Wikimedia Polska

Wikimedia Polska (WMPL, Wikimedia Polska) is an independent non-profit, membership-based organisation serving as a Wikimedia chapter in Poland. It was created during in 2005 and recognized as the fourth Wikimedia chapter. According to the Bylaws, the purpose of the Association is to equate everyone's chances to access knowledge, both general and specific in the fields of science, culture, education and art as well as to promote and organise volunteering and charity.

Wikimedia Polska


Affiliate code	WMPL
Country code	PL
Legal status	Association
Founding date	August 14, 2005
Approval date	November 15, 2005
Main office	Warsaw
Membership	121 (members' list)
Staff	11
Volunteers	approx. 30 (permanent or regular)
Official language(s)	Polish
President	Tomasz Wszeborowski
Incorporation paper	Statut
Reports	Reports
Affiliations	Wikimedia Central and Eastern Europe, Wikimedia CEE Hub, Wikimedia Europe
Mobile number	(+48) 790 290 842
Website	wikimedia.pl
E-mail address	kontaktwikimedia.pl
Mailing list	WikimediaPL-l
Facebook	Wikimedia Polska
YouTube	Wikimedia Polska

Membership

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Every Polish citizen over the age of 16 as well as foreign residents of Poland may become regular members of the Association, provided that they have contributed to any of the Wikimedia projects, have filled a membership form, were accepted by the Board and have paid the annual membership fee, which is currently (2024) set at a minimum of 50 PLN. Corporate bodies may become supporting members of the Association but they are not allowed voting rights. As of June 12, 2024, Wikimedia Polska had 120 regular members.

Donations

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Wikimedia Polska is supported primarily by voluntary donations from the general public. It has been recognised by Polish authorities as a public benefit organization since 28 March 2007 and it has been therefore possible for individuals to donate 1,5% of their income tax to the Association.

Board and Staff

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Board

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The Board is collectively responsible for and entitled to the governance and representation of the chapter. However, its main focus areas are: strategic planning and control, compliance, finance, fundraising, and overall capacity building. Programme ownership has been gradually delegated to the management team, and execution of the programmes has been delegated to staff and volunteers.

The Board is elected by the regular members for a two-year term at the General Assembly and consists of three to seven members, including the President, Secretary, Treasurer, and at least one Vice President. The current members of the Board were elected during the General Assembly on 25 June 2022 in Toruń and 15 June 2024 in Warsaw.

The following members are currently serving on the Board:

President of the Board: Tomasz Wszeborowski (Gdarin)
Vice President of the Board and Secretary: Michał Buczyński (Aegis Maelstrom)
Vice President of the Board: Julia Maria Koszewska (Lantuszka)
Treasurer: Marek Bukowski (Marcello002)
Maria Weronika Kmoch

The Board: from left to right Michał Buczyński, Maria Weronika Kmoch, Julia Maria Koszewska, Tomasz Wszeborowski, Marek Bukowski (2024)

Staff

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Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Natalia Ćwik
Chief Operating Officer (COO): Grzegorz Kopaczewski
Open Culture Manager: Kamila Neuman
Open Education & Development Manager: Wioletta Matusiak
Open Science Manager: Katarzyna Makowska
Events Expert: Marek Lewandowski
Fundraising Coordinator: Maja Szkudlarek
Communication and PR Manager: Jolanta Drzewakowska
Senior Community Support Specialist: Małgorzata Gramatnikowska
Senior Technical Support Specialist: Ada Jakubowska
Team Assistant: Damian Kujawa

The Staff (2023)

Programmes and projects

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WMPL runs a number of programmes, chiefly in the areas of volunteer support, GLAM, and education. Among most successful programmes, there are:

Wikigranty (a popular microgrants programme),
Wikiekspedycje ("Wikiexpeditions", a series of photographic expeditions to remote regions of Poland),
Wiki Lubi Zabytki (a highly successful edition of Wiki Loves Monuments, including the competition on the national level as well as accompanying exhibitions and other events),
Etnokarpaty ("Carpathian Ethnography Project", a cross-border GLAM project conducted in cooperation with Wikimedia affiliates from Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic)

and much more. See details in yearly reports.

Events

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Attendees of 2024 Wikimedian meetup in Opole

Wikimedia Poland has organized a number of national and local events. Its main multi-day conference is Konferencja Wikimedia Polska ("Wikimedia Polska Conference", organized every late spring or early summer, where guests from the outside of Wikimedia world are invited and where general assemblies of WMPL are held.

Other events are thematic meetings like Winter or Spring Retreats (focused on editing workshops with an element of a forseen improvisation) and meetups for most active sister project communities, Wikisource and Wiktionary (Źródłosłów).