Wikimedia Foundation Board noticeboard

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Welcome to the Board of Trustees' noticeboard. This is a message board for discussing issues related to Wikimedia Foundation governance and policies, and related Board work. Please post new messages at the bottom of the page and sign them.
  • For details of the Board's role and processes, see the Board Handbook.
  • Threads older than 90 days will be automatically archived by ArchiverBot.

Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy: proposed requirements for affiliates & user groups recognition changes[edit]

Please find my letter inviting feedback on proposed requirements for affiliates & user groups recognition changes here --NTymkiv (WMF) (talk) 16:00, 7 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimedia Foundation perspectives on the Global Council[edit]

Please find Wikimedia Foundation perspectives on the Global Council here --NTymkiv (WMF) (talk) 13:25, 29 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

An open letter to the EN.WP ArbCom and the Ombuds Commission.[edit]

See [1]Since the commission serves at the behest of the board I felt you should also get a heads up. Just Step Sideways (talk) 01:43, 7 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees 2024 Selection - sent to Wikimedia-L[edit]

Dear all,

(This message is also available in Arabic, French, Igbo, and more here)

This year, the term of 4 (four) Community- and Affiliate-selected Trustees on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees will come to an end [1]. The Board invites the whole movement to participate in this year’s selection process and vote to fill those seats.

The Elections Committee will oversee this process with support from Foundation staff [2]. The Governance Committee created a Board Selection Working Group from trustees who cannot be candidates in the 2024 community- and affiliate-selected trustee selection process composed of Dariusz Jemielniak, Nataliia Tymkiv, Esra'a Al Shafei, Kathy Collins, and Shani Evenstein Sigalov [3].  The group is tasked with providing Board oversight for the 2024 trustee selection process, and for keeping the Board informed. More details on the roles of the Elections Committee, Board, and staff are here [4].

Here are the key planned dates:

  • May 2024: Call for candidates and call for questions
  • June 2024: Affiliates vote to shortlist 12 candidates (no shortlisting if 15 or fewer candidates apply) [5]
  • June-August 2024: Campaign period
  • End of August / beginning of September 2024: Two-week community voting period
  • October–November 2024: Background check of selected candidates
  • Board’s Meeting in December 2024: New trustees seated

Learn more about the 2024 selection process - including the detailed timeline, the candidacy process, the campaign rules, and the voter eligibility criteria - on this Meta-wiki page.

Election Volunteers

Another way to be involved with the 2024 selection process is to be an Election Volunteer. Election Volunteers are a bridge between the Elections Committee and their respective community. They help ensure their community is represented and mobilize them to vote. Learn more about the program and how to join on this Meta-wiki page.

Thank you!

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Results#Elected

[2] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Committee:Elections_Committee_Charter

[3] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes:2023-08-15#Governance_Committee

[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_committee/Roles

[5] Even though the ideal number is 12 candidates for 4 open seats, the shortlisting process will be triggered if there are more than 15 candidates because the 1–3 candidates that are removed might feel ostracized, and it would be a lot of work for affiliates to carry out the shortlisting process to only eliminate 1–3 candidates from the candidate list. Pundit (talk) 17:54, 12 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Next Conversation with the Trustees, 21 March[edit]

Hi all,

The next Conversation with the Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees will take place on Thursday, 21 March at 19:00 UTC. The 90-minute call will take place on Zoom, with simultaneous streaming to YouTube, and the recording will be uploaded to Commons.

The agenda for the meeting will include topics such as Board updates after its in-person meeting in NY earlier this month; the Board’s work with the MCDC; and the WMF’s Annual Plan Process, including what was learned during the Talking:2024 initiative [3].

Please note that considering feedback received from participants in previous meetings, in this year’s meetings less time will be dedicated to updates, and more time will be allocated to free-flow conversation with Trustees.

As in last year, we’ll be hosting these meetings every quarter (March, June, August - during Wikimania, and November), and will be rotating the hour of these meetings to accommodate different time zones.

If you’d like to join us directly in Zoom, please email askcac(_AT_)wikimedia.org for the Zoom link. You can also request interpretation, and ask any questions you would like to see answered, to the same address.

Hope to see as many of you as possible there.

Thanks, Mike, on behalf of the Community Affairs Committee, Board of Trustees, Wikimedia Foundation Mike Peel (talk) 14:20, 14 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]