Grants talk:Simple/Applications/AfroCROWD/2021-2022

Comments from DSaroyan (WMF)

Hello Shanluan, thank you for submitting this sAPG application for AfroCROWD. I’ve completed its initial review and have some questions that I’d like you to respond to:

• Do you have an Annual Plan for 2021/2022 and Strategic Plan for the upcoming years? Could you please share them with us? If you currently don’t have a Strategic Plan, do you plan to develop one?

• Yes. Please see our Annual Plan and Strategic Plan sections of the application Shanluan (talk) 15:29, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

• How did you engage the community members in the development of this proposal?

• The proposal is a result of analysis from community engagement, meetings with stakeholders and partners and connection with the foundation via meetings on projects and the 2030 Movement Strategy. Our ED was elected as a representative for North America in the design process which also had an impact. Shanluan (talk) 15:29, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

• In the detailed budget, please remove 1.4 Wikimania expenses. Wikimania 2022 will be organized in August 2022 and this expense should be a part of your Annual Plan Grant for 2022-2023.

• This has been done. Shanluan (talk) 15:29, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

• Expenses 2.2.1 and 3.1.4 seem to be duplicates (Accounting services and Accountant). If they are not duplicates, could you please explain the difference between these two expense items? Otherwise, please remove one of them from your budget.

• Thank you, we made the update.Shanluan (talk) 15:29, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

• I suppose that the expense 2.1.3 Organizational consultant should also be under section 3.1? Please make this change or correct me if I’m wrong.

• Thanks, this has been done. Shanluan (talk) 15:29, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

• In the detailed budget, there expenses for a number of proposed contractors. However, the need and employment status of these contractors are not clear. In the staffing plan, could you please add details about these contractors? Why do you need them, what will be the contract terms and compensation rate?

• Please see our Staffing Plan updates regarding this Shanluan (talk) 08:03, 26 May 2021 (UTC)

• Aside from the executive director, do you have other team members who will be supporting you to carry out the proposed programs? How many other team members do you have and who they are?

• Yes. Aside from our executive director, Sherry Antoine, we have our founder, Alice Backer, serving as a key advisor. We also have dedicated community volunteers and Wiki coaches like Linda Fletcher, among others, who help us on a regular basis. This is not to mention the volunteer enthusiasts and experts throughout the Wiki community both globally and locally as we produce our events. In general, AfroCROWD heavily values collaboration and favors the inclusive, delegative leadership style. Over the years we have grown from a handful of editors at our first New York City meetups in 2015, to an initiative that has attracted thousands, with a listserv of over 3500 and partners ranging from Microsoft Caribbean to Columbia University, to the United Nations, and NPR. Partners in Nigeria to New Zealand, North Carolina to Norway and wherever else the African Diaspora exists and is making history. We have also partnered on local multicultural initiatives with professors and students at NYU and CUNY, with GLAM and grassroots organizations as well. We also helped pioneer translatathons, recordathons and created the COVID19 Global Wiki CheckIn. All of this accomplished with our nimble, open and ultra inclusive model. Often, our partners help provide resources, but during the pandemic, we have realized that as we grow and expand, accomplishing what we have dreamed to do in the Wikimedia Community, as we aim at the edges of innovation and creativity, we have to maintain talent, continue to build capacity, and develop and improve how we tell our story. The expert assistance and compensation we are requesting will help us to do this. Shanluan (talk) 08:03, 26 May 2021 (UTC)

• What is the current governance structure of AfroCROWD? Do you plan to recruit any new Board members in the upcoming year? Additionally, do you plan to organize any capacity building training for the leadership?

• We do not have a board. We normally hold training the trainers events and have professional development opportunities built in our programs. For example, several of our organizers have become volunteer Wikipedia coaches, what we call Wiki Coaches, able to train others. Our Wiki Coaches have gone on to develop community groups and events or campaigns, lead talks, present at events and other opportunities. We also have had Columbia University interns, one who afterwards went on to start a Wiki project at the school and now runs a program at Harvard on Black studies and another with whom we are partnering with at TED. This year we also offered professional development courses to fellow Wikipedians in the Movement as can be seen in our Midpoint report.'Shanluan (talk) 15:29, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

• In general, how do you ensure healthy and transparent governance processes in the chapter?

• Thanks for the question. While we are not a chapter, we have always identified closely with many of the ideals now espoused in the recommendations that have come out of the 2030 Movement Strategy process since our founding in 2015. As you can see in our application, we intend to stay true to those ideals of openness, knowledge sharing, safety, inclusion, cohesion, skills development and growth, equity, innovation and movement solidarity. Shanluan (talk) 15:29, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for your contributions to the Wikimedia Movement! Looking forward to hearing from you. Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 08:58, 20 May 2021 (UTC) Thank you. Shanluan (talk)

APG approved in the amount of 86,956.52 USD

Congratulations! Your grant is approved in the amount of 80,000 USD + 8% fiscal sponsorship fee (6,956.52 USD), with a grant term starting 1 July 2021 and ending 30 June 2022.

We appreciate the work that AfroCROWD is planning to do through its five programmatic areas to amplify underrepresented knowledge and to promote knowledge equity, aligned with the Strategic Direction of the Wikimedia Movement. We commend you on developing new partnerships and relationships in the GLAM and educational communities and growing new partnerships within the linguistic and information literacy communities. Additionally, we acknowledge your needs for having more capacity in the team in order to achieve new goals and grow.

However, while we can support most of these needs, the currently available budget for the Simple APG program is limited, and we are unable to approve this grant for the full requested amount. We hope that this reduction will not affect the great work you are doing!

In terms of the governance structures, we completely support the Committee’s recommendation and advise you to think about strengthening the current systems.

We wish you all the best and look forward to working with you in 2021-2022.

Best regards from the SAPG Committee and Staff --VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 13:00, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Request

AfroCROWD requests reallocation of $750 total from budget line items 1.2 and 1.3 to line item 2.4.2 for office furniture and equipment. Shanluan (talk) 22:16, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

@Shanluan: Noting this reallocation request was approved via request by e-mail through our correspondence earlier in the year. Thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 10:43, 9 April 2022 (UTC)