Affiliations Committee/Candidates/2024/Aafi
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Aafi (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA)
| Preferred name | Aafi | |
|---|---|---|
| What languages do you speak, and at what fluency level? (Please include your English proficiency.) | I am a native Kashmiri, and have a upto-native proficiency with Urdu language. I can speak and read Hindi language (intermediate), and have advanced profiency in English language. | |
| What region(s) of the world do you have experience with, and what kind of experience do you have? (“Experience” can mean you have lived or worked there or are currently living or working there; you’re familiar with the culture and language; etc.) | I come from the South Asia region and have a lived experience of several years. I was born and brought up here, and I have received my education at one of the finest universities in the region. I have also worked in a professional capacity for a non-governmental organisation during 2021-2022 as an assistant director. Having been a passionate traveller since 2015, I have travelled across several Indian states apart from my participating in Wikimedia events in the region since 2023. I have also been leading one of the South Asian affiliates, DCW, since its inception in 2021. I have attended several Indic-wiki events in-person and have a ground-level understanding of the structural needs and requirements of this region. | |
| What Wikimedia project(s) do you actively edit? And in what language(s)? | I am a multi-lingual Wikimedian and do not focus on a single-language project. I started off with English Wikipedia in 2019, and then contributed to several other projects. I currently volunteer as an admin on Wikimedia Commons (where I spend my most of the time these days), and Urdu Wikipedia. I am a translation administrator on three projects: here on Meta-Wiki, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata, and equally contribute to all of these projects. However, my home-wiki is English Wikipedia, and my primary language of contributions is English. | |
| What affiliate(s) are you actively involved with? In what capacity are you involved? Do you serve in a leadership role or have you in the past? | I am majorly engaged with Deoband Community Wikimedia, a thematic user-group affiliate, which I helped found in 2021. Since the formation of a strategic trajectory, I have been working as a Program Lead/Manager for the affiliate: see my alternate account: Aafi (DCW). | |
| Have you served on any committees (movement-related or otherwise)? And what was your role on the committee(s)? | I have never been a part of any committees but I am a part of Future Affiliate Gatherings Group | |
| Please describe any experience you have with conflict resolution and/or consensus building. | Although I have never been in arbitration roles but my experience as a program lead at DCW, and as a strategic advisor to several Wiki clubs has given me good times for consensus building. As an volunteer admin – I have tried to help resolve certain conflicts on-Wiki. | |
| In your ideal world, what does the affiliate model and ecosystem look like? | Ideally, affiliate ecosystem should be supportive and flexible. It should not be an “one-time” affiliation resolution and “one-time” report submission/approval task – rather an open ecosystem where both the old and the new, the big and the small groups are given advises about their potential growth. I have understood that both the large chapters and small user groups are equally impactful, and that they should work collaboratively. The ecosystem must not have a bureaucratic model to bite people with less experience. The strategies should be clear however the independence should be there, given that clear strategic directions are explored. Communication patterns between the Foundation and the affiliates, need to be explicitly discussed. | |
| In your ideal world, what are AffCom’s roles and responsibilities in relation to the movement and affiliates? | Affiliations Committee acts as a bridge between the movement entities and the Wikimedia Foundation. Its ideal roles should include supporting new groups emerge, supporting existing groups exist and sustain – provide all-type of peer support to the movement entities as a “bridge”. The Committee also needs to make sure that it advocates for the movement entities, advocates for their growth – brings their needs/requirements to the table at WMF. | |
| What role within AffCom are you most interested in: advisory or voting member? | I am interested in voting member role, but I would love giving advises as well. I am confident enough to make correct decisions. | |