Jump to content

Grants:Committees/ms

From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki
This page is a translated version of the page Grants:Committees and the translation is 1% complete.
Regional Fund Committees

The primary role of the Regional Fund Committees (RFC, also Regional Funds Committees, Regional Grants Committees) is strategic thought partnership to help understand the complexities of Wikimedia Foundation Funding regions and to make funding decisions for grant applications in the regions, providing knowledge and expertise to applicants to support successful movement activities.

An important aspect of the Wikimedia Foundation’s funding programs is the role that volunteer committees have in providing both guidance and support to applicants as well as making decisions about how movement funds should be distributed. Based on the movement strategy recommendations, we maintain committees that enable communities in each region and thematic experts to have a central role in setting priorities and allocating funds for specific types of initiatives. Each of these processes benefits greatly from existing expertise, new ideas, and awareness of required skills and circumstances for local communities.

Current members

We have seven regional committees leading our participatory processes.

Username Regional Fund Committee Term started Notes
FocalPoint CEECA Oktober 2021
MikyM CEECA Oktober 2021
Reda Kerbouche CEECA Oktober 2021
Красный CEECA Ogos 2021
Nataev CEECA Februari 2022
Justine.toms CEECA Jun 2022
Nina1009 CEECA April 2023
BKlen-CEEhub CEECA Mei 2024 non-voting member, CEE Hub
Aotfs2013 ESEAP Ogos 2021
Chipmunkdavis ESEAP Ogos 2021
Exec8 ESEAP Ogos 2021
Kunokuno ESEAP Ogos 2021
Alphama ESEAP Oktober 2022
22Kartika ESEAP September 2022
GhoziSeptiandri ESEAP September 2022
Kunirasem ESEAP September 2022
taweetham ESEAP September 2022
IvomarDos LAC Januari 2023
marsebu LAC Januari 2023
Superzerocool LAC Januari 2023
Onica aguilar LAC September 2023
PilarSaenz LAC September 2023
Vanett Graneros LAC September 2023
Fjmustak MEA (MENA) Ogos 2021
NANöR MEA (MENA) September 2021
Ibrahim.ID MEA (MENA) September 2023
Nehaoua MEA (MENA) September 2023
Reda benkhadra MEA (MENA) September 2023
Aristidek5maya MEA (SSA) Ogos 2021
Azogbonon MEA (SSA) Ogos 2021
Aimeabibis MEA (SSA) September 2023
capitainAfrika MEA (SSA) September 2023
Dnshitobu MEA (SSA) September 2023
Gilbert Ndihokubwayo MEA (SSA) September 2023
Iwuala Lucy MEA (SSA) September 2023
Pellagia Njau MEA (SSA) September 2023
Effeietsanders NA Ogos 2021
Emjackson42 NA Ogos 2021
AbhiSuryawanshi NA Ogos 2021
Matthewvetter NA Ogos 2021
Redwidgeon NA Ogos 2021
Wugapodes NA Ogos 2021
Antiqueight NWE Ogos 2021
mmo NWE Ogos 2021
NickK NWE Ogos 2021
Camelia.boban NWE Oktober 2022
trondtr NWE Oktober 2022
Yger NWE Oktober 2022
Josiefraser NWE Oktober 2023
Abraham Taherivand NWE October 2024
Astrid Carlsen NWE October 2024
Quelet NWE October 2024
Balajijagadesh SA Ogos 2021
medhavigandhi SA Ogos 2021
Nawaraj Ghimire SA Ogos 2021
Tarunno SA Ogos 2021
आर्या जोशी SA Disember 2023
Nabin K. Sapkota SA Ogos 2024
Ravidreams SA Ogos 2024

Inactive and past committee members

Roles and responsibilities

  • Contribute and provide feedback on the regional budget distribution across regions – how much goes into each regional budget.
  • Review proposals and make decisions on the funding amount grantees receive based on proposal evaluation. Committees are responsible for the decision-making process of the General Support Fund. Some committees, based on their capacity, are also involved in the decision-making of the Rapid Fund program.
  • Support the committee work by sharing knowledge, expertise and regional context with Community Resources and within committees to build needed capacities around resourcing, representation, and power sharing.
Other roles committee members may take:
  • Offer mentorship to grantees and support to newcomers in Wikimedia Foundation Funds.
  • Play a role in conflict resolution.
  • Support the Program Officer in communication with grantees, different movement bodies, and the Wikimedia community. Write Diff posts about projects funded by the committee.
  • Identifying regional opportunities and challenges and aligning them with the funding decisions.
  • Make recommendations about funding practices to the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Recruitment of other RFC members.
Conference Fund Support Committee

For the Conference Fund program, there is a separate committee consisting of different regional representatives. This committee is engaged in the decision-making process for the Conference Funds proposals and provides support to Conference organizers.

Term and tenure

Committee members commit to a minimum two-year service period and a maximum term limit of four years (with an option to extend if there is a shortage of new or experienced committee members). A rolling membership system is implemented to ensure that some experienced people are always on the committee. An additional two-year extension is possible in case continuity is required.

Selection and expertise

New Regional Fund Committee members are co-selected by the existing Regional Fund Committee and the Community Resources Team.

Selection criteria

Eligible:
  • Members of the Wikimedia community
  • Volunteer board members of Wikimedia affiliates. Previous Executive Directors and Board Members of Wikimedia affiliates.
  • Members of mission-aligned organisations, partner institutions (EDU, Culture and Heritage, gender, etc.)
  • Individuals working or having expertise in regions of interest
Not eligible:
  • Anyone receiving compensation as a staff through a Wikimedia affiliate or current General Support Fund, Wikimedia Alliances Fund, or Research Fund grant project. (This excludes grantee partners requesting Rapid Funds, Events and Conference Funds, and Movement Strategy Funds.)
  • Staff connected to projects funded by the Wikimedia Foundation within allied organisations.
  • Anyone receiving compensation for a paid role with the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Anyone who is not compliant with the behavioral requirements for applicants to our funding programs.

Expertise desired

  • Understanding of Wikimedia programs, in addition to contributions to the online projects.
  • Strong ability to contribute and participate effectively in collaborative decision-making.
  • Effective communication and conflict resolution skills.
  • Expertise and insights related to the region of the RFC.
  • Alignment with the values of the 2030 strategic direction and the movement strategy recommendations.
  • Understanding of or willingness to learn about participatory grantmaking.
  • A demonstrated commitment to sharing skills and experience, and helping others grow.
  • Professional and/or volunteer experience and skills related to funds committee review work, such as budget management and application review skills, experience with governance of non-governmental organizations, background in common programmatic areas like culture and heritage, education, etc.
  • Expertise, including lived experience, related to diversity, equity and inclusion to help promote and support knowledge equity, and the increasing of geographic, gender, or age diversity.

Diversity criteria

Committee members understand and value diversity, including cultural, linguistic, and gender differences. We aim to support Regional Committees that represent and serve the needs of many communities in the movement, including those based on gender, language, ethnicity, age, and geography, amongst other characteristics.

Committee Open Calls

Composition

Size: The size of the committees varies in different funding regions with 5-10 members as of 2024.

Stakeholder Representation: Regional stakeholders can also be involved in some committees. For example, the CEECA Regional Fund Committee has a non voting representative from the CEE Hub. The committees with Community Resources can involve other stakeholders to ensure inclusion and representation.

Deliberations and decision-making

Frequency of deliberations or meetings

Committees communicate through online meetings, mailing lists, and Telegram groups. Some regional committee mailing lists also accept external communication. The work of the committee will vary from month to month. At the beginning, time for training will be required as well as during application review in the two rounds per year. Other moments would require less time focused on communication and mentorship.

Working language

Working language varies across regions. For example, the working language for the North American Committee is English, the Latin American and Caribbean committee works in Spanish, Portuguese, and French with interpretation and translation services, and the ESEAP Committee works in English, Mandarin, Japanese, and Indonesian. If the submitted application is in another language, committees can receive translation support.

Format of review and deliberations

For more details about the review process and review framework used, see: How are General Support Fund proposals reviewed for Wikimedia Community Fund?

Quorum and consensus

Committees use the gradients of the agreement scale for consensus building towards making inclusive funding decisions. Some committees use the 1-2-4-All approach for proposals reviews and deliberations. This means that there are 3-4 stages that an application undergoes that includes proposal review and deliberations. During the deliberations, Program Officers act as facilitators and provide Committees with requested additional information.

Program Officer's role

The Regional Program Officer from the Community Resources team support in administration, documentation, facilitation, coordination, communication, and serves in an advisory role.

Policies and transparency

Committee members are committed to the following policies and principles to support constructive dialogue with applicants and grantees:

Committee decisions and recommendations are published on grant talk pages. After every funding round, Committees have a meeting with their Program Officer to evaluate the completed work and identify areas of improvement.

Inactivity in the committee or not following the eligibility criteria and behavioral expectations can result in removal from the committee.

Committee surveys and feedback

Support and resources

  • Stipend: The regional committee members may receive a stipend of $100 every 2 months to offset costs of participation. Stipends can be used to pay for childcare, internet, transportation and other costs that make volunteering possible
  • Skill development opportunities: Training is provided to the committee members to support DEI, review, discussion, and decision-making. Committee members have access to skill building opportunities, including training on topics such as conflict transformation and nonviolent communication. Through their work on the tasks, members also learn by doing.

Other Fund Committees

Lihat juga