Grants:Project/MSIG/SandraH./Communication and Leadership skills development for Arabic community

statusFunded

Movement Strategy

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This proposal aims to do a training online workshops in personal and professional life skills. The aim of the training is two-fold: to help volunteers develop the skills necessary to collaborate, communicate and make decisions effectively in their roles as committee members, and to offer volunteers globally recognized certification that signals their experience, abilities and achievements to others within and outside the Wikimedia movement.

target6 Months (1/March/2023 until 31/August/2023)

start dateMarch

start year2023

end dateAugust

end year2023

budget (local currency)36,520 USD

budget (USD)36,520 USD

grant typeindividual

grantee• Sandra Hanbo

contact(s)• Sandra Hanbo /Wikimedians of the Levant - Email: sandrahanbowikigmail.com

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Applications are not required to be in English. Please complete the application in your preferred language.

Project Goal

What will be the outputs of your project and how will those outputs contribute to advancing a specific Movement Strategy Initiative

What specific Movement Strategy Initiative does your project focus on and why? Please select one of the initiatives described here

The stated project goals for the Wikimedia Levant group are now as follows:

• 6. Invest in Skills and Leadership Development:

• 31 Global approaches for local skill development and mentorship

• 32 Leadership development plan

• 33 Skill development infrastructure

• 27: Guidelines for board functions and governance.

• 5. Coordinate Across Stakeholders Enhance communication and collaboration capacity with partners and collaborators, and

• 4. Ensure Equity in Decision-Making

Our work is oriented to improve professional and personal skills through triple communication and leadership skills development courses. During the NonViolent communication course, The members will learn multiple skills like solving Problems in communication, Deeper transformation in people, Self-aware of what is social programming, and others. Whereas CoResolve sessions are aimed to work with Group dynamics, with More focus on the relational aspect. improve leadership, collaborative decision-making, and solve the conflict in groups .. etc. In Sociocracy it aims to understand the Concept, How we can apply it in WMF and in the outer world.

In our perspective, no adaptation or tailoring is needed. We also want to mention that the invitation came from members of Wikimedia Levant who took the original course and were enthusiastic about bringing this work to their colleagues, being that they are aware of the challenges they face and that this would be of great support and use to them.

The challenges mentioned by the Wikimedia Levant group who invited us to do this work are similarly of systemic nature as in the original project, namely due to patterns acquired and internalized in our conventional socialization processes, such as binary models of thinking - good/bad, right/wrong, either/or, win/lose, often combined with moral judgements. Derived patterns of power-over as ways of dealing with conflicts are also common, and a host of inherited behaviors and models based on power hierarchy in orgs, and many others. These foundational patterns and models of thinking tend to generate in organizations an equally patterned host of symptoms we see as problems: inequity, polarized conflict, incivility, disengagement, lower collaboration than what would be possible, etc.

Project Background

When do you intend to begin this project and when will it be completed?

March 2023 until August 2023

Where will your project activities be happening?

Online via Zoom

Are you collaborating with other communities or affiliates on this project? Please provide details of how partners intend to work together to achieve the project goal.

This project will be organized by a team from the Wikimedians of the Levant user group and oriented to the Arab Community with having priority for Arab user group members.

What specific challenge will your project be aiming to solve? And what opportunities do you plan to take advantage of to solve the problem?

The Arab community has a real challenging problem in communication and nonviolent connection even online thus, this training is aimed to solve this problem. Plus improving leadership skills to build better effective Wikimedians.

• Unfortunately, as far as we know, no study addresses this topic in the Arabic community. However, based on our experience, we can provide some examples to help highlight the problem:

• Example 1: The Arabic Council: It was a body formed from different user groups to represent the Arabic community in front of the foundation. Unfortunately, the project did not work because of communication problems. All discussions in the meetings were sharp, the people were continuously attacking each other with no effort spent to find a common ground.
• Example 2: Wikimedians of the Levant: Discussions between members were sometimes blocked because of communication issues. On several occasions, members fail to communicate publicly in a proper way, causing conflicts that can be easily solved if words were chosen carefully. Unfortunately, such problems led to some active members leaving the group (We have the names if needed).
• Arabic Wikipedia village pump: it is a common pattern to find discussions achieved with the following conclusion: "No consensus" due to a lack of communication skills. Following this pattern you can easily see that the two parties are not listening to each other, and each of them is trying to prove his/her point without making any efforts to understand the others point of view: Example 1, Example 2

Does this project aim to apply one of the examples shared in the call for grants and if so which one?

Project Activities

What specific activities will be carried out during this project? Please describe the specific activities that will be carried out during this project.

Organizing the training: Creating forms- Surveys before, during and after the training to collect people's reaction about the workshop.

Learning group: We will create social groups for the learners to keep working together.

Having a online live training with professional trainers consists on:

Phase 1: Nonviolent Communication (NVC) - 20-hour training: lay groundwork of self-awareness and shift in relational culture towards compassionate expression, trust building and empathic listening. Skill building in conflict resolution and transformation based on NVC mediation.

Phase 2: CoResolve 12-hour training: Skill building in collective decision-making and consensus building, conflict resolution and transformation based on Lewis Deep Democracy (LDD) depolarization.

Phase 3: Sociocracy - 12 hour intro: Skill building in efficiency, effectiveness, workflows and accountability.

• Originally the training was applied to the context of support for the movement charter drafting committee, and other committee participants.

The stated goal of the proposal was:

“The aim of the training is two-fold: to help volunteers develop the skills necessary to collaborate, communicate and make decisions effectively in their roles as committee members, and to offer volunteers globally recognized certification that signals their experience, abilities and achievements to others within and outside the Wikimedia movement.”

The scope of work was defined as follows:

Train Wikimedia volunteer committees with the following specifications:

Skill Areas:

• Consensus building - Learning to reach an agreement, make decisions, and find solutions that everyone can actively support

• Conflict resolution & transformation - Learning to handle conflict creatively and nonviolently; learning to address, reframe, and transform conflict

• Nonviolent Communication - Learning to listen deeply and communicate compassionately; learning to communicate in a way that builds trust and empathy

• Organizational effectiveness - Learning to work efficiently and effectively together; learning to manage workflows and accountabilities

In addition to what mentioned in Project goal answer, Research on the matter points to the hidden costs of conflict (CPP Global Human Capital Report), disengagement in orgs (Gallop), Incivility in the workplace (Harvard Business Review) an others - point to a host of behaviors that can be easily identified in the daily life of almost any organization operating within conventional relational culture.

Introducing NVC, CoResolve and Sociocracy invites to change since the three of them introduce in different scopes a humanizing change in paradigm, showing forms of, rather than binary, complexity-based solutions to co-creating realities where all voices matter, all needs matter, and where understanding and empathy is a source of creative strength and resilience. These practices are introduced, exactly because they invite to a different model or paradigm in perception and practice, and while they to not guarantee or ensure anything (as any other training) since it will depend on participants taking it seriously and applying the knowledge. However, we are confident in the transformative impacts as has shown our experience over a decade and in 12 different countries.

How do you intend to keep communities updated on the progress and outcomes of the project? Please add the names or usernames of these individuals responsible for updating the community

We will announce the grant request to our community in its planning as well as the approval decision, if we receive it.

We will announce about it in the monthly official meeting of Wikimedians of the Levant user group.

We will notify Arab user group of the training to send members to attend this important workshop.

Who will be responsible for delivering on this project and what are their roles and responsibilities?

Project managing: There will be responsible planning, procurement, execution and completion of a project, plus to documentation the sessions and do the report.

Training and its material in English will be offered by professional organization in this field which has worked with Wikimedians and other important companies.

Translation and interpretation: we will offer the sessions translated and interpreter to Arabic Language.

We did contacted "Michel Bakni" who make the interpretation service (English-to-French & vise versa) when the courses were taking place last summer. Michel is a native Arabic speaker, he is also a part of the translation team in the WMF, and thus, he is familiar with the movement and the course contexts.

• Michel answered positively and he will provide the help creating materials in Arabic.
• We adapted the trainings budget to include Language consultation (5 Hrs/course) [15 Hours in total] to reflect to this note.

Additional information

If your activities include community discussions, what is your plan for ensuring that the conversations are productive? Provide a link to a Friendly Space Policy or UCoC that will be implemented to support these discussions.

The Wikimedia Foundation’s friendly space policy and Code of Conduct of Wikimedians of the Levant will be applied.

If your activities include the use of paid online tools, please describe what tools these are and how you intend to use them.

Zoom registration to attend the sessions.

Do your activities include the translation of materials, and if so, in what languages will the translation be done? Please include details of those responsible for making the translations.

All the sessions and materials will be translated to Arabic.

Are there any other details you would like to share? Consider providing rationale, research or community discussion outputs, and any other similar information, that will give more context on your proposed project.

We would like to have Kiwix as fiscal sponsor for this grant.

The team which will organize this session is a professional team, a good part of it is involved in WMF MS work and the others are expert Wikipedians.

Me as a project coordinator of Wikimedians of the Levant user group has been achieving successfully completing multiple workshop and competitions for my community and the Arab World like the recent one "Arabic contest wiki for human rights".

• We are planning to have 20 participants. We will divide the numbers by 80% (16 members) for Arabic Wikimedia User groups. 20% (4 members) for the Arabic community members outside user groups. Unfortunately, we can not ask for more participants due to organization restrictions as the course can not be successfully performed with a number greater than this.
• We will officially communicate the Arabic user groups (Wikimedia Algeria,Wikimedians of United Arab Emirates User Group, Egypt Wikimedians, Iraqi Wikimedians, Wikimedia Tunisie, Wikimedia Community User Group Sudan, Wikimedians of the Levant, Wikimedia MA User Group) by email asking them to suggest two members per group. As there are 8 Arabic user groups we expect to have 16 participants. If any group failed to suggest two members the free chair will be automatically added to the Arabic community quota.
• We will create a bourse program for the last 4 participants, we will ask community members to apply for the course and form a neutral jury of trustfully members of the community to study the application and select 4 members for the program. The selected members will not receive money in any form, but they will be granted free access to the live course.
• To reduce the gap between men and women in the Arabic community, we will insist on 50/50 representation in all the previously mentioned steps.

Typical outcomes of NVC training:

• Higher effectiveness in offering constructive feedback, positive and negative
• Increased expression and listening capacity, leading to more effective :: communication and understanding, more effective collaboration
• Increased conflict management capacity, leading to less time loss and team relationship corrosion
• Increased self-awareness, self-care, self-responsibility
• Higher sensitivity and empathy/compassion towards others

Typical outcomes of CoResolve training:

• Increased effectiveness in inclusive decision-making
• Skills in consensus-building
• Skills in conflict resolution
• Increase in participatory leadership skills
• Leaders learn to read group dynamics in ways that more likely to effectively and constructively transform conflict

Typical outcomes of Sociocracy training:

• Participants learn skills that bring more efficiency and effectiveness to workflows and accountability

In general:

• Collaboration capacity will expand within and between teams
• Increased awareness of impact on others
• Increased self-responsibility
• Increased psychological safety
• Increased awareness of oppression & equity
• More effective meetings
• Increased effectiveness in decision-making
• Better listening/understanding capacity
• Stronger relationship connection and resilience
• Faster and more effective conflict resolution
• Increased engagement
• Increased creativity

Additional Question * Do consider building in and providing some measurements for tracking success on this project. How does the project team intend to measure the ways in which these training planned will address the challenges of non-violent communication as well as the leadership skills of the Arab community members?

We have been applying questionnaires at the start and at the end of training to measure levels of change in understanding and integration of key concepts, such as empathy, self-reflective evaluation, group dynamics understanding, governance practice. Another evaluation can be applied a few months after the training to evaluate over time what has changed.

It is important to note that all three trainings are introductions, and have a role of creating shifts in perception and practice. Many impacts of these trainings are immediate, and other take time and practice to integrate more fully.

Outcomes

After your activities are complete, we would like to understand the draft implementation plan for your community. You will be required to prepare a document detailing this plan around a movement strategy initiative. This report can be prepared through Meta-wiki using the Share your results button on this page. The report can be prepared in your language, and is not required to be written in English.

In this report, you will be asked to:

• Provide a link to the draft implementation plan document or Wikimedia page
• Describe what activities supported the development of the plan
• Describe how and where you have communicated your plan to relevant communities.
• Report on how your funding was spent

Your draft implementation plan document should address the following questions clearly:

• What movement strategy initiative or goal are you addressing?
• What activities will you be doing to address that initiative?
• What do you expect will happen as a result of your activities? How do those outcomes address the movement strategy initiative?
• How will you measure or evaluate your activities? What tools or methods will you use to evaluate your activities?

To create a draft implementation plan, we recommend the use of a logic model, which will help you and your team think about goals, activities, outcomes, and other factors in an organized way. Please refer the following resources to develop a logic model:

• Overview of logic models on Meta-wiki
• Example logic models for reference for other movement activities (such as partnerships and edit-a-thons)
• Blank logic model template on Google Drive

Please confirm below that you will be able to prepare a draft implementation plan document by the end of your grant:

• ...

Optionally, you are welcome to include other information you'd like to share around participation and representation in your activities. Please include any additional outcomes you would like to report on below:

Budget

How you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!

• Research (time needed to review, perform analysis, or investigate any information needed to support implementation ideas or planning):
• Facilitation (facilitation time including facilitator preparation, meeting facilitation time, and debriefing): 5% of the budget
• Documentation (document preparation time, time spent documenting discussion, post-meeting work): 2.5% of the budget.
• Translation (translation costs for briefs and global materials): 30 $/hour
• Coordination(coordinator work to manage or support multiple workflows to prepare for meeting): 2.5% of the budget
• Online tools or services (subscription services for online meeting platforms, social media promotion): PRO 150$/year
• Data (internet or mobile costs for organizers or participants to access or participate in activities):
• Venue or space for meeting (costs of renting a physical meeting space):
• Transportation costs (costs of supporting organizers or participants to attend the meeting):
• Meals (costs related to refreshments, lunches, or other meals during in-person activities):
• Consultation (Offer Arabic Consultation Services): 30$/hour
• Training: (R$ 128.800,00 (Brazilian Reals) - approx. 25000 USD)
• Fiscal sponsorship: 10% via Kiwix

Budget in Table

Subject	Unit price	Unit	Number	Total in USD	Comments
Cohort of Nonviolent Communication (NVC)	8,905	USD	1	8,905	It is exchanged from Local currency R$, The amount in course currency is: 46,000 R$ There might be some difference in exchanging rate later on.
Cohort of CoResolve	5,342	USD	2	10,684	It is exchanged from Local currency R$, The amount in course currency is: 27,600 R$ The complete two courses are: 55200 R$ There might be some difference in exchanging rate later on.
Cohort of Sociocracy	27,600	USD	1	5,342	It is exchanged from Local currency R$, The amount in course currency is: 27,600 R$ There might be some difference in exchange rate later on.
Zoom Registration	150	USD	1	150	1 year Subscribtion
Translation and interpreting	30	USD/Hour	145	4,350	None
Consultation Services	30	USD/Hour	15	750	None
Project coordinating	10%	of the above total (30,181)	-	3,019	10% is from the Sum of (Total 3 Courses, Zoom Registration, Translation and interpreting Consultation Services)
Fiscal sponsor	10%	of the above total (33200)	-	3,320	10% is from the Sum of (Total 3 Courses, Zoom Registration, Translation and interpreting, Consultation Services, project coordinating)
Total (The transitions were according to oanda.com)				36,520 USD	Total in Writing: Thirty-six thousand five hundred twenty USD

TOTAL AMOUNT REQUESTED USD: 36,520, Just Thirty-six thousand five hundred twenty USD

Completing your application

Once you have completed the application, please do the following:

• Change the application status from status=draft to status=proposed in the {{Probox}} template.
• Contact strategy2030wikimedia.org to confirm your submission, as well as to request any support around your application.

Endorsements

An endorsement from community members (especially from outside your community) will be part of the considerations when reviewing your application. Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!