Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Alliances Fund/Wiki for change and inclusion in Nigeria

Feedback from the Middle East and Africa Regional Funding Committee on your proposal

Hello , Bisi Alimi Foundation,

Thank you for submitting an application for the Wikimedia Alliance Fund and for interest in continued contribution to the mission of the Wikimedia Movement . We appreciate and acknowledge the impact goals to contribute and close on knowledge gaps related to LGBTQ+ communities and through developing editing capacities in queer persons as well. We recognize that creating additional content on LGBTQIA+ topics in Nigeria will not only benefit the Nigerian queer community, but also queer communities elsewhere in Africa facing similar social and legal discrimination. We are also glad to see you have the support of LGBTQIA+ Wikimedia user group and other Wikimedian communities.

To support us with the review process and the next stage of decision making please see our comments, questions for your consideration and response;

To support any safety related risks in sharing information, please feel okay to share any of the information needed below via email to the program officer.

• We are keen to understand your risk mitigation plan especially knowing that there is high security risk on LGBTQ+ persons both in physical and online spaces. Please share with us your organizational physical security and contingency plans for in-person events.
• Additionally on this matter, we advise that you include education on and training on how participants can protect their own privacy and digital security online, how they can respond to harassment/doxxing on and off-wiki, and how they engage the Wikimedia community and the Foundation if these threats materialize.
• We are unclear about the numbers presented - would you mind revisiting the section and providing more clarity on the cohorts, numbers per cohort and total participants in the project.
• We are keen on learning more about your organizational structure to support us in learning more about where this project would sit and how it would be supported beyond the directly linked roles.
• We see an opportunity to improve on some of the metrics shared including for instance including retention metrics, reviewing of learning questions so as to support you in identifying areas you want to learn based on implementation and hoped outcomes of your projects and aligning those with suitable metrics.
• Seeing that this project holds an increased scope compared to previous editions of Wiki based projects, we would advise taking a gradual leap in maybe reducing the desired goal of  total participants to allow for spaces of learning and also support with risk management.

As always we recommend meeting with the regional program officer to support you in providing any clarity needed with the feedback shared here. The committee is also available to meet and join the call if that would be meaningful for you - just let the program officer know.

Thank you so much and we continue to appreciate the work of the Bisi Alimi Foundation in advancing the mission of the movement.

On behalf of the MEA Regional Committee and Staff , VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 07:11, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Response from Bisi Alimi Foudation:

Hello Veronica and thank you for the comments. Here are in-line responses to the comments raised:

• We are keen to understand your risk mitigation plan especially knowing that there is high security risk on LGBTQ+ persons both in physical and online spaces. Please share with us your organizational physical security and contingency plans for in-person events.

A detailed reponse to this has been sent via email instead for secuirity reasons.

• Additionally on this matter, we advise that you include education on and training on how participants can protect their own privacy and digital security online, how they can respond to harassment/doxxing on and off-wiki, and how they engage the Wikimedia community and the Foundation if these threats materialize.

Yes, we will prioritise cyber safety and security online. We will work with the WIR personnel to organise webinars and training on cyber and digital security, reporting harassment (online and offline), and engaging participants on how these threats can be handled and reported if they arise.

• We are unclear about the numbers presented - would you mind revisiting the section and providing more clarity on the cohorts, numbers per cohort and total participants in the project.

The 300 total targeted participants stated on the core metrics for the program are the total number of expected outcomes based on the number of persons that would be impacted directly or indirectly by this training across all six regions in Nigeria. However, for clarity, this training program is expected to have:

• Sixty (60) cohorts in total in 6 regions.
• Ten (10) per cohort for each physical training per each region
• Sixty (60) participants in total will be directly impacted by this training program across all six regions, including the six (6) participants that will be retained across each region for continuous engagement and upskilling.
• Total of six (6) trained-participants will be retained as fellow which makes it one (1) per each region.
• Out of the impacted 60 (10 each) participants from the 6 regions; one (1) will be retain as a fellow from each region which makes the total fellows to be six (6) in total.
• The 6 fellows will be expected to train at least twenty (20) persons from their respective region which makes it a total of one hundred and twenty 120 from all the regions.

We have also also made more adjustments on the metrics for clarity.

• We are keen on learning more about your organizational structure to support us in learning more about where this project would sit and how it would be supported beyond the directly linked roles.

The Bisi Alimi Foundation organisational structure is divided into two sectors. We have the governance and the team.

The Governance structure controls the activities of the foundation regarding standards, board support and management recruitments.

The board comprises of

1. Chair
2. Secretary
3. Financial Secretary
4. Four ordinary members.

The Team consists of

1. Executive Director
2. Project Officer
3. Finance Office
4. PA to the Executive Director
5. Administrative Officer

When we get the funding for the project, we will recruit a Wiki project lead (WiR). Their role will be to lead on the project, and they will :be line-managed by the project officer, who in turn is line-manged by the Executive Director.

Beyond the roles directly linked to the project, we will offer extra support and assistance to our six retained fellows. The retention :process will be measured based on quality, quantity and passion. Six fellows will be retained across the country's six regions; these fellows :will not be employed as staff of the organization; however, part of their training will involve conducting similar training in their region, :which will be supported and monitored by us and the wiki team.

We will engage allied sister organizations in these regions and share our ideas with them, paving the way for partnerships and engagements :for future regional programs. These partnerships are also important in understanding the local environment of this region/city, mobilisation :of target participants and securing a safe work environment for some of this in-person training to take place.

Also for the project; the concerned roles are the:

1. Program coordinator will be the overall coordinator for the program which will be assumed by the Executive Director.
2. Program officer will be the personnel incarge directy of the program and see to the day to day activities.
3. Wikimedian in Residence will be the Wikimedia expert on the project.

• We see an opportunity to improve on some of the metrics shared including for instance including retention metrics, reviewing of learning questions so as to support you in identifying areas you want to learn based on implementation and hoped outcomes of your projects and aligning those with suitable metrics.

Ok, thak you. We have adjusted some of the metrics and still confident that with our experience and WMF supports we will surpass them

• Seeing that this project holds an increased scope compared to previous editions of Wiki based projects, we would advise taking a gradual leap in maybe reducing the desired goal of total participants to allow for spaces of learning and also support with risk management.

Thank you. We have adjusted the expected participants to be train by the fellow to be 10 instead of 20.

Thank you once again and lets kniow if there is any more information needed. Shelia lucifer (talk) 11:02, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Wikimedia Alliance Fund Application Approved in the amount of 25,000 USD

Dear, Bisi Alimi Foundation,

Thank you for submitting your application seeking General Support Funds - Wikimedia Alliance Fund. The Middle East and Africa Regional Committee and Staff have reviewed your application and recommended funding in the amount of $25,000 for the period of July 2023 - June 2024.

As mentioned on email - We thoroughly reviewed and discussed the proposal together with the responses shared based on our initial feedback and questions and recommend the following; Seeing that this project builds on previous work done, we recommend that you approach the proposed growth gradually, meaning that based on what you have proposed, there is an opportunity to reduce the proposed project scope. Our biggest concern was security; we care deeply about the work you do and the community members you are working with and would be working on this project. With this in mind and for this project, we advise avoiding working in the highlighted high risk areas / regions and where possible implement the training online. While we are pleased to have learned from your security approach, we believe reducing the scope and avoiding implementation of the program in the high risk regions is an additional useful measure towards community safety. We also thought it may be useful to consider working with previous audiences you have worked with to upskill their Wiki skills and contribute to the goals of the project. We value your work and especially in closing knowledge and contributor gaps on issues related to LGBTQ and are keen on seeing you succeed.

Thank you for your contribution to the movement ; we value you as a partner of the movement.

On behalf of the MEA Regional Committee and staff , --Aristidek5maya (talk) 15:49, 29 May 2023 (UTC)

Assessment of project participants as Wikidata trainers

This project proposal includes introducing new users to Wikidata and training them in its use. As a Wikidata administrator, I have therefore attempted to assess whether project participants are suitable candidates to be Wikidata trainers. I have only been able to identify a user account for one project participant:

•  Oppose shelia_lucifer: They have created two items, one of which has been deleted as nonnotable. The extant item does not provide any indication of notability and its description does not conform to project guidelines. They have received feedback but have not responded to it.

In assessing an editor as a potential trainer for Wikidata, I consider whether they have substantial experience with the project, whether their contributions comply with project policy and guidelines, and whether they know how to respond appropriately to feedback. If an editor has not demonstrated these three skills personally, it seems unlikely that they will be able to pass them on to others in any training program. This is very important, because poorly-trained new users impose a significant burden on project volunteers; WMF funding should not be used to harm projects.

The only identifiable editor for this program fails to pass the bar in all three areas. Bovlb (talk) 23:59, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

@Aristidek5maya: The relevant elligibility requirements say: "Applicants to the Wikimedia Alliances Fund should also have demonstrable experience with Wikimedia projects, communities, or organizations directly related to the proposal prior to submission.". This proposal fails to pass this requirement and is therefore not eligible for funding. Could you explain this apparent discrepancy? Bovlb (talk) 23:59, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Bonjour, J'avoue ne pas comprendre votre préoccupation. Je vous invite à contacter directement la Fondation Wikimedia pour avoir les réponses appropriées. Cordialement Aristidek5maya (talk) 12:23, 24 June 2024 (UTC)