Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees/Call for feedback: Community Board seats/Reports/2021-02-22 Conversation with WikimediaLGBT+

2021-02-22 Conversation with Wikimedia LGBT+ edit

Comments on Ideas

  • Quotas
    • One person is against quotas because they bring an opportunity for tokenism.
  • Vetting of candidates
    • People who are running must show evidence for how they qualify (like how you have to for a job with a cover letter/resume). The requirements have to be stated up front.
    • The candidates have to show to the community how they meet the qualifications.

Community Ideas

  • Regional Board Seats
    • One person said increasing regional diversity is important. They said there are differences between countries in regions, so it’s problematic to place them in one group.
  • Candidate resources
    • A lot of people don’t know what the Board does (tell people what the Board does in their language). Then state the election, nomination, volunteer process etc. with qualifications for each.

Miscellaneous

  • Wikimedia LGBT+ wikimedians are overtaxed in consultations.
  • The number of people invested in governance and policy are static.
  • The Board is put in positions that aren’t theirs to decide (like the Universal Code of Conduct)
  • Processes must be transparent, especially with those community-elected board seats.
  • ”Not sure if they’re not hiring the right people or there aren’t the right processes - an organization that has been around for 20 years and relying on volunteers to get stuff done when paid staff fail the volunteers and show that they’re not engaging in good practice, it doesn’t look good.”


  • Communication
    • More transparency from the Wikimedia Foundation is desired.
    • Have conversations where people feel safe to participate.
    • Make sure volunteer communities are made aware of elections and candidacy qualifications.
    • Meta is not updated - “if you’re a volunteer you should be able to go to one meta page. Don’t give people 50 pages, but give them very clear described links to get to information.”
    • A central calendar is needed to see what all is going on right now.
    • There is overcommunication on certain platforms that not everyone is using. Concise updates through email or people’s talk pages should be streamlined and reviewed.
    • Volunteers don’t know the Wikimedia Foundation budget and want that communicated.
    • Communication best practice to consider: Creative Commons: They “share information with everyone about what is happening from the bottom to the top in the organization.”

CfF Feedback

  • The community is worried direct voting will be eliminated