Grants:Regions/South Asia/Committee Call 2024
This is a call for Wikimedians and Free Knowledge advocates to be part of the South Asia (SA) Regional Funds Committee that partners with the Community Resources Team (CR team) of the Wikimedia Foundation to implement the Grants Strategy Relaunch. The primary role of the committee is strategic thought partnership to help understand the complexities of the South Asia region and to make funding decisions for grant applications in the region, providing knowledge and expertise to applicants to support successful movement activities.
If you are interested in shaping funding decisions in the South Asia region, bringing new ideas and programs into life, or have knowledge and expertise to share with movement organizers and leaders, please review all the information below and consider applying to join. We seek a committee composition that will have a healthy balance of experienced and new Wikimedians along with experts from other knowledge domains that will be important to achieve the mission of the Wikimedia movement.
What is this all about? edit
The South Asia Funds Committee was officially formed in August 2021, after an open call for applications (also on Diff). To date, the SA fund committee comprises 6 members, with the majority of the members from India and one representative each from Nepal and Bangladesh (more details on committee members). Since inception, the SA funds committee members have:
- Completed 30 hours of learning to build shared knowledge on the history of grantmaking, regional opportunities and explored equity, diversity and inclusion principles within the movement;
- Collectively reviewed, evaluated grant proposals and participated in the decision making process for the Wikimedia Community and Research Fund programmes;
- Provided feedback and reflected on the learnings from multiple rounds of grantmaking
Regional Funds committee members also have the option to be part of the Peer Learning Working and Advisory Group of the “Let’s Connect” programme with the intent to provide support beyond funding.
Who can participate in the SA Committee? edit
- Members of the Wikimedia community (both newcomers and experienced contributors welcome)
- Volunteer board members of Wikimedia affiliates
- Members of mission-aligned organisations
- Individuals working or having expertise in regions of interest
Who is not eligible to participate in the SA committee? edit
- Anyone receiving compensation through a Wikimedia affiliate or current General Support Fund, Wikimedia Alliances Fund or Research Fund grant project.
- Staff connected to projects funded by the Wikimedia Foundation within allied organisations.
- Anyone receiving compensation for a paid role with the Wikimedia Foundation.
Who is missing? edit
We look to double the size of the SA Funds Committee and welcome applicants with wide-ranging skill sets or experiences to join us. These could include
- experiences in thematic areas such as (but not limited to) culture and heritage, gender, advocacy or climate change in the region
- new users or experienced contributors within the open knowledge ecosystem
We value diversity and encourage
- young people (aged 18 and above), women, indigenous people, ethnic, cultural, gender minorities to apply
How can I make a difference? edit
- As a Funds Committee member, you will learn about the open knowledge ecosystem in up to 8 countries in SA through reviewing proposals, participating in deliberation discussions and making funding decisions.
- With a total of 7 regional funds committees covering the global movement, there will be multiple opportunities for reflection, sharing and learning from other regional funds committees;
- Your impact can be assessed through your thought partnership within the committee and additional support that you may offer during the lifecycle of a grant;
- If English is not your working language, translation and interpretation support can be made available
What is the commitment? edit
We value your time, lived experience, curiosity and your voice.
There are generally two open grant calls per year around March/April and September/October for the SA region. During these peak periods, you may spend on average 20 hours reviewing proposals and participating in deliberation calls. In a regular month, time investment would be 1-2 hours for rapid fund reviews, learning journeys, committee check-ins etc.
To see, hear, observe, learn about the impact that the grants are making takes time, which is why this is a 2-year commitment.
I’m interested. What’s next? edit
For interested applicants, you may wish to reach out to SA Senior Programme Officer (Jacqueline Chen; jchen
wikimedia.org) to share your intent and statement of interest via email OR publish it on the candidates page with the following information:
- Statement of Interest
Tell us about yourself and why you want to join the SA Funds Committee. Please consider responding to some of the questions below, but it is not necessary to respond to all of them in your application. Please keep your statement under 500 words.
- Current participation in the Wikimedia movement or the Free Knowledge Ecosystem
- How do you think you could contribute towards building the committees’ role and ways of working?
- What would you do to make decision making more participatory?
- What would you do so grantmaking can have a greater impact?
- What skills, background or experience could you bring to the committee? You might address grantmaking, knowledge equity, or other relevant areas.
The deadline for application is 30 April 2024. We are accepting and reviewing applications on a rolling basis and are encouraging early submissions.
Additional Resources edit
- Grants meta page - Overview of all grant funding programmes
- South Asia regional funds page - Information on grant cycles and status of grant applications
- Related Diff post: Community Resources announces new funding strategy; Announcing Regional Fund Committee Members;
- Let’s Connect Programme - Register for peer learning programme