Welcome to the second issue of the AffCom News! The newsletter distributes relevant news and events about the work of Wikimedia's Affiliations Committee. This issue covers April-June 2024.
Adoption of a new affiliate health criteria: The AffCom charter tasked the committee with “promoting community health and growth”, including by “monitoring affiliates' continued compliance with affiliate rules and criteria” and by “provid[ing] support to affiliates as they attempt to grow in membership, build programs to further the Wikimedia mission, and improve their governance practices”. As a result from the Affiliates Strategy conversation since 2023, AffCom has voted to adopt the following 10 criteria for affiliates, grouped into four main areas:
Goal Delivery
Organisational Development
Leadership & Inclusion
Engagement & Collaboration
Follow through and communication of expectations and goals
Good governance and communication
Diverse, skilled, and accountable leadership
Internal (membership) engagement
Financial and legal compliance
Diversity balance (especially gender)
Community connection
Affiliate health and resilience
Universal Code of Conduct compliance
Partnerships and collaboration
Changes to User Groups recognition process: AffCom has adopted the revised process for User Group recognition, adding to the recognition process:
1) a live interview (by video call) with AffCom members;
2) the requirement that user group applicants publish a public letter of intent to affected wikis/projects and affiliates; and
3) the creation of a one-year trial period for applicants to demonstrate their activities and effectiveness.
The following report covers the Chapters recognition pipeline:
Application
Status
The Bylaws review is complete. The Criteria review by AffCom is complete. Review by Trust and Safety and Human rights is complete. The next step is drafting recommendations for BoTs by AffCom.
The Bylaws review is complete. The Criteria review by AffCom is complete. Review by Trust and Safety and Human rights is complete. The next step is drafting recommendations for BoTs by AffCom.
AffCom has prepared recommendations for the Board of Trustees on Chapter application. The next step is the overall process & status review by staff and drafting recommendations before the application is submitted to the Board.
The Bylaws review is complete. The Criteria review by AffCom is complete. Review by Trust and Safety and Human rights is complete. The next step is a Criteria review by staff.
The Bylaws review is complete. The templates for the Criteria review and Trust and Safety and Human rights review were shared with the affiliate. The requested details are awaited from the affiliate.
Pre-Application prep work with AffCom for recognition as a Chapter.
In the third quarter of 2023-24, the Affiliations Committee received 5 new User Group applications.
There are no new recognitions, as the Wikimedia Board of Trustees approved a soft moratorium on applications. All applications received before June 12, 2024, can be processed for recognition using the current recognition requirements. All applications after this date will have to follow the new process for recognitions.
As of July 1, 2024, 35 Wikimedia Chapters (95%), 2 Thematic Organization (100%), and 126 active User Groups (84%) were compliant with the required reporting.
This represents a decrease in compliance trend for Chapters (87% last quarter), a decrease for User Groups (64% last quarter), and increase for Thematic Organizations (50% last quarter). See the detailed quarterly compliance archive on Meta-wiki.
Here are the activity reports from Wikimedia Affiliates published within the past quarter:
AffCom frequently receives requests for intervention from affiliate staff and members for situations outside AffCom's ability to intervene, requests that involve questions around serious abuse, harassment, or legal questions around conflict of interest and employment policies.
Due to the volunteer nature of AffCom and their limited expertise in legal matters which are bound by local laws, the committee is often required to decline cases on the basis that they cannot directly intervene in such issues. It is the responsibility of affiliates to engage local legal experts to resolve these matters. Despite their limitations, AffCom remains available for guidance on broader strategic and operational concerns. This approach underscores the importance of understanding AffCom's scope and the need for affiliates to handle local legal issues independently.
AffCom is managing six (6) active conflicts, with no new reports in Quarter 4 2023-24. The AffCom safeguards good governance and collaboration within the Wikimedia network of chapters and user groups. Recent cases highlight their diverse interventions, addressing issues like misrepresentation in leadership, disengagement, restricted community participation, and potential conflicts of interest. They facilitate communication, review bylaws, and uphold standards of conduct within user groups.
Additionally, AffCom addresses internal conflicts regarding representation in grant access, reviews membership suspensions, and ensures compliance regarding engagement with banned user policies. AffCom strengthens the Wikimedia movement through these efforts by fostering transparency, communication, and a culture of inclusivity and respect within its affiliates.
AffCom participates in Wikimedia movement conversations that relate to the affiliate system or where the Committee's experience and expertise would be otherwise beneficial, including answering questions about the affiliate system, providing advice relevant to affiliates or potential affiliates, and sharing knowledge and lessons related to operating as a committee with other movement bodies.
In the past quarter, AffCom members or the committee as a whole participated in these conversations:
The Wikimedia Summit 2024, held in Berlin from April 19–21, 2024, focused on two primary objectives:
Bringing people together to make significant progress on designing future Wikimedia governance, including generating outputs on the Movement Charter; and
By the Summit's conclusion, a group of affiliates was formed with the commitment to design a new concept for future affiliate gatherings, with the working assumption that the next gathering would take place in 2026.
AffCom members actively participated in discussions on affiliates' perspectives, relationships between affiliates and hubs, capacity development, and future gatherings. These discussions provided invaluable feedback for AffCom's role within the Wikimedia ecosystem. The summit also allowed AffCom to strengthen relationships with affiliates, address challenges, and explore new opportunities. It served as a platform to connect with new members, Maor Malul and Aleksey Chalabyan, and build strong bonds with advisors HakanIST and Johnny Alegre.
In addition to his presentation, Suyash participated in a roundtable discussion on "ESEAP Perspectives in Wikimedia Global Governance". This conference was instrumental in building strong community connections and clarifying participants' doubts related to AffCom's recognition and conflict intervention processes. It also provided an opportunity for in-person meetings with AffCom members Agus Damanik and Johnny Alegre, who are from the ESEAP region.
AffCom published a Diff blog in April 2024, introducing the new members and advisors and outlined the evolution of its approach for advisor engagement.
In Quarter 1 2024-25 (July-September 2024), AffCom will hold its regular officers elections. The officers positions up for election are chair, vice-chair, and secretary.
AffCom advisors Aarya Joshi, Johnny Alegre, and Lucas Teles will serve as members of the officers elections committee.
The terms of two AffCom members, Basak Tosun and Joy Agyepong, ended in Quarter 4 of 2023-2024. AffCom expresses its gratitude for their long association with the committee and their significant contributions to advancing the affiliate strategy and supporting the usual workflows and beyond.
As governed by the relevant provision in its Charter, AffCom has created a Communications Subcommittee to oversee its communications, outreach, and engagement functions. The inaugural roster of this subcommittee consist of Johnny Alegre, Harriet Bayel, Aaryaa Joshi, and Mari Avetisyan, which have started their work with the second edition of this newsletter.
2022-12-07 The Board of Trustees has adopted the revised charter for the Affiliations Committee.
2022-11-30 The term of the serving AffCom members was prolonged to the end of 2023, and as per the decision of the Board of Trustees, and no elections are held in late 2022. The Board has invited AffCom to work on Affiliate Strategy.
2022-04-09Joy Agyepong and Benoît Prieur have been appointed to the Affiliations Committee as new members. In addition, incumbent member Mehman Ibragimov has been re-appointed for an additional term.
2021-12-19 The AffCom is seeking new members and advisors! Applications are accepted from January 1 to January 31. Also, everyone can share endorsement and comments for prospective members and advisors.
2021-06-01 The AffCom is seeking new members! Applications are accepted from June 1 to June 30. Also, everyone can share endorsement and comments for the June 2021 candidates.
2021-02-07 The Dagbani Wikimedians User Group User Group has been recognized as a user group for a one-year renewable period.
2019-03-07 Affiliations Committee has officially appointed Kirill Lokshin as Chair, Emna Mizouni as Vice-Chair, Sami Mlouhi as Secretary, and Olushola Olaniyan as Treasurer, for a one-year term.
2019-02-21 Following the December 2018 Call for Candidates, three new members were appointed and two members were reappointed in the Affiliations Committee.
2018-08-10 The Affiliations Committee has published a list of Next Questions for the communities in Brazil, after the de-recognition of WCUGB and Wiki Education Brazil.
2018-08-09 In the coming weeks an Affiliate Data survey will be launched to reach out to update key information about all affiliates.
2018-01-23 Following the December 2017 Call for Candidates, three new members were appointed and two members were reappointed in the Affiliations Committee.
2016-06-23 The Affiliations Committee convened at the Wikimania 2016. The committee presented a session at the last day of Wikimania about Wikimedia affiliates.
2016-06-07 Kentucky Wikimedians User Group is recognized as a user group for a one-year renewable period.
2016-05-31 Wikimedia of Latvia User Group is renewed for an additional one-year renewable period as a Wikimedia user group.
2016-05-31 Wikimedia Tunisia User Group is renewed through December 31, 2016 at which time they may again renew for an additional one-year term.
2016-05-27 Wikimedians in Thailand is renewed for an additional one-year renewable period as a Wikimedia user group.
2016-05-24 Wikimedia Community Brazilian Group of Education and Research is renewed for an additional one-year renewable period as a Wikimedia user group.
2014-11-04 Manuel Schneider, Ganesh Paudel, Emily Temple-Wood, Ting Chen, and Anirudh Singh Bhati are appointed to the Affiliations Committee for two-year terms. Bence Damokos and Lodewijk Gelauff have decided to resign from the Affiliations Committee due to personal commitments.
2014-10-20 The Affiliations Committee approves the travel of Salvador Alcántar to attend Iberoconf 2014 (Iberoamerican Wikimedia Conference 2014) to meet and negotiate with current and prospective affiliates.
2014-04-11 Vice-chair Cynthia Ashley-Nelson passed away in her sleep while attending the Affiliations Committee annual meeting in Berlin.
2014-04-10 New officers were selected for the committee. Carlos Colina is chair, and Cynthia Ashley-Nelson is vice-chair for a term ending April 1, 2015.
2013-09-17 The report of the Affiliations Committee's Wikimania meeting is now available on Meta.
2013-07-31 The Affiliations Committee will be holding an in-person meeting at Wikimania on 6–7 August, and will be present at the Chapters Village on 9–11 August. We encourage all Wikimania attendees to reach out to us in person. We apologize for any delay in responding to e-mails during this time as our members will be working and travelling.
2013-03-17 New officers were selected for the committee. Bence Damokos is chair, Carlos Colina vice-chair and Maria Sefidari is serving as treasurer until March 2014.
2012-12-12 If you want to help the creation of new thematic organizations, apply for AffCom membership!
2012-11-16 For thoughts regarding the naming of thematic organizations, see the talk page.
2012-06-18 As the model of thematic organizations is new, there might be certain changes in policy, recommendations and best practices over time. Please have this page on your watchlist in order not to miss any announcements.