Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Expanding and Retaining Wikipedia Editors in Kenya, Phase 2 (ID: 22934184)
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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)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Expanding and Retaining Wikipedia Editors in Kenya, Phase 2
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-04-11 - 2025-08-01
- 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)
What is the change you are trying to bring?
1. this grant aims to recruit, train, and retain Wiki editors. The editors do not have internet access, ongoing support, or a place to meet to improve skills and create a community of editors that can encourage one another. Once a meeting place, training, and internet is established we will be better able to implement our long-term goal that will bring visibility to African Women scholars and activists involved in religious and/or social justice movements in East Africa, specifically Kenya and Africa.
What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve?
Challenges experienced from the last Rapid Grant ending in August 2024 are 1) providing data packages so that volunteer editors do not pay to work with Wikipedia; 2) working with a shortage of online secondary sources since many resources are hard copy; 3) higher scrutiny of African articles; 4) overcoming a steep learning curve for how to edit Wikipedia online; 5) helping older subjects and matriarchs about whom we are writing understand the need for their photos; 6) developing trust around photo usage; and 5) developing enhanced understanding of the English Wikipedia conventions.
Describe the main approaches to achieve the greater goals and overcome challenges.
This grant will immediately implement approaches learned in the last Rapid Grant to overcome challenges. These approaches are: 1) Use the grant monies to provide data packages to editors who commit to long-term editing; 2) Hire an experienced coordinator who can implement the grant and administer a Wikipedia community hub; 3) Have editors work in pairs and shared sandboxes on a single subject twice a week; 4) Writing stubs with two to three secondary sources for all subjects; 4) Intentionally drop British English conventions in favor of American English conventions used in Engish Wikipedia; 5) Establish a local hub at the University of Nairobi so that students and faculty can meet in person for peer training and Editathons; 6) Begin to create an on-the-groud community of Wikipedia editors in Kenya.
Summary: With this grant, we plan to create a permanent hub in the University of Nairobi Postgraduate Library to establish greater credibility in Kenya. This hub will foster long-term engagements and expand Wikipedia in academic circles and the larger Nairobi region. The editors will begin to create a stable community from which to grow and a community of competent editors who can help one another and train new editors. When we are within a university setting with students, there is surety of lasting growth since students provide a crucial demographic group for content creation and editing. The hub will be a centralized training, mentorship, and collaboration community space. Through the hub, we will achieve the long-term goal of knowledge equity and gain greater visibility for African women scholars and social justice activists.
- 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.
Planned Activities:
1. Onboard a librarian: We will work with a librarian at the University of Nairobi Postgraduate Library. This librarian will work with the Wikipedia Project informally through July 31, 2025. Onboarding includes developing and assessing written goals and objectives and developing a working relationship with the librarian and the University Library, including making a temporary hub for the life of the grant that leads to establishing Wikipedia Hub at the University of Nairobi Postgraduate Library beginning August 1, 2025.
2. Mentorship and Peer learning: Use data packages to set up twice-a-week editing partnerships among the established editors. Onboard new editors so that the trained editors can teach them.
3. Editing: Meet weekly in larger groups in the Wikipedia Hub to edit and ask questions that come out of bi-weekly peer-to-peer meetings
4. Article Review: Kenyan editors will work virtually with the US Women in Religion Project to review sandboxes, further train editors, and answer questions.
5. Consultation: Project leaders in the U.S. and Kenya will schedule consultative review and budgeting meetings, and work on final reports.
6. Review and document the process and make adjustments: Schedule three meetings between the Kenyan and U.S. teams that review the grant process at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the grant implementation cycle.
6. Networking and connecting with Wikimania 2025 Global Conference staff: Work with the Wikimania community in Nairobi to assist with the annual Wikimania Conference to be held in Nairobi from August 5 to 9, 2025. We can recommend sites that are associated with various religious traditions. We have reached out to this community and are awaiting a response to our involvement. We will also network with other African editors such as Wikimania Kenya and invite them to our events.
- 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. members:
Colleen Hartung (Dzingle1): Founder of Women in Religion, thought leader and strategist, editor of five 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, 2021, 2026 (anticipated publishing date) 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 trainer, and grant writer. Volunteer.
Christine Meyer (Figureskatingfan): Current monthly meet-up and business meeting organizer. Wikipedia editor and trainer, grant writer, and 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 (Chitownacademic): Wikipedia editor and trainer, essayist for 2023 open source volume. Volunteer.
Carole Sargent (Oh-Fortuna) Director of the Office of Scholarly Publications Georgetown University who creates Editathons across campus institutes iat Georgetown, Volunteer and Consultant to Kenya project
Cynthia Rasmussan, (CHuggR) Assistant Professor of Public Theology and Eco-Justice in the MLK Jr Professorship & Director of Anglican Studies, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS) She uses Wikipedia to bring knowledge equity in her Religious History classes and will introduce Kenya professors to her methodology, which does not depend on Wikiedu, which is not yet in Africa.
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 coordinator of Rapid Grant. Paid a stipend.
Waweru Kamau - librarian, researcher, administrator, and library hub contact. Paid a stipend.
Fancy Cherono (AboveHeights2022): Wiki editor. essayist on future secondary source publication, Volunteer.
Miriam Wambui (Mimiwamb(Miriam), Wiki editor, Volunteer
Edith Chamwama (Riyeka): African biographies panel participant, secondary source essayist, and Wiki editor. Volunteer.
Ven.Schokar Kiilu (Mbatha): volunteer editor
Carolyn Chepngeno (Wikedits2024): volunteer editor
Lucy Gichane (Giluwa): volunteer editor
Ruth Amwe (Zubawa006): Princeton student, volunteer editor, and secondary source essayist for a 2026 publication.
Maureen Ong'ombe (Magashy): 2024 Rapid Grant administrator, volunteer editor
Alice Okongo (Jetty2030): librarian, volunteer editor, and researcher
Madagascar Lutheran ministers and community leaders wishing to be trained as editors.
Women in the Malagasy Lutheran Church
Mami Brunah Aro Sandaniaina,
Emma Claire Rasoarivonjy
Volahasina Ranaivoson
Realy Raharimalala
Goriettie Olivia
Women in the Malagasy Reformed church FJKM
Mamisoa Rakotomalala,
Ny Ilo Jihy Raminoarinosy
Harifidy Jeanne Augustine Andriamanantsoa
Lala Hanitra Strasbourg
Reverand John Stearns, an English speaker, will help train women in English for Wikipedia.
- 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)
Who are the target participants and from which community?
The target participants for this grant will primarily be the first cohort of Wikipedia editors in Kenya from the previous 2024 Rapid Grant. We will then recruit students and faculty members at the University of Nairobi and women from the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians-Kenya chapter. We will also engage a librarian who can contribute expertise in collecting secondary resources, fact-checking Wiki articles, and digital literacy.The broader community will include women in churches who show interest in highlighting the works of other women in religion.
We have had interest from Madagascar Lutheran women ministers and will invite them to virtual Editathons or hold a training just for this group. They have an administrator
How will you engage participants before and during the activities?
To ensure active participation and long-term commitment, we will implement a multi-phased engagement strategy before, during, and after the grant activities.
Before:
1) For the continuing Kenyan Wikipedia editors, we have had virtual meetings every two weeks since the end of the Rapid Grant in August 2024 for check-ins and to cultivate commitments to editing in Wikipedia.
2) New Participants: We will create awareness and build interest through targeted outreach to students and members of the Circle through their WhatsApp groups.
3) We will also reach out to specific women in various churches who are interested in writing, especially those who have expressed interest.
4) We will invite the Madagascar community to virtual editathons.
5. We will post events on Wikimedia Kenya, Women in Red, Women in Religion, and other Wiki pages and research existing editors who might be interested in our project.
During Activities:
1) We will embark on capacity-building efforts. The librarian, for instance, will be onboarded in Wikipedia editing basics and requirements that will enable him to support the group. We will discuss how he can best help administer the program and help students research subjects for Wikipedia.
2) We will hold virtual and in-person meetings, especially with interested students and faculty at the university, on the importance of Wikipedia editing in knowledge representation.
3) Joint U.S. & Kenya training sessions will include short online/offline training on English language Wikipedia conventions, writing style, editing techniques, and research skills (finding secondary resources).
4) We will implement strategies learned from the last rapid grant. These include 1) creating teams of editors who work in one sandbox with one entry; 2) connecting new editors with experienced Wikipedia editors for guidance; 3) organizing virtual demonstrations addressing editing challenges that will familiarize participants with Wikipedia practices; 4) having each team share aspects of their results and processes. 5) creating time for questions and answers; 6) building trust and confidence within the group and across continents.
5) We will reach out throughout the grant to Wikimania 2025 and offer our services. We will also submit a session to Wikimania 2025 based on our learnings.
6) We will hold bi-weekly Wikipedia editing sessions at the library hub.
7) When editors feel stubs are ready for review, experienced members will review stubs/articles and post suggestions on improvement on talk pages. Editors will then publish articles and stubs.
8) Joint U.S. and Kenyan Zoom sessions will focus on editing, citation standards, writing neutrality, templates, tracking articles, etc...
9) We will collect participant feedback to assess learning outcomes improve future activities and determine the way forward.
How will you follow up with participants after the activities?
1) Editors will participate in a panel at Wikimania 2025. Also, many current editors will attend this conference.
2) We have a Wikipedia editing WhatsApp group, where we will add the new editing team and offer continued support, check-ins, and encouragement while researching and writing.
3) We will engage participants in long-term content creation initiatives, such as improving Wikipedia pages for Indigenous women in Kenya and Africa.
4) We will purposely maintain the peer mentorship program and other activities at the library hub, where participants can mentor new editors and collaborate on projects.
5) We will write future grants to expand Wikipedia activities and solidify leadership.
- 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.
Community Discussions:
Since August 2024, the Kenyan Wiki editors have had bi-weekly meetings where they discussed editing skills and what they may need in the future.
The U.S. and Kenyan teams jointly wrote a final Rapid Report in August that discussed challenges and improved ways of editing and communicating both within the Kenya team and with the U.S. Women in Religion team. U.S. members held a final meeting with Chris Jethro Schilling at the Wikipedia North America Conference in Indianapolis to present findings. The U.S. and the Kenyan teams presented the results of the first joint Rapid Grant at this Indianapolis conference. Members of the Women in Religion Project and the Kenya Circle Leadership met in person at the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in San Diego in November 2024 to map out plans for working together. Three members of the Women in Religion Project and Kenyan Leadership Project met with Wikimedia Foundation Subsaharan staff member Willy Buloso who suggested a second Rapid Grant. Since this Zoom meeting, Telesia Musili and Rosalind Hinton have met weekly to prepare the Rapid Grant for submission. Readers in the U.S. and Kenya will make content and editing suggestions before submission.
The Kenyan editors have connected with Wikimania 2025 to volunteer their services. Members of the U.S. Women in Religion team are attending Wikimania 2025. The Rapid Grant members have requested scholarships to attend Wikimania 2025. The Kenyan editors will invite members of the Wikimedia Kenya Group to events and publicize their events on our pages. We will follow Art and Feminism, Women in Red, Wikipedia Africa, and other active groups and publicize their events. We will continue to find new ways to connect with experienced editors in Africa who wish to engage Women in Religion. Having a hub with stable leadership will help with this outreach. Currently, a group in Madagascar is interested in joining our Kenyan Group to learn editing skills that help them increase the visibility of important women scholars and women Lutheran clergy in Madagascar. The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians has active Circles across Africa that can be engaged in creating visibility for their country's women scholars, activists and religious leaders through Wikipedia. The Kenyan Circle is also publishing an edited volume in 2026 that can be used to create at least 10 articles on African women leaders. We will continue to raise the visibility of African women leaders as other publications become available.
- 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)
Content Gender gap
- 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 do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal?
1. From the previous project, citation in Wikipedia and referencing posed a challenge, and it is one area we hope this project will polish. We will continue to familiarize ourselves with English Wikipedia writing conventions and become conversant and confident with Wikipedia editing and publishing.
2. We will continue to assess the most effective outreach and training methods for recruiting and retaining Wikipedia editors in Kenya and in Africa at large.
3. This project can also help us assess the feasibility of having a Wikipedia hub at the University of Nairobi and assess the possibility of incorporating Wikipedia education for African countries.
Describe the main things you would like to learn if you achieve the described change.
Through this grant, we would like to increase Wikipedia editors in Kenya and possibly create a ripple interest in other African countries where the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians network is, as well as increase the visibility of African women in Religion from Africa. We would therefore seek to answer the following questions: i. What are the most effective methods for recruiting and retaining active Wikipedia editors in Kenya? ii. What are the primary challenges preventing Kenyan students and professionals from contributing to Wikipedia? iii. How do digital literacy, internet access, and language barriers impact participation? iv. How does the project contribute to closing Wikipedia content gaps related to the inclusion of women in Religion from Kenya and Africa at large? v. How effective is the university setting as a hub for Wikipedia editing and knowledge production in enhancing the visibility of women in religion and other underrepresented groups? vi. What partnerships and institutional support are necessary to scale Kenya's Wikipedia training programs?
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 30 | There are 19 returning from the U.S. and Kenya projects. We are anticipating 11 participants with six staying as editors. We will elevate the skills of the members we have and increase their confidence to mentor and train others. |
| Number of editors | 25 | We hope that our recruitment process will yield a commitment to edit. We do not anticipate a large drop in numbers from initial participants to committed editors, but some will drop off for personal reasons. |
| Number of organizers | 6 | There are three organizers from the U.S. and we anticipate two organizers and one librarian from Kenya. We plan a stipend for the lead organizer and the librarian in Kenya. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 25 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 10 |
| Wikidata | 11 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
Elevating editing skills is crucial to this project. We are also focusing on creating a hub, and letters of agreement, which is more administrative than online editing.
Photos are hard to obtain in Africa. We need to develop trust with the subjects and matriarchs that their photos will be used properly. We also need to educate and explain to Kenyan women why the photos are important. We also need third-party agreements for wiki-commons, which takes time. In a colonial atmosphere where trust is difficult, ten photos is a bold estimation.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| 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, U.S. 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 template or add the Kenya template to signify participation.
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
641550 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).