Wikipedia 20/Get involved/Wikimedia Foundation
What is the Wikimedia Foundation doing for Wikipedia 20?
We want to use this anniversary as a celebration of the 20 years that have brought us here, and share in the anticipation of what’s to come. We are celebrating how humans made Wikipedia what it is, and only humans can help sustain and grow it. We are celebrating 20 years human!
When is this taking place?
The 20th birthday celebrations will begin in January 2021 and continue throughout the year 2021 with different activities and a single, unifying theme: “20 Years Human”.
What is the objective?
Increase public awareness and understanding that Wikipedia is part of a movement, and celebrate how humans made Wikipedia what it is.
What is being developed and when is it going to be released?
October 2020
- A set of 20th birthday designs for unified visual consistency and guidelines for how to customize and make your own
- Shared on Wikipedia 20 Meta-Wiki hub
November 2020
- Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants to support community birthday celebrations
December 2020
- Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants to support community birthday celebrations
- Applications are accepted between the 1st and 15th of each month.
- If you are planning to submit a grant application for a Wikipedia 20 event taking place on or around January 15, please make sure to do so by midnight UTC on 15 December 2020. For those planning to host Wikipedia 20 events after January through the end of 2021, Rapid Grants will continue to be available in the following months.
- Press outreach begins
- Press and social media toolkits with sample messaging for communities
- Shared on Wikipedia 20 Meta-Wiki hub
- Guidelines for holding virtual events
- Shared on Wikipedia 20 Meta-Wiki hub
- CentralNotice banner campaign
- To remind community members of upcoming Wikipedia 20 milestone and direct them to get involved
- December 17 - December 19
January 2021
- A set of 20th birthday pages on WikimediaFoundation.org
- Launch January 15
- Press
- Launch January 15
- CentralNotice banner campaign (see more details here)
- January 15 - January 21
- Social media campaign (see more details here)
- Teasing - launch January 1
- Celebrating - launch January 15
- Digital swag pack - presentation template, zoom backgrounds, GIFs, and digital stickers
- Shared on Wikipedia 20 Meta-Wiki hub
- A birthday video summarizing the humans of Wikipedia in 2 minutes for use across media, events, and the birthday web hub
- Launch January 15
- Promotion of birthday celebration videos through paid digital media across a variety of non-Wikimedia websites to reach existing Wikipedia readers in Nigeria and the United States
- To inform them about the Wikimedia movement and increase awareness of the humans that power the Wikimedia sites
- January 15 ~ February 12
- Birthday swag
- Launch January 15
- A global virtual party featuring remarks from community members about how they have seen the movement grow over the 20 years and their wishes for the future, as well as from Jimmy Wales and Katherine Maher
- January 15 at 16.00-17.00 UTC
- Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants to support community birthday celebrations
February 2021
- Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants to support community birthday celebrations
- Continue press and global media partnerships work
- Black History Month campaign (see more details here)
- Launch February 1
March 2021
- Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants to support community birthday celebrations
- Continue press and global media partnerships work
- Women's History Month gender equity initiative: Project Rewrite (see more details here)
- Launch March 8
April, May, June 2021
- Continue the celebrations on social media and through press to remind the world that we are celebrating the 20th birthday of Wikipedia throughout the year
- Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants to support community birthday celebrations
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month campaign (see more details here)
- Launch May 3
August 2021
- Celebration with the movement at Wikimania!
September 2021
Who is working on this at the Foundation?
Wikipedia 20 project core team within the Communications department, led by Khanyi Mpumlwana, Creative Director (vision lead) and Lena Traer, Creative Project Manager (project lead), with the support and guidance of the steering committee from across the Foundation and a liaison from the Communications Committee.
Wikipedia 20 project core team
Full team of leads working on the 20th birthday activities within the Wikimedia Foundation's Communications department:
- Khanyi Mpumlwana - Creative Director - Vision lead
- Lena Traer - Creative Project Manager - Project lead
- Samir Elsharbaty - Brand Associate - Community strategy and grants
- Blanca Flores - Design Associate - Design
- Hang Do Thi Duc - Multimedia Designer - Birthday web hub
- Tas Elias - Brand Collaborations Lead
- Lauren Dickinson - Senior Communications Manager - Communications lead
- Sam Lien - Senior Communications Manager - PR & media lead
- Greg Varnum - Senior Strategist - Birthday web hub & Meta-Wiki community strategy
- Aubrie Johnson - Communications Associate - Social media
- Ed Erhart - Audience Engagement Content Strategist - Social media
- Brooke Camarda - Audience Engagement Growth Manager - Paid media
- Nadee Gunasena - Lead Executive Communications Manager - Birthday event
- Nino Hemmer - Senior Insights Manager - Research, Strategy and Metrics
Steering committee
To help the core team plan the project, build campaigns and take action, we’ve assembled a working group also known as the “party” committee:
- Megan Hernandez - Vice President of Fundraising, Advancement
- Yael Weissburg - Director of Strategic Partnerships, Advancement
- Alex Hollender - Lead UX Designer, Product Design
- Lucy Blackwell - Senior Design Manager, Product Design
- Allison Davenport - Senior Public Policy Counsel, Legal
- Joe Sutherland - Senior Trust & Safety Specialist, Legal
- Deborah Tankersley - Senior Program Manager, Technology
- Aubrey Williams - Diversity & Inclusion Program Associate, Talent and Culture
- Joël Letang - Senior Event Strategist, Operations
- Ryan Merkley - Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director
- Anusha Alikhan - Senior Communications Director, Communications
- Lauren Dickinson - Senior Communications Manager, Communications
- Sam Lien - Senior Communications Manager, Communications
- Greg Varnum - Senior Strategist, Communications
- Zack McCune - Director of Brand, Communications
- Debby Zierten - Senior Director of Audience Engagement, Communications
- Brooke Camarda - Audience Engagement Growth Manager, Communications
- Ed Erhart - Audience Engagement Content Strategist, Communications
- Virginia Díez - Communications & Public Policy Manager, Wikimedia España - Communications Committee liaison
The project is being supported by:
- Heather Walls - Chief Creative Officer - Executive sponsor
Campaign report
Learn more about the project, planning process, detailed goals, key performance indicators and full reporting of the Wikipedia 20 results here.
Get in touch
Project core team can be reached at wikipedia20
wikimedia.org or on this talk page.