Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Wikimedia Levant strategic plan for calendar year 2022

Regional Committee Recommendations

Dear Wikimedians of the Levant,

Thank you for submitting this grant application. The Middle East and Africa Regional Committee has reviewed your application and recommended it for full funding. We think that you have submitted a well-developed proposal with an elaborate plan and requested resources.

The Committee acknowledges the challenges that the User Group faces when working regionally and trying to engage new community members from other countries in the region besides Jordan. We hope that the new CEO will support the User Group leaders, members, and volunteers to achieve more impact. Additionally, we hope that the new CEO will work towards strategies on how to face some of the regional challenges and pave the way for regional collaborations.

Lastly, we were keen to learn more about how you plan to address underrepresented communities, e.g. women ?

All the best. On behalf of the Regional Committee, VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 09:54, 25 November 2021 (UTC)

Answer

Hello VThamaini (WMF), amazing news to hear from you all, Thank you a lot for your efforts, we appreciate it!

Wikimedia Levant becomes more diverse and inclusive can empower individuals from underrepresented communities by giving them the insights, tools and strategies they need. When groups are diverse and inclusive, they outperform their peers. Time and again, they beat the results of their less diverse peers when it comes to making better decisions. and the Power of Choice. Individuals choose how they react to the barriers they face, both inside and outside of voluntary work.

1. The awareness choice Individuals from underrepresented groups must become more self-aware on two fronts: what they need to do to become more successful and what strategies or behaviors may help or hinder them as they work to achieve their goals.

• Steps for individuals to take:

Clarify the path they want to follow by asking questions. What do they really want? Why do they want it? What are they willing to do to get it?

2. capacity-building Adopt a capacity-building mindset and forget the old adage that “you either have it or you don’t.” If they choose to believe that they can develop the skills and behaviors necessary to allow them to achieve at a high level, they will. they’ll build the confidence they need to succeed. Broaden how they think about confidence and work to strengthen their confidence in different areas. Confidence is about more than knowing their stuff — that’s how people prove themselves. To progress, they need confidence in their ability to navigate politics and build relationships

Stage 1: Contributing dependently where they learn about their role, build their credibility and serve as a helper to others.
Stage 2: Contributing independently where they establish and apply their expertise and become more of a specialist.
Stage 3: Contributing through others where they guide, coordinate and develop others, serving as a coach, mentor, idea leader, internal consultant or project leader.
Stage 4: Contributing strategically to shape the organizational direction and serving as a sponsor, innovator.

people from underrepresented groups, particularly women, suffer from imposter syndrome, where they doubt their accomplishments and feel that they’re going to be exposed as fraud.

The key is to maintain a powerful internal voice that can drown out the naysayers. While we can’t control what others say to us, we can control how we receive and frame those messages and what we say to ourselves.

• Steps for individuals to take:

1. Understand the impact societal or external messages have on the choices they make as individuals.
2. Assess and, if necessary, reframe the messages they have received from their family, community, culture or religion about who they are and what is appropriate for them.
3. Make definitive choices based on these insights, for example by deciding to undertake a stretch assignment that will challenge them.

To build relationships, individuals need to recognize and appreciate cultural differences and understand that people with different perspectives won’t always want to form trusting relationships in the same way. Individuals must reframe their thinking: they must approach networking as a way to authentically get to know others and create mutually rewarding relationships.

• Steps for individuals to take:

They must understand how relationships can influence their personal and professional goals. Learn how to be flexible and effective at using appropriate influencing strategies for different situations. To develop a competitive advantage, your organization needs to optimize your talent’s ability to make a contribution. That means you need a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion and that ensures that everyone has the capability to grow and develop.

To achieve these goals, you must address the structural and behavioral issues that may be perpetuating barriers and preventing underrepresented groups from achieving their full potential. And you also need differentiated development for underrepresented groups.

so we can support them at first by some activities like:

1. held a workshop to discuss a development building like the advanced workshop to make them leaders not just a new user
2. allow them to make a decision
3. we decide to hold a Levantine meeting and it will be a suitable way to meet together and hear from them
4. make a supportive area with supportive leaders

kindly, if you have any questions let us know!

Greetings,

براء (talk) 13:20, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

Wikimedia Community Fund approved in the amount of 32,950 USD

Dear براء and Wikimedians of the Levant, thanks for your detailed response. Once again, we appreciate your work on the Wikimedia Community Fund application. We are glad to inform you that the Middle East and Africa Regional Committee decided to approve your grant request in the amount of 32,950 USD, with a grant term starting 1 January 2022 and ending 31 December 2022.

We commend your User Group on remarkable community retention strategies. However, as we mentioned in our previous post, we would like to see more engagement from other countries in the region besides Jordan. We recommend Wikimedians of the Levant to work towards this target in the upcoming year, although we also understand that there are political and economical challenges beyond User Group's control that may make this goal a challenge.

We welcome Wikimedians of the Levant's decision on hiring a new CEO. We believe that this new staff position will support User Group's activities and reduce volunteer burnout. We hope that the new CEO will work towards wider regional impact and new partnerships. Moreover, we hope that the new position will support the User Group to strengthen organizational structure and internal processes, which, in turn, will bring more effective projects in the future.

We appreciate the User Group's excellent work on the learning questions and we are keen to learn more about their progress and learnings. Additionally, we thank Wikimedians of the Levant for their exceptional work for the community members in the region. We look forward to working with you next year and we wish you all the best for your annual activities.

On behalf of the Regional Committee and Community Resources. All the best, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 04:52, 15 December 2021 (UTC)