Wikimedia Foundation elections/2025/Candidates/Wojciech Pędzich
Wojciech Pędzich (Wojciech Pędzich)
Wojciech Pędzich (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA • AE)
| Candidate details | 
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| Candidate video statement | ||
| Total word count for the whole application (required + optional questions) is 2500 words. | ||
| Have you read the minimum candidate requirements and verified you meet the minimum qualifications and the candidate eligibility requirements? | Yes | |
| Have you read the candidate guidelines and agree to abide by the guidelines? | Yes | |
| Required questions | ||
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| Why are you running for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees? What would you contribute? What would you like to learn more about? | I’ve grown a lot as a volunteer. I started as an editor, learning how to translate articles and policies, and figuring out my way around the new elements of the wikiverse. Over time, I became a user with advanced permissions, a Wikimedia translator and interpreter, and ultimately a concert photographer attending big events to take pictures for use on Wikipedia. I was definitely active as a project functionary, to the point where I led to the blocking of a whole mobile operator from editing Wikipedia, following a series of heavy misbehaviour from one of the long-term abuse characters.
I’ve also grown a lot as a functionary. I began as a chapter member, then worked my way up to a board member of the chapter, later became involved in stewardship and joined one of the Foundation’s committees (Affcom). Currently, I’m part of another committee (Wikimania) and the CEE Hub Steering Committee. I’ve attended and co-organised Wikimanias. I want to use everything I’ve learned about the Wikimedia world, along with my management experience, to help the Foundation achieve its mission on a larger scale. | |
| Please describe your Wikimedia experience (such as contributions to the Wikimedia projects, memberships in Wikimedia organizations or affiliates, activities as a Wikimedia movement organizer, or participation with a Wikimedia movement ally organization). | Below is a summary of my on-wiki and organisational experience:
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| From your perspective, what should the Wikimedia Foundation be prioritizing over the next 3-5 years, and why do you see these as the most important priorities? | I believe that with the way the online world is changing, the Foundation should focus on encouraging online volunteering and raising awareness of the Wikimedia brand. Content from Wikimedia sites is and will continue to be reused, especially - as evidenced recently by available data - by artificial intelligence models, so it’s important to make sure people know where that content comes from. We also need to promote the idea that everyone can contribute to creating reliable, high-quality written, visual, and audio materials. I think it's important to focus on users with extended rights, as they help keep the Wikimedia world strong. Additionally, we should create tools that make it easier for people to collaborate on knowledge creation in a way that feels natural to today’s internet users. Finally, I believe we should work on building more localised Wikimedia presences, like hubs and regional structures. | |
| Please describe your experience with governing bodies of organizations (nonprofit or for-profit), mentioning the scope of your responsibilities, as well as the complexity of the organization (in terms of scale of operations, budget, number of people involved, or other meaningful measures) and the size of the board or body. | I was a member of the WMPL Board from 2014 to 2020, and served as Secretary from 2016 to 2020, in a team of seven. During my time, we hired our first non-administrative staff, formed partnerships outside the Wikimedia community, and secured our first grants from the Foundation. One of these grants supported the CEE Meeting in Warsaw in 2017, where I was responsible for tasks like visa document processing. Another grant funded an organizational audit, which eventually led to the development of our chapter's first strategy.
Currently, I am a member of the CEE Hub Steering Committee, working in a group of eight talented individuals and supported by three staff members. We are operating under a Foundation grant to strengthen volunteer activities in Central and Eastern Europe, including contests (CEE Spring), events (CEE Meeting), microgrants, and other forms of volunteer support. I was part of the Core Organising Team that brought Wikimania to Katowice in 2024. While I was mainly responsible for the programme, I was always ready to help out wherever needed. I also served on the AffCom Conflict Resolution Subcommittee for three years. | |
| Questions from the Community (required) | ||
| These questions were sourced from the community. These questions are required to consider your application complete. If this section is not complete by 23:59 AoE, July 8 (11:59 UTC, July 9), your application will not be considered. | ||
| How do you plan to ensure transparency and accountability in your decision-making processes as a member of the Board of Trustees? | Decisions at the level of the BoT should not be made lightly or appear random. Each decision should be based on an analysis of the relevant factors and consideration of the context, which will guide my decision-making. When the situation and its constraints allow, an explanation should be given. | |
| What will be the first new issue you would like to bring to the attention of the Board for discussion, and how would you approach it? | Strengthening Wikimedia’s brand awareness beyond the platform itself is essential. This is where our readers are – and many are unaware that the information they rely on comes from a specific source built through a unique model of co-creation. It is also where we can reach potential donors and new contributors. When people understand how Wikimedia’s knowledge is created and are offered accessible ways to contribute, they are more likely to get involved. I often refer to Dariusz Jemielniak, who has emphasised that Wikipedia is everyone’s responsibility – meaning all people around the world. He also stated that this responsibility should be made visible either by editing Wikipedia or by supporting its existence and growth through donations. | |
| How should decisions about trade-offs and prioritisation in Wikimedia technology or product areas be approached? Please explain what the trade-off is in your view. | Technology and products – both for consuming and co-creating knowledge – should be accessible to as many people as possible. However, this does not mean that outdated solutions must be preserved indefinitely for a small group of users. This is where trade-offs come into play: if the Foundation decides to stop supporting a particular feature, will that lead to the loss of a meaningful or impactful portion of contributions or contributors?
MediaWiki has grown out of the stage where it served one primary platform, and its application has changed too. It needs to support the functionality of platforms that present content differently - Commons will have different needs than Wikisource than Wikipedia. The development of MediaWiki as a product will face trade-offs in the form of prioritising which things are done first but also which functionalities are developed over others to strengthen the platforms the most. There lies a trade-off as well, what will bring the most impact with the use of resources at the Foundation’s disposal, what cannot be put off any longer, what development blocks / inhibits another? Ultimately, the question is whether a bold shift in our software could result in short-term loss but bring much greater benefits in the long run. It’s an idea worth serious consideration. | |
| The number of Wikimedia affiliates has grown significantly over the past few years, but ensuring adequate resourcing can be a challenge. Given this, how might we rethink the movement ecosystem, including how affiliates are evaluated, engaged, and resourced? | Important progress has already been made with the new affiliate model, which I contributed to during my time with AffCom. I strongly believe that affiliates should be active partners in the ecosystem, open to collaboration – such as strengthening their regions through initiatives like hubs. I recognise that the CEE Hub’s perspective on matters concerning Central and Eastern Europe is more accurate and grounded than that of individuals outside the region. This means that community grants can be used more effectively and directed not only to affiliates but also to active grassroots groups and individuals.
Organisations like the CEE Hub are better positioned to understand how funds should be allocated, can quickly assess whether those funds are being used effectively, and enjoy a higher level of trust within local communities. As representatives of the region, they speak the language – both literally and culturally – more fluently than the Foundation, which, despite its growing local presence, is still sometimes viewed as lacking sufficient understanding of local contexts. | |
| As the Wikimedia Foundation's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) position transitions, what qualities do you believe the incoming leader should embody, and how would these contribute to the advancement of the Wikimedia movement? | The ideal candidate is someone with both international expertise and the charisma to match. As the Foundation operates on a global scale, the CEO must be able to address issues wherever they arise, in a way that respects local contexts while remaining aligned with the Foundation’s overall global framework. Approaching challenges in a way that feels natural and appropriate to each local setting will go a long way in building trust and winning hearts. Also, they should either possess knowledge of how the community and projects operate or be willing to supplement that know-how immediately. | |
| Optional questions - Professional Experience, Skills and Education | ||
| These questions are optional. Responses will count towards the total word limit on your application. (Reminder: You will not have other opportunities to provide this information). | ||
| Please describe your professional career experience and relevance to board work. | I currently work as a purchasing specialist in a shipyard, where I am part of a large-scale manufacturing process with international and multi-cultural partners. This experience has given me a strong understanding of how roles and responsibilities are interconnected in complex projects. I believe that having clearly defined responsibilities and performing one’s role effectively within a broader network is key to an organization’s success. | |
| Please describe how you handled, or advised others on, a complex problem in an organization. How did you work with others to address the situation? What was the change that resulted from your efforts? | We are currently developing a membership and voting model within the CEE Hub. During the workshops that led to the first draft of the proposal, I made a conscious effort to actively listen to participants – understanding their perspectives, needs, and concerns – and help guide the process toward a balanced outcome. The proposal is now nearly complete, and I’m pleased to see my contributions reflected in it, as well as how the group further refined and improved it after the initial phase. I am also open to adopting ideas that may not seem directly relevant at first but can be valuable once thoughtfully adapted to the context, as e.g. voiced during Wikimania 2024 in the Fireside chat . | |
| Please describe your educational background, including degrees, certificates, and courses of study finished, and their relevance to board work. | I hold a diploma in English instruction from Białystok University. Both the study programme and my first job as an English instructor for adults taught me the importance of using effective communication strategies. As a result, I can adapt my English to different contexts to ensure clarity and understanding.
I also hold a master’s degree in organisational management. My thesis focused on the limitations of knowledge creation on Wikipedia. Later, I began a PhD programme under the supervision of Professor Dariusz Jemielniak, where I intended to study leadership in open collaboration communities. Although I had to leave the programme due to personal life changes, it significantly deepened my understanding of leadership within open systems. | |
| Please add any relevant links describing your professional background, experience, profile (such as LinkedIn, staff page, etc.). | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q67171862 | |
| Optional questions - Leadership Experience | ||
| These questions are optional. Responses will count towards the total word limit on your application. (Reminder: You will not have other opportunities to provide this information). | ||
| Please describe ways in which you have helped to form a bridge between multiple communities (such as by working on projects outside your home wiki, or working on a collaboration between multiple affiliates). | As the programme lead for Wikimania 2024 in Katowice, I worked closely with individuals from many different communities, guided by two main principles. First, the event was designed to reflect the ownership of the event by the CEE community. To support this, each programme track included a representative from the region, helping to strengthen collaboration and give the CEE community a genuine sense of agency. Second, I assembled a diverse, international group to evaluate programme proposals – selecting individuals who were either highly recommended by trusted colleagues or who had expressed a strong interest in contributing – ensuring broad representation and a truly global perspective. | |
| Can you describe a policy, on wiki or off, that you helped to create or change? What did you learn from this experience? | In 2008, once I felt confident in my skills as an editor, I translated a series of policies from English Wikipedia, adapting them to better fit the Polish context. I then presented these translations to the community for discussion and approval. The policies chosen for translation were also selected based on community consultations. This experience convinced me that everyone affected by a policy should be involved in its creation.
I also drafted the initial version of AffCom’s conflict of interest policy. My professional translation work also includes the Polish version of Common Knowledge? – the first ethnographic study of Wikipedia – as well as books on AI, collaborative societies, and modern technology. | |
| How have you been able to empower people to make their voices heard? | For the Wikimania 2024 programme, I appointed a head evaluator for each track. These evaluators reported directly to me and were responsible for gathering scores from their working groups, deciding which sessions should be prioritized for inclusion and which did not fit within the theme of “The Collaboration of the Open.” From the strong commitment shown by these working group leads, I concluded that having a sense of agency is very important for people who work toward a meaningful cause. | |
| Can you describe how you have demonstrated the ability to guide others in solving problems, adapting to change or achieving goals, particularly at a leadership or management level? | I have completed a course in text-based mediation and participated in several excellent workshops led by experts within our Movement. These experiences have helped me improve my active listening skills, guide people toward decisions while remaining neutral, and effectively moderate discussions. The trainings have proven valuable in many situations, including small, subtle ones. | |
| Optional questions - Strategic Thinking | ||
| These questions are optional. Responses will count towards the total word limit on your application. (Reminder: You will not have other opportunities to provide this information). | ||
| Please describe your experience participating in or leading an organization in planning for its future. How did your work contribute to picking the right path for the organization? | In 2019, the Wikimedia Polska board, with support from an external auditor and a candidate for the chapter’s first Executive Director, developed the chapter’s first Strategy Document. This took place during a focused retreat outside the city, away from distractions, where we worked intensively to determine where the chapter should direct its resources and efforts. I was actively involved throughout the process, always considering the best ways to help Wikimedia Polska grow toward the goals that emerged from our shared discussions and previous initiatives, such as the organisational audit. | |
| Verification | Identity verification performed by Wikimedia Foundation staff and eligibility verification performed by the Elections Committee | |
Eligibility:  Verified
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Identification: Verified Verified by: – NahidSultan (WMF) (talk) 04:58, 16 July 2025 (UTC) | |