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Draft application for recognition

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WPMEDF is presently a Wikimedia user group, but its focus is so clearly well developed on the topic of medicine that it ought to provide an exemplar for Wikimedians with a common subject interest who wish to group together trans-nationally to promote the movement as a Wikimedia thematic organization.

The extra benefits of becoming a thematic organisation are the same as for Wikimedia chapters, and are outlined at Wikimedia thematic organizations/Creation guide thus:

Benefits of becoming a recognized Wikimedia thematic organization includes:

  • Use the Wikimedia logos consistent with the Wikimedia Foundation's Trademark Policy without any additional approval. Thematic organizations may use other logos not part of the Trademark Policy (such as the Wikimedia Foundation logo) pursuant to a trademark license with the Wikimedia Foundation and approval by the Wikimedia Foundation legal team.
  • Receive large, but limited, quantities of Wikimedia merchandise for use in activities and outreach efforts.
  • Public recognition of the group's affiliation with the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Affiliations Committee Liaison support during and after the approval process.
  • Apply for Annual Plan Grants after successfully completing two other Wikimedia Foundation grants and meeting other eligibility requirements.
  • A short name clearly linking the group to Wikimedia.
  • Exclusive use by a thematic organization of the Wikimedia name and brand within the group's thematic focus area.
  • Communications and public policy support from the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Two scholarships to attend the Wikimedia Conference, held annually in Berlin for Wikimedia movement affiliates.

There are also less tangible, but more immediately valuable, benefits, such as parity of esteem with the Chapters, which would encourage forming partnerships on an equal basis. We believe the growth of partnerships between WPMEDF and the geographically defined groups is key to expanding our role.

At WMCON18, RexxS and Jenny met with AffCom to examine the route for recognition of Wiki Project Med as a thematic organisation. The discussion was helpful and positive. We gained the impression that WPMEDF has a very good case for recognition and are therefore drafting an application here.

Contacts

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Details of 3 points of contact for AffCom, should they require to get in touch for clarification or further information:

Rexx's contact details:

  • Wiki: quickest at en:User Talk:RexxS
  • Email: enabled from Wiki
  • Skype: rexxuk
  • Mobile: on request

--RexxS (talk) 22:44, 8 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Jenny's contact details:

--JenOttawa (talk) 16:28, 9 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Shani's contact details:

--Shani Evenstein. 22:14, 9 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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Requirements

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The following are the requirements for initial recognition of a thematic organisation, taken from Wikimedia thematic organizations/Requirements.

In each section, the requirement is in italicised green text, and is followed by links and explanatory text outlining how WPMEDF meets those requirements.

Note: The name "Wiki Project Med" and initialism "WPMEDF" both refer to the nonprofit corporation "Wiki Project Med Foundation", incorporated in New York in December 2012, and currently recognised by WMF as a user group. The name "WikiProject Medicine" refers to any of the 40 Wikiprojects, informal collaborations of editors on particular Wikipedias.

Wikimedia supportive mission

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The mission of the organization must be in line with the mission and vision of the Wikimedia Foundation, as well as the guiding principles of the Wikimedia Foundation and principles of movement affiliates. Regardless of the chosen legal form or incorporation method, the thematic organization must have goals similar to those of the Wikimedia Foundation, and its activities should not stray from them.

WPMEDF has its own mission statement on meta, which reflects its role as the organisation within the Wikimedia movement focussed on the themes of medicine, health and related topics:

  • Wiki Project Med#Mission
  • "To make clear, reliable, comprehensive, up-to-date educational resources and information in the biomedical and related social sciences freely available to all people in the language of their choice."

Thematic focus

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The thematic organization has a clear cultural, linguistic, or otherwise thematic focus. Thematic organizations need a clearly defined and unique scope. Wikimedia is an international movement, therefore, when setting up a thematic organization questions of language, geographic area of operation, and membership criteria need to be determined. While there can be multiple user groups serving a similar or single focus area, there can only be one thematic organization covering their designated thematic focus area.

The theme of "Medicine" is well defined and has no scope overlap with any other thematic organisation directly associated with the Wikimedia movement. Medicine as defined and practised in various WikiProjects for medicine, with 40 language Wikipedias having their own "WikiProject Medicine":

WPMEDF has its roots in WikiProjects on various Wikipedias, with many of its founders participating actively in en:WikiProject Medicine as individual editors, although Board members have so far been drawn from Canada, USA, Brazil, UK, Sweden, Israel, and India.

Membership criteria are easy to meet and are defined at Wiki Project Med#Join:

  • "Membership is free for active contributors of medical content to a Wikimedia project (such as Wikipedia) or participants in an organisation whose mission aligns with WikiProject Med's."
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The thematic organization must have a legal structure/corporation that is legally independent from the Wikimedia Foundation. Thematic organizations are meant to give a real-life structure to projects that might arise from contributors or external parties in line with the goals of the Wikimedia Foundation. However, thematic organizations are not meant to operate the Wikimedia projects nor to be legally responsible for the content of the projects. In order to achieve that, it is necessary that the legal structure chosen for the creation of a thematic organization is clearly independent from the Wikimedia Foundation. The organization's governing documents, generally by-laws, must be reviewed and approved by the Affiliations Committee.

WPMEDF was established by agreement among interested editors at Wikimania in July 2012.

On 19 December 2012, WPMEDF became a nonprofit organization, incorporated in New York, DOS ID # 4335220.

In November 2014, AffCom approved WPMEDF's application to become a user group.

WPMEDF has its by-laws documented on meta. These are ready for review by AffCom.

The current list of directors is also available on meta. Past directors may continue to play some part as advisers to the Board, although that remains an informal arrangement.

The Board aims to meet on a roughly four to six week interval via teleconferencing, and usually in person at Wikimania. In the calendar year 2017, it met 9 times. Approved minutes are kept on meta.

Critical mass of active Wikimedia contributor involvement

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The thematic organization must involve at least ten, preferably at least twenty, active contributors to the Wikimedia projects. An active contributor is defined as a members with 300 or more contributions to a Wikimedia project on a registered account that has existed for more than 6 months in good community standing (meaning they are not currently suspended or otherwise prevented from participating). While thematic organizations should welcome the input of people who are not active contributors to the Wikimedia projects, they should not stay too far from the community. The active involvement of contributors to the Wikimedia projects is necessary for a thematic organization to be able to bring real-life initiatives tied to the Wikimedia projects to life. Initial membership should broadly reflect the intended scope, thematic and geographic area of activity and chosen languages of operation of the organization.

To date, 175 editors have become members of WPMEDF.

Looking at the membership list, I can quickly pick out a number of active editors in good standing who will have more than 300 edits to medical articles. I know almost all of them, and many of them are regulars at en:WT:WikiProject Medicine. Their total edits and date of first edit are as follows:

  1. User:Doc James - 248,000 edits since 2007
  2. User:Daniel Mietchen - 16,000 edits since 2005
  3. User:Bluerasberry - 45,000 edits since 2008
  4. User:LeadSongDog - 35,000 edits since 2007
  5. User:Rich Farmbrough - 1,441,000 edits since 2004
  6. User:Anthonyhcole - 36,000 edits since 2006
  7. User:Casliber - 177,000 edits since 2006
  8. User:Biosthmors - 16,000 edits since 2012
  9. User:BullRangifer - 58,000 edits since 2005
  10. User:Peteforsyth - 28,000 edits since 2006
  11. User:Mikael Häggström - 49,000 edits since 2006
  12. User:John Cummings - 9,000 edits since 2011
  13. User:Ocaasi - 35,000 edits since 2010
  14. User:DGG - 224,000 edits since 2006
  15. User:FloNight - 19,000 edits since 2005
  16. User:Seppi333 - 29,000 edits since 2013
  17. User:Johnbod - 45,000 edits since 2008
  18. User:CFCF - 31,000 edits since 2006
  19. User:JenOttawa - 3,000 edits since 2016
  20. User:RexxS - 30,000 edits since 2008
  21. User:Dr.khatmando - 1700 edits since 2015 (2006 old account)

Members have been identified as coming from 34 different countries.

At least two years of activities

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Groups must have two years of demonstrable programmatic results prior to applying for thematic organization recognition. Ideally these activities should be done as a recognized Wikimedia user group. These activities, and their results, must be documented on-wiki, ideally on the group's Meta-Wiki page. Wide outreach efforts to encourage participation and involvement in setting up and shaping the organization are necessary. Activities should be a mixture of online and offline activities designed to encourage participation on the Wikimedia projects. The group must be up to date on its activity and financial reports prior to being considered for recognition.

The most recent IRS filing can be found here: c:File:2017 Form 990-EZ.pdf

Capacity, or planned capacity, to meet the future expectations

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Something that makes thematic organizations and chapters unique from user groups are the increased expectations. Does your group have the capacity to meet the expectations of thematic organization once you receive recognition? This will be something both the Affiliations Committee and Board of Trustees will consider in reviewing your application. If your group does not have a track record of activities which indicate that you will successfully be able to meet these expectations, that can cause your application to be denied. Consideration will be given for the financial circumstances of the group, realistic demands in your group's focus area, and plans to secure future funding to meet these expectations.

WPMEDF has a proven track record of innovative activities. Many of our active members are regular speakers at international conferences and organise medical events globally in cooperation with local chapters and user groups. WPMED has a strong relationship with Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia Canada, dating back to 2012, when a conference and study day was organised jointly in Coventry, England, en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Medicine/Editor outreach/UK 2012. That said, we have active members and work in collaboration with affiliates from all over the world, including smaller wikis (such as Israel), developing countries (such as India) and emerging communities in terms of Medical work (such as Armenia).

Very highly rated projects include: working with Translators without Borders to identify and translate the 1000 most important Wikipedia medical articles into as many languages as possible; and working with the internet in a Box project to make available all of Wikipedia's medical content to areas that have no internet connection. Further details are in the annual reports.

Our work has also been influential when it comes to Education outreach, with new types of academic, for-credit WikiMed courses at both Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel, and UCSF, San Fransisco, USA. This type of work has also yielded academic research around this topic from both the TAU experience and the UCSF one.

The organization plans to continue into the future as it has done in the past. There is no reason to expect less activity than in its past, and this activity meets the norms for Wikimedia chapters.

Expectations

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Taken from Wikimedia thematic organizations/Requirements:

Beyond the requirements for recognition, which continue to be requirements for groups after they are recognized, there are a number of expectations from the Wikimedia community on the activities and operations of a Thematic Organization.

Regular on-wiki financial and activity reports

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Thematic Organizations are required to post at least one detailed annual report on their activities and finances on the Meta-Wiki reports page. The community has come to see that signs of a healthy organization also include reports throughout the year and a published annual plan for the organization. While an annual plan and regular reports are not required for affiliation status, they may be required for grants, and are a community expectation.

Notification of governing document and leadership changes

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The group's governing documents are initially reviewed and approved by the Affiliations Committee. The agreement with thematic organizations also requires that they notify the Wikimedia Foundation of any changes to those documents. The community also expects that the current governing body of the organization is identified on Meta-Wiki.

This information is at Wiki Project Med/Administration.

Multiple offline and online activities each quarter

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The fundamental goal of the Wikimedia movement affiliates model is to promote collaboration on the Wikimedia projects. Affiliates are expected to hold a variety of events, both online and offline, to help support this goal.

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A thematic organization is expected to have the capacity to monitor, and when necessary, respond to communications issues related to their thematic scope. That includes monitoring of media coverage of their topic when it involves Wikimedia, and distributing information about Wikimedia activities to the group's members and network. Thematic organizations are expected to coordinate with the Wikimedia Foundation Communications department while performing these tasks.

Wikimedia medical content is routinely the subject of external media and this organization tracks and reports this.

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A thematic organization is expected to have the capacity to monitor, and when necessary, respond to public policy matters related to the group's scope. All Wikimedia organizations are expected to utilize effect strategy when performing these tasks, and not engage on issues outside the scope of Wikimedia's mission. Movement affiliates are encouraged to focus on five primary areas the Wikimedia Foundation has identified for Wikimedia public policy activities. They are strongly encouraged to utilize the public policy site maintained and developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, and coordinate with the Wikimedia Foundation Legal department while performing these tasks.

Background to these expectations is at https://policy.wikimedia.org/ .

Compliance with movement policies and governing principles

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Wikimedia movement affiliates are required to maintain compliance with movement policies and governing principles. Primary examples of these include the Wikimedia Foundation Guiding Principles, affiliate principles, trademark policy, visual identity guidelines, and friendly space policy.

Yes to all. Governance of WPMEDF is in the hands of experienced Wikimedians, who are also advised by several previous directors, including Wikimedians who currently hold positions with the WMF and established chapters. We will rely on their wealth of experience and familiarity with the movement principles and guidelines to ensure that WPMEDF is a model for other aspiring thematic organisations in the future.

With Wikimedia NYC, Wiki Project Med members were creators of the Friendly Space Policy for WikiConference North America 2014.

Maintain expertise within group's scope that is accessible to Wikimedia community

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Thematic organizations are expected to both maintain an expertise within the group's scope and make that expertise accessible to the broader Wikimedia movement. This important resource role helps volunteer working on the Wikimedia projects to have documented knowledge bases to contact for assistance in performing Wikimedia tasks.

One of WPMEDF's stated goals is to begin to provide a second axis of organisation for Wikimedians. We envisage that in the future it will be the norm for Wikimedians to organise along thematic lines as well as along geographic lines. We anticipate that any Chapter when organising an event will reach out to the subject expertise offered by a relevant thematic organisation as an obvious complement to their own local knowledge, and that such collaborations will become commonplace and natural. WPMEDF wishes to become the exemplar for this kind of collaboration, and has already had success in working with Chapters for over five years.

WPMEDF will focus on the themes of medicine and health, broadly construed, and will offer its expertise throughout the movement, not least through offering a common platform for Wikimedians interested in medicine to join together throughout the world. Many Wikipedias already have Medicine WikiProjects and we see one of the key objectives of WPMEDF going forward to be the encouragement of the growth and proliferation of these projects.

Collaboration with other affiliates and volunteer projects

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Wikimedia thematic organization are expected to play a coordinating role within their respective thematic focus, and this is a distinctive role they play among Wikimedia organizations. While there can be several other affiliates working with the group's thematic focus, there will be only one thematic organization. Entities working on a thematic focus are not in a hierarchy, but need to agree how to co-exist to streamline their communication and avoid duplicate work.

Some prominent examples (more details in the Annual Reports):

  • Wiki in education, collaboration on supporting UCSF School of Medicine
  • Wiki in education, collaboration on supporting Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel
  • Wikimedia Ireland (medical editing initiative, new collaboration)
  • Wikimedia Armenia (medical editing initiative, new collaboration)
  • Wikimedia India (collaborating on IIAB)
  • Wikimedia Taiwan (collaborating on medical translation)
  • Wikimedia DC (collaborating on NIH effects)
  • WikEM collaborating with founder Ross Donaldson
  • Collaboration with ILAE (the International League Against Epilepsy)
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Based on their thematic focus expertise and utilizing their communications capacity, thematic organizations are expected to have the capacity to represent the Wikimedia movement and its interests at public events when called upon to do so.

Some prominent examples (more details in the Annual Reports):

Diverse funding sources

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Thematic organizations are expected to seek funding from diverse sources. Thematic organizations are strongly encouraged to utilize the Wikimedia Foundation's grants program. However, thematic organizations are also expected to explore other means of funding, such as member dues, outside grants, or traditional fundraising activities.

Many organizational partners have invested their own money and other resources to develop Wikimedia content in projects with Wiki Project Med.

Fundraising activity:

  • Amazon Smile
  • Paypal Giving Fund
  • Benevity
  • Network for Good
  • Guidestar
  • JustGiving
  • Personal Donations

In 2017 we raised just under 10,000 USD. In 2018 our goal is to raise over 10,000 USD.

Sign of approval by the WPMEDF Board

[edit]
  1. RexxS (talk) 22:48, 8 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Shani Evenstein. 22:05, 9 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  3. JenOttawa (talk) 13:47, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Daniel Mietchen (talk) 16:25, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  5. --Indy2009 (talk) 22:42, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Samuel Zidovetzki 09:57, 16 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  7. CFCF💌 📧 15:31, 17 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Support Us!

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Add your name or your organization's name, and then sign at the end using ~~~~. Then invite other people to join too!

Supporting individuals

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  1. JFW (talk) 15:32, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  2. harej (talk) 19:23, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Doc James 22:09, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Checkingfax (talk) 15:21, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Vahidmasrour (talk) 15:21, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Diptanshu 💬 15:26, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  7. BamLifa (talk) 15:37, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Jeremyb (talk) 15:39, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Brunei (talk) 15:46, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  10. Ανώνυμος Βικιπαιδιστής (talk) 15:46, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  11. —Teles «Talk to me ˱C L @ S˲» 16:06, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  12. Taketa (talk) 16:12, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  13. NC Hasive • talk • 16:20, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  14. –SJ talk  16:21, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  15. Marajozkee 💬 16:23, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  16. BonifaceFR (talk) 16:26, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Saintfevrier (talk) 16:27, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  18. MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:31, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  19. Soupvector (talk) 17:41, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  20. --Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 18:12, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  21. Ocaasi (talk) 21:42, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  22. HotaniKG (talk) 00:10, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  23. Mounir Touzri (talk) 02:03, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  24. مصعب (talk) 02:26, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  25. --Subas Chandra Rout (talk) 02:48, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  26. Llywelyn2000 (talk) 04:19, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  27. Becksguy (talk) 06:06, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  28. GastelEtzwane (talk) 06:54, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  29. Leela0808 (talk) 07:37, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  30. FranciaioI'm listening you 07:55, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  31. Julian Harty 08:07, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  32. Nicke.me (talk) 09:02, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  33. Gamaliel (talk) 11:21, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  34. NancyGertrudiz (talk) 16:03, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  35. Mikael Häggström (talk) 16:15, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  36. Lauren maggio (talk) 17:14, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  37. Peter Frishauf (talk)
  38. Pakeha (talk) 18:17, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  39. --Alaa :)..! 21:15, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  40. Amqui (talk) 14:59, 14 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  41. (Sumita Roy Dutta (talk) 16:37, 16 July 2018 (UTC))[reply]
  42. Bondegezou (talk) 13:02, 17 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  43. Tirab (talk) 17:28, 19 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  44. Blue Rasberry (talk) 13:13, 21 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  45. Mahmood (talk) 00:35, 22 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  46. FiliP ██ 20:10, 31 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  47. Djordjes (talk) 12:12, 1 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  48. --Intermedichbo (talk) 14:55, 1 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  49. Megs (talk) 20:47, 2 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  50. Pharos (talk) 21:48, 2 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  51. Baldmike (talk) 08:29, 11 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  52. econterms (talk) 18:19, 12 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  53. John Cummings (talk) 16:54, 13 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  54. Mohammed Galib Hasan (talk) 09:48, 31 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  55. Jamie Tubers (talk) 22:23, 17 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  56. Ammarpad (talk) 19:07, 18 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  57. T.Shafee(Evo﹠Evo)talk 04:57, 31 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  58. - Darwin Ahoy! 22:39, 8 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  59. Suyash Dwivedi (talk) 20:27, 14 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  60. Adville (talk) 02:19, 23 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  61. Cerevisae (Cerevisae (talk) 12:08, 2 May 2019 (UTC))[reply]
  62. Nosebagbear Nosebagbear (talk) 15:04, 15 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  63. Manavpreet Kaur (talk) 11:20, 24 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Supporting organizations

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  1. Wikimedia Serbia --FiliP ██ 20:10, 31 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Wikimedia New York City -- Megs (talk) 20:46, 2 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  3. On our board meeting of 12 August 2018 we unanimously endorsed this application. On behalf of Wikimedia District of Columbia. Gamaliel (talk) 18:18, 12 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Wikimedia Taiwan has been collaborated with the Medical Translation Taskforce and also welcomed James Heilman here to have a speech regarding the development of WikiProject Med in Taipei 2 years ago. The board of Wikimedia Taiwan has agreed unanimously to endorse the application in our board meeting on 23, August, 2018. On behalf of the board of Wikimedia Taiwan. Ffaarr (talk) 10:44, 25 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Wikimedia Sindh (Sindhi Wikimedia) -- is willing to help collaboratively with the Medical Translation Taskforce, and related pages on Sindhi Wikipedia, Soon we'll make an awareness video on this topic and upload it on Sindhi Wikipedia YouTube Channel. JogiAsad (talk) 07:39, 2 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Wikimedia Portugal. We approved this support on our board meeting of 18 November 2018. GoEThe (talk) 21:54, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  7. The Wikipedia & Education User Group. Shani Evenstein. 22:10, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
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