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Full reporting

This section of the report contains full reporting, expanding on the key findings in section 1. As such, we suggest beginning at section 1 Executive Summary. We have embedded some of the key recommendations in the analysis and signaled them with this icon 💡.

Insight 1: As a diverse and safe space, Let’s Connect is contributing to Movement equity goals

1.1 Diversity in participants and those sharing knowledge

Let's connect has given me a big *safe* network where I can confidently speak. I have already made several collaborations with people from let's connect.”

Let’s Connect participants are increasingly diverse and reach underrepresented communities. Survey and registration data show that Let’s Connect continues to be a space that welcomes and connects diverse Wikimedians to build skills, share knowledge and experiences, and enables people to feel more engaged with the global movement. These connections are often difficult for people newer to the movement, particularly those from underrepresented communities that are often not so easily articulated with the movement's networking spaces.  79% of survey respondents feel strongly that Let’s Connect supports diverse members of the Movement to participate in the programme. 78% of survey respondents say it is a safe space for learning, and a majority feel strongly about this.

At the time of analysis, the official registration of members with profiles on the Let’s Connect skills directory has grown 147% in the last 2 years and is now at 380. The skills directory is the Let’s Connect space on Meta, where those registered to the programme have a profile page and can search for other participants by skills they want to learn or share, region, country, or language.

“It's a melting pot for skills and knowledge acquisition”

However, active, in-session participation is beyond those officially registered.  Given the open nature of Clinics, 47% of people who come to Clinics are non-registered (350 community participants + 40 WMF staff members). In total, the program reaches more than 730 people through Learning Clinics.

The diversity of registered participants has increased in terms of experience, roles within the movement, gender, Wikimedia language communities, and affiliate involvement. While there is a slight improvement in regional diversity, there is potential for growth in all regions.

As Chart 1 shows, every region has registered Let’s Connect participants. They come from 44 different countries, a growth in diversification from the pilot phase (April - October 2022) which reached 25 countries. 63% of participants are from Sub-Saharan Africa, a trend that has continued since the start of the programme. This is largely due to the enthusiasm of Movement learning spaces in the region, an influx of keen newcomer organisers, and effective outreach in the region by the working group members.

Today 30% of participants hear about Let’s Connect on Wiki. It will be important to increase outreach through WMF or affiliate staff, newsletters, conferences, and social media.. Survey feedback calls for communications to be more accessible, widespread, and “grass-roots”.

Of the 350 participants not officially registered, there is evidence of greater regional diversity, with many more LAC, NWE, CEE, and MENA participants than the official registration shows.

💡Facilitating registration through the multilingual and user-friendly Capacity Exchange tool (CapX) will be key to increasing registered participants' regional diversity. Also, simplifying, translating, and improving communications channels on and off Wiki. Let’s Connect participants can act as ambassadors in their regions, with specific training and symbolic recognitions to bring more people into the programme. Social media accounts can be more widely used to mobilise potential Wikimedians.

Chart 2 shows wider regional diversity amongst the 130 sharers using Let’s Connect as a platform to document and share their knowledge. It has been a space for experienced affiliates from NWE, USCA and CEE, but also provided a platform for underrepresented communities from regions such as MENA, LAC, SSA, and ESEAP to showcase their work. They otherwise might find it hard to find the time, resources, or connections to do so.

In this way, Let’s Connect provides a platform for more equitable knowledge exchange. In 2.5 years, there have been 130 sharers, 70% from underrepresented regions.

The Let’s Connect registration form does not ask for data on gender identity; however, 45% of survey respondents identify as women, and there have been 75 women sharers, accounting for 58% of all sharers in Clinics.

After the program’s initial pilot phase (April- October 2022), one goal was to increase affiliate participation. To date, 64% of recognised affiliates (104)  have participated in the program, either as learners or sharers in 65 Clinics since the program started in April 2022.

Let’s Connect participants contribute to all 13 Wikimedia projects and from 28 to over 70 language Wikipedias in the last 2 years.

Over the last 2 years, participants in Let’s Connect have diversified in terms of the time they have been in the Movement. In 2022, 60% of registered participants said they had been in the Movement for less than 6 years.

Since 2022, there is more variety of experience among registered participants. Initially, there was a larger number of newcomer organisers. As seen in Chart 3, currently, 60% have joined the Movement between 6 months and 2 years, and 15% are newcomers (having joined less than 6 months ago). Survey data shows a similar trend. This trend is positive in the sense that Let’s Connect is seen as a useful platform for a wide variety of Wikimedias, including those more experienced, but it also indicates that those who joined as newcomers have stayed in the Movement. However, it also indicates the need to continue to cater to newcomers and have specific outreach and learning spaces to meet their needs.

Over the last 2 years, we have also seen a diversification in the characteristics of participants in terms of the main role they play in the Movement, as seen in Chart 4. In 2022, there were more newcomer organisers, and now there was a growth of affiliate staff, affiliate directives, and board members, as well as individual contributors focused on editing or other forms of content contribution. People who identify their main role as “individual volunteers that focus on editing” are slightly higher in the ESEAP and SSA regions. Whilst Let’s Connect communicates (meta page) that it is a space for learning more relevant for organising /programmatic roles, individual editors still feel an incentive to join, which indicates that the programme could extend as a platform for other contributing activity, including users with extended rights.

1.2 Topics and learning methods related to equity

Since the start of Let’s Connect in April 2022, 15% of Learning Clinics have been on topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Such as focusing on DEI in governance, equity in collective action,  women’s health and gender sensitivity, and bridging knowledge gaps by focusing on language diversity, oral knowledge, and indigenous knowledge.

Another way of promoting equity has been to design Learning spaces with care for specific audiences. For instance, holding learning spaces in participants’ native languages and by designing more intimate “conversation circles” based on Indigenous communities’ symbolism and storytelling formats.  

Case examples

The MENA series:

The case of the MENA series 1-3 was the first set of learning clinics in Let's Connect. These 3 sets of learning clinics gave the space for only Arabic speakers to engage more actively.

"Speaking at the 'Let's Connect' program for the first time was an amazing experience. The learning clinic on 'How to Organize Successful Competitions?' was especially rewarding. It was great to share what I know with such a receptive audience. The whole program was a fantastic opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with others." (Annonymous feedback). Whilst there are many external factors that account for the increase in grants after the MENA series the rapid grant proposals doubled, and there has been greater interest in the grants. “The Let's Connect session made the MENA community (specifically the Arabic-speaking community) feel like they were being spoken to and so they listened and absorbed the information. It's very different from offering interpretation to an English-speaking session. Having someone directly communicate to you in your language was more effective.” Farida El-Gueretly.

Documenting oral knowledge:

Many Indigenous languages around the world, particularly those in the Global South, do not have a writing system. Sharers Olushola Olaniyan Wikimedia Nigeria User Group, Amrit Sufi, and Sakti Pramudya WMF told their stories from their cultural and regional perspectives on the importance of Oral Knowledge Documentation and what their journey has looked like. Oral Knowledge Documentation allows Wikimedians and communities who come from marginalized backgrounds with languages that are not widely documented to have space and recognition for their part in the sum of all human knowledge.

Promoting knowledge equity:

This series of 5 Learning Circles goes through the journey of documenting indigenous languages and culture on Wikimedia. It audience is a smaller circle of participants from indigenous communities and affiliate staff that support these efforts. The discussions revolve around the Wayuu indigenous communities in Colombia and Venezuela. The case is used to prompt discussions and sharing between all communities participating. The first series focused on the social and participatory methods used, second on technical processes and the third on the ethics of sharing indigenous knowledge. Some of the learning methods used are storytelling and audiovisual summaries of the knowledge shared. All of this capturing the unique symbols and principals in the Wayuu culture.

"The sharing was excellent, the translation fantastic and everyone had the right to speak. I was delighted with this meeting and it gave me new motivation for the future”.

“The Let's Connect team did a great job of supporting us with the trial run and planning sessions, and I was very pleased that we could share something we have been working on. Let's Connect has an important role to play in sharing information within the movement, I'm glad there's a group within the movement making a space for learning. My compliments to you and the team.” (Affiliate sharer)

Time, care, and relationship-building is key: Each learning clinic takes about 4-6 weeks of preparation and at least 10 hours of work. This includes reaching out to potential sharers in the community, holding a 1 hour call with the sharers to brainstorm the potential topic of focus, and then 3 more meetings after that: a meeting to discuss the learning outcomes, a second meeting to review the sharers content, and then a dry run of the whole clinic to ensure everyone facilitating and presenting understand their roles. The preparation time is the most important part of the learning clinics. During this time, sharers can meet the Let’s Connect working group, and get to know the programme’s culture and working dynamic. By the end of the 4-6 weeks of preparation and the live learning clinic, there is a trustworthy relationship with the sharer.

💡Experimentation with more contextualised learning clinics for specific audiences and in local languages should be a key investment in 2025/26. This requires more time dedication and capacities within the working group.

2. Insight 2: Let’s Connect allows people to build skills and network, which is an incentive to grow and stay in the Movement

“The skills I acquired from Let's Connect have been incredibly valuable in my community work. For example, the Wikimedia Community —----was formed during my first grant from Let's Connect, and many of the skills I learned have helped our community thrive. These include grant-making, conflict management, event organizing, and project management skills, all of which have played a key role in our success.”

Survey data and documented cases show that Let’s Connect feels like a safe space - understood in terms of a welcoming, inclusive, relaxed space where people are not at risk of being harassed. It is a good entry point for newcomers that can help make the learning curve in the Movement more supportive and faster.

“.....knowing about the experience of forming programmes, forming groups of volunteers, training volunteers in the different wiki projects gives you another horizon, another perspective. Another level of understanding of the Wikimedia Movement…”

59% of the survey respondents feel that being part of Let’s Connect has helped them grow in the Movement. Let’s Connect connects the local to the global. It supports people working more locally to open their horizons and feel engaged with the wider movement. As seen in some of the cases As seen in Mohammed and Sadam’s cases, it supported them to grow as individual contributors, but also as more effective organisers. The value of the human connection is also event in their cases, both to their local and the global community.

Case study examples

Alhassan Mohammed Awal

Alhassan Mohammed Awal (Let’s Connect profile)

“ I'm a community organiser. That's often how I describe myself when you give me the chance to connect with people, you'll find me getting more people involved”. Mohammed first used a computer when he entered university. “I'm a village boy but with city dreams, so I am always there to do things on my own. So, I stay online to learn, and it was through me trying to explore other opportunities that I came to know about Wikimedia projects. I started getting involved in 2020. Anytime I also learn something, I try to pass it to others around me”.

“I have specifically applied the skills for motivating and retaining volunteers to train a group of Educators in Ghana who have started contributing to various Wikimedia projects”. He proudly shared this reporting of some of his work on national television. Mohammed has also been active in 1:1 connections.  “I connected with Wasiul Bahar from Bangladesh, he shared Wikimedia Commons skills that I was able to implement in my project funded by Creative Commons”.

Mohammed hopes to become a more active ambassador to translate Let’s Connect material into Dagbani and use this as a platform to promote indigenous knowledge documentation. “I am from [an] indigenous community, and I understand that most of our history is passed down to us orally. When it remains orall,y there are so many distortions but once it is kept written on a Wikimedia site, it remains for others to come and improve upon them….”.

Sadam Muhammad(Let’s Connect profile)

Sadam Muhammad

Sadam is a 24-year-old university student from Nigeria. Before joining Let’s Connect, Sadam was navigating the Wikimedia projects on my own, learning on Youtube. He discovered Let’s Connect through an African telegram group and was invited to a local implementation led by a Let’s Connect ambassador.  He often doesn’t understand some of the content in English, but says he feels happy just connecting to the global community. He often makes screenshots of the meeting content to share on his social media, sparking interest from other community members to join. It was through Let’s Connect that he was also able to connect more closely with his local community and gained skills that he has used as an editor and now an active campaign organiser.  “When I attended, I'm really appreciative because I connected to different people, different people in my country Nigeria. When I joined my local event, they taught us in my local language, so I understood more. It helped me edit how to improve articles. I also better understood the role of a facilitator and how to apply to rapid grants”.

Since then, Sadam has applied for rapid funds to participate in campaigns and has been an active editor himself. He is happiest during campaigns, when he says he spends his day only “eating and editing”! See an illustrated version of Sadam’s case!

Click here for more cases about learners and sharers.

Word cloud of survey responses to the question," if you could name one thing in Let's Connect that is most useful to you what would it be"?

“I got to know how to set up Meta Event tool during let's connect program and I implemted this skill during my recently concluded project (Wiki and Health articles in Nigeria)” (SSA participant)

“I have used the skills and documentation I picked up on oral history and Lexemes in a project proposal I am working on”. (SSA participant)

“It is very helpful in managing my group and in building up the capacity of my community to contribute to Wikimedia” (ESEAP participant)

“I made subsequent contact with speakers to go into more detail on specific points that were of interest to me” (LAC participant)

One of the most valued aspects of Let’s Connect is that people learn by connecting with others in the movement. As the word cloud shows, when asked about one thing they find most useful, learning and connecting with people are at the centre. “It gets people from all over the world to connect and work together on related topics”.

In their responses, people valued connecting with those they would not naturally connect with. Their connection with a diverse group of people, including experienced Wikimedians, is an important incentive, particularly for newcomer organisers from underrepresented communities.  Survey respondents mentioned that connections made through Let’s Connect led to further collaborations between affiliates or independent organisers. A nice example is how Caner, the Wikimedian of the year, connected with Let’s Connect participants to create educational tutorials for Wikipedia beginners. This led to a collaboration that resulted in the recording of a 101 for Wikipedia newcomers that is now widely used in the Turkish community.

2.1 Participation in Learning Clinics

“I could name one thing that I find most useful, it would definitely be the live webinars. The direct interaction with experts and the possibility to resolve doubts in real time make this learning space especially valuable for me”.

Learning Clinics that, on average, take place every two weeks have been the main form of participation in the programme. These are valued because of the topics and the ability to connect online to learn from peers globally.

Participation tracking on zoom shows that 57% of registered participants have participated in at least 1 of the 65 Clinics since the start of the programme in 2022. As seen in Chart 5, the majority have participated in more than 1 Clinic with an average of 4 Clinics per person. Of the 350 non-registered participants, 34% will participate in multiple clinics, it is generally not a one-off participation. Survey responses that capture self-reported participation show a higher engagement.  40% of respondents stated they participate in Learning Clinics every 2 months, and 37% have participated at least 1 or 2 times since joining the programme. Only 23% said they haven’t participated in any Clinic.

Each Clinic averages around 45 participants. However, this varies depending on the topic focus, outreach, and time of the year. Topics focused on practical tips and common pain points have a higher attendance. See the list of top 4 clinics in terms of attendance and retention.

It is important to note that quantity is not always the goal, as some learning clinics cater to smaller groups in more intimate learning spaces, particularly those dealing with sensitive issues (burn-out) or more localised learning spaces (such as the MENA series in Arabic and the Indigenous communities learning circles).

It is important to note that in the last year, there has been a slight decrease in the average participants from 50 to 39. This may be due to topics that have led to more intimate learning spaces, and the fact that some Learning Clinics have been a series that requires more time commitment. However, it is important to review Clinic formats, topics, and outreach for each Learning Clinic to increase interest. Qualitative responses to the survey show that 29% are about improving Clinic design, 18% about improving topics, and 29% about more language and timezone inclusivity.

Survey responses show a handful of comments pointing to Learning Clinics being “long and complicated” or with an unclear focus. This feedback also suggested that the interest in the topics or quality may have decreased over time, or participation momentum was lost because of the Clinics being too frequent or not communicated promptly.

In the last year, there has also been a slight drop in retention from 39% to 28% of participants staying for over 90 minutes, which is over half an average Clinic’s duration. Participation tracking shows that retention is often higher in Clinics that have a. More practical learning (such as the Clinics on communications tips or managing scholarships), b. On-Wiki skills using interactive exercises (Lexemes Clinic), c. More intimate learning spaces focused on one region (such as the MENA series).

A factor that often affects in-clinic retention is internet connectivity, particularly for participants in the Sub-Saharan African and South Asia regions. Resolving this is beyond the scope of the programme, but the case studies show how a little data support can be very impactful. The programme can do more to work with affiliates to see where this data support can be provided or do this through the expansion of rapid funds for local implementation of Let’s Connect, as was done in the three pilot projects in Nigeria (Kwara, Hausa community) and Tanzania.

💡To continue to offer a useful space for skills building, there is a need to:

• Tailor learning spaces to different audiences. For instance, to continue to expand opportunities for newcomer organisers, but also start to develop more in-depth/advanced topics for experienced organisers, particularly those working within affiliates as staff or volunteers. Because of its openness, newcomer editors have naturally arrived at Let’s Connect, even though Clinics are more focused on organising skills and less on introductions to contributing on different projects.
• Review Clinic design to increase retention during online sessions: Testing new Clinic designs with a wider variety of sharers, interactive exercises and break-out discussions will be important over the next year. Working with affiliates in each region to gauge topic interests and cases might increase contextualised relevance and affiliate engagement.
• More regular contact and follow-up with participants: Follow up with participants in their region to see how they are participating and identify potential opportunities or needs to enhance their participation. 35% of survey respondents stated they were in regular contact with liaisons, 33% did not have contact with them. This varies in each region, with the regions with higher interactions being South Asia, CEE, and MENA.
• Work with affiliates to support staff and volunteer participation.
• Diversify learning formats to cater to these different needs. Some of this can be done by creating a more structured support for 1:1 connections and mentoring, creating learning resources pathways on WikiLearn (particularly for newcomers), and designing more in-depth learning clinic series on topics of interest to experienced organisers. This requires investing time and resources for the working group to have the capacity to do this.
• Expand learning spaces offering more options in different time zones and languages, but also replicating from the successful pilots in Tanzania and Nigeria that enabled local Let’s Connect Ambassadors to replicate local versions of learning clinics through rapid funds focused on Let’s Connect activities. Recently, local implementations have had a significant impact in spreading Let’s Connect activity like this case in Nigeria where the pilot in Kwara state has expanded to several regions with localised clinics organised by Let’s Connect participants themselves.

2.2 The topic relevance and usefulness of Learning Clinics

“The choice of topics to cover, the atmosphere at the space and the mode of the presentation. The recognition of language barriers by providing translation. These all things that work well.”

In the survey responses, 95% of comments were positive about the usefulness of Clinics for learning. Learning Clinics that are cross-regional are valued as learning spaces to connect across the movement, however, communities value Clinics that are contextualised to specific regional and language needs.

As Sadam’s case shows, some participants may be connecting just for the value of feeling connected to people all over the world and taking in some pieces of information. However, if more Clinics were offered in local languages with context-specific examples, it would facilitate learning and interaction. There are several Wikimedians in other regions that probably don’t participate as the main language offered, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and occasionally Arabic, don’t cover their needs. Increasing the number of translators per language offered by the Movement Communications team would be important to guarantee good quality translation in every session.

“..“In the Let's Connect program, I have learned important skills such as effective communication, leadership, and project management techniques. This knowledge has helped me a lot in my social work, especially in Wikipedia editing and community work as a Wikipedia editor and trainer”.

From Clinic attendance data, YouTube views, and survey responses, it is clear that people value Clinics that range across the 5 different skill categories in the Let’s Connect taxonomy. 67% of survey respondents say Let’s Connect offers learning clinics in the most important areas. As seen in Chart 7, Let’s Connect has developed clinics in most areas that participants most want to learn from (see this table of most demanded skills).

There have been more clinics around organisational and programmatic skills, but more recently, it has introduced more on-Wiki skills and community health-related topics.

“I would appreciate more content related to soft skills that are useful in managing more and more complex affiliate teams - something universal, not only related to Wikimedia. Also - leadership programs for executives and boards (separate) or dedicated clinics."

As Chart 8 shows, the highest percentage of survey respondents said that Let’s Connect had been useful for activities related to event organising (55%) followed by on-wiki skills (49%) and project management (47%), and slightly less useful for conflict management, grant proposal writing, and volunteer management. This is interesting to note as clinics dealing with volunteer management and conflicts were popular and well evaluated. It may be the case that these topics require a more frequent cadence and learning formats that can allow for asynchronous learning, practice, and mentoring.

30% of those who responded to the survey question acknowledged that they would like to see more on-wiki skills, followed by soft skills related to community health (19%), volunteer management, and project management (18%).

Let’s Connect members also see these skills and topics as relevant to non-Wikimedia projects in their lives and professional development, which incentivises them to stay in the Movement. This is also evident in the cases documented. Building on this, there were two professional development Clinics that showed cases of how organisers can bring skills from their professional lives into the Movement and vice versa.

💡Improvements are needed in how participants are recognised as being part of the programme. Let’s Connect initially offered badges for participation, but this needs to be more systematically implemented (ie, more recognised barnstars and diverse badges or certifications), as well as through other recognition channels.  58% of participants think their participation is recognised through different communication channels. 50% of survey respondents said they had not received a badge in their profile, indicating a lack of knowledge of this incentive.

Just under 50% of learning clinics have had in-session feedback through mentimeter. The quick survey usually asks about the usefulness of the session and what people would like to see more of in the future. In general, the rating is positive, however only about 25-30% of participants fill out the mentimeter, and it is those that already have stayed till the end. Very few do so when the mentimeter link is sent with learning material after the session via email.

“Peer to peer learning is so valuable and I appreciate hearing from people that are from other areas of the world than where I live. Their perspectives and experiences are always so interesting.”

Presentations, peer examples, and breakout discussions are the most valued elements of the sessions. People would like to see more scenarios, detailed tips or lists of best practices, and more practical exercises that they can experiment with.

2.3 Sharing the knowledge/ skills learned

“I have leveraged most of my learning from let's connect to create interactive sessions and that changed how I would I approach any Wiki topic”.

Let’s Connect participants feel they are using the skills in a way that is useful for their Wikimedia work. 67% of participants believe the skills are relevant to their contributions on Wikimedia, and 59% state that it is helping them grow in their role in the Movement.  

“In my work group we often talk about these clinics because we hope to be able to form ourselves as a group of volunteers and these experiences give a perspective of the great work that is required”.

58% of participants are sharing the learning with others in their communities by sharing learning material or using the skills in their training, with half of them doing it every month (see details in Chart 9). 52% replicate Learning Clinics with their communities, 44% share learning resources.

However, almost 40% of survey respondents report that they are not sharing the skills they have learned with others. Given that most participants are organisers, including staff members, it is necessary to do more to encourage this sharing through formats to replicate learning clinics locally, as well as having easily digestible learning documents from the key takeaways of each Clinic.

There are 11% that were less positive about the usefulness of Let’s Connect to build skills that help them grow in the movement. Judging by the qualitative answers, a handful of respondents feel that there need to be other learning formats that support deeper learning or more advanced levels of learning. These respondents feel that some skills can’t be truly “learned” through a Clinic and that putting these skills to use over time requires practicing these skills and support through mentoring.  Other respondents mentioned not having the time to engage fully with the program because they had recently registered, because the learning spaces were at times that did not suit them, or they just didn’t have time for live participation.

Providing short summaries of key learning could address this, as well as 1:1 connections that fit into staff/volunteer time. It is important to also coordinate with affiliates so that they can support staff or volunteers connected to the affiliate to participate and prioritise this space for learning and sharing.  

2.3 Participation beyond learning clinics

Whilst Learning Clinics are the most popular form of participation, as Chart 10 shows, survey respondents evidenced that participants are using other formats such as making 1:1 connections through the skills directory, viewing or sharing learning resources, and participating in the open monthly Connectathons.

The efforts to record sessions and share all the learning resources is valued by people.  55% are using the resources page  to watch videos and/or to share with others. Participants, particularly affiliate staff or volunteers with limited time often say they can’t attend live sessions and report that having access to the Clinic material after is very useful. Youtube data shows that there is a good number of video views (over 3k views, 42k impressions, 210 hours of watching, with an average of 37 views per video and 8 videos with over 100 views). This also depends on how actively these videos are shared by the sharers themselves or by others. For instance, WMF staff member Asaf Bartov has shared his training in other spaces, as has Wiki in Africa.

Case study example

Ester Bonet

Ester Bonet (Tiputini) (Let’s Connect profile). Ester is a long-time Wikimedian passionate about how gender is represented on Wikimedia and a linguist in promoting content in Catalan. She works closely with students and women’s groups. She believes Let’’s Connect is valuable because it enables people to access a number of topics and learning resources that are variable. ‘I'm specifically following what's going on with the gender gap and minority language, everything you do with translation, because those are the two areas that interest me right now. I do spread the word among people, among my students, the people who come to my workshops, because I think everything you are doing is very interesting and, above all, how you compile it, how easy it is to access everything that has been done”. Esther suggests that ‘Let's Connect’ could offer a space for more intimate and supportive conversations, especially in times of transition or change within organisations.

20% of survey respondents said they frequently use the skills directory to connect with others 1:1. This is higher than expected, given that there has been little support for these 1:1 connections and tracking of the results of these connections after the pilot. The pilot learning report evidenced how valuable these connections were to people; however, at that time, the working group could not actively promote and support these connections in 20 cases.  The survey responses also show that those who took part in the 1:1 program still value this as one of their top experiences with Let’s Connect.  The working group could also support sharers to make 1:1 connections with those who request more mentoring support after a Learning Clinic.

Connectathons were established as a learning from the pilot phase. Participants asked for a space for more regular communication with the programme and a non-skills-based space to connect more about focusing on human interaction and having a bit of fun as a community. These happen every first Friday of the month. Whilst participants seem to value these spaces, 28% of survey respondents say they don’t know what they are, and 20% have never participated. Organizing Connectathons in multiple languages can support targeting specific regions periodically.

“I would facilitate more people to go for 1:1 virtual coffee. Also, it would be the best if we could facilitate one group (affiliate/non affiliate) to teach another group (very similar to 1:1 but in this case, this is one org:another org). This will make the learning sustainable since this time it is collective instead of personal.”

💡 There is an opportunity for expanding participation in diverse learning formats beyond Clinics.

• Connection to WikiLearn: Participants ask for opportunities for more asynchronous interaction, such as through discussion forums or 1:1 mentoring. Embedding Let’s Connect content into structured WikiLearn courses could offer these opportunities. Participants could access specific course modules related to these topics with discussion forums. Likewise, existing courses on WikiLearn could actively encourage participants to watch Learning Clinic material. This was an insight that also came from the pilot phase learning report. If Let’s Connect wants to be more a space for deeper skills acquisition, beyond an introduction to skills it needs to feed into other forms of structured learning and mentoring.
• Support for 1:1 connections through the skills directory: The working group could actively recommend and support 1:1 connections with a better-designed, lighter procedure. 30% of survey respondents didn’t know what this is, indicating that they don’t know about their Let’s Connect profile. The Capacity Exchange tool can also offer a better user experience in searching for these connections, with Let’s Connect supporting the connection when required by participants.
• Actively share specific resources from Learning Clinics. 45% of survey respondents report they do not use the resources page.  It is necessary to share resources with different audiences (such as affiliates carrying out training, hub initiatives, etc). Community-facing WMF staff can more actively support this and create guidelines/tips for sharing.
• Shorter (bite-size) learning resources. Beyond videos, it would also be worth making shorter learning resources as 3-minute video clips, infographics, or 3-page documents with summaries of key learnings that can be shared in different channels with language captions or translation. Creating Diff posts with key learning would be a good way to share this. Many staff and volunteers reported not having time to review full 2-hour videos of sessions. The working group could use AI tools to create this in a less time-consuming way.

3. Let’s Connect is offering a platform to bring Foundation work closer to the Movement, contributing to Movement knowledge documentation and strengthening the Movement’s capacity-building ecosystem

3.1 Bringing WMF teams and work closer to the community under a model of co-creation

Let’s Connect is increasingly offering a space for WMF staff to bring topics to communities with a peer-collaborative spirit.

“I learned that there's something called a community wishlist, and I was not aware that it existed. What an impactful session! I am going to utilize it. Thank you!” (Learner in a Clinic)

30% of Clinics have included 27 WMF staff members as sharers in topics ranging from communication tools, new product tool launches, professional development, to advocacy. This helps bring trust and reach new audiences. Likewise, it is a platform where WMF staff can become aware of different community experiences and learning.

“Thank you all so much for putting together and hosting such a wonderful clinic, and for having us and preparing us well in advance so we could deliver what was needed. :) WMF sharer in a Clinic.

Let’s Connect has also offered an important platform to share knowledge about grantee work. There have been more than 15 sessions with over 30 grantees sharing their experience and 16 regionally focused sessions to reflect on grantee reporting and collective learning.  There have also been spaces to support new communities accessing grants through project writing Clinics, although survey feedback pointed to the need for more Clinics focused on this.

💡Expanding audiences and key topics. As the Foundation is strategically thinking about how to bring product and tech tools closer to organisers and new contributors, Let’s Connect can grow as platform supporting this work.  It can also be a platform to start developing strategies with important audiences such as users with Extended Rights that could benefit from more support and peer connection, as well as newcomer youth.

It is important to work more closely with the Regional Fund Committees, Community Resources team, and new Global Resource Distribution Committee to identify strategic topics and experiences to share through Let’s Connect.

3.2 Let’s Connect is supporting community members to document their knowledge

Knowledge management is a key recommendation in the Movement strategy. The Movement has long struggled with documenting the richness of its experience and diversity of voices and doing this in a way that is accessible and finable. Let’s Connect has contributed to this. There are 65 different topics documented with presentations, videos, and recordings in at least 3 languages. This knowledge is currently documented in a space that is reasonably accessible and findable.

For individual organisers, things like tracking participants in a campaign, developing educational initiatives, tools for organised work, using the Registration Tool and newcomer functions, amongst others. For affiliates, there is key knowledge and learning that range from toolkits to campaign for change, hiring the first staff members, managing a communication crisis, managing partnerships, managing a small affiliate, adapting the Universal Code of Conduct, managing volunteer burnout, organising conference scholarships, amongst many more. Whilst there is already a lot of material around on-wiki skills, it has been possible to structure some of these key resources and share this knowledge as a series, for instance, Wikidata for WikiLoves competitions and Wikisource.

Sharers have expressed that having done a Learning Clinic allows them to have material to replicate in other scenarios. Affiliates and community members might have found it time-consuming to produce and share this if Let’s Connect did not exist.

Case study example

WikiNusantara 2022 Padang 5 Juni 2022 Rachmat Wahidi

Rachmat started contributing when he was a university student back in 2012 when he was browsing the internet and found Indonesian Wikipedia. Rachmat became involved in Let’s Connect to share knowledge about Wikimedia Indonesia’s advocacy work.   “It is interesting to learn, especially for new knowledge, new insights from other sharers. I also try to allocate my time to join Let's Connect sessions that are in line with my work in Wikimedia Indonesia which is more about advocacy and management. The knowledge that is transferred is beneficial especially for me in running all the activities within Wikimedia Indonesia”. Rahmat appreciates the diverse backgrounds of the speakers, which enriches the learning experience and helps him apply new ideas to his work.

3.2 Let’s Connect is strengthening the ecosystem of peer sharing and skills building in the Movement

Let’s Connect is creating methodologies,  procedures, documentation, and technical knowledge that have become useful to other peer-learning, knowledge-sharing, and capacity-building initiatives in the Movement..

The Capacity Exchange is using the Let’s Connect skills taxonomy to define the way profiles are registered. The teams are currently working together to test the CapX platform and have carried out joint workshops to test user cases. The Volunteer Supporters Network (VSN) has been able to expand its memberships through Let’s Connect’s strategy of communicating other Movement training opportunities to its members through its newsletter, mailing list and telegram group. Both programmes complement each other. In their 2025 year plan, VSN is focusing on complementing Let’s Connect more general skills building spaces, by offering an audience specific community of practice around volunteer management skills.

Hubs initiatives are seeing Let’s Connect as an important partner for their peer sharing services. The Language Diversity Hub and WikiFranca have reached out to Let’s Connect to learn from the procedures around peer sharing and proposed partnerships to use this platform collaboratively. The ESEAP Hub hopes to collaborate with Let’s Connect in their skills training services. The CEE Hub has also worked in collaboration with Let’s Connect to organise learning spaces focused on supporting emerging communities and campaign organisers. Let’s Connect offers know-how in session design and logistics, enabling Hub teams and content sharers to better focus on outreach and content creation for the learning.

Beyond this, Let’s Connect’s detailed documentation of every process with constant improvements as the team learns is creating institutional knowledge and capacity in movement leaders to promote peer sharing in a way that can be replicated across the Movement.

““What works well in Let's Connect is how the working group supports members in organizing Learning Clinics within their region, group, or affiliate. This support has been especially helpful for members like me.”.

The regional liaisons (working group) are an essential element to all the results in this report. Without their active participation and embedded community relations, the program wouldn’t be able to operate as it does. Participants, both learners and sharers, expressed that they highly valued the organisation of processes and support by working group members. All of the improvements stated in this report would not be viable without the investment in human resources needed to implement them.