Wikimedia Foundation elections/2024/FAQ

General questions

What is the Board of Trustees?

The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia Foundation's operations. The Board of Trustees is made up of community-and-affiliate selected trustees, appointed trustees, and a community founder trustee. Each trustee serves a three year term. The Wikimedia community can take part in selecting community- and affiliate-selected trustees.

Who are the trustees on the Board?

The trustees are people from all over the world with a broad spectrum of experiences. Find out more about who is currently on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.

What is the Elections Committee and why do they decide on the voting method?

The Elections Committee oversees community elections to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. A standing Elections Committee was first instituted in July 2016, but its ad hoc predecessors have been around since the first Board election in 2004. The committee consists of volunteers from the community.

I love governance! How can I get more involved in the Board elections?

That’s great! The more community members who are involved in the election, the better the process is. Community members can become a candidate or participate as an Election Volunteer.

Election Volunteers bridge the gap between the Elections Committee, the Wikimedia Foundation team supporting the Board elections, and the wider community. They enable community members to participate in elections and contribute to shaping the movement.

FAQ for candidates

How many seats are open during this cycle?

There are four (4) community- and-affiliate-selected seats open for the 2024 Board selection process.

Why must I be fluent in English?

All Board business is conducted in English and Trustees must be fluent in both spoken and written English. Due to privacy and confidentiality reasons, the Foundation cannot support translation for written materials or meetings. The Foundation will, however, help support Trustees who would like to improve aspects of their English fluency, like their English pronunciation.

Why have the minimum qualifications changed?

Candidates must meet minimum qualifications to serve on the Board of Trustees. These minimum criteria were identified by the Wikimedia Foundation Board Selection Working Group with input from the Elections Committee. The two additions for this year – previous experience serving on a collective decision-making body, especially Boards or committees and significant experience in Wikimedia (or equivalent) movement building and organizing – are meant to identify candidates who would have the relevant experiences to succeed as a Board member.

What does ‘real name’ mean? And why must I disclose this?

‘Real name’ refers to your legal name. If you are selected and appointed to the Board of Trustees, your legal name will be used to do a background and media check. Once on the Board, your legal name will be used for required external reporting documents, such as the Form 990, that are required by law, as a non-profit organization in the US.

What happens during the background check and media check?

For the background check, the Foundation works with a vendor who collects information from candidates (including a copy of their ID) and checks it against various databases of criminal, legal, and financial records. The background check is run by the Foundation’s Talent & Culture department, who flags any potential concerns to the Board officers. The background check process is similar to the one used when hiring Foundation staff.

For the media check, the Foundation works with a vendor who searches for discussion of the candidate in the media as well as public statements made by the candidate. The background check is run by the Foundation’s Talent & Culture department, who provides a summary and flags any potential concerns to the Board officers.

You can learn more here.

What are examples of proof of identity? When is the proof required and what happens with that proof after my candidacy?

A proof of identity can be any official form of identification, including your identification card and your passport. When you declare your candidacy, you will be asked to send this proof of identity to secure-info@wikimedia.org to confirm your identity. And once the selection process is completed, your proof of identity will be deleted.

Why is there a shortlisting process?

Community review of past selection processes have noted that it becomes impossible for most voters to comfortably review the materials of each candidate  if the number of candidates is too great. These comments were received during the 2021 Board selection process when there were 19 candidates for 2 seats. For the 2024 selection process, the shortlisting process would only be activated if there are more than 15 candidates. The threshold for the number of candidates is based on the number of open seats, which will be 4 in this year.

Why are affiliates doing the shortlisting?

Each affiliate has two designated representatives to organize participation in movement-related processes. Shortlisting candidates - and thoroughly reviewing the candidate materials - takes a lot of time and effort, and affiliates have positively participated in this process in the past. It is anticipated that affiliate representatives will involve and coordinate with other community members in evaluating candidates, leading to an inclusive process.

How are the affiliate representatives expected to make their decision for the shortlisting?

The affiliate representatives conducting the shortlisting are expected to carefully review each candidate in consideration of the requirements and desired criteria for Board of Trustee candidates as outlined by the Board. They should select only as many candidates as meet the expectations for becoming a Wikimedia Foundation trustee, up to a maximum of 12 candidates. If they find more than 12 candidates who meet the expectations, they should select the 12 candidates with the best fit.

Who will be enforcing campaigning guidelines?

The Elections Committee is responsible for enforcing the campaigning guidelines for candidates.

Why is there onboarding for candidates?

Onboarding serves two goals: (1) to help candidates assess if the role is what they expected and if they are a good fit for the role and (2) to help develop the skills that would make transitioning to the Board of Trustees easier for the selected candidates.

FAQ for voters

Are there requirements to be eligible to vote?

Yes, there are. The Elections Committee decides the voting eligibility criteria.

How many times may I vote?

The rule is: one user, one vote. To meet the editor voting eligibility, your contributions will be counted across all wikis, if it’s your home-wiki or any other.

If you decide to change your vote, you may do so. This can be because you have changed your mind or if you have made a mistake. Simply vote again and your previous vote will be struck.

When will the selected trustees be appointed?

The final appointment is expected to happen at the December 2024 Board of Trustees meeting.

What voting system did the Election Committee decide on?

The Elections Committee chose the Single Transferable Vote method. This voting system allows voters to rank candidates instead of just voting for one candidate. Review an example of the voting mechanism on Meta-wiki.

What platform will be used to run the vote?

As with all Board of Trustees elections since 2009, this election will use the SecurePoll platform.