Global Resource Distribution Committee/Creation of the interim GRDC/Candidates/margob28
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| Preferred name | Mariam Olugbodi | |
|---|---|---|
| Language capabilities (native or professional / advanced / basic) | Yoruba- Native; English- Professional; Arabic & French- Basic | |
| Region and country you identify with | Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| Interim GRDC seats you are running for and why (regional volunteer/thematic volunteer) | Thematic Volunteer | |
| Do you have any topic or area of specialization within the Wikimedia movement? (max 1000 characters) | At the onset of my contribution as a Wikimedia volunteer, I contribute to diverse areas of thematic interests including gender, human rights, youths' movement, education, language and other areas of the SDGs. I did this through my role as the Co-Founder and Advisor of the Wikimedia Fan Club Kwara State University since its establishment in 2022. Among the projects have have facilitated are Arts+Feminism, Wiki for Human Rights, Wikiviberance, Wiki Loves Monument, Wiki-in-School Train-the-Trainers, among others.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Margob28 Starting from 2024 when I assumed another advisory role having been selected as a member of the WikiWomen Advisory Council, the team responsible for the constitution of the Global team of WikiWomen Task Force, my area of focus has shifted to bridging gender gaps on Wikimedia projects, especially through educational campaigns. My interests is on the empowerment of Girls (Out-of-School) through the Wikimedia projects by helping them develop soft skills while contributing to Wikimedia projects. This is a kind of two-way achievement. My first project is under way as the proposal is under review. On the Advisory Council, I am active; I do not just attend the weekly meetings but also ensure I make meaningful contributions which facilitate the achievement of the set goals for the establishment of the team. | |
| Have you ever held any role or position, either current or past, in the Wikimedia movement? (max 1000 characters) | Presently, as a Wikimedian, aside from being a volunteer editor, I play the role of an advisor at the local and global levels. My immediate Wikimedia Community is the Wikimedia Fan Club established in 2022 at the Institution where I call home, Kwara State University. As a staff member of Kwara State University, I facilitated the establishment of the club on campus and over see the renewal of the club registration on campus like other students' organization annually. I assumed the role of an advisor of the fan club with the endorsement of the regional Wikimedia organization, Wikimedia Nigeria, under whose permission the club was established. The club is recognized as a sub-regional Wikimedia community and network in Nigeria. As the advisor of the Club, apart from providing guidance on the annual election of new executives of the fan club, I also advice executive members on programs of impacts, management of their finances and partnership with state organizations to promote the visibility of the Wikimedia projects. I have co-organized and facilitated programs of impact alongside members of the executives.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Fan_Club,_Kwara_State_University/Overview https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Fan_Club,_Kwara_State_University/Overview#/media/File:WUGN_Kwara_State_University_Logo.png From August 2024, I assumed another advisory role, this time at the global level, the role of a member of the WikiWomen Advisory Council. This role is in addition to my role as an advisor of Wikimedia Fan Club, Kwara State University. As a member of the Advisory Council, like other members, the mandate was to constitute a global team of WikiWomen Task for whose scope of work include closing the gender gap on Wikimedia projects and promoting inclusion and diversity in leadership and decision making within the Wikimedia movement. I participate in strategic discussions and perform consultative roles with other Advisory Council members, we providing guidance to the Task Force. More specifically, aside the general role of advisors, I am responsible for the Advisory Council Coordination grant processing. I am the primary contact for the grant and I oversee the arrangement for the disbursement of the Advisory Council's stipends across regions-- Asia Pacific, Sub-saharan-Africa, MENA et al. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Women*_Task_Force/Advisory_Council (Username: Margob28) | |
| Why are you interested in the interim GRDC and what can you contribute? (max 1000 characters) | Among the key goals of the GRDC are the provision of recommendations to the Wikimedia Foundation related to the Wikimedia Community Fund, and advising the Wikimedia Foundation on funding Wikimedia organizations and other volunteer efforts. Having served at the local and global levels as an advisor, I have vast experience on the needs of grassroots Wikimedia communities as well as regional and global Wikimedia communities. As an Advisor to the Wikimedia Fan Club Kwara State University, I have first-hand experience on the challenges and prospects of Wikimedia volunteers who embark on programs of impact. I can clearly measure successes of such programs or otherwise. I have provided guidance to executives on how to manage the micro-funds from the regional Wikimedia organization and how to generate funds and acquire supports through partnerships to carryout programs of Impact that are Wikimedia-oriented. These experiences will be beneficial to the GRDC team towards advising WMF on appropriate funding strategies for the Wikimedia organizations. I hope to share and utilize these wealth of experiences as a member of the GRDC towards achieving the goals of the GRDC and the WMF.
Also, my participation in the selection process of the global team of WikiWomen Task Force across regions has also widened my knowledge of complexities that revolve around regional dissimilarities in terms of needs, based on the peculiarities of the socio-political and economic dictates of each region. I believe that these experiences will constitute assets to the team of GRDC in making decisions on funding principles. My contribution as a member of the GRDC team will impact on meaningful and tangible recommendations towards the management of the Wikimedia Foundation community support fund and impact on decision making . | |
| Please share any volunteering or professional experience relevant for the interim GRDC (role, organization, years) (max 1000 characters) | Firstly, my experience (since 2022) cuts across provision of Advisory roles across grassroots (local), regional and global levels. As advisor in these capacity (sub-regional and global), I commit at least two-hours a week to meetings that concern the Wikimedia community for which I play advisory roles. The GRDC will provide recommendations and advise to the WMF on funding policy as well as strategies to funding of Wikimedia Organizations. Considering my experiences as an advisor, I belief have a potential to carry out this task. I can commit an average of 5 hours per week for the assignment.
Aside being an advisor, by volunteering to process and facilitating mobilization of the Rapid Grant for the WikiWomen Advisory Council Coordination (2024-2025), I have experience in grant making and funding processes and I belief that this experience is relevant for to interim GRDC role. I have experience in financial planning and managing and executing budgets with the knowledge of the Wikimedia movement's grant types; General Support Fund, Rapid Fund, Conference and Events Fund and Multi-year Fund. As a Wikimedia Volunteer, I have experience in program design, setting measurable objectives and defining frameworks for assessing impact. I have experience in developing strategic project plans with an interest to promote the WMF's open knowledge mission. The previous programs of impact I have carried out and those in the pipeline are reliable evidences. | |
| Describe your skills and experience relevant to the interim GRDC (max 1500 characters) | I possess good command of English language for communication and teamwork skills. I have the skill to participate in online meetings irrespective of time zones. I have abide by the Universal Code of Conduct in my previous positions and will still uphold this. I am committed to following the guidelines on potential conflicts of interest. I have experience working with people from diverse geographical, socio-cultural, political and economic backgrounds. I achieve this based on my respect for cross-cultural communications management and my respect for diversity. I give listening hears to others and voice my opinion in an undisputed manner.
My on-the-job skills and experience as an academic relating with diverse category of learners and colleagues within the university environment, having different levels of intelligence, motivation and attitude, is additional wealth to my skills and expertise as a volunteer. Outside academics, I volunteer in professional activities such as reviewing. I have experience reviewing manuscripts for Journals including those published by Cambridge University Press, UK, and other journal outlets in US, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Ghana. This reveals my possession of the ability to abide by the policies and practices of different organizations. I belief that related skills of managing inclusion and diversity will obtain within the GRDC. | |
| Describe your understanding of the Wikimedia Movement's current resource distribution process. (max 1500 characters) | My understanding of the process involved in the distribution of the Wikimedia Movement resource include:
i. Review of grant proposals to identify programs of impact Before the Wikimedia resource id distributed, grants proposals are reviewed before decisions are made. First, the value of impact a proposed grant sets out to achieve is measured vis-a-vis the funding amount grantees request by evaluating the proposal evaluation. Some committees are responsible for the decision-making process either the committee for the General Support Fund or the Rapid Fund Committee. after review, the applicants are informed of the grants approval or rejection. ii. Verification of facts about grants and grants endorsement by prospective grantees and grant officers for grant proposals that meet impact value and the amount requested are found worthy, notification is sent out to applicants to verify specific information on the grantees' identification and other aspects of the grant that needs to be modified. then follows endorsement by the potential applicant and or their fiscal sponsors through which the funds will be received. iii. Grant Disbursement Arrangements The disbursement is either processed through fiscal sponsorship or the organizational accounts of the applicant organization or individual. Also before this, some documents are signed as regards grants agreement and other conditions for fulfilment of the project for which the grant is secured. iv. Submission of Report on Grant project after completion After the completion of the program or project for which grant was secured, it is expected that the grantee submit a report of completion of the project with details of financial expenditure with evidence at a stipulated time. | |
| How do you think the GRDC could improve the current situation and which priorities do you think it should have? (max 1500 characters) | Since the idea behind the constitution of the GRDC interim Committee is targeted at managing "Wikimedia Community Fund", In my opinion, I will say that there is need to incorporate a new process to the grant process, e.g., Rapid Grant, to really impact on the "Wikimedia community". To this end, I recommend that:
i. the "community endorsement" which is part of the grant submission system should be taken seriously. Both immediate (the community the grant is aimed at impacting) and wider (the larger Wikimedia components, e.g., regional Wikimedia organization, for an event organized within a region) should be part of the parties to endorse such grant proposals before consideration for approval. This will go a long way to help monitor events for which Wikimedia Foundation resources have been allocated. ii. Secondly, an interview process should be introduced before a grant is considered. This could be in form of audio-visual clip of team of grant applicants or an engagement between the grant review team and the grant applicants. A 5 to 10 minutes video (in case of a monologue) or a 10 minutes chat between the grant review committee member(s) and the applicant(s) will help scrutinize. This will give applicants a sense of commitment to effective utilization of the Wikimedia Foundation resources for programs of impact only. | |
| By the end of the pilot in two years, what should the GRDC have accomplished and how should we measure its success? (max 1500 characters) | By the end of the pilot in two years, the GRDC should have:
i. constituted thematic and regional funding principles and goals, taking cognizance of diversity and equity within the Wikimedia Movement; ii. selected the Regional Fund Committees and adjust the current grantmaking structures to meet the needs of the movement; and iii. submitted a impact-oriented community grants distribution strategy to the Wikimedia Foundation for her annual plan; | |
