Movement roles project/Initial Questions II/Responses/Beria

Jon Huggett interviewed Beria Lima of Wikimedia Portugal by phone on 2010-12-29

• Are you familiar and comfortable with the vision and mission of the Wikimedia Foundation?
  • Yes. "It is in my email signature"
• Do you and your organization share this vision and mission?
  • Yes
• How applicable do you think [the strategic] goals are to your role in the movement?
  • (talking about the participation of women in WMF projects)
  • "There are too few women in Wikimedia Portugal. We have only 2 women on the board out of 9 members. There are only 3 women in the total membership. I'm developing a research project to increase participation of women in Wikimedia Portugal."
• How can the Wikimedia movement best meet these goals?
  • "This is complicated because some girls have a personality that does not need encouragement. A majority of girls will think that it is too geeky, too nerdy."
• What role do you see for you and your organization in achieving the vision, mission and strategic goals?
  • "Wikimedia Portugal is here to make people realise that we can share knowledge and need to – to build awareness in Portugal. The best way is to create partnerships with people that control knowledge. For that, Universities and institutes need to rely on us."
• What should be the core tasks and roles of the Wikimedia Foundation in the movement?
  • "We don't have a problem with the foundation. And most of the time we don't need money."
• What do you think should be the core tasks and roles of a chapter in the movement?
  • "In Europe we (chapters) are all doing the same thing, i.e. creating partnerships with govermment and Universities. But that is not the same for Brazil, because people do not rely on the government there. In Brazil they do not want to become a corrupt NGO."
• What do you see the core tasks and roles of the chapters committee to be?
  • "ChapCom should help Chapters to deal with their problems."
• What should other and new Wikimedia entities (groups that don’t fall within the current definition of a 'chapter', but share many attributes and goals) do?
  • Share free knowledge.
• What should be the minimum standards of transparency among Wikimedia entities – the Wikimedia Foundation, chapters, etc.?
  • "We should publish accounts. People who donate should know where their money goes."
• To whom are the Wikimedia entities accountable? (e.g. their members, other entities in the movement, etc.)
  • "To Wikimedia Foundation, because they helped us become a chapter, and of course, we are accountable to the government."
• How best to ensure that money is distributed to ensure that the Wikimedia movement achieves its goals in the best way?
  • "We have enough resources for now"
• To support the growth and sustainability of the Wikimedia movement, what is the one, most important change we need to make?
  • "Communication with staff and within the community. There are thousands of emails with some kinds of miscommunication."
• What change could most help you now in your role in the Wikimedia movement?
  • "Communications with members. Communications with the Foundation."
• Would you consider yourself to be affiliated with:
  • Wikimedia Portugal. Started as an editor in 2007. Was first in Wikimedia Brazil, and moved to Portugal in 2009. Founded Wikimedia Portugal and now coordinating the ten-year anniversary project. Wikimedia Portugal now has "probably about 42 members ... most are active editors".