Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/Wikimedia ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025, or shortened as ESEAP Summit Manila 2025/Final Report
Report Status: Awaiting grantee reply
Due date: 25 July 2025
Funding program: Conference Fund
Report type: Final
This is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the web service of Wikimedia Foundation Funds where the user has submitted their midpoint report. Please do not make any changes to this page because all changes will be removed after the next update. Use the discussion page for your feedback. The page was created by CR-FluxxBot.General information
[edit]- Title of proposal: Wikimedia ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025, or shortened as ESEAP Summit Manila 2025
- Username of applicant: Ballardmaize
- Name of organization: N/A
- Amount awarded: 121507
- Amount spent: 0 USD, 0 PHP
Part 1: Understanding your work
[edit]1. Did your event have any impact that you did not expect, positive or negative?
Yes, the ESEAP Strategy Summit Manila 2025 had several unexpected positive impacts. First, we were able to group together the four (4) major Wikimedia groups in the Philippines as well as the independent Filipino Wikimedia contributors. It was a challenge working with such diverse groups with different level of priorities, skills and time commitment. Amidst these diferences, the Core Organizing Team as able to provide an insightful, inspiring and engaging experiences to all Wikimedia groups and attendees from the ESEAP Region.
The ESEAP Strategy Summit is the opportunity for ESEAP affiliate leaders to discuss developments, changes in leadership and governance within the Wikimedia Movement. Although, this meeting was initially intended for recognized Wikimedia affiliates, we received an overwhelming request to participate from Wikimedians without formal affilaitions. In total, we were able to accommodate 16 non-affiliated Wikimedians from 5 countries to represent their cause as we plan the fututre strategic direction of Wikimedians from ESEAP Region.
2. What do you think will be the long term impact of this conference?
We look at the long-term impact of this project in two ways.
First, we believe that this conference will have a marked impact on how the ESEAP Hub will ultimately govern itself. Setting the tone for future coordination and hub governance were the hallmarks of this conference, and though developing a hub governance structure takes time and will require a lot of effort from the region, this conference has served as the catalyst for getting us there. Ideally, we get to crystallize the conclusions we have made from this conference when we reconvene in Kaohsiung next year.
The greater impact that we see, however, is in the future cooperation opportunities that exist with the various groups in the Philippines. This event has shown that although the Wikimedia landscape in this country is complicated to say the least, the people here are nevertheless capable of working together if we put ourselves together. We hope we can continue to further cooperation with other groups in the Philippines in this manner, and improve on what we did during the Summit so that we can work together even better than before.
3. Would you say that your work improved participants’ ability to apply new skills and knowledge?
Yes
3a. If yes, please describe how and why you think this was successful. Please describe why you think this is the case.
We believe that we were able to successfully carry out the major objectives of the ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025.
Of the total Summit attendees, we recived a 39.77% response for the feedback survey. A combined 88.5% of respondents found the topics to be relevant, with 88.6% of attendees positively rating the quality of the sessions. The content of the sessions was well-received by the participants. When asked about their satisfaction, a majority of (91.4%) gave a positive rating of 4 or 5.
Of all the reposndents over-all experience attending the sessions, we have learn these five (5) major points:
1.High-quality and informative sessions. Attendees consistently praised the sessions for being insightful, relevant, inspiring and well-thought of. Summit sessions covered both community experiences (past) and the Wikimedia ESEAP strategic directions (future). Also, the hybrid conference set-up and collaborative brainstorming activities allowed for meaningful sharing experiences and it ensured participants to be actively engaged. It also provided the same opportunities to attendees participating remotely.
2. Informal partnerships and community building. A major success of the summit was its role as a venue for networking and strengthening ties between affiliates in the ESEAP region. Respondents repeatedly mentioned the importance of reconnecting with old friends, meeting fellow Wikimedians from other countries, and learning from their diverse experiences. This human connection was described as a core, and sometimes the most important, part of the event.
3.ESEAP regional strategic direction and hub creation. The summit successfully delivered its objective to focus on the strategic direction of the Wikimedia ecosystem in the ESEAP Region.. Attendees reported gaining a deep insight into our regional objective and goals, particularly regarding the creation and evolving role of the ESEAP Hub. The discussions were seen as productive and instrumental in shaping actionable strategies for the future.
4. Volunteer growth, empowerment, and a sense of Wikimedia belonging. The event had a significant personal impact both on new volunteers and affiliate leaders present. Many described gaining a renewed sense of purpose and volunteerism, feeling more connected to the movement, and acquiring new skills and knowledge to implement in their home communities. Their Summit experiences were noted as warm and inclusive, making even the youngest or newest attendees feel comfortable and valued.
5. Strong Connection Between Regional Strategy and Local Action. A powerful theme was the successful link between high-level strategic discussions and practical, on-the-ground action. Attendees felt the sessions provided actionable insights and frameworks that could be directly applied to their local communities. They left with a clearer understanding of how regional goals connect to their own contributions.
Other major points gathered through this event are summarized on the ESEAP Strategy Summit Impact Summary document.
4. Please use this space to upload media and other files that help tell your story and impact. You can also provide links to them.
Field to type in URLs.
5. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with the support of this Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals.
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Strongly agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Not applicable |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Not applicable |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Agree |
6. Please share resources that would be useful to share with other Wikimedia organizations so that they can learn from, adapt or build upon your work. For instance, guides, training material, presentations, work processes, or any other material the team has created to document and transfer knowledge about your work and can be useful for others. Please share any specific resources that you are creating, adapting/contextualizing in ways that are unique to your context (i.e. training material).
- Upload Documents and Files
- Here is an additional field to type in URLs.
- Link to presentations: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hYC2YWD_W166yxL0qta7t9JQoe4aojAu
- Discussion notes by official facilitators:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wiuwdyxBUPfjL1zB-AwrJ6s5sPpNZb5O
7. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your efforts helped to bring in participants and/or build out content, particularly for underrepresented groups?
The Scholarship Lead and the Communication Lead worked closely to ensure that proper communication about the event scholarships were received by all the Wikimedia groups and volunteers in the ESEAP Region. We have allocated 50% of attendees support to scholarships to accommodate non-affiliated groups and independent contributors and new Movement volunteers.
Part 2: Your main learning
[edit]8. Were there any major challenges or things you found difficult that you would like to share? What would you do differently next time?
Despite the success of this event, we were faced by the following challenges during planning and execution:
1. Medical Emergencies. During the event, we had to handle several unexpected medical emergencies due to CoVid cases and exposures. For future events, we suggest requiring a medical declaration from attendees before they travel. Also it will be good to have a protocol in place just in case something similar incidents will happen in the future.
2. Internal Communications within the COT is obviously flawed. As a grantee, I experienced several incidents where I don’t have access to the overall event information like accommodation contracts, official participants registration, and budget management document. I don’t understand why some people already have access to those documents but I don’t. Having access to these documents would have helped in the overall planning and preventing any other problems that might occur during execution. In the future, it would be best if all members of the COT will have access to all event documents. This will ensure the entire team is fully informed, enabling them to proactively identify and address potential challenges.
3. Fiscal management. I didn’t receive any financial management support or advice from the fiscal sponsor on where we currently stand in terms of our budget. Payment systems and disbursement schedules were inconsistent that caused us difficulties in maintaining our integrity and good faith with our suppliers. Contracts made were not clearly reviewed by the sponsor that made asking accountability from the suppliers impossible. Our experience highlighted a conflict of interest when a fiscal sponsor is also a member of the Core Organizing Team (COT) For a healthier partnership in the future, it’s essential to clearly define and maintain separate roles. We should also ensure that fiscal sponsors have a proper structure to handle financial management. And most of all, fiscal sponsors should have a firm commitment to maintain open communication with the grantee, especially during challenging conversations.
4. Flight Scheduling. At the planning stage, I’ve already informed the COT that for this year, I’ve observed that the Travel Team has a different protocol in choosing attendees’ flights. However, some of them are imposing the protocols implemented during the previous conferences (in 2023 & 2024) and implying that I don’t know it because I’ve never been a scholar. From what I know, scholars can choose the flights they prefer as long as it is within the dates prescribed for the event. For them, scholars should accept the schedules chosen for them. Instead of clearly asking this concern from the Travel Team they decided to follow the latter. At the end, we have several participants who’re still willing to attend the last activities of the conference (eve of Sunday), but were not able to join because their flights were scheduled on Sunday evening. I’m aware that the COT shouldn’t bear the gravity of this incident alone, but knowing better by asking questions from the right people before disseminating them to the attendees could have helped avoid the situation.
5. Volunteer Management. There were miscommunications between the COT and the volunteers. I expected that since the volunteers were recommended by the host user groups, they would be given support in terms of the nature of the event, schedules, and their tasks. Although we conducted an onboarding, not all volunteers were present. Some of the volunteers were unaware of their tasks and were unavailable to render duty on their recommended schedule. This made the dynamic between volunteers difficult because some were forced to do more work than others.
9. Was there any non-financial support that the Wikimedia Foundation could have provided that would have better supported you in achieving your goals?
We received outpouring support from the Wikimedia Foundation that helped us make this event successful. We would like to extend our gratitude to all who have been part of this event, most especially to Ivonne Kristiani of Movement Communications Team, Erin Morris of Travel Team, Sakti Pramudya of Regional Partnerships Team, and all the resource persons that made impact to the ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025.
10. What would you recommend on a local and/or regional level as the best next step to leverage your success and momentum?
We are committed to strengthening our partnerships with editors, volunteers, user groups, and the wider Wikimedia community in the Philippines. Hopefully we’ll also be able to build a stronger network with the rest of the affiliates in the ESEAP Region through the ESEAP Hub. By coming together in this conference, we've gained a clearer understanding of each other's strengths, weaknesses, and the shared opportunities we can now pursue to champion the Wikimedia Movement throughout the Philippines.
11. Please add any 3 operational recommendations for future events organizers.
For future event organizers, we recommend to have the following:
Establish a management framework. To ensure accountability and a more formal structure of managing conferences, organizers should establish a framework that (1) strictly defines rules between fiscal sponsors and operational management, (2) a vetting process for fiscal sponsors, (3) ensures equal access to all non-personally identifiable event documentation.
Communication channels and information management system. To ensure all members of the team are working from the same information, a clear communication protocol is important. Organizers should:
Have a centralized information repository (e.g., a shared drive) where all official event documents are stored and can be accessed by all the members of the team.
Implement the "Source of Truth" policy. Before sharing information or making decisions (e.g., on travel policies), the team must consult with the designated team or individual responsible for that area (e.g., the Travel Team). This prevents the use of outdated information or personal assumptions.
Risk Management and Contingency Plans. We recommend developing a proactive risk management plan that includes:
A protocol for unexpected medical emergencies. This protocol should be established pre-event and should include a requirement for attendees to submit a medical declaration form before travel.
A resilient volunteer management strategy. This may include maintaining a list of "on-call" volunteers, defining backup roles in case of absences, and ensuring that skills sets are shared among multiple team members.
A contingency plan for supplier and financial issues. This involves having backup payment options and clear accountability clauses in all supplier contracts, which must be thoroughly reviewed by both the grantee and the fiscal sponsor.
Part 3: Metrics
[edit]12. Open Metrics reporting
In your application, you defined some open metrics and targets (goals). You will see a table like the one below with your metric in the title and the target you set in your proposal automatically filled in.
| Open Metrics | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated Participants | Number of participants not belonging to any formally recognized Wikimedia group. | 10 | 9 | There are 9 non-affiliated groups, and 23 individuals recorded as attendees. | We used a standard event registration form to gather information from the attendees. |
| Country Participating | ESEAP countries with formal affiliation are evenly represented. | 12 | 11 | With 91.67% achievement rate for this metric, the summit successfully brought together a diverse group, with attendees representing 17 different countries. We saw remarkable success in our primary goal of affiliate participation, engaging 11 countries and 16 formally recognized Wikimedia affiliates. | N/A |
| Participants Diversity | Number of participants from non-binary groups. | 7 | 0 | No recorded non-binary participants. | N/A |
| First-time Attendees | Number of participants attending for the first time to represent their groups in a strategy summit. | 10 | 0 | The grantee failed to specify this question during the registration process. | N/A |
| Discussion Insights | Facilitate discussions to gather insights on the different advocacies, innovations, and challenges of ESEAP. | 3 | 6 | In the course of the entire Summit, six (6) major topics were discussed. These includes ESEAP Hub (Design, governance, advocacies, training, community support, etc), affiliate strategy, building external partnerships, field building, conference planning, and public policy advocacy. | We used the event programming and facilitators' discussion notes. |
13. Were there any metrics in your proposal that you could not collect or that you had to change?
Yes
13a. If you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results, please describe and add any recommendations on how to address them in the future. Also mention why you felt you had to change some metrics.
There are several metrics that we’re not able to gather information to measure success. This was an oversight on the part of the grantee when creating the post-event survey. We’re not able to devise any other way to collect the data on first-time attendees.
14. Please indicate if you applied any of the following survey and registration tools. Please select all that apply.
1. Standard Registration Form, 2. Post-event participant survey
14a. Please share the result(s) with us, provide the link(s) or summarize the main result(s) and insight(s) from them.
14b. If you used other forms, please share them with us, as these forms might be useful for others to use.
Part 4: Financial reporting and compliance
[edit]15. & 16. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency.
0 PHP
17. Please state the total amount spent in USD.
0 USD
18. Please report the funds received and spending in the currency of your fund.
Upload a financial report file.
Please provide a link to your financial reporting document.
(This will be provided soon.)
As required in the fund agreement, please report any deviations from your fund proposal here. Note that, among other things, any changes must be consistent with our WMF mission, must be for charitable purposes as defined in the grant agreement, and must otherwise comply with the grant agreement.
19. If you have not already done so in your budget report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal.
(This will be provided soon.)
20. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
Yes
20a. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
We were not able to use the requested budget for the design, communication, administrative support, and translation support. Budget allocation for these items were used to cover the event volunteer expenses (travel, accommodation, food allowance, etc.). A large sum was also used to pay for the projector that was broken during the preparation of the breakout rooms. This was an accident, so as a grantee, I take full responsbility on this matter and advised the COT that we should cover this expense within the grant budget.
20b. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
B. Propose to use them to partially or fully fund a new/future request with PO approval
20c. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
The Wiki Advocates Philippines currently receives support through the General Support Fund. For 2025-2026, our budget proposal was only patially approved. It would be helpful if we can use the remaining funds to augment our budget for fiscal year 2025-2026. Our annual finances are being managed by Kiwix.
21. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
22. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
23. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
24. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here.
Wiki Advocates Philippines would like to thank everyone who helped us make this event a success. Special mention to the ESEAP Preparatory Council, the Core Organizing Team, the Scholarship Team lead by User:Seav, our Communications Lead (User:Chlod), the Social Activities Team lead by User:Buszmail, our Travel and Accommodation lead (User:Sky_Harbor) and all the volunteers and user groups that has been part of the ESEAP Strategy Summit in Manila.