Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Black Lunch Table Into The Movement's Future 2025/Final Report
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Part 1: Understanding your work
[edit]Per the recent update on the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy process, Wikimedia Affiliates that are General Support Fund grantees will fulfill their affiliate reporting requirements through their final or yearly grantee report.
If you are a Wikimedia Affiliate, you will use this form for your affiliate reporting and to address the affiliate health criteria. You do not need to submit a separate report to AffCom. Follow the guidance in the green boxes to report on how you met the corresponding affiliate health criteria.
If you are not a Wikimedia Affiliate, aligning your responses with the affiliate criteria is optional and not required.
1. Please share to what extent your programs, approaches, and strategies contributed to addressing the challenges you shared in your proposal. If they did not contribute as you believed they would, please share what obstacles you faced and what, if anything, you learned from them? (required)
For affiliates, use this space (Question 1.) to address Affiliate Health Criterion 1.1 (Goal delivery). Describe how you actively delivered on mission goals, e.g. content creation.
In our application, we highlighted the need for more editors of color and more women editors, as well as for better coverage of notable Black artists and cultural workers. These are ongoing issues that groups like Art + Feminism, AfroCROWD, and Whose Knowledge? are addressing in different ways.
BLT has made progress by trying approaches beyond edit-a-thons. As a thematic affiliate, we do not have a regular group of editors. Instead, we focus on raising awareness and addressing the root causes. In 2025, we finished the first round of Crowdsourcing the Canon with Sixty Inches From Center. This project helps fill the gap in reliable sources. Without published and citable material, even dedicated editors struggle to create or expand articles.
By the end of the first cycle in 2025, we’ve partnered to publish four new citable articles and related images. Some writers dropped out during the program, requiring replacements, which delayed our timeline and outcome. Even with these changes, we produced strong essays that now serve as reliable sources for Wikipedia and related platforms.
In 2026, we plan to host an event to celebrate the artists and articles from this first cycle. We hope this will encourage group editing and raise awareness about the need for more publishing around this topic. When possible, we have added photos of the artist to Wiki pages or confirmed photographer permissions so images can be shared. Strengthening the visual documentation of Black artists and cultural workers remains a top priority for us.
Although not a primary initiative named in our application, the Regional Proxy Program’s success has become a significant achievement for 2025. While versions of this program have existed for some time at BLT, the program was formalized and refined this year by our Wiki Program Assistant. In response to committee inquiries, we have improved our reporting and tracking systems, cohort communications with the proxies, budgeting/finance disbursement, and open call process. All of these things are critical to maintaining the program’s stability, as we aren't on site for these programs and, at times, we are partnering with folks whose state infrastructure, banking, or similar can present challenges to realizing events. This program is an important part of our work and affirms our ongoing connection to the Continent. We hope it helps to keep limited resources circulating between regions and continues to encourage thoughtful connections and meeting shared goals.
LEARN:
This year helped us see our true capacity more clearly. Our small, mostly part-time team juggles several programs, partnerships, reports, and communications. Doing quality, community-focused work—like writing, editing, coordinating, and building relationships—takes time. Turnover, time zone differences, editing/retention, and publication schedules can make projects take longer than we first expect.
Looking back, and planning for the future we are adjusting our expectations. We are learning to set more realistic timelines, plan for the unexpected, and organize projects to support both quality and our team’s well-being. These changes have strengthened our planning. We are proud of what we have achieved and now better understand what it takes to do this work well and responsibly.
2. Is there a plan to build on the key successes you had? If yes, please describe the plan and if no, please share the limitations to do so. For instance, did the activities lead to any new priorities, ideas for activities, or goals for the future? (required)
We are encouraged that formalizing each program has improved operational efficiency. Strengthening standard operating procedures for BLT Live and Regional Proxy, along with completing a full cycle of Crowdsourcing the Canon, has given each program clearer structures, expectations, and benchmarks for success.
With that cycle of these initiatives complete, we are now better positioned to anticipate needs, streamline communication, and reducing choke points going forward. This progress allows programs to operate more consistently and predictably, enabling staff to focus on initiatives that need further development, refinement, or creative experimentation.
At the start of this year, we will launch a new program, CLUB. This program will connect editors in a small group setting with a thematic focus to improve Wikipedia together, turning solo editing into a collaborative, social experience. Designed to rebuild steady participation after pandemic-era attendance dips, it taps into the momentum of group-based trends like run clubs, which are structured by social and cultural engagement and are powered by community accountability.
We are also looking at the second iteration of the BLT WikiFellow in partnership with the National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC. We are especially excited to host this fellowship to foster greater integration across our Wiki and Archive teams, and partnership with a longstanding arts institution. This cross-team approach reflects our commitment to collaboration and ensures the fellowship builds shared institutional knowledge rather than operating in isolation.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, running more focused, efficient, and well-defined programs will help us be more strategic and responsive. Focusing on depth rather than breadth gives us the flexibility to pursue timely, compelling opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach when staff are dedicated to maintaining foundational programs.
3. Please provide a link to reports that detail the activities that took place in the last year. This can include an annual report, Meta pages, and websites. If there are no links available, briefly describe the implemented activities and programs below or upload any files. (required)
For affiliates, use this space (Question 3.) to address Affiliate Health Criteria 2.1 (Affiliate health & resilience), 4.1 (Internal engagement), 4.2 (Community connection), and 4.3 (Partnerships and collaboration):
- Describe your activities engaging new users, new members for your decision-making body(ies), and developing leaders and organizers (2.1).
- Describe your activities creating or hosting spaces to encourage greater collaboration and engagement among your members (4.1).
- Describe how you engage with the contributing community that you serve and/or support (4.2).
- Describe your partnerships with other affiliates or with non-Wikimedia entities (4.3).
An overview of all our past Wiki related events can be found here: [1]
Our website is here: www.blacklunchtable.com
Our annual report for FY2025 is expected to be complete in late spring FY2026.
Our partnerships with external, non-Wikimedia collaborators remain a strength for BLT. This year, some of the organizations with whom we worked include BUTTER Fine Art Fair, BlackStar Film Festival, and Open Television, for which we photographed artists and cultural workers, reinforcing our commitment to visual documentation. You can see the artists that were documented at those events here: [2]
These partnerships were strategic, as the Wiki team is working behind the scenes to add greater nuance to our task lists. Rather than approaching documentation broadly, we focused on attending more industry- and field-specific events. These partnerships allowed us to get a meaningful head start on photographing artists from specific media/material disciplines by situating our documentation efforts within specific cultural contexts and networks.
These efforts precede BLT's 2026 planned refresh of its ever-growing task list. Formatting and granularity changes have increased clarity, helping visitors and editors navigate the editing process and contribute information about artists more easily. By making the task list more accessible and better organized, we are lowering barriers to entry and encouraging higher-quality, more focused contributions.
As a thematic user group, our structure differs from affiliates with large, rank-based memberships, though we do have a community of participants. Over the past year, we have focused on strengthening communication as a key strategy for engagement. We improved organization-wide messaging about programs and events and launched a program-specific newsletter, The Line-Up, in Q4 to increase clarity, participation, and follow-through. At the same time, our quarterly newsletter, Talk of the Table, has taken on a more refined focus, helping editors and broader audiences better understand developments in Wikipedia and archival practice. Together, these efforts create more informed and connected participants.
Our approach to leadership development is primarily internal. We have focused on empowering our team by clarifying roles, strengthening standard operating procedures, and increasing ownership of program areas.
4. Are you interested in sharing what you achieved or learned this year with the wider community through different peer learning programs (e.g. Let's Connect program, Diff)? (optional)
5. Did you collect feedback from your community or target groups on how the activities implemented impacted them? If yes, please attach/provide information on the results (e.g. community surveys, stories, impact booklets/reports, interviews with partner institutions, etc). Did you collect other impact-specific data? (required)
For affiliates, the response to Question 5. also partially addresses Affiliate Health Criteria 4.1 (Internal Engagement), 4.2 (Community Connection), or 4.3 (Partnerships & collaboration), where applicable.
We have included the survey text used by our Regional Proxies; their specific programs were part of their applications. These surveys follow those proposals and outline reflections on how their programs went and the outcomes. These will allow us to create a clearer feedback loop between proposal, implementation, and evaluation.
Separately, we have recently gathered data through our organization-wide strategic planning process. This survey focuses less on individual programs and more on overall perception and alignment. Through this process, we are working to better understand how our work is perceived, clarify how our mission is understood, and assess whether audiences clearly recognize who we serve and the purpose of our efforts.
6. During the fund period, did your efforts do any of the following? (required):
For affiliates, the response to Question 6. also partially addresses Affiliate Health Criterion 2.2 (Diversity balance).
- 6.1 Bring in participants from the following groups: women, other
- 6.2 Develop content about the following underrepresented topics or groups of people: women, other
- 6.3 Support the retention of: Partnerships
7. What, if any, effective tactics or approaches can you share that worked well when dealing with the programs under points 6.1-6.3 that you selected? (optional)
As a thematic user group, our structure differs from affiliates with large, rank-based memberships. We highlight the lives, work, and impact of Black artists through archival research, public programming, and strategic Wikipedia engagement, and our leadership structure reflects this focus. Currently, there is no public information available regarding efforts to encourage diversity in our decision-making structures for the 2025 grant year. Additional information about our organization is provided in the attached 2024 annual report.
8. If you developed partnerships, which of the following factors most helped you to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors (optional):
Staff hired through the fund, Partners proactive interest, Permanent staff outreach
Part 2: Metrics
[edit]| Metrics name | Target | Result | Comments and tools used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of all participants | N/A | ||
| Number of all editors | N/A | ||
| Number of new editors | N/A | ||
| Number of retained editors | N/A | ||
| Number of all organizers | N/A | ||
| Number of new organizers | N/A |
| Wikimedia project | Target - Number of created pages | Target - Number of improved pages | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | ||||
| Wikimedia Commons | 100 | |||
| Wikidata | 180 | |||
| Wiktionary | ||||
| Wikisource | ||||
| Wikimedia Incubator | ||||
| Translatewiki | ||||
| MediaWiki | ||||
| Wikiquote | ||||
| Wikivoyage | ||||
| Wikibooks | ||||
| Wikiversity | ||||
| Wikinews | ||||
| Wikispecies | ||||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
Tool used and comments (optional):
11. Did you set other quantitative and qualitative targets for your project (other metrics)? (required): No
11.1. Other Metrics.
In your application, you outlined some other open metrics that you would like to measure. Please fill out the achieved results for each of the open metrics you defined.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Part 3: Skill Development / Capacity Building
[edit]12. Reflecting on your programmatic (external) and organizational (internal) work, did your grant support you to undergo any skill development that made a difference to your success? If yes, what skill was developed, and how did it lead to success? (e.g. received coaching on public speaking, attended training on nonviolent communication, hosted professional development conversations on leadership, learned and used a new tool for project management, etc.)? Can you share any materials? (required)
For affiliates, use this space (Question 12.) to address Affiliate Health Criteria 2.2 (Diversity balance) and 3.1 (Diverse, Skilled, and Accountable Leadership):
- Describe actions taken to prioritize gender balance in affiliate leadership, as well as any areas of diversity relevant to your affiliate's context (2.2).
- Describe the management, financial, or other leadership skills of your affiliate leaders. If you have a succession plan, please include it here (3.1).
- Describe any training or skill development (as outlined in the question above) (3.1).
- Incorporate into the annual report a disclosure of conflict of interests (if any) from the leadership (3.1).
Our leadership follows a three-branch, co-equal Executive Director model. Each director oversees a specific area: finance and operations, archives and strategic planning, or wiki and communications. This approach distributes authority and expertise, supporting shared governance instead of centralized decision-making.
We each bring formal training and professional experience in our respective fields, as shown in our CVs and long-standing work with BLT. Over years of developing and refining programs, we have gained deep institutional knowledge. Together, we have served BLT for more than fifteen years, ensuring stability, continuity, and a strong shared understanding of our mission and community relationships.
Importantly, our Co-ED’s represent the audience BLT serves. As leaders focused on Black artists and creative workers, we bring lived experience and sector knowledge to our decision-making. This alignment strengthens trust, ensures cultural competency, and grounds our strategy in the realities of the field.
Our co-equal model balances strategic vision with operational execution, ensuring that financial stewardship, archival integrity, and public communications remain aligned and mutually reinforcing. In 2025 and continuing into 2026 BLT’s leadership worked with facilitators to improve our internal cohesion and awareness of our strengths and challenges within our team. Separately, we continue efforts to move our strategic planning forward. We have been collaborating with a nonprofit consultant who has helped us identify highest priority action steps for the org, including clarifying our mission and TOC for greater understanding of our work and identifying potential funding partners we may have overlooked.
13. What is one capacity/skill area that you would like to focus on for the next year? And how do you plan to achieve this capacity? (required)
As we continue to refine who owns different decisions and how best to work as a leadership team, we are looking to expand our outreach to current and future partners. An important part of our next multi-year grant is deepening relationships with existing partners and using those foundations to identify who else we can welcome into our work.We will deepen engagement with existing partners through more regular touchpoints, creating opportunities to connect after programs and inviting them into future initiatives. Strong, consistent work is our best advertisement, and the most natural pathway to new partners is through the networks of those we already collaborate with.
We will work to map aligned organizations, both those that share our geographic focus and mission alignments, within our current ecosystem, prioritizing those who share similar values and commitments. The alignment we already experience with trusted partners should guide our outreach, helping us expand thoughtfully and pursue new opportunities rooted in shared purpose.
14. If you have additional information or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. Use the space below to upload any additional documents that would be useful to understand your report.
For affiliates, also use this section (Question 14) to fulfill the Affiliate Health Criteria requirements.
- Describe and link to any public-facing documentation for affiliate governance, including affiliate leadership and membership with a breakdown of the demographics; how elections are conducted; how conflicts of interest are declared; and how decisions are made and communicated (2.2, 2.3, 3.1).
- Describe and link to any public-facing documentation for activities incorporating, promoting awareness about, or enforcing the Universal Code of Conduct in your affiliate's activities (3.3).
- Describe and link to any public-facing documentation for internal membership engagement, such as notes from your regular meetings and how you communicate to or involve your membership (4.1).
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]For affiliates, also use this section (Part 4: Financial reporting) to address Affiliate Health Criterion 3.2 (Financial & Legal Compliance).
| Description | Planned / received budget for this category (USD) | Amount spent (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel costs | 269623 | 262979.69 |
| Operational costs | 17635 | 4693.73 |
| Programmatic costs | 16980 | 30941.24 |
| Total General Support Fund | 289000 | 298614.66 |
| Other revenue | 192525 | 275568 |
| Remaining funds from General Support Fund | 385 |
15. Please state the total amount spent from this fund in your local currency. (required)
298614.66 USD
16. Please provide an overview of the amount spent from this fund in the following budget categories in your local currency. (required)
- Operational costs: 4693.73 USD
- Programmatic costs: 30941.24 USD
- Staff and contractor costs: 262979.69 USD
17. Did you have any other revenue sources (e.g. other funding, membership contributions, donations)? (required): Yes
- 17.1. Provide the total amount received from other revenue sources in your local currency. (required): 192525 USD
- 17.2. Provide the total amount spent from other revenue sources in your local currency. (required): 275568 USD
18. Provide a financial report document which will provide the details of funds received and spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
- Upload Documents, Templates, and Files.
- Report funds received and spent, if template not used.
18.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
This reporting includes a $10,000 rollover underspend from our multiyear grant, 2022-2024, which was discussed with our program officer in advance. The rollover was spent on staff pay, communications efforts, and programming. Together, this explains the total listed income of $299,000.
To clarify, our listing of other income sources and spending only reports funds received in 2025. However, the presence of multi-year grants and rollover funds from previous years means spending may appear to outpace current-year funding in this brief summary.
19. Do you have any unspent funds from this funding?: Yes
- 19.1. Please list the amount of unspent funds in your local currency. (required)
- 385
- 19.2. Explain why you did not use the amount. (required)
- This remaining underspend is the odds and ends of each budgeted line item that we did not spend as we worked to meet, but not exceed, our 2025 total budget.
- 19.3. 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
- 19.4. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
- We will roll this into our spending on program space/rental for 2026. We have more in-person events planned this year and expect to exceed budgeted funds for such costs.
20. Final confirmations (required)
- 20.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement? You must be in compliance 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 Wikimedia Foundation mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
- Yes
- 20.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
- Yes
- 20.3. 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
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