Wikimedia Summit 2024/Documentation/Day 3
Day 3 (Sunday, 21 April)[edit]
On Sunday, the Movement Governance track worked on creating coherence across all the Summit’s outputs so they can be shared in Plenary. The Future of Affiliate Gatherings track took ownership of the next steps, and an open space session took place to hold emerging conversations.
Welcome: Summary & Preview (11:00-11:15 CEST)[edit]
Overview of Day 3[edit]
Wolfgang introduced the three tracks of the day:
1. Movement Governance: The “Connection Spotters” and the “Topic Coherers” of each topic group will now get together to integrate final feedback, bring coherence to all the outputs produced during the Summit, and propose the final statements in plenary.
2. Future of Affiliate Gatherings: Will hold its last session, focusing on defining a purpose for the gatherings and forming a group of volunteers that are willing to work together on a concept.
3. Open Space: An opportunity for participants to hold any discussion they find important at this point in the Summit.
Movement Governance Work Session 6:Creating Coherence (11:15-12:45 CEST)[edit]
The last session of the Movement Governance track focused on consolidating and bringing coherence to all the Summit outputs and preparing them for sharing. The final outputs were shared in the Closing Ceremony to muster support from attendants.
Affiliate Gatherings 3: Governance & Commitments (11:15-12:45 CEST)[edit]
The last session of the track was dedicated to clarifying purpose, and establishing a group that can further develop a concept for affiliate gatherings.
Defining Purpose[edit]
Lucas opened the session by inviting attendees to define the purpose of an affiliate gathering by creating a word cloud. Here are the three main priorities selected by the group:
- Governance
- Share best practices
- Learning, Connecting, Networking, Training
Committee Considerations[edit]
The track attendants gathered in small groups to define the top 5 considerations that a Committee in charge of developing a concept for Affiliate Gatherings must consider.
Purpose[edit]
- Agreeing on purpose
- An opportunity for learning and self-reflection
- Clarifying why affiliates should send participants to this gathering
- State the value proposition for this gathering
- What problem the gathering is addressing - in order to match skills between attendants
Connection to other events[edit]
- Determine if connected to other events or standalone?
- Global connection; in-person interaction in one place
Participants[edit]
- Gathering participant continuity/sustainability (ensure representative and handover)
- Selection of participants
- Eligibility rules to lower
Logistic & Resources[edit]
- Relationship/consultation with Wikimedia Foundation
- Resources
- Committee should NOT do logistics
- Online interaction is possible - but quality of infrastructure needs to be high
Manav, member of Movement Charter Drafting Committee, shared some reflections on what the Global Council Assembly could look like. We are looking at a revamped structure in the future. Some user groups are adopting a chapter-like format, albeit on a smaller scale. Meanwhile, hubs have attained official status within the movement ecology.
Exploration of various meeting formats is underway. A significant initiative is the proposal for an annual Global Council meeting, which would prioritise workflows for the following year. The Global Council Assembly (GCA) is envisioned as a forum for representatives from all recognized movement entities. Efforts are underway to formalise all entities, and make a visual representation of their relationships.
To streamline operations, Hubs could oversee coordination among regional affiliates, alleviating the constant need to engage affiliates directly in strategic discussions. Regional gatherings could serve as effective forums for collaboration.
Taking Ownership[edit]
Invitation to form a group that will start the reflection on affiliate gatherings and propose a concept.
Initial 9 volunteers:
- Rajene Hardeman, Wikimedia New York City
- Jeffrey User:FULBERT, Affiliations Committee
- Olatunde Isaac, Yoruba Wikimedians User Group
- Nanor User:Nanör, Wiki World Heritage
- Olushola, Wikimedia Community Nigeria
- Aafi, Deoband Community Wikimedia
- Emmanuelle Guebo, Wikimedia Community Côte d'Ivoire
- Sadik Shahadu, Dagbani Wikimedians User Group
- Sandra Rientjes, Wikimedia Nederland
Note: Olatunde Isaac eventually left the committee before the end of the Summit.
Comments:
- Important: Is there support from WMF committed to this group? Logistics, scheduling, etc - that is something to clarify.
- Commitment to develop a concept for a gathering, does not imply organising one
- Who does the Committee respond to?
Open Space on Movement Strategy (11:15-12:45 CEST)[edit]
Open space is ruled by 1 law and 4 principlest.
The Law of Two Feet:
You can always go anywhere you want.
4 Principles:
- Whoever is there are the right people
- Whenever it starts is the right time
- Wherever it happens is the right place
- Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
Below are the list of topics, their hosts, and the links to the notes from the conversations.
- Global approach to Capacity building and Skill Exchange + Capacity Exchange Project: How to learn things in this movement? - Andi & Asaf
- Movement Charter: Ratification and Amendment Section - Risker
- What would you like the Wikimedia Foundation to stop doing? - Maryana & Nataliia
- Kickoff a glossary of terms in Movement Charter with diverse languages - Lucy
- Opportunities in Governance conversations for those engaging only online (not in meetings) - Joe
- Movement Charter: Implementation after Ratification: What and Who? - Ciell
- Building Affiliate Fundraising Capacity - Caitlin
- Movement Governance protecting Marginalised Communities (incl. LGBT+) - Capucine
- Movement Charter: First Section on Values and Definitions - Martin
Assessing Agreement on Final Summit Outputs (13:45-15:05 CEST)[edit]
- Link to session slides
Below are the list of outputs, categorised by type of feedback —“Deal Breakers” and “Improvements”— and then by theme. The numbering is consistent with the one used in the plenary session. [Text in brackets] was added by the reporter for contextualisation, based on comments from participants during the plenary session.
Potential Deal Breakers[edit]
Global Council[edit]
4. The Global Council must have directly managed staff, which must report directly to the Global Council Board.
6. The Global Council must be the highest decision-making body in the movement on strategy and budget.
11. There must be a process for the Global Council to be held accountable to the movement. The Charter must address how the Global Council’s work is evaluated by stakeholders.
12. The Global Council must be guaranteed an independent budget, separate from the Wikimedia Foundation’s general budget, which the Global Council handles autonomously. The Global Council’s budget has to be approved by its members.
13. There must be a clear separation of powers (e.g. decision-making and resource distribution) between the Global Council and Wikimedia Foundation. This must include a roadmap for transferring those powers over time, with an operational plan.
16. There must be clarity about Global Council Assembly composition and how its representatives are elected in the Charter from the outset.
17. There must be a more clearly expressed purpose of the Global Council which addresses strategy, finance and structure to improve decision-making in and for the movement.
19. Processes must ensure that at least 40% of Global Council Assembly seats are occupied by non-male.
21. Processes must ensure that unorganised volunteers are significantly represented in regional batches of seats.
Hubs & Affiliates[edit]
7. Hubs and affiliates must have a right to participate in developing core technology.
9. There must be an increase in the baseline requirement to start a Hub. Minimum of three founding affiliate members. External organisations can join as a fourth founding member.
10. There must be a cap so that no gender has more than 70% representation in Hub governing bodies.
14. We must move the requirement for Hubs and Affiliates to participate in collaborations and partnerships to become only a right.
Resource Development[edit]
8. There must be a regional budget for grant making that is equitable.
15. The Movement Charter must make it clear that fundraising is desirable but always optional for all movement bodies including Hubs and Movement partners.
18. The Charter must develop a statement on the ‘basic right’ of all movement bodies to fundraise using ALL methods in accordance with the fundraising policy to be developed by the Global Council.
20. We must have tangible commitments and actions to ensure that equity is central (such as training, peer support and capacity building), in order that the Movement embodies the world’s best examples of Human Rights.
Resource Distribution[edit]
1. For resource distribution, there must be ‘full transparency’ added as a value at every level, for all parties, and to the criteria for decision-making.
2. There must be clear differentiation of core and non-core spendings: Global Council must decide the non-core part, and governance structure of core spending must be evolved.
3. There must be an allowance for thematic organisations and chapters that cannot incorporate locally to operate with fiscal sponsors.
The Charter[edit]
5. Supplementary documents must have official status. They can be amended by simple resolution of the Global Council or one of its bodies.
Improvements[edit]
Resource Distribution[edit]
22. There could be thematic grant budgets to be distributed by priorities set by Global Council
24. Full transparency in resource distribution could include: (a) Policy; (b) Criteria; (c) Evaluation; and (d) Safety & Vetting
35. The Charter should strive to ensure equity and fairness in fiscal sponsorship for Hubs & Affiliates
39. There could be a budget to include free and open source software and tools development for e.g. governance, translations, training…
Global Council[edit]
23. There could be an OMBUDS committee. Wikimedia Foundation board community seats could be filled by Global Council representatives. Two-thirds of the Global Council can veto Wikimedia Foundation decisions that affect the whole movement.
25. There should be a dot point on movement organisation rights and responsibilities, including: “Working in service of the Wikimedia movement with care & solidarity”
29. There could be an outline for mechanisms to clarify and ensure accountability of Global Council Board and Global Council Staff
33. The Global Council Assembly’s seats should be equally divided between 8 regions and 1 thematic batch, e.g. 11 seats from each, which would give us a GCA with 99 seats. Each voter selects one region or the thematic batch to cast their vote in.
36. The Charter should specify that the Global Council technology advancement committee should solicit input from Hubs and Affiliates in order to provide advice to WMF and other tech providers. [also relevant to “Hubs & Affiliates”]
38. There should be research and discussions regarding Global Council election / selection strategies and criteria (e.g. diversity of perspectives, skills etc. / Participatory Budgeting Governance Document).
45. The Global Council’s first task is to work with the Wikimedia Foundation on creating a plan to become the final decision-making body on all resource distribution.
Resource Development[edit]
26. Add capacity building methods for fundraising (training, evaluation, tech tools, solidarity mechanisms, knowledge transparency).
27. Add ‘banner fundraising’ to the Revenue Generation glossary.
28. Clarify whether Affiliates can charge membership fees.
34. The existing section of “Revenue generation” should be moved out of supplement into Charter (move from Sandbox to Mainspace)
42. All movement bodies should create a culture of transparency in all fundraising.
43. All movement bodies should coordinate fundraising to avoid competition.
44. All Banner Fundraisers should create opt-ins for donors to receive communication from relevant movement bodies.
Hubs & Affiliates
31. There could be an improvement in wording to clarify that the main purpose of a Hub is for aligned affiliates to pool resources, or access more resources, such as knowledge, experiences, money and so on
32. User Groups with full-time, Wikimedia Foundation-funded staff could be formalised as thematic Orgs or Chapters
37. Hubs should be given appropriate resources in order to deliver their responsibilities around peer support and peer learning.
40. There must be mechanisms to protect staff [of any Wikimedia entity] from internal / external lobbying.
46. The supplementary material for Future Affiliate Landscape could encourage groups of higher tiers to support the growth of other tiers through peer support.
The Charter[edit]
30. We should expand the glossary with collectively negotiated definitions of English-specific terms, prior to translation - e.g. ‘capacity building’, ‘equity’ and ‘core technology’ - ensuring the involvement of other language speakers in this process
41. The charter should be evergreen (don’t address things that need constant amendment). There should be a separate operational plan for changing things and a transition plan for handing over responsibilities of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Celebrations[edit]
“Celebrations” were not open for appraisal, just communicated in plenary.
- Global Council
- Community centred decision-making
- Global Council’s need for resources has been recognised
- Staff support is necessary
- Everyone here seems well-intentioned
- The Global Council has been given its first responsibility.
- There are diversity, equity and inclusion provisions for membership criteria
- Equity in representation is made possible through a Global Council Assembly
- Affiliates and Hubs
- There are more opportunities for us to be supported, learn and work together
- There is decentralisation in terms of: resource distribution, conflict resolution, power, and decision-making.
- Chapters are clearly defined.
- Collaboration promotes peer support among affiliates and hubs
- The Charter recognises Equity, Inclusivity, Safety and Accountability as key points in the one-page draft.
- Hubs have means to obtain grants, raise funds and build capacity.
- Financial Resources
- Movement organisations can fundraise.
- Coordination and financial sustainability is recognised as important.
- Distribution of resources is done in an equitable way.
- The funds distribution process opened.
- The Charter acknowledges that access to knowledge and technology is also resource distribution.
Closing Ceremony (11:15-12:45 CEST)[edit]
Appraisal of the Summits Outputs (Onsite Participants)[edit]
Here you can access the list of all the outputs and the degree of support from on-site Summit attendants.
These are the responses from the on-site participants to the Final Outputs. The percentage is calculated as a total of those who responded either “Support” or “Oppose”, that is, those who responded with “No Response” were excluded. There was a different survey link for participants onsite and online.
 | Note: Members of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee as well as Wikimedia Foundation staff and Board of Trustees present at the Summit did not participate in the poll. This was to ensure that the results of the poll clearly represent the support from participating Affiliates. |
Movement Charter Drafting Committee[edit]
“This document will serve as a valuable resource for our movement”
Daria addressed the audience expressing surprise for the amount of support received for the outputs.
She commended attendants for their leadership, which for Daria means not only advocating for your own ideas but also ensuring justice for those you represent. Attendees at this gathering came with the intention of amplifying voices, even those absent. It's a weighty responsibility, especially when conversations lack inclusivity or when trying to balance conflicting viewpoints.
As Shakespeare once said, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown," highlighting the burden of representation. Daria thanked everyone for taking on this role and representing all voices, while also contributing with their own ideas. She then quoted her fellow co-member Anne, "our perspectives are our gifts for our journeys through life," emphasising the value of diverse viewpoints. Embracing conflicting ideas fosters growth and understanding, rather than fearing them. Daria shared her appreciation for the opportunity to engage with these ideas collectively rather than in isolation. “Ultimately, this document will serve as a valuable resource for our movement”, she concluded, reflecting our collaborative journey towards understanding.
At the end, Daria shared a slide with the next milestones in the process of ratifying the charter, and the link through which Wikimedians can continue to be involved in the discussions.
The Future of Affiliate Gatherings[edit]
- Jeffrey, on behalf of the Committee formed to work on Affiliate Gatherings.
Jeffrey stood before the audience, acknowledging the collective efforts and emphasising the importance of unity given the tasks ahead. He provided insight into the Future Affiliate Gatherings group's process and highlighted key considerations for future affiliate gatherings.
“We started with a meeting that didn’t cost anything, because we’re already here”— he said. He underscored that the committee's members are all volunteers and clarified that their focus will be on programmatic aspects, not logistics. Gratitude was expressed towards Eva and Nicole for their dedicated work on summits and conferences, along with their offer of continued support.
Identifying the next steps, Jeffrey outlined the need for staff support to facilitate coordination and emphasised the importance of understanding the committee's role within the broader Wikimedia ecosystem, in particular, its relationship with the Wikimedia Foundation.
In closing, he extended an open invitation for anyone interested in joining the committee, fostering inclusivity and collaboration.
Closing Remarks from Wikimedia Foundation[edit]
- Maryana Iskander, Chief Executive Officer, Wikimedia Foundation
“The movement has to change. We have to change.”
Maryana began by reflecting on her evolving familiarity with the audience, expressing gratitude for the sense of safety that familiarity brings, enabling them to speak from the heart. She then acknowledged the significance of the moment, celebrating the achievements of the Wikimedia movement, which has organised 12 Summits, and extended thanks to contributors, partners, and allies for their collaborative efforts. “You can thank others, but we really just wanted to thank you.” — said Maryana, as the audience waved.
The CEO of Wikimedia Foundation excused her absence from the first days of Summit, and explained that she had just returned from a series of meetings with global players like World Bank and Big Tech. Having participated in various discussions, ranging from indigenous communities to technology, the speaker emphasised the urgency of addressing pressing global issues, such as climate justice and election insecurity. She stressed the need for adaptation and innovation, recognizing the complexity and rapid evolution of these challenges.
Transitioning to the topic of change, Maryana underscored the necessity for transformation at both individual and institutional levels. “There is no doubt that we have to change. If there was an impression that status quo is sufficient, it is not. The Foundation has to change. The movement has to change. We have to change.” She continued by highlighting the importance of confronting uncomfortable truths, metaphorically represented by "the elephant in the room." She also drew on the parable of the blind men and the elephant, to urge attendees to embrace diverse perspectives as a means to drive meaningful change.
Maryana acknowledged the daunting nature of the questions facing society, such as those related to artificial intelligence and disinformation, and underscored the importance of maintaining human motivation to create content for the world to access.
To conclude, Maryana invited attendees to reflect on their experiences at the Summit, specifically asking if anyone had gained new perspectives during the event to raise their hand. “Look around and notice how that is motivating for all of us.” — said Maryana, inviting attendees to recognise the value of empathy and understanding in motivating collective action towards resolving global challenges.
Closing Remarks from Wikimedia Deutschland[edit]
- Nicole Ebber, Director Movement Strategy and Global Relations Wikimedia Deutschland
“We love the Summit, to create this space for everyone”
Reflecting on the journey since 2010, Nicole reminisced about the remarkable memories created at various events. She recalled the time when the Iceland volcano eruption disrupted plans, and the innovative decision in 2011 to serve only vegetarian food, followed by a demonstration to a nearby food shop. Hosting duties were shared with Wikimedia Italy in Milan in 2012 and 2013, and in subsequent years, the focus expanded to include movement strategy discussions.
The period from 2018 to 2019 saw the introduction of working groups, with recommendations set to be presented in 2020, which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. However, in 2022, the community regrouped, and in 2024, they celebrated the fruition of their efforts.
“We love the Summit, to create this space for everyone” said Nicole, expressing her love for the Summit. She extended gratitude to the Wikimedia Foundation for their collaboration, but also pointed out the power in making decisions for the movement concerning such important gatherings. “I am super happy that we have this group that is committed to create a concept for future affiliate gatherings. We are engaged in offering any support.”
Nicole thanked all attendees for contributing to the uniqueness of each gathering and looked forward to participating in future events.
“Thank you all for making these gatherings so unique. You made each one of them unforgettable in their own way. I look forward to being a participant in the next affiliate gathering. See you all on Meta.”
“Thank you”[edit]
- Alice Wiegand, Chair, Board of Trustees Wikimedia Deutschland
Alice Wiegand closed the Summit with a list of “thank yous”, calling everyone on stage, and handing a bouquet of flowers to Nicole, thanking her for her dedication over the years. She said: “Nicole is the face of this conference format. We are thanking you for all the thoughts, motivation brough year after year. This does not mean that the next gathering will be without you — we are doing these steps together. To make it easier for you, I am bringing you wonderful flowers.” Facilitation & Documentation Team Wolfgang, Linda, Lucas, Luís
Program Team[edit]
Eva, Nikki
MCDC[edit]
Risker, Daria, Georges, Richard, Michał, Manav, Jorge, Ciell And Support staff: Kaarel, Nhu, Natalia
WMF[edit]
co-think, co-plan and co-fund
Steering Committee:[edit]
Nataliia, Maryana, Maggie Franziska, Alice
Breakout Facilitators[edit]
Steffen, Jana, Sepi, Alex, Jonathan, Simon, Pia, Claire (WMDE), Alan (WMDE)
Trust & Safety Team[edit]
WMF: Nasma, Nathan, Chmielko WMDE: Janna, Beate, Nico, Miriam
Event Management and Support WMDE[edit]
Laura, Louisa, Alice, Simon, Sissela, Maiken
Event Logistics (kwertz)[edit]
Josi and her team (Sylvia) - travel and venue management Stefan and his team - platform and tech setup
Finance team (for reimbursements)[edit]
Florian, Claudia, Claudia, Marzena, Zeina, Nadine
Peter Edel - venue & catering[edit]
Adam And team
Photographer[edit]
Jason
That's a wrap!