Elezioni Wikimedia Foundation/2024/Candidati/Lorenzo Losa

See also: Le risposte dei candidati alle domande dei membri della comunità

Lorenzo Losa (Laurentius)

Laurentius (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA • AE)

Dettagli sui candidati	Lorenzo Losa nel 2023 alla WikiConference India Informazioni personali: Nome: Lorenzo Losa Ubicazione: Italia Lingue: Italiano (madrelingua), inglese (fluente), spagnolo (conoscenza base) Contributi sui progetti: Wikimediano/a da: 2004 Wiki in cui è attivo/a: Wikipedia in italiano, Wikidata
Il numero totale di parole per l'intera candidatura (domande obbligatorie + facoltative) è di 1000 (mille) parole.
Domande obbligatorie
Perché ti candidi al Board of Trustees di Wikimedia Foundation? Quale sarà il tuo contributo? Quali sono i temi su cui vorresti sapere di più?	Negli ultimi tre anni di attività nel Board, ho imparato molto, ma una cosa spicca: la consapevolezza della nostra natura globale. Non ero un novellino: la mia prima modifica su Wikipedia risale al 2004, e avevo già esperienza di governance. Mi ero impegnato nella comunità internazionale per un decennio. Tuttavia, non avevo ancora compreso appieno la nostra natura globale. Durante la mia prima riunione del consiglio di amministrazione, ricordo una diapositiva che raccontava la storia della conquista di Kabul da parte dei talebani, un evento recente per l'epoca. Non ero abituato a questo! Si tratta di un evento globale importante, pubblicato su tutti i giornali, ma non ero abituato a pensare che il mio lavoro avesse un impatto, o fosse influenzato, da questi eventi. Lo stesso vale per le nostre comunità, che hanno tutta l'ampiezza e la diversità di un movimento globale; e tutte le sfide di culture, lingue e fusi orari diversi che lavorano insieme. Far parte del Board of Trustees ha ampliato la mia prospettiva sulle nostre comunità e l'opportunità di lavorare meglio per loro. Non vedo l'ora di continuare a imparare dalle nostre comunità in tutto il mondo e di sostenerle in ogni modo possibile.
Descrivi la tua esperienza nel mondo Wikimedia (ad esempio contributi ai progetti Wikimedia, appartenenza a organizzazioni o affiliati Wikimedia, attività come organizzatore del movimento Wikimedia o partecipazione a un'organizzazione affine al movimento Wikimedia).	Ho fatto la mia prima modifica su Wikipedia 20 anni fa, nell'aprile 2004. Da allora sono stato volontario, amministratore della Wikipedia italiana, volontario VRT, operatore bot. Complessivamente, ho fatto più di 1 milione di modifiche, comprese quelle dei bot. Sono stato presidente di Wikimedia Italia, membro del Funds Dissemination Committee eletto dalla comunità e attualmente sono vicepresidente del Board of Trustees della WMF e presidente del comitato per i prodotti e la tecnologia.
Dal tuo punto di vista, quali dovrebbero essere le priorità della Wikimedia Foundation nei prossimi 5-10 anni e perché le consideri importanti?	Una vecchia versione dei valori di Wikimedia afferma che "Le nostre comunità sono la nostra più grande risorsa", ed è vero. Rafforzare la comunità è la chiave del nostro successo. Inoltre, dobbiamo renderci conto che siamo tutti interconnessi e interdipendenti. È fondamentale creare coesione e migliorare l'ascolto reciproco. Si tratta di priorità interne, ma non siamo isolati. Il mondo sta cambiando e l'approccio all'informazione sta cambiando. Questo avrà un impatto sul modo in cui le persone raggiungono Wikipedia e sulla nostra capacità di attrarre volontari donatori. Comprendere questi cambiamenti e adattarsi è fondamentale.
Optional questions - Professional Experience, Skills and Education
Please describe your experience with governing bodies of organizations (nonprofit or for-profit), mentioning the scope of your responsibilities, as well as the complexity of the organization (in terms of scale of operations, budget, number of people involved, or other meaningful measures) and the size of the board or body.	I've served in governing bodies at different scales, including: Chair or board member of small associations (no staff, minimal budget). Chair of Wikimedia Italy (approximately 10 employees, 400 members, 500k$ budget). Member of committees like the Funds Dissemination Committee. Vicechair of the WMF board, and Product&Technology Committee chair.
Please describe your professional career experience.	After leaving my PhD studies, I founded a company focused on reuse of bibliographical data (WikiCite didn't exist at the time!), and later I helped with the start-up of other companies. Today, I lead the development of an electronic brokerage platform, part of a group operating multiple markets related to sustainable commodities.
Please briefly describe 3 situations that show how you tackled, or advised others on, a complex problem in an organization. How did you work with others to address the situations?	As newly elected chair of Wikimedia Italy, facing a hard decision: I asked the board to take a pause, and I set a clear timeline, making space for thinking together. That enabled different perspectives to emerge, focusing on what's best for the association, and avoiding hasty decisions. At my workplace, planning a major change. I began with small-scale experiments, to assess the situation. Then I continued with gradual changes, to build momentum. At every stage, I communicated and listened - especially to the most critical voices. That prepared the ground for the final push, with everyone's support. In advising a nonprofit to rethink itself, I facilitated a strategic meeting helping them bridge strengths and needs. I didn't provide answers, but tools that enabled them to find the answers by themselves.
Please describe your educational background, including degrees, certificates, and courses of study finished, and their relevance to board work.	I've earned a master degree in Mathematics from the Scuola Normale Superiore, where I've also been a PhD candidate. In recent years, I attended trainings to build the skills I need as a board member, including: On managing nonprofits in Italy (e.g., [1][2]) On governance: Value Creation through Effective Boards, IESE Business School Team Dynamics for Boards, IMD Non-Profit Board Leadership Agent of Impact, Board Veritas Extensive training in facilitation (that I applied in movement events)
Please add any relevant links describing your professional background, experience, profile (such as LinkedIn, staff page, etc.).
Optional questions - Leadership Experience
Please describe ways in which you have helped to form a bridge between multiple communities (such as by working on projects outside your home wiki, or working on a collaboration between multiple affiliates).	Opportunities for building bridges present themselves all the time - as long as you create the spaces for them and follow up. In the past three years on the board, I've been able to attend events of different communities. Talking with people in my home wiki, and in my country, is important to me for the depth it provides; but only connecting with people in all parts of the wiki world gives the breadth needed to glimpse its full complexity.
Can you describe a policy, on wiki or off, that you helped to create or change? What did you learn from this experience?	I began my term as chair of Wikimedia Italy with the creation of a conflict of interest policy, and I ended it with a complete overhaul of the bylaws, to adapt to changing national laws. My key learning is that policies are important, but the principles and the culture that upholds them are much more important. In healthy organizations, policies help to be efficient and improve. To change an organization, however, policies alone aren't enough: the culture is what you really should focus on.
How have you been able to empower people to make their voices heard?	It might seem trivial, but the first step is asking. Create a space that welcomes their voices, and let them know they're welcome. I see a lot of good faith and willingness to listen: we need to create the conditions to translate it into practice.
Sometimes in professional situations, there are personality conflicts. Explain how you remain productive even with personality conflicts.	Conflict is unpleasant, but not always bad: it makes different perspectives visible, and brings light to your blindspots. It's a learning opportunity. Conflicts become productive by focusing on what the person is bringing, not on whether I like it. In many cases, even when labeled as personality conflicts, it's not about the people but about the voices they bring - and that deserve to be heard.
Optional questions - Strategic Thinking
Where do you see the need for greater diversity in the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees or within the movement? What steps would you take to improve diversity on the Board or within the movement? What steps would you recommend the Board take to improve diversity?	We need a wide range of perspectives to look at issues from any possible angle and make the right decisions. The board does well in some measures of diversity, like gender or age, and not so well in others, like geography. The keys to improve are: Support volunteers across the globe to grow in governance roles at local, regional and global levels. Create spaces to surface different perspectives. Having the right people is not enough: we need their voices.
Verifica	Verifiche eseguite dalla commissione elettorale o dallo staff di Wikimedia Foundation.
	Ammissibilità: Verificato Verificato da: KTC (talk) 19:57, 3 June 2024 (UTC)	Identificazione: Verificato Verificato da: – NahidSultan (WMF) (talk) 06:33, 30 May 2024 (UTC)