Affiliations Committee/Reports/January 2015 meeting

On January 29 and 30, 2015, the Affiliations Committee met with our Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees liaisons, Jan-Bart de Vreede and Alice Wiegand, as well as members of the Wikimedia Foundation staff at the Wikimedia Foundation's San Francisco offices for a meeting on the future of the committee and the committee's work.

This page is a summary of that meeting, and is not meant to be a substitute or replacement for any meeting minutes taken.

Attendees

Affiliations Committee

• Anirudh Singh Bhati
• Ting Chen
• Carlos Colina
• Josh Lim
• Kirill Lokshin
• Ganesh Paudel
• Tanvir Rahman
• Manuel Schneider
• Emily Temple-Wood
• Gregory Varnum
• Galileo Vidoni

Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees liaisons

• Jan-Bart de Vreede
• Alice Wiegand

Wikimedia Foundation staff liaisons

• Asaf Bartov
• Stephen LaPorte
• Winifred Olliff

Guests

• Geoff Brigham
• Lila Tretikov
• Maggie Dennis
• Anasuya Sengupta
• TCC Group

Day 1 - January 29, 2015

The first day of the meeting was focused primarily on the future of the Affiliations Committee, a new process for recognizing Wikimedia User Groups, and possible support and benefits to offer Wikimedia User Groups. The day began with a breakfast with Lila Tretikov, and ended with a group dinner at the Wikimedia Foundation's San Francisco offices (where the meeting was being held).

Specific notes:

• The future of the Affiliations Committee
• Presentation about organizational benchmarking
• Recognizing Wikimedia User Groups
• Supporting Wikimedia movement affiliates

Day 2 - January 30, 2015

The second day of the meeting was focused primarily on organizational effectiveness of Wikimedia movement affiliates, approving a new recognition and renewal process for Wikimedia User Groups, initial planning for development of support services for Wikimedia movement affiliates, responding to inactive or harmful affiliates, and a discussion on selecting new members of the Affiliations Committee. The day ended with a trip to the Internet Archive, group dinner at The Stinking Rose, and visit to City Lights Bookstore.

Specific notes:

• Presentation about organizational effectiveness
• Recognizing Wikimedia User Groups
• Renewing Wikimedia User Groups
• Supporting Wikimedia movement affiliates
• Protocol for noncompliant Wikimedia movement affiliates
• Selecting new members of the Affiliations Committee

The future of the Affiliations Committee

Affiliations Committee resolutions by type and year

Meeting participants brainstormed on the impact of the committee's work, what work should be undertaken, the effectiveness of current work, and the effectiveness of the committee's current operating protocols. While no formal action was adopted and an amendment to official resolutions regarding the committee's scope were not discussed, the following conclusions were reached:

• The Affiliations Committee serves an important role providing a community voice to the Foundation on matters related to the movement affiliates.
• The Committee should continue to be involved in the approval process of all potential movement affiliates.
• The Committee's work should expand to more completely fulfill its scope of helping the Foundation support affiliates during the lifespan of each affiliate organization. In other words, the Committee's advisory role should expand beyond just recognition of affiliates.
• The Committee and Foundation staff should work closer together to collaborate on completion of activities and resources to benefit Wikimedia movement affiliates.
  • Committee will provide more regular feedback in written form to Wikimedia Foundation staff and board on issues impacting large numbers of movement affiliates.
  • Committee and staff will engage in more regular discussions on collaborating on the tasks the committee is charged with, as well as tasks the Committee feels would benefit movement affiliates.
  • Committee, staff, and board will continue to investigate ways to increase dialogue between each other and setup more regular and systematic methods of dialogue between the Foundation, committee, potential affiliates, and current affiliates.

Presentation about organizational benchmarking

Meeting participants joined the Wikimedia Foundation staff for a presentation over lunch at the office on organizational benchmarking research conducted by the TCC Group. Basic information was shared with the committee prior to the presentation, and the findings shared during the presentation will soon be made available on Meta-Wiki:

• Organizational effectiveness/Benchmarking

Recognizing Wikimedia User Groups

Meeting participants discussed the process for recognizing Wikimedia user groups. Participants agreed that the current process should be simplified, requirements kept to a minimum, and requested staff support for processing applications.

After discussion on day one, a new process and Wikimedia user group criteria was drafted and proposed on day two. After discussion on guidance for drafting implementation steps, meeting participants supported and tentatively adopted a new Wikimedia user group criteria:

1. Three or more active Wikimedians (defined as 10 edits/year)
2. Agree to the user group code of conduct

The user group code of conduct will include the expectations discussed at the meeting, such as a mission aligned with Wikimedia, engaging in appropriate conduct, and publishing some information about the group on a Wikimedia project wiki (such as Meta-Wiki). The committee can talk to applicants to understand if they are in a good position to meet the code of conduct and will reserve discretion to end recognition. Like affiliate agreements, the code of conduct will be drafted and implemented by the Wikimedia Foundation's Legal and Community Advocacy department, with input from the Committee and Foundation board.

Meeting participants supported and tentatively adopted a new Wikimedia user group approval process:

• Wikimedia user groups will apply by filling out a simple online form that sends an email to list with Committee and Foundation staff, where we can track user group applications.
• The Committee will approve new groups by two members confirming they meet the criteria and responding to the list to approve the group.
• Committee and Foundation staff can talk to the applicant if more information is necessary.
• Committee and Foundation staff may introduce applicants to affiliates which may be interested in the application, such as affiliates with a similar geographic or topical focus.
• Committee and Foundation staff can watch applications and raise objections, but the aim is to approve the group after a 48 hour waiting period.
• User groups will automatically get "Wikimedia Community User Group __" name, or applicants can request another name on the approved list. If they want to use the house logo (the logo used by Wikimedia Foundation and chapters), they can also request a standard trademark license.

Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will work on a final proposed process, including details on implementation steps, and submit it to the committee by the end of February 2015 for final approval. The final process will be published on Meta-Wiki and announced to the community.

Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will develop templates to use for common emails used during the approval process, such as public announcements and welcome letter to approved affiliates, by the end of February 2015 for review by the committee.

Supporting Wikimedia movement affiliates

Meeting participants discussed the ongoing support for Wikimedia movement affiliates, and Wikimedia user groups in particular. Participants agreed that the Committee should continue to explore and assist the Foundation with implementation of methods to help support Wikimedia movement affiliates, and requested staff support in the implementation of methods developed by the committee.

On both days, participants proposed ideas to expand support for current affiliates, including:

• Modifying the current affiliate liaison program to be "opt-in" based to allow committee members to better focus on interested affiliates.
• Setup a "hotline" for affiliates to request immediate support.
• Setup an affiliate peer support program to pair newer affiliates with more veteran affiliates.
• Setup a mailing list for all affiliates, additional lists for types of affiliates, or expand the scope of the current chapters mailing list to include other affiliates to promote greater dialogue among affiliates.
• Promote usage of the organizational effectiveness tool and learning center.
• Monitor data collected by organizational effectiveness tool to make recommendations to affiliates and Foundation on future programs or resources.
• Respond to each report submitted on Meta-Wiki by Wikimedia movement affiliates, such as annual or quarterly reports.
• Complete the Affiliates Handbook currently being drafted on the committee's private wiki.
• Provide more regular updates to the Foundation board and staff by the committee on concerns shared by affiliates.
• Provide tracking and documentation of social media tools used by affiliates.
• Develop better welcome documentation for affiliates to help with introduction to things like grants and other resources available to affiliates.
• Develop a welcome packet that is automatically sent by the Foundation to newly approved affiliates.
• Develop an annual survey to collect information and impact analytics from affiliates to help with advising the Foundation and affiliates.
• Develop better documentation and incentives for affiliates to submit reports.

After discussion on both days, it was proposed that the committee initially focus on three primary areas:

• Welcome packet for affiliates - Tanvir, Josh, and Asaf will work on a proposed standard welcome packet
• Affiliates Handbook - Gregory, Ganesh, Anirudh, and Winifred will work on further revisions to the draft handbook
• Reports and survey - Tanvir and Manuel will work on a proposed survey and plan to better support reporting by affiliates

Presentation about organizational effectiveness

Meeting participants were given a presentation on organizational effectiveness research and tool development conducted by the TCC Group. Basic information was shared with the committee prior to the presentation, and the findings shared during the presentation will soon be made available on Meta-Wiki:

• Organizational effectiveness/Stories

The organizational effectiveness tool and learning center are already available:

• Organizational effectiveness/Tool
• Organizational effectiveness/Learning center

The committee discussed ways to promote usage of the tool, utilize the tool for committee discussions and work, and how to advise the Foundation and affiliates on utilizing data collected by the new organizational effectiveness tool and promoting the learning center. The committee agreed to remain in contact with Winifred, who is already on the committee's mailing list and private wiki, as the tool develops. Winifred also volunteered to assist the committee with linking resources developed through this process to the Affiliates handbook currently being developed by the committee.

Renewing Wikimedia User Groups

Meeting participants discussed the process for renewing Wikimedia user group agreements when they expire. Participants agreed that the current process should be simplified, requirements kept to a minimum, and requested staff support for processing renewals.

After discussion on day one, a new process was drafted and proposed on day two. After discussion on guidance for drafting implementation steps, meeting participants supported a new renewal process:

• User groups will not be required to submit a user group renewal application.
• After a year, the Committee will reach out to a group to confirm if they are still active and if there is anything they need.
• If a group is obviously active (for example, they have a great description of all their activities on meta), then renewal is automatic and processed by the Foundation staff.
• A calendar reminder or similar tool will be setup for the Committee to check up on groups after a year.

Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will work on a final proposed process, including details on implementation steps, and submit it to the committee by the end of February 2015 for final approval. The final process will be published on Meta-Wiki and announced to the community.

Protocol for noncompliant Wikimedia movement affiliates

Meeting participants discussed how to best handle Wikimedia movement affiliates which are no longer in compliance with their agreements with the Foundation. The discussion was based on a proposal prepared for the committee by the Wikimedia Foundation staff.

The committee discussed the staff's proposal and ultimately supported a modified version of the proposal.

The participants agreed that compliance includes:

• Adhering to the terms of any agreements the organization has with the Wikimedia Foundation, including but not limited to Affiliation Agreements, Fundraising Agreements, and Grant Agreements.
• Adhering to local laws and regulations, and to US laws and regulations as applicable.
• Not engaging in actual or perceived misconduct.
• Not presenting reputational risk or causing reputational damage to Wikimedia.

The participants agreed on this basic staff-driven process with community oversight (by way of the committee and Foundation board) for handling non-compliant affiliates:

• Once a compliance issue has been identified, the Foundation staff and Affiliations Committee will be notified.
• The Committee will have a week to provide initial feedback to the concern.
• The Foundation staff will investigate the matter and report back to the Committee and Foundation board on their findings.
• The Foundation staff will also share their findings and concerns with the non-compliant affiliate, inform them of the possible consequences and process that has been initiated, and give them an opportunity to respond.
• The Foundation staff will work with the non-compliant affiliates on possible solutions, including, but not limited to, changing the affiliates current affiliation model, updating the affiliates by-laws or procedures, holding a meeting of affiliate members, or closing the affiliate.
• Once the non-compliant affiliate has been given sufficient time to respond and work out possible solutions with the Foundation staff, the staff will provide an update to the committee and Foundation board on the affiliates response, proposed resolutions, and planned next steps.
• The Committee will have a week to provide feedback on the progress.
• The Foundation staff will then take appropriate action to resolve the situation, including, but not limited to, assisting the affiliate with implementation of the proposed resolution or terminating the affiliate's recognition.
• Once the final actions have been initiated, the staff will notify and provide subsequent updates to the committee and Foundation board.

Stephen, Carlos, Gregory, and Winifred will present an updated draft of the proposal, including details on process and implementation, to the committee by the end of February 2015. It will subsequently be shared with the Foundation's board once final discussion is concluded.

Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will develop templates to use for common emails used during the process, such as public announcements and notification letter to noncompliant affiliates, by the end of February 2015 for review by the committee.

Selecting new members of the Affiliations Committee

Meeting participants discussed how prior to the past Affiliations Committee member selection process, the committee acknowledged that the process needed an extensive review. The end-of-year selection process was delayed to allow for this review, and at that time the terms of members whose terms were to expire were extended to the end of March 2015. During the meeting, participants agreed that a more transparent process that focuses intentionally on issues like skills and diversity should be developed.

While a few different proposals were discussed both prior to and during the meeting, the participants agreed to focus on two possible solutions:

1. A revamp of the current internal selection process with more public components and internal review including:
   • Public listing of candidates and applications during the selection process.
   • Public documentation on criteria, skills, and diversity expectations for the committee's makeup.
   • Public documentation of why members were selected for the committee - but not information on why others were not.
   • Pre-determined scoring methods for use in scoring candidates on specific issues and facilitating discussion on the committee's private wiki.
2. A "hybrid" of both committee selected members and affiliate elected members, similar to the approach taken by the Foundation board. Considerations include:
   • Rolling out this process in a way that causes minimal interruption of the committee's operations.
   • Utilization of recommendations from the proposed revamp of internal process for that component of the selection.
   • Committee screening of candidates for election to help make sure skill and diversity needs are met.

Participants also discussed when to roll out this new process, possibly in March or possibly at the end of the year - which would require an additional extension of members with terms soon expiring.

Carlos, Emily, Stephen, and Gregory agreed to develop a proposal for each of the two possible solutions and facilitate a committee discussion on when to next select new members. They will provide proposals and begin facilitating the discussion by the end of February 2015.

Items tabled

These items were tabled for discussion online or at the upcoming Affiliations Committee Annual Meeting scheduled to be held at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin in May 2015.

• Internal and external committee communications and procedures
• Confidentiality and transparency resolution
• Access to resources
• Plan for officer elections
• Public wikipages in need of updating

Post-meeting tasks

• Wikimedia User Group approval
  • Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will work on a final proposed process, including details on implementation steps, and submit it to the committee by the end of February 2015 for final approval. The final process will be published on Meta-Wiki and announced to the community.
  • Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will develop templates to use for common emails used during the approval process, such as public announcements and welcome letter to approved affiliates, by the end of February 2015 for review by the committee.
• Wikimedia User Group renewal
  • Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will work on a final proposed process, including details on implementation steps, and submit it to the committee by the end of February 2015 for final approval. The final process will be published on Meta-Wiki and announced to the community.
• Protocol for noncompliant Wikimedia movement affiliates
  • Stephen, Carlos, Gregory, and Winifred will present an updated draft of the proposal for handling non-compliant affiliates, including details on process and implementation, to the committee by the end of February 2015. It will subsequently be shared with the Foundation's board once final discussion is concluded.
  • Stephen, Carlos, and Gregory will develop templates to use for common emails used during the process, such as public announcements and notification letter to noncompliant affiliates, by the end of February 2015 for review by the committee.
• Welcome packet for affiliates
  • Tanvir, Josh, and Asaf will work on a proposed standard welcome packet and update the committee by the end of February 2015
• Affiliates Handbook
  • Gregory, Ganesh, Anirudh, and Winifred will work on further revisions to the draft handbook and provide an update to the committee by the end of February 2015, a public draft will hopefully be available by end of March 2015
• Reports and survey
  • Tanvir and Manuel will work on a proposed survey and plan to better support reporting by affiliates and report back to the committee with an update and draft survey by the end of February 2015
• New Affiliations Committee member selection
  • Carlos, Emily, Stephen, and Gregory agreed to develop a proposal for each of the two possible solutions and facilitate a committee discussion on when to next select new members. They will provide proposals and begin facilitating the discussion by the end of February 2015.