Universal Code of Conduct/Coordinating Committee/Election/2025/Candidates/Soni
| User account | Soni (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA) |
|---|---|
| Summary |
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| Selected home wiki | English Wikipedia |
| Type of seat (regional; community-at-large; or both) (division of regional seats) | Both (South Asia + CAL) |
| Introduction and expectations (max. 600 words for both questions) | |
| Tell us who you are, why you are applying, and your relevant experience. | I am Soni. I've been editing for a decade on the English Wikipedia, and have been involved in various in-person activities in India. I have professional experience working in committees and large groups. I hope to be a stabilising voice of reason in a large committee.
I am generally involved in various processes on enWiki. I helped start the Drafts namespace on English Wikipedia, which helped newcomers contribute better. I am not an admin, but last year, I worked to implement a community-led admins recall process. This gave us a more direct path to admin accountability. I have previously assisted on help desks, VRT queues, mentoring editors, and directly being involved in community building. Offwiki, I have been involved with the Indian Wikimedia community. I was part of Reporting, Scholarship and Finance teams for WikiConference India 2016. I was a member of the Core Organising Team and coordinator for Trust and Safety for WikiConference India 2025; though the conference is now delayed due to governmental regulations. I am generally help coordinate between my communities, and help keep them informed about the greater Wikimedia movement. |
| Please describe what do you hope to do if elected. | In the 2024 U4C elections, I applied primarily to guarantee diverse and experienced voices in the Committee. While my home wiki (English Wikipedia) ended up being well-represented, my local community (South Asia), wasn't. I see more voices speaking for Global South as mandatory for U4C to make fair and even decisions. I offer another set of perspectives to bridge that gap.
I do not have specifics in mind for how the U4C should develop in the next 2 years. The committee is still new and untested. The Enforcement Charter ratification, as well as the amendments about the home wiki rule were solid steps forward, but we still need to ratify the UCoC itself. I think this iteration of U4C also needs to build processes and set precedents. Most importantly, the committee has not yet gained the confidence of the community at large, and could have more transparency. If elected, they are my priorities. |