Affiliations Committee
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lists.wikimedia.orgThe Affiliations Committee (formerly known as Chapters Committee, colloquially AffCom) is a Wikimedia community committee entrusted with advising the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on the approval of new movement affiliates: national or subnational chapters, thematic organisations and user groups.
The Committee was created on January 15, 2006, by a resolution of the Board of Trustees, along with several other Wikimedia committees. Its original mandate included coordination of the development of Wikimedia chapters—which at the time were at an early stage of organisation—as well as facilitating communication among the chapters and between chapters and the Wikimedia Foundation.
In 2012, following a community discussion and a resulting Board of Trustees' resolution, the scope of the Committee was expanded to include thematic organisations and user groups. In accordance with the resolution, the Committee drafted its charter which was officially approved by the Board in August, finalising the transition into the Affiliations Committee.
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What we do [edit]
The Affiliations Committee is responsible for making recommendations to the Board of Trustees on the recognition, approval and existence of Wikimedia movement affiliates as well as for facilitating creation of those organisations. In other words, the Committee helps Wikimedians from all around the world self-organise into chapters, thematic organisations or user groups, and gain official recognition from the Wikimedia Foundation.
We can guide you through the founding process of your organisation by helping you prepare bylaws, answering questions about what the Foundation expects from an affiliate, providing help and advice on solving common technical, trademark, administrative and community-building issues, and — if appropriate — by approving limited financial support for starting up your activities (covering costs of registration, costs of running first projects, etc.).
If you are interested in getting in touch with local efforts in your area, feel free to contact us using any of the methods listed below, and we will be happy to put you in touch with the right people.
Who we are [edit]
The Committee is comprised of volunteers who are selected based on their enthusiasm, skills in community organising, cross-cultural communication and the ability to review bylaws and provide governance advice for emerging organisations. There are currently ten voting members with terms of two years each; the terms are arranged so that half of the seats are up for election every year.
Voting members of the Committee are helped by an unspecified number of non-voting advisers, either appointed by the Board of Trustees (known as board liaisons) or by the Committee itself. Advisers provide the Committee with on-the-ground experience, language skills and governance advice, and are able to take part in discussions on an internal wiki and a non-public mailing list.
If you would like to be a voting member of the Committee, please leave a note on the talk page and you will be notified when seats become available. Next selection is scheduled for the end of 2013, with new members joining the Committee on January 1, 2014. (New members and advisers maybe added mid-term, as well.)
Members [edit]
| Member | Languages | Location (time zone) | Term end | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeromy-Yu Chan | en-N, yue-N, zh-N, fr-2, de-2 | Hong Kong, Asia (UTC+8) | December 31, 2014 | (currently on leave) |
| Carlos Colina | es-N, en-5, lad-4, pt-4, de-3, he-3, ca-2, guc-2, af-2, it-2 | Israel, Asia (UTC+2/UTC+3) | December 31, 2014 | Vice-Chair |
| Bence Damokos | hu-N, en-3, hr-2, et-1, it-1, sr-1 | Hungary, Europe (UTC+1/UTC+2) | December 31, 2014 | Chair |
| Lodewijk Gelauff | nl-N, en-3, de-2, fr-1, la-1 | The Netherlands, Europe (UTC+1/UTC+2) | December 31, 2013 | |
| Josh Lim | en-N, tl-N, es-2, zh-2, pl-2 | Philippines, Asia (UTC+8) | December 31, 2014 | |
| Salvador Alcántar Morán | es-N, en-3, de-2 | Mexico, North America (UTC-6) | December 31, 2014 | |
| Tanvir Rahman | bn-N, en-3, as-2, bpy-1 | Bangladesh, Asia (UTC+6) | December 31, 2014 | |
| Maria Sefidari | es-N, en-4, fr-3, pt-1, it-1 | Spain, Europe (UTC+1/UTC+2) | December 31, 2013 | Treasurer |
| Gregory Varnum | en-N | United States, North America (UTC-5/UTC-4) | December 31, 2014 | |
| Galileo Vidoni | es-N, en-3, fr-2, it-2, pt-1 | Argentina, South America (UTC-3) | December 31, 2013 |
| Adviser | Languages | Location (time zone) | Term end | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishakha Datta | en-N | India, Asia (UTC+5:30) | — | Board liaison |
| Patricio Lorente | es-N, en-3, it-1 | Argentina, South America (UTC-3) | — | Board liaison |
| Vladimir Medeyko | ru-N, ? | Russia, Europe (UTC+4) | December 31, 2013 | |
| Delphine Ménard | fr-N, en-4, de-3, it-2, es-2 | Germany, Europe (UTC+1/UTC+2) | December 31, 2013 | |
| Arne Klempert | de-N, en-3, fr-1 | Germany, Europe (UTC+1/UTC+2) | December 31, 2013 |
A number of WMF staff members (Asaf Bartov, Quim Gil) are also actively present on the Committee's mailing list acting as liaisons and providing insight and advice when needed.
News [edit]
- 2013-05-01 The Committee's 2012 Annual Report is published.
- 2013-04-02 Affiliations Committee recommends that Wikimedia Belgium's start up grant be approved.
- 2013-03-17 New officers were selected for the committe. Bence Damokos is chair, Carlos Colina vice-chair and Maria Sefidari is serving as treasurer until March 2014.
- 2013-02-28 Recommended board approve Wikimedia Armenia.
- 2013-01-13 MediaWiki Group Promotion approved.
- 2013-01-12 MediaWiki Group San Francisco approved.
- 2012-12-27 The rules for giving out Affiliate start-up grants have been adopted.
- 2012-12-08 MediaWiki Groups proposal.
(Check the English version of this page for most up-to-date news.)
Contact us [edit]
- The best way to contact the Committee is to write an e-mail to affcom
lists.wikimedia.org; please note that the Committee might be sometimes slow in responding to e-mails, so if you don't receive a reply to your message in a reasonable time, just send us a reminder.
- You can also contact the members of the Committeee individually by clicking on their usernames in the timeline above; feel free to use our talk pages and e-mails for any questions related to chapters, thematical organisations or user groups.
- Sporadically, members of the Committee idle on the #wikimedia-chapters IRC channel on Freenode; however, contacting us on the mailing list would almost always be a better choice.
