Wikimedia CEE Hub/Steering Committee

WIKIMEDIA CEE HUB

Regional hub covering Central and Eastern Europe

The Steering Committee (SC) is the governing body of the CEE Hub project. It decides on matters outlined in the Internal Governance document and it is currently appointed at the annual Wikimedia CEE Meeting.

During the first period i.e. during the implementation of the CEE Hub project in 2022 and 2023 the SC had nine (9) members. At the Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2023 it was decided that the new SC will be composed of (10) members. The mandate of these members lasts till the next CEE meeting i.e. approximately for one year (till autumn every respective year).

Current Steering Committee

The Steering Committee currently consists of the following ten members:

Anna Prodromou (Wikimedia Community User Group Cyprus)
- Thematic areas:
  - Communication
  - Programmatic
Başak Tosun (Türkiye)
- Thematic areas:
  - Eastern Europe, Turkic Languages
  - Education
Ivana Madžarević (Wikimedia Serbia)
- Thematic areas:
  - Programmatic
  - Microgrants, Project incubator
Kiril Simeonovski (Wikimedia MKD)
- Thematic areas:
  - Events
  - Governance
  - Microgrants
Klára Joklová (Wikimedia Czech Republic)
- Thematic areas:
  - Wikimedia Europe and ED Group liaison (as long as the CEE Hub Coordinator is not part of the ED Group)
  - CEE Youth Group
Natalia Ćwik (Wikimedia Poland)
- Thematic areas:
  - Fiscal sponsorship
  - Evaluation
Philip Kopetzky (Austria)
- Thematic areas:
  - Governance
  - International relationships
Strainu (Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova User Group)
- Thematic areas:
  - MediaWiki Tools
  - Community capacity building
  - Grants
Toni Sant (Malta)
- Thematic areas:
  - Education
  - Community capacity building
Wojciech Pędzich (Poland)
- Thematic areas:
  - Social network management
  - Communication

Past SC members

List of the previous CEE Hub's SC members:

Käbi Laan (Wikimedia Estonia) in the period October 2022 - September 2023
- Portfolio: Baltic states cooperation, minority languages, HR and work processes, communication channels
- Expertise: education, communication, Finno-ugric communities/Minority communities
Anton Protsiuk (Wikimedia Ukraine)
- Portfolio: media skills, work processes, content campaigns, cross-regional collaboration, outreach
- Expertise: campaign organizing (article and photo contests), external communications and promoting awareness of Wikipedia
Tisza Gergő (Hungary)
- Portfolio: liaison with WMF about tech information, Movement Strategy, Movement Strategy Forum
- Expertise: technology, strategy, organization experience
Michał Buczyński (Wikimedia Poland)
- Portfolio: Fiscal sponsor liaison, financial management
- Expertise: Finance, risk management, growth and professionalization, resource allocation, change and programmes

Special advisers

Special advisers can be appointed by the Steering Committee to assist the CEE Hub project with specific tasks or expertise, for example the onboarding process when hiring new staff members.

Special advisers:

Delphine Ménard (Expertise: Onboarding, Grants, HR)
Natalia Szafran-Kozakowska (Expertise: Volunteer Support, Communication, CEE Research)

CEE Hub group

In addition to the Steering Committee members and special advisers, members of the CEE Hub group are also invited to monthly status and monthly strategic meetings. This group (formerly known as wider group) is open to anyone who is interested to follow the work and development of the CEE Hub. The members of this group have the same access to information, documentation and meetings as the Steering Committee does.

Currently (October 2024), this group is composed of fourteen (14) members. If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact staff members.

CEE Hub group members (14):

Käbi Laan (Estonia)
Tadeáš Bednarz (Czech Republic)
Željko Blace (Croatia)
Farhad Fatkullin (Russia)
Mykola Kozlenko (Ukraine)
Tomasz Wszeborowski (Poland)
Miroslav Loci (Serbia)
Greta Doçi (Albania)
Mehman Ibragimov (Georgia)
Arshak Shahinyan (Armenia)
Vyollca Merdani (Albania)
Anton Protsiuk (Ukraine)
Tisza Gergő (Hungary)
Michał Buczyński (Poland)

Selection process for the 2024/2025 Steering Committee

Lacking a formal governance structure that would enable elections or other selection methods of the Steering Committee, the process in 2024 was as follows, guided by the internal governance of the CEE Hub:

The governance working group of the CEE Hub created a page outlining the requirements and skills that committee members should bring into the steering committee
In early July 2024 a call was published on the CEE mailing list and on social media channels
After the application period that ended at the end of June, the four candidates were interviewed by the governance working group
At the same time, communities and affiliates were invited to give feedback on all 13 candidates for the 10 places on the Steering Committee and who their preferences are
Based on the interviews and the feedback, the governance working group wrote a recommendation for the setup of the new Steering Committee that will start its work one day after the CEE Meeting 2024.
In mid-August 2024, the old Steering Committee then voted on the new Steering Committee, formalising the new setup
The new Steering Committee will then be announced online and also be presented at the CEE Meeting 2024 in September 2024
The new Steering Committee will commence its work on the 22nd of September 2024 until the CEE Meeting 2025