Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Expanding Wikipedia Editors in Kenya (ID: 22451155)

This is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the grantmaking web service of Wikimedia Foundation where the user has submitted their application. 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.

Applicant Details[edit]

Main Wikimedia username. (required)

RosPost

Organization

Women in Religion User Group

If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)

I'm a group leader of a Wikimedia User Group (submitted to the Affiliation Committee).

Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)

Rosalind Hinton is in charge of cultivating and coordinating Kenyan outreach between the Women in Religion User Group and the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, Kenya Chapter (Kenyan Circle). She is a liaison from the User Group to the American Academy of Religion (AAR)'s Women's Caucus and co-chair of the biographies panel with Kenyan Telesia Musili. We use this panel as a springboard for creating secondary sources for marginalized women in Kenya and on the African continent. Through the AAR, Rosalind and Telesia Musili applied for and received a grant to underwrite four Kenyan scholars to attend Wikipedia events and the biographies panel at the AAR in 2022 and 2023. Rosalind coordinated monthly editathons between the Kenyan Circle and the Women in Religion User Group from October 2022 to September 2023 with 1 - 2 day editathon in August 2022 for 2 hours each day. She sometimes takes minutes at monthly business meetings, and was involved in the formation of the Women in Religion Project in 2018. She is a volunteer.

Main Proposal[edit]

1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.

Expanding Wikipedia Editors in Kenya

2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.

2024-03-18 - 2024-07-18

4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)

Kenya

5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)

Wiki Loves Africa

6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)

Women in Religion is changing the visibility of cis and transgendered women in religion. We also hope to expand the number of Wikipedia editors and the visibility of Wikipedia editing in Kenya. Women in Religion has increased knowledge equity and visibility of cis and transgender women on Wikipedia since 2018. As Wiki editors, we update, and improve Wikimedia content pertaining to the lives of women identified people who are notable as scholars, activists, and practitioners in the world's religious, spiritual, and wisdom traditions. We train and recruit Wiki editors and continue to develop our own skills at monthly meet-ups and at editathons and Wiki conferences. In an effort to advance knowledge equity, the Women in Religion User Group has also initiated a biography series that creates secondary sources for women identified people in religion as stated above. To that end, we have edited three open source volumes that include theoretical issues focusing on knowledge equity: Claiming Notability for Women Activists in Religion (Atla: 2020) https://books.atla.com/atlapress/catalog/book/40, Challenging Bias against Women Academics in Religion (Atla: 2021) https://books.atla.com/atlapress/catalog/book/46, and Women Advancing Knowledge Equity: The Parliament of the World’s Religions (Parliament of the World's Religions, 2023) https://parliamentofreligions.org/womens-dignity/women-advancing-knowledge-equity-2023/

In 2021 we began collaborations with members of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in Kenya and have developed a Kenyan Circle WikiProject. We held monthly wikipedia zoom meet-ups and in 2022 and 2023, and we co-chaired the American Academy of Religion (AAR) Women's Caucus Biographies Panel focusing on African Biographies (to generate secondary sources on notable women leadership in indigenous and traditional religions). Dr. Telesia Musili and Dr. Rosalind Hinton have procured a publisher for a fourth volume of our Women in Religion Series focusing on women identified people in Africa who are notable as religious scholars, activists, and leaders. We also procured funds from the AAR, in 2022 and 2023, to bring four scholars from Kenya to the AAR biographies panel as participants.

Through these collaborations, we have learned of significant challenges that Kenyan Circle Wiki editors face in gaining editing skills. The biggest hurdle to overcome is the need for internet data packages for participants. Many simply can't afford to be Wikipedia editors. Many are also trying to edit on their phones only, increasing editing challenges. Time differences between the U.S. and Kenya are a challenge in putting skilled and unskilled participants together. Many resources and published volumes by Circle Matriarchs, as well as those who are retired and deceased members of the Circle who are scholars, activists, and leaders in African indigenous and traditional religions, are not available electronically and are out of print and need to be gathered and scanned for electronic use. Many primary resources are not archived and do not meet Wikipedia standards for secondary sources. Many participants are academics teaching as many as six courses a semester with family obligations that make regular attendance and organizing a challenge. We have also had three deaths, two in Kenya and one in the U.S. of skilled participants, advisors, and/or members in 2023.

Despite the challenges, we have met monthly until October 2023. We then developed a new strategy to put Circle Matriarchs from across Africa on our project page to allow other Wikipedians to enhance and write biographies. This strategy is ongoing. We have begun Wikidata entries for Circle Matriarchs, and procured a book contract that will provide secondary sources on women religious scholars, leaders, and activists across Africa.

With this grant we will expand the capacity of the Kenyan Circle WikiProject to gather secondary sources, coordinate meetings, and sustain their project. We will hire a coordinator who is trusted and worked with the Kenyan Circle for many years. She will map skilled Wikipedians who are in Kenya and also connect to online Wikipedians who are interested in the Kenyan Circle WikiProject. We will identify communities in and around Nairobi that are interested in becoming Wiki editors. We will strategize how to overcome wifi data challenges, and begin pairing skilled and unskilled Wikipedians in order to increase the skills of our current Kenyan Wikipedians

Our main approach is to hire and work with a Kenyan Circle coordinator. This coordinator will act as a liaison between the U.S. and Kenya members and help design activities, meet-ups, and editathons during the life of the project that best suits the Kenyan Circles times and ways of working. She will work with the Kenyan Circle to develop a shared leadership model that takes us beyond this initial grant cycle. She will address recruitment and map Wikipedians interested in Africa and specifically work in Kenya. A number of editors on our project page advance our mission, but are not or cannot attend regular meetings due to challenges mentioned. The members of the U.S. Women in Religion Project will remain involved with the Kenyan Circle WikiProject until they decide to be their own project. Our model for this approach is the Australian Women in Religion Project that was initiated by the U.S. group but became their own project when they developed a sustainable model with their own activities and goals.

The change we hope to achieve is a sustainable Kenyan Circle WikiProject with editors that update and improve Wikimedia content pertaining to the lives of women identified people who are scholars, activists, and leaders in indigenous and traditional religions across Africa, but particularly in Kenya. Another change is to improve the skills of returning Kenyan editors and reduce frustrations in getting online and improving articles. A further change is to begin collecting materials that are not copyrighted so that editors have more online resources. We also hope to develop a collective leadership model so that others can pitch in and help when editors face mounting outside obligations.

7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.

The paid Kenyan Circle coordinator will convene meetings that define participant criteria, help map current Wikipedia editors, and discern interest of Wiki editors in participating in the Kenyan Circle's WikiProject. The Kenyan coordinator will have as many as 10 meetings that include meet-ups and editathons between U.S. and Kenyan new and returning editors. Activities include recruitment for the March 2024 scheduled Parliament of World's Religions Editathon, three zoom meet-ups for skills development, and one hybrid editathon based in a Kenyan venue. Other meetings will be scheduled as needed with Kenyan Circle members and the U.S. to strategize recruitment, sourcing of documents, and a Kenyan Circle leadership model. All zoom meet-ups and editathons require data packages, so some meetings will be through Whats App, phone, talk pages, and email. The coordinator will improve her own skills by making 20 edits to existing articles, researching and publishing one biography, and making wiki data entries on five women. Deliverables will be the Wikimedia Rapid Grant Final report. In addition to the requirements in the report, we will create a Wiki dashboard to summarize the activities, numbers of new and returning participants for each activity, articles improved and created, and the successes and challenges of the project. The Project page will be the organizing page for minutes, summaries, and serve as a dashboard. We will also use the talk page for strategizing Kenyan Circle goals and deliverables. Women in Religion WikiProject members will participate in all events as returning and skilled Wikipedians who can help train new participants.

The Public Page for this project will be the following Wiki link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Kenyan_Circle_of_Concerned_African_Women

8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.

The Project Team consists of the following Women in Religion U.S. membership:

Colleen Hartung (Dzingle1): Founder of Women in Religion, thought leader and strategist, editor of three Women in Religion User Group open source volumes initiated to increase secondary sources, Wiki editor and trainer, and liaison to the Parliament of the World's Religions. Volunteer.

Rosemary GoodNight (Rosiestep): Strategist, Wiki editor, and advisor. Volunteer.

Janice Leah Poss (Janicelp): Wiki editor and trainer communications volunteer, essayist in 2020, and 2021 open source edited volumes. Volunteer.

Clifford Anderson (Clifford Anderson): Librarian, AI advisor and strategist, and Wiki editor and trainer. Volunteer.

Rosalind Hinton: (RosPost): WiR liaison to Kenya Circle Wiki Project and AAR, co-chair of the African biographies panel, and essayist in 2020, 2021, and 2023 open source edited volumes. Wiki editor and trainer, and grant writer. Volunteer.

Christine Meyer (Figureskatingfan): Current monthly meet-up and business meeting organizer. Wikipedia editor and trainer, grant writer, essayist in 2023 open source edited volumes. Volunteer.

Jere Odell: (Jaireeodel): Librarian and researcher, AI explorer, and Wikipedia trainer and editor. Volunteer.

Hilary Ward Schnadt (Engmaj): Wikipedia trainer and editor, co-editor of 2023 open source volume, and minutes taker. Volunteer.

Winifred Whelan (Winifredwhelan): Wikipedia editor and trainer, essayist for 2023 open source volume. Volunteer.

Christine Larson (NuthatchYogi): Wikipedia editor and trainer specializing in Wikidata. Volunteer.

Dr. Debrah Fulthorp (Drdfulthorp): Wikipedia editor and trainer, and essayist in 2020, 2021, 2023 open source edited volumes. Volunteer.

Jonathan Eder: Archivist, researcher, Wiki editor and trainer, and essayist in 2021 and 2023 open source edited volume. Volunteer.

Kimberly Carter (KC5283): Wikipedia editor and trainer, and essayist in 2021 open source volume. Volunteer.

The Kenyan Circle Wiki Project leadership is as follows:

Telesia Musili (Communista): Kenyan Circle Wiki Project coordinator from 2021 - 2023, Wiki editor, African Advisor, and co-chair AAR biographies panel. Volunteer.

Fancy Cherono (AboveHeights2022): Wiki editor. Volunteer.

Edith Chamwama (Riyeka): African biographies panel participant, and Wiki editor. Volunteer.

Ven.Schokar Kiilu (Mbatha): Wiki editor. Volunteer.

Professor Esther Mombo: Kenyan Circle leader and advisor. Volunteer.

Maureen Ong'ombe: Paid coordinator for the project and wiki editor.

9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)

Expanding membership of the Kenya Circle Wiki Project is our primary goal, so citizens of Kenya, Kenya Circle members that are returning, and Wikipedians interested in expanding the Kenyan Circle Wiki Project are our primary targets. Kenyan Circle members have been engaged in developing the activities and approaches to this Rapid grant.

The paid coordinator anticipates 10 meetings so that members of both groups will help realize the activities in the timeline. The Kenyan community will develop a shared leadership model, and local venues so that the Kenyan Circle Wiki Project is sustainable. We will continue to monitor the project dashboard and have Wikipedia meet-ups with the U.S. Women in Religion Project. The Kenyan Circle members will decide how often these meetings should occur and at what time.

10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)

No

10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.

N/A

11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.

Women in Religion communities in the U.S. and Kenya have been working together for over three years. The last two years we have met once a month and at business meetings. Telesia Musili and other returning editors in Kenya have discussed the challenges of gathering participants, around U.S. meeting times, wifi data packages, and the lack of ability to edit between sessions. The discussions have been by email and Zoom and can be reproduced upon request. Rosalind Hinton in the U.S. and Telesia Musili in Kenya are co-chairs of the 2023 and 2024 American Academy of Religion Women's Caucus biographies panel. Together we have had numerous informal conversations and strategized about how to produce secondary sources for Wikipedia concentrating on what the Circle calls African Matriarchs, Circle founders, scholars, and leadership in indigenous and traditional religions across Africa. The monthly business meetings are a regular source of discussion for overcoming barriers in recruitment for Kenya and in the U.S. The minutes of these meetings reflect our brainstorming. This question prompts us to put minutes and discussions on talk pages and project pages as we move forward. Websites for the Participating Communities are as follows: Wiki Project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Religion Wiki User Group: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Religion_User_Group; Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, Kenya Chapter: https://www.facebook.com/Circlekenya/ ; Wikipedia article on the Circle in Africa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_Concerned_African_Women_Theologians History of the Circle: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/56506

12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial

13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)

Gender and diversity

14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Geographic

15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)

Invest in Skills and Leadership Development

Learning and metrics[edit]

17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)

What are the cultural and social challenges to Wikipedia editors in Kenya and how do we overcome them? What new Wikipedia leadership exists and who can be cultivated as leaders. What does a shared leadership model look like in Kenya? What are the skills needed beyond editing to sustain a Kenyan chapter of Wikipedia? Who are the current Wiki editors interested in Women in Religion? How do we best communicate our Women in Religion goals and mission to increase the visibility of Kenyan scholars, activists, and leadership? What is the best way to pair skilled and unskilled Wikipedia editors in order to reduce the frustration and learning curve for participants? What are the cultural issues and communication styles that will enhance US/Kenyan communication around Wikipedia? What are the values that the two groups are forging together? What are the criteria for long term Wikipedia editors for recruitment purposes? What is the best way to go about gathering resources of oral cultures and find out-of-print publications and information on scholars activists and religious leaders in Kenya?

18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)

Number of participants, editors, and organizers
Other Metrics	Target	Optional description
Number of participants	47	We have listed 17 current project members who will be in and out of the project in various capacities. For the purposes of this grant, we call them returning participants. March - PoWR Editathon: 10 new participants April African Zoom Meet up: 5 new participants May Hybrid Zoom Editathon: 10 new participants June Zoom Meet-up: 5 new participants There will also be Kenya Circle focus groups and meetings between the U.S. and Kenyan leadership. Some of these people will be new and will help collect resources, as well as help scan and volunteer for hybrid editathon and realize strategies as needed. We have also had volunteer editors for the grant. For the purposes of this grant we estimate an additional 10 people.
Number of editors	41	We believe we will get the new participants registered as Wiki editors, but many will not stick with the project in our experience because of a number of barriers: data and wifi packages that we can only offer for the life of the grant (while we look for longterm solutions); the steep learning curves, participant goals conflict with the "Wiki conflict of interest rules" (they want to put themselves on Wikipedia); they just want to understand Wikipedia, not edit; and finally we are working in English Wikipedia only — so there may be language barriers. Returning editors 21, the current 17 and 3 or 4 we identity in the Wiki universe. Newly Registered Users: 30
Number of organizers	6	We will have one paid Kenyan organizer who will help expand the current project. We would like to Identify 2 local Kenyan people to help sustain the Kenyan Circle Wiki Project. We now have at least 3 U.S. organizers involved in the project and others with special skills who can help with trainings if asked.

Number of content contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia project	Number of content created or improved
Wikipedia	10
Wikimedia Commons	10
Wikidata	10
Wiktionary
Wikisource
Wikimedia Incubator
Translatewiki
MediaWiki
Wikiquote
Wikivoyage
Wikibooks
Wikiversity
Wikinews
Wikispecies
Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia

Optional description for content contributions.

First new participants must be trained. We will start with small edit changes and then sentences that improve existing articles. We may work on the same articles as a group over time. The coordinator will upload to wiki commons and make five wikidata entries. I suspect new editors from Kenya will not go too far beyond article improvement in zoom events, but recruitment of returning and experienced editors will help us reach these goals.

19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)

No

Main Open Metrics Data
Main Open Metrics	Description	Target
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A

20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)

After each event, WiR members and Kenyan Circle Wiki Project members will meet to discuss successes and challenges and set up monitoring systems for new participants and prospects for continued editing engagement. We can use the Wiki dashboard to track this project, but the dashboard often undercounts if participants do not take the extra step to sign up on the project dashboard. We will retrieve Wiki editor handles to maintain contact on the talk pages and follow-up on events and participation. We will request that the editors use the Women in Religion logo or add the logo to signify work within the Women in Religion for new articles.

Financial proposal[edit]

21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-19QdFFqUU7rBch4wqLai5YSrzADAb_eX_w4TnQEk_8/edit#gid=0

22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)

791959 KES

22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.

5000 USD

We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

Endorsements and Feedback[edit]

Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.

Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:

Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).

Endorse