staff and eligibility verification performed by the Elections Committee
Eligibility:   Verified
Verified by: Matanya (talk) 20:20, 1 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Identification:   Verified
Verified by: Joe Sutherland (Wikimedia Foundation) (talk) 18:18, 29 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Trustee Evaluation Form
Trustee Evaluation Form
Years of Experience
<1 1–2 2–5 5–10 10+

Wikimedia experience. The candidate is a dedicated contributor to the Wikimedia movement. Eligible contributions include: contributions to the Wikimedia projects, membership in a Wikimedia organization or affiliate, activities as a Wikimedia movement organizer, or participation with a Wikimedia movement ally organization.

10+ years: I have been a Wikimedian since 2007. I have served as an admin, Affiliate co-founder, AffCom officer, Movement Strategy Working Group member. Whenever there is an opportunity to do so, I talk about the wiki movement (press; presentations; conferences). As I have relationships with communities around the world, not just English-speaking, I understand their needs, especially those of the Affiliates. Additionally, Women in Red has helped build a global network of womxn around the Wikimedia movement.

Board experience. The candidate has served on the board of trustees/directors or other similar governing body of a nationally- or globally-focused organization (non-profit, for-profit, or governmental).

<1 year: Though I have not served on a national/global board, I do serve as a member/officer of a regional board, Wikimedia District of Columbia (since 2016). Though Women in Red is not a registered non-profit, it is a global organization as recognized by ITU/UN Women who shortlisted it in 2016 for the GEM-TECH award.

Executive experience. The candidate has worked at an executive level for an organization, department, or project of comparable (or greater) size, complexity, and scope to the Wikimedia Foundation.

No. I don't have executive experience at this scale. But I have managed multi-million dollar annual budgets for a US government contractor in the healthcare sector from 1993 to 2009, serving as the company’s representative in legal matters during that time.

I hold a post-graduate certificate in Executive Healthcare Leadership from the University of California, San Diego.

Subject matter expertise. The candidate has worked or significantly volunteered in an area relevant to the work of the Foundation and the Board. Such areas will be determined on an annual basis and may include areas such as Global movement building and community organization, enterprise-level platform technology and/or product development, public policy and the law, knowledge sector (e.g., academia/GLAM/education), human rights and social justice, open Internet/free and open source software, organizational strategy and management, finance and financial oversight, non-profit fundraising, human resources, board governance.

10+ years: I have been involved in Movement Strategy since 2016, including serving on the Community Health Working Group. As a member of AffCom since 2016 (Chair since 2020), I have experience in community development and conflict resolution/management. For a decade, I have addressed Wikipedia’s content gender gap. Since 2017, I am a Visiting Scholar at Northeastern University (Boston) focused on pre-XX-century women writers and their works. In my professional life, I have 15 years of experience with contract management and project management; 15 years of experience in Talent Acquisition including C-level positions. The title of my Master’s thesis was: “A Two Year Strategic IT Plan for a Non-Profit”.

Diversity: Background The candidate belongs or belonged to a group that has faced historical discrimination and underrepresentation in structures of power (related to, for example, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, LGBTQ+ identity, social class, economic status, or caste).

Yes. I am a woman in my 60s.

Diversity: Geography The candidate would contribute to the overall geographic diversity of the Board of Trustees, based on the geographic regions where they have lived.

No. I was born in the US to Yugoslav-born parents who met in a post-WWII DP camp. I grew up in a Serbian-speaking home with family members of 3 generations; English was the second language. This upbringing contributed to my lifelong interest in geographic and cultural diversity (traveled to 30+ foreign countries; hosted 8 foreign exchange students; sent my 2 sons in their school years to other continents as foreign exchange students).

In 2016, I co-developed a geographic-hub-based conference model (WCNA) (co-grantee; Core Team member since its establishment) which became a User Group (co-founder), the only conference-themed Affiliate within our movement.

Diversity: Language The candidate is a native speaker of a language other than English.

Yes. My first language (childhood home language) is Serbian. EN (N); ES (1-2); FR (1-2). Language and cultural identity issues hold my interest, for example, the languages of Yugoslavia.

Diversity: Political system experience The candidate has substantial experience living in and/or working to share knowledge in a non-democratic, state-censoring, or repressive context.

I have not lived in a non-democratic, state-censoring, or repressive country. However, for more than a decade, I have shared knowledge about women who have done so through the Wikipedia biographies I have created, for example, Margarita Ortega, Deolinda Rodrigues Francisco de Almeida, Konkordiya Samoilova, and Tang Qunying.