Wikimedia Foundation elections/2021/Peer support for potential candidates
Peer support for potential candidates is a process in preparation for Wikimedia Foundation elections/2021.
As an adjunct to the official Call for Candidates, this unofficial preliminary process is meant to help connect potential candidates considering a run to Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees members (current and former), and possibly also other categories with wide movement experience, who can provide mentorship and peer support during a one-on-one consultation session. This idea is conceived as an outgrowth of Candidate resources and Topic panel on Support for candidates, and seeks to foster of "culture of invitation" so that potential candidates have someone helpful to talk to before they might choose to register officially as candidates.
Interested Board of Trusteees members (current and former)
edit- Jan-Bart de Vreede, Jan-Bart (talk) 12:03, 8 May 2021 (UTC)
- Alice Wiegand (talk) 08:27, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
- schiste (talk) 16:41, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
- –SJ talk 18:07, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
- Anthere (talk) 22:11, 12 May 2021 (UTC)
- Bishdatta (talk) 08:45, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
- Happy to answer questions and offer support (disclosure: still undecided about running) Pundit (talk) 13:59, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
- Grin, by the looks of the candidate page you have made up your mind ;) Jan-Bart (talk) 08:53, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
- Raystorm (talk) 19:01, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
- I think you could mention that you would provide this support as a paid consultant rather than as volunteers as the others do. Anthere (talk) 13:35, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
- Also happy to answer questions. I will not be running again but want to support strong candidates to replace me. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 19:53, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
How to participate
editIf you wish to participate as a candidate or potential candidate, sign up for a 20-minute one-on-one consultation session with the mentor of your choice.
Just list your username and your preferred mentor of choice from the list above.
For example, *I would like to have a mentorship session with Alice Wiegand.--~~~~
- I would like to have a mentorship session with Florence Devouard. --Vinicius Siqueira (talk) 18:06, 21 June 2021 (UTC)
- I would like to have a mentorship session with Florence Desvouard ( Anthere ) . Yasield (talk) 12:41, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
- I will help you my friend. Anthere (talk) 18:26, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
- -
Questions
edit- Questions from Rtnf
Sorry, 20-minute one-on-one consultation session might be too much for me. So i just ask some question instead right here.
1. Regarding the commitments. I usually contribute on Wikipedia casually as a volunteer, whenever i have ideas to write, or just casually chat around with the local community in Telegram and Twitter, discussing the future of Wikipedia, how we can make Wikipedia better, promoting Wikipedia to the general public, etc. What is the expected commitments if i run as a board? What are the consequences if i fail to meet those commitments. I do want to make Wikimedia better, but this question has been bugging me out. I'm kinda scared if i fail to meet those big commitments and responsibility. One of the things that i love very much regarding Wikipedia movement is the volunteerism. We can stop whenever we want to rest a bit, and we dont have to be forced to continue the movement if we dont want to.
2. Can we work as a board member online? Work from home?
3. For those who don't want to continue running it again this year. What's the reason? Why quitting? (If this question is too personal, we maybe can continue discussing it privately via email. But i really want this answer. Especially regarding the state of current Wikimedia Foundation, from the insider's perspective) Rtnf (talk) 03:19, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
- Hi Rtnf, you might start your journey to find some answers if the Foundation Board is where you see yourself engaged in a the Trustees Election Toolkit which was published a few days ago. It gives you a lot of resources with regard to the role of a trustee, the responsibilities and more. Alice Wiegand (talk) 15:07, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you Rtnf (talk) 00:51, 20 June 2021 (UTC)
I do not care about 20 mn or more as long as I can find the time. Anthere (talk) 18:26, 24 June 2021 (UTC)
- WikiAfrica Hour
Hello. We will host the WikiAfrica Hour next Friday, dedicated to the Wikimedia Foundation. We are happy to welcome anyone interested to attend it live, with the possibility to interact with the guests (this will include former board members such as Maria and I; or candidate (Reda) and elections facilitators). If you can not attend, the session will be recorded and displayed on our youtube channel. Anthere (talk)