Affiliations Committee/Candidates/December 2017

Appointments were announced on wikimedia-l on January 23rd.

If you would like to be considered for an appointment to the Affiliations Committee during our current recruitment cycle, please post your application on this page. All applications must be submitted by 31 December 2017.

Your application must include the following information:

1. Your full name and Wikimedia username
2. A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.
3. Answers to the following three questions:

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

All Wikimedians are invited to share endorsements and comments about candidates. If you provide a negative comment, please cite appropriate evidence for your concerns; it is not appropriate to simply state a negative opinion without factual evidence. We would like to maintain a friendly space for candidates to state their interest without fear of public ridicule.

Derick Ndimnain Alangi (Alangi_Derick)

1. Full name: Derick Ndimnain Alangi and Wikimedia username: Alangi_Derick.
2. I'm a software engineer by profession, holder of a Bachelor in Engineering (B.Eng) and a Wikimedia volunteer developer for over 2yrs now. I'm mostly skilled around technical stuff (like software engineering, programming and building software based applications), community engagement and capacity building. My motivation for joining the committee is to work with other communities still growing and joining the Wikimedia global movement to become affiliates with the Wikimedia Foundation. Some of these communities don't know how to get around being affiliates, so my focus will mostly bringing them knowledge and drilling them how to become one. For more information about me, you can view my user page.
3. Answers below;

1. I think the best way so far is communicating with others on the project and/or initiative to gain common grounds on how it can be executed in favor of all parties. When this is done and all properties of the project and initiative put in place, then the project will be a success when smart work is put in, in order to accomplish the project.
2. Affiliates in the next 3 years will be the main building blocks of the global Wikimedia movement. As these communities harness the power of bringing together volunteers from various perspectives together in a very flexible manner and hence growing the Wikimedia movement at large.
3. What I have unique is my communication power and charm to tap into emerging communities, help them to see the light (vision of Wikimedia) while showing them the path of how to become affiliates to support the global Wikimedia community to reach our vision within the shortest possible time, hence making the world even a better place to be (ideally). In addition, from a science background, I've the unique property of using logic to make decisions which will improve on the decision making process of selecting communities to Wikimedia affiliates.

Endorsements

1.  Support User is a good person, and knows how to help out others in the movement. He current is one of the leaders of the African wikimedia developers group and has shown great respect towards the movement as well. --Zppix (talk) 17:33, 17 December 2017 (UTC)
2.  Support I have known Derick only for a year, but there is a great vision for the wikimedia foundation in Cameroon, Africa and the world. He is an adequate candidate.--Geugeor Georges (talk) 18:11, 17 December 2017 (UTC)
3.  Support I have known Derick for more than 4 years. He introduced me to programming and open source. He is a very committed engineer and has passion for community building. He has contributed to building of our techosystem. He is very passionate about wikimedia and tries to spread the movement as much as he can. I believe he is a great candidate. --ivange94 (talk) 19:19, 17 December 2017 (UTC + 1)
4.  Support Being one of the co-founders of Wikimedians of Cameroon User Group WMCUG and also a volunteer developer at Wikimedia, I will say Derick Ndimnain Alangi is passionate about Wikimedia and has the community at heart and he is the best fit for this position. --Rocardho 23:13:30 WAT
5.  Support Derick is very hard working and has good communication skills. His ability to bring and encourage people to join the community shows how much he loves what he does. He is the best for this. r054l13 (talk) 11:37, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
6.  Support d3 as I always call him is a very close collaborator with so much experience and filled with the big dream and passion for not just fulfilling the mission of the WIkimedia Movement in his community but Africa at large. With His ability to bring people together, He stands in a very strategic position ( which if given the oppotunity) will maximise his potentials. Eugene233 (talk) 13:08, 18 December 2017 (UTC)
7.  Support I always found him helpful and understanding. There are many incidents where he helped others with his knowledge. He has a proven record of communicating with different entities and helping them along the way. I support Derick Alangis nomination. --Gereon K. (talk)
8.  Support Derick has a strong passion for free knowledge and the Wikimedia movement, very good technical and social skills and a kind and generous personality. I support his nomination. --Kritzolina (talk) 10:22, 19 December 2017 (UTC)
9.  Support Helpful, understanding, kind personality and good communicator are indeed personality traits I associate with Derick. I think he would be a nice asset. Anthere (talk) 14:46, 19 December 2017 (UTC)
10.  Support Alangi will be an asset to the AffComm as he brings a technical experience from a Global South perspective. This is needed in every Wikimedia committee. --New Zeus (talk) 15:07, 19 December 2017 (UTC)
11.  Support Derick has a lot of technical skills and a strong passion for free and open knowledge. I got to know him as a nice and very helpful person who always helps and supports others wherever he can. This are requirements in every Wikimedia committee which he accomplishes well. -- Freddy2001 ^talk 18:50, 21 December 2017 (UTC)
12.  Support Derick is one of the most enthusiastic Wikimedians I've met. His work with bringing in new developers has been fantastic. Legoktm (talk) 19:53, 21 December 2017 (UTC)
13.  Support Passionate, dedicated, always willing to learn and always willing to share what he learns with others. What a great fit for the position! -- ArielGlenn (talk) 14:05, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
14.  Support: This is a very active african guy we need. He is usually ready to help people getting started on tech in Wikimedia movement.--BamLifa (talk) 21:17, 24 December 2017 (UTC)
15.  Support: Alangi is always trying to make things better in the Wikimedia movement with his hard work and determination. I support him. --Youssef Ben Haj Yahia (talk) 3:55, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
16.  Support Derick is passionate, enthusiastic and committed to Wikimedia movement. -- Mouahé (talk) 9:11, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
17.  Support Not only is Derick technically gifted, he has immense organisational skills and is a great team player. I have known this passionate, hardworking and energetic gentleman for close to two years. Together we spent hours working on establishing the Cameroon User group. AminouT (talk) 10:47, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
18.  Support I support Derrick’s bid he is an active contributor and this will be a great exposure for him off the Wikis.Rberchie (talk) 17:54, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
19.  Support Derick is a very active african Wikimedian who is dedicated to the free knowledge and sharing. Such a person is a big plus for the committee as he can be a link between Wikimedia and the community in Cameroon. I know Derick personally, and can confirm his dedication, therefore I support his application.Anass Sedrati (talk) 19:45, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
20.  Support He is Kind and very helpful person I admire a lot as a mentor. I am one of those who found themselves in volunteering for Wikimedia foundation via him. He is the best for this position. Noella94 (talk) 21:31, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
21.  Support Derick is hardworking and passionate about what he does, he is a suitable candidate --Flixtey (talk) 23:32, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
22.  Support Derick is a very helpful, kind and hardworking and is good at what he does. Reception123 (talk) 17:10, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
23.  Support wholeheartedly. Wikicology (talk) 21:47, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
24.  Support Alangi is very passionate about what he does and believe he going to do far better than what he has already done for Wiki. Good luck Alangi and keep spreading Wiki voice in Africa.
25.  Support I am aware of some of Derick's work in the movement, and he is definitely passionate about what he does. I believe he can add value to the committee.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 23:30, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
26.  Support Derick is hard working and his passion for tech and willingness to teach others makes him suitable makes him a good candidate, and i give him my support --SAgbley (talk)
27.  Support His passion, zeal and hardwork for the movement is recommendable. With all thumbs up, I endorse him for this position. --Joy Agyepong (talk)
28.  Support Per all above, and per answer 1.   ManosHacker ^talk 23:50, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
29.  Support Luke081515 10:59, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
30.  Support You can't fake enthusiasm, and Derick has it in abundance. Yaron Koren (talk) 14:48, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
31.  Support - should be fine. Good luck!.CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 18:25, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
32.  Support —DerHexer (Talk) 14:06, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
33.  Support Derick is always available to answer any question, he's a notable person and happiness when you meet up and very responsible.Bile_rene (talk) 17:48, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
34.  Support 80.111.140.115 12:30, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
35.  Support Mahveotm (talk) 15:42, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
36.  Support Blossom Ozurumba ^Talk 18:01, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
37.  Support Derick has done a lot in increasing awareness about wikipedia and growing the community in Cameroon. --Serieminou (talk) 14:22, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
38.  Support Very active and hard working, keep going. DARIO SEVERI (talk) 13:13, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
39.  Support Derick is very proactive when it comes to Wikimedia projects. What he is doing to popularize the free content production in his community is amazing. Charlotte Pelagie (talk) 11:02, 12 January 2018 (UTC)
40.  Support Derick est une personne agréable, sociable, disponible et ouverte aux autres. Son travail pour la communauté est louable et je l'encourage vivement à aller de l'avant.Ingrid twinsy (talk) 12:52, 12 January 2018 (UTC)
41.  Support --Artix Kreiger (Message Wall) 12:20, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:20, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your question John Cummings, I'll try to tackle it based on the research and little experiences and/or findings.

One general similarity about all these organizations is that they are shifting from the usual affiliate program to a more inclusive and social program to further bring in and encouraging more groups / their representations, supporting multi-cultural and diverse participation in their organization. For example Creative Commons is shifting form their current affiliate program to a Global Network Structure [1], Mozilla is moving from Mozilla Affiliates to FireFox friends [2] etc. Whether or not their current affiliation system is not working is something I can't say much about but I think the point about their shift is that they see a better future of accomplishing their vision if their organization work more closely with their affiliates and support them to achieve their goal which intends achieves the goal/vision of the global movement. Wikimedia has been working so hard already on making sure that there is energy channeled from the Umbrella Foundation to the affiliates in order to support them and looking at the #Wikimedia2030 strategic direction, I think this can be achieved if the bond between the Foundation and it's affiliates in order to achieve the Wikimedia mission is well strengthened.

For more information, see the links;

• http://www.youth.ie/nyci/amnesty-international
• https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Affiliates
• https://wiki.mozilla.org/Websites/Affiliates

I hope I've addressed your question, that's my point of view, hope it helps? Thanks very much :). --Alangi Derick (talk) 13:27, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks very much Alangi Derick, very helpful :). John Cummings (talk) 14:49, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

1. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:30, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks so much for your question 3BRBS. I agree with you that there are 83 UGs at the moment and AffCom already has a smart way of regulating the growing number of user groups which is; user group agreements are renewed based on the activities of a user group (in order to help fulfill the mission of the global movement). It's like a contract which is renewed based on; performance, output, productivity etc of the UG for example. So, if a user group is dormant and doesn't work to promote and achieve the vision the Wikimedia movement, it's contract will be terminated hence reducing the number of user groups. Also, AffCom puts in place requirements which helps to regulate the creation of user groups and I would like to add that these requirements be strengthened before new user groups are being created. Here is my proposition:- Each user group should have a formal organizational structure (which is kind of loose at the level - since we have only UG founders). If user groups have an organizational structure added presented to AffCom before their creation as a part of the requirement (together with all what mentioned above), I think it will greatly increase on the performance of all user groups, in addition, enforces the platform for which user groups are being created, hence regulating the number of UG being created hence tackling the issue in your question..

To conclude, Wikimedia is working so hard to fulfill it's mission, it already has some wonderful strategies put in place to help accomplish this mission and not just that but accomplish it in an efficient way. Thank you very much and hope the answer helps? :) --Alangi Derick (talk) 16:57, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your prompt reply. Reading your response, I would just like to say that, in my opinion, I really do not believe that requiring a "formal organizational structure" would address the issue beneath. I think that in the best case scenario, if things continue like they are happening today, such a proposal would just delay the creation of user groups. Also, on the other hand, I think that formality requirements, which bring bureaucracy, red tape, and other boring but necessary stuff, usually burdens volunteers, and tends to diminish "performance" rather than creating the opposite effect. Good luck with your application. Cheers! 3BRBS (talk) 01:23, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Sami Mlouhi (Sami Mlouhi)

I am Sami Mlouhi, a Wikimedian from Tunisia since 2015. I have been contributing to the french, english and arabic Wikipedias, Wikimedia Commons, wikiquote, wikidata and Meta. I have more than 12 492 edits, 3 761 photos and 200 articles.

I am the Coordinator of Creative Commons copyright-licenses at Wikimedia Tunisia User Group and an active membre, I made various tasks related to community building. These included conducting workshops for new Wikipedians, training Wikipedians, hosting meetups, recruitment of volunteers etc. Also, I was involved with organizing events. These included Wikipedia workshops, seminar, conferences, Wiki loves Africa, Wiki loves Earth, Wiki loves Monuments, editathons, conference, school programs. In fact, I belong to the logistic team that will prepare WikiIndaba Tunis 2018.

I helped Wikimedia France during the month of francophonie celebration by organizing an editathon in Tunis.

I served as a member of MedinaPedia project, Tunisia Project and medicine project in Wikipedia. In Wikidata, I am member of WikiProject Medicine.

I have participated in many National and International Events related to Wikimedia projects such as WikiConvention francophone 2016 and 2017, WikidataCon 2017 in Berlin and Wikimdia Tunisia meeting in Sousse.

I'm working now with other international wikimedians on #VisibleWikiWomen Challenge 2018.

I can speak arabic, french, english and italian. I have many experience on social media and international cooperation. I'm familiar with the organizational governance, international policies and political system and conditions in various countries as a member of Amnesty international and the Tunisian Red Crescent, that could be benefit to global social movement like Wikimedia.

Apart from being a Wikipedian, I am member of Carthagina association that aims to promote and raise awareness about Tunisian History, photo club of Tunis and Médecins Sans Frontières. I encourage the Creative Commons movement and google maps where I edit frequently.

I have good communication skills in general but with volunteers more specifically and you can witness that through my workshops. I won the AISEC debate challenge in 2015.

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think that frequent meetings between affiliates that share common interests is the key to built high-impact projects such as WikidataCon (the meeting of Wikidata community) and WikiConvention francophone (the meeting of users talking french). Also, an interchange between new and old affiliates can be beneficial. In fact, the new user groups have the enthusiasm while the old affiliates have the experience.

2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

I believe the affiliates should not only recruit more volunteers for the different projects of Wikimedia, but also play more role in developing the skills of the wikimedian by making frequent training and workshops (about the new tools of Wikidata, the new projects of Wikimedia...). Also, affiliates should develop partnerships and plan activities which support the 2030 movement strategy vision.

3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

1. I am from Tunisia, almost the only democracy, after the revolution of 2011, in the MENA region so I know the minorities in this region and I will aim to more involve them in affiliates because Wikimedia is for all.
2. I have an international experience and I know the specificities of several countries.
3. I have a big knowledge in law (certificate from university of Monastir) and how to manage the human resources (certificate from the Tunisian Red Crescent).
4. I am enthusiastic and I will be available whenever you want.

Sami Mlouhi 28.12.2017

Endorsements

1.  Support --Kritzolina (talk) 17:34, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
2.  Support Ravan (talk) 08:05, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
3.  Support Knowing Sami as a good and trusted wikipedian, also in several offline activities. I endorse his candidature wishing for him all the success. Dyolf77 (talk) 14:09, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
4.  Support It's been more than two since Sami and I met, we worked together during the MedinaPedia project, and we are now members in Wikimedia TN user group. Sami is a hard worker and an honest man. He is also a funy and a lovely person, but he is very serious when it comes to work. I fully support him. Youssef Ben Haj Yahia (talk) 03:45, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
5.  Support For his great work with the wikimedia movement Ανώνυμος Βικιπαιδιστής (talk) 13:20, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
6.  Support Mahveotm (talk) 15:40, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
7.  Support --Liridon (talk) 20:38, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:20, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your good question John Cummings, I will try to reply based on my experience since I'm member of Amnesty international (The Tunisian section) and Wikimedia Tn user group.

In fact, There is a grand similarity in the affiliate model of the both mainly in the local activities of each affiliation and how to apply the global strategy taken in the foundation (which presents the center) and adapt it locally (The affiliation presents the target). But after a long evaluation, Amnesty and Creative Commons understood that this vertical model has some gaps so they are looking for a new model to be more and more closer to the target.

However, the budgetary relationship and the funding structure is totally different. In reality, the affiliations in The Amnesty model raise their funds and are economically independent. But the user groups (not the same case for chapters) still waiting for grants from the foundation and there is a bureaucratic procedure before taking the necessary budget (the grant) to make a project or a local initiative.

Sami Mlouhi (talk) 10:09, 23 January 2018 (UTC)

1. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:31, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your good question 3BRBS.

Maybe 83 seems a scary number when we talk about affiliations but there is not a fixed affiliation or a guarantee to be eternal as a Wikimedia representative since they have to renew regularly their agreement with the foundation. So the renewal depends on the activities and effort and we will talk about active affiliations only.

However with the financial challenge, we can put strategies like introducing a new inclusive model that groups several user groups and based for example on geographical position or languages with the respect of differences and mainly all minorities. (Wikimedia Francophone , Arabic Wikimedia...)

Also we should make affiliations more independent economically and they have to collect their own funds in addition to the foundation funds (maybe is not the case of chapters but for user group is a vital).

At the end, I wanna say that the growth of number is a good sign shown that Wikimedia is a mosaic and built from our differences.

Sami Mlouhi (talk) 12:07, 23 January 2018 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for your answer. I appreciate that you shared two different concrete approaches to adress this subject. Cheers!--3BRBS (talk) 18:45, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Wang Yi-Sheng (Aotfs2013)

I am Wang Yi-Sheng, a Taiwanese Wikipedian and an admin in Chinese Wikipedia. “Aotfs2013” is my Wikimedia username, and I have been an active Wikipedian since 2014. Over the past three years as Wikipedian, I have made approximately 14,000 edits in the Wikimedia projects.

In addition to the admin's work, I have been actively creating and amending the Wikipedia Policies and guidelines and updating any inaccurate articles in Chinese Wikipedia. Apart from being the major editor in the “Chinese version” of Wikipedia Administrators' newsletter, It is worth mentioning that I promote the establishment of a reward system Among volunteer editors in Wikipedia, the Wikipedia HONOR & AWARDS is my current focus project in Chinese Wikipedia.

Apart from being a Wikipedian, I have worked for a number of large organization, such experience develops my skills and broadens my knowledge. As a result, I considered myself competent in certain aspects, even compared to veterans.

Having varied working experience at local association made me proficient in many aspects, especially communication.

I worked as a consultant for “Taichung Public Transport Promotion Association” (TPTPA) a few years ago. As a consultant, my duty is to advise on proposing events of TPTPA and exchange ideas with colleges, communications between individuals is unavoidable. Thus, I had a deep understanding of message delivery and interpretation, and also a rich knowledge on the management of the non-government organization. Another thing which is worth mentioning is that the “National Academy for Educational Research” has approved my capability and has invited me to work there as a consultant since August 2017.

Apart from my profession in different large associations, I have also worked as a market manager in an information company "T.ONE". I took charge of the product packaging, marketing and the web page design of "T.ONE". During the years that I have been in the company, I acquired abundant financial knowledge and manpower management skills. With my ability and experience, I think my participation will definitely bring numerous benefits to the Affiliations Committee.

大家好，我來自台灣，我是一位以Aotfs2013為用戶名的維基人，一位中文維基百科的管理員。我自2014年起開始活躍於維基媒體運動，在這些年中，我在維基媒體的各項目中做出了大約14,000次的編輯。

在中文維基百科，除了管理員的工作，我也積極參與於修改與訂定方針與指引、創建並提升條目品質等工作。值得一提的是，我不但還是《維基百科政策公報》的主要編輯，我也是中文維基百科中維基榮譽與獎勵證書制度的主要推動者。

除了在維基百科的參與外，我也曾歷任多項重要職務，我認為我足以勝任維基地方自治體委員會的工作。

這些經驗包括：在民間協會擔任顧問，作為顧問我具備有良好的組織溝通能力；在企業擔任擔任行銷部門的主管，使我獲得了豐富的財務知識與人事管理實務經驗。值得一提的是，基於對我的認同，台灣政府部門也邀請我自八月起擔任顧問的職務。憑藉我的能力與經驗，我相信我的加入將能為自治體委員會帶來更豐富的價值。

How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think Affiliates are the essential components of the Wikipedia movement. Yet, affiliates lack collaborations between each other for quite a while. If I became a member of the committee, I would encourage the cross-border linkage between Affiliates, and Asia would act as the starting point. Regional programs with Affiliates would also be promoted. The regional programs will try to break the boundary of Wikipedia and the Internet and expand to our daily life. I think such a collaboration will grant Affiliates a significant improvement in the visibility and influence among countries.

我認為自治體是維基百科全球性運動的重要一環。在過去，各地的自治體缺乏合作。如果我成為委員會成員，我將透過我出身於亞洲的地緣背景，以亞洲作為出發地鼓勵各地自治體的跨國聯繫，與自治體共同推動以各區域為核心且不僅限於維基百科的區域計畫，這些計畫將不僅限於網路，而是能夠擴及到日常生活中。我認為我們將使自治體在各國的能見度與影響力獲得顯著的提升。

What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

In the next three years, I expect frequent interactions and collaborations between Affiliates through the promotion of the Wikipedia Committee. Resource-sharing would undoubtedly help the foundations of Affiliates around the world. There will be more cross-border and cross-regional interactions between Affiliates, which will greatly renovate the operation of Affiliates. Affiliates will eventually break the language barrier and borders, and become a "centrum of resources" one after another.

透過維基地方自治體委員會的鼓勵與資源挹注，在接下來的三年中，我認為我們將會看到自治體間更頻繁的互動與合作。透過資源的共享，更多國家將能夠在其他自治體的協助下扶植出屬於當地的自治體。我認為自治體將出現更多跨國與跨區域間的互動，大大地改變過去自治體單打獨鬥的情況。未來，自治體將打破語言與國家的隔閡，成為一座又一座的「資源中心」。

What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

First of all, I am eager to participate in the public affairs, which granted me experience in communicating with government departments. Besides, I have experience in marketing and finance that will enable me to assist Affiliates to take root around the world.

If I become a member of the Committee, I will strive to achieve our common goals in the region alongside with the committee. And during the tenure, I will endeavor to resolve any communication barriers by acting as a lubricant to smooth over value clashes and misinterpretations.

I believe that my skills and knowledge will make a significant contribution to the Wikimedia movement and may even bring a new perspective to the committee.

首先，我非常熱衷於對公眾事務的參與，這使我擁有與政府部門溝通的豐富經驗，除此之外，我還具備行銷與財務工作的實務經驗，這將使我更能夠協助地方自治體於世界各地紮根。

如果我成為委員會成員，我將會在委員會的支持下在區域間努力實現我們的共同目標，竭力化解溝通障礙，作為使者的角色串起自治體間的橋樑，並充當本地社群對外的潤滑劑。

藉由我的能力與經驗，我相信我將能夠給委員會帶來嶄新的思維，為維基媒體運動作出顯著的貢獻。

Wang Yi-Sheng
Dec 29, 2017

Endorsements

1.  Support Mahveotm (talk) 15:41, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
2.  Support Basically the same reason as last time, I think he has more experienced than other candidates. Subscriptshoe9 (talk) 10:25, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:21, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
2. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:31, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Maor Malul (Maor X)

You can call me Carlos, too :)

I joined the AffCom in 2013, when my life was undergoing quite a few changes -not simply moving to a new country (from Venezuela to Israel) but literally, starting a new life. The AffCom has been part of these changes for these past 4 years, and the committee itself has undergone quite a few changes in these years as well - since starting to recognize User Groups, to the large number of UGs we have today, to work with dedicated Wikimedia Staff support. 83 User Groups, 37 chapters and one Thematic Organization; those numbers may be easy to read, but they mean a lot -they mean how far our movement in the form of organized communities affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation is reaching. And that is great, but comes with many challenges.

The simplification of the User Group approval process has a lot of credit in this huge increase, but as many groups appear here and there, the potential for conlict arises. Why? well, we're human beings and we may have very different opinions on how to do things. And that's where the conflict may start. But we must strive to channel all the energies put in these emerging conflicts to creation and spread of knowledge, to create new projects, new alliances. I'm not going to say it is easy. I'm not going to say it is difficult, either. It is a challenge, albeit a very gratifying one. Working with such a diverse team at the Affiliations Committee has opened my mind and my vision of not just our movement, but the world itself.

Due to my background (being born and raised in Latin America, currently living in Israel) has permitted me to reach to more people and enrich our experiences, in many cases not needing to rely on a third language to communicate and that helps people to feel able to express their ideas more freely, as well as supporting the need for safe spaces, where no discrimination is allowed, under any circumstance.

I have been a wikimedian for almost 12 years, and can't be more proud of being part of this movement, the one that changed the way the world obtains knowledge, in so many languages, formats and devices. I am an admin in the Ladino Wikipedia, and used to be a test-admin in the Wikimedia Incubator, have completed one #100wikidays, one #100wikicommonsdays and I'm halfway on my second #100commondays -this time, focusing in living women from the Middle East, all in Ladino. My first #100wikidays was dedicated to jewish women, completing new articles in Ladino, English, Spanish and Portuguese -the languages I mostly contribute in, and the topic that I think requires most of our efforts, the gender gap across the different projects. I'm also a member of the Language Committee. I'm a member of Wikimedia Israel and a founding and former board member) of Wikimedia Venezuela, a chapter that has seen very difficult times due to the socio-economic collapse of the country; but despite of this, the chapter is growing -slowly, but it's growing. I have learnt from such a "special" situation that an affiliate requires passion, effort, a lot of dedication and especially, tons of persistence and a big deal of support from other affiliates, the WMF Staff and the AffCom.

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives? I think that one of the best tools we have, is to encourage the development of friendships between members of affiliates. Encounters do help, but working online together helps a great deal too. The personal relationships between members of Iberocoop has helped nurture a core of contributors from different affiliates to work together, establish new projects and especially, feel comfortable to express their ideas and convert them into vital pieces of projects.

2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years? Affiliates need to continue growing, not just in number but also in size -and whenever possible, the professionalization of the affiliate. This, and a healthy interaction between affiliates are crucial to guarantee the success of the 2030 movement strategy. And the AffCom can help ease that interaction, as well as the growth and how to handle it, especially the conflicts that may arise.

3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

1. I was born and raised in Latin America, and am familiar with the development of smaller, minority communities (I also speak a Native American language, Wayuunaiki, and an endangered language, Ladino, and contribute to both). I can communicate effectively in quite a few languages (es-n, en-4, pt-4, lad-4, de-3, he-3, guc-3, it-3, ar-2, fr-2). I live in the Middle East, and have worked with many wikimedians from the region in smaller projects.
2. I work in outbound tech support, so I have experience in reaching out to people, understanding their needs and how to help them the most effective way possible.
3. I have experience on setting up an affiliate (a founding member of Wikimedia Venezuela) and how to navigate through the bureaucracy and paperwork requireed, and also, I have worked at an Israeli NGO that strives for a more equal society, which that has helped me learn a lot about small NGOs, how they work, how to advocate at a local scale, interact with the local government and how to reach out to more people and increase the awareness and importance of what we are doing.
4. I am straightforward and like to go directly to the point; we just can't waste movement resources -regardless if they are human, monetary or logistic ones.
5. I have been a member of the AffCom and am familiar with the way it works and with what we can improve internally. And I just happen to be honored to work with such a group of talented, passionate wikimedians.

Endorsements

1.  Support Has previous experiences which I believe will be very beneficial to the committee.Rberchie (talk) 18:00, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
2.  Support--Jamie Tubers (talk) 23:30, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
3.  Support--Flixtey (talk) 13:31, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
4.  Support --Lilitik22 (talk) 18:04, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
5.  Support --ArmAg 21:08, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
6.  Support He has my complete support, because of his previous experiences and his involvement with the Wikimedia movement. We'll definitely need him! --Sannita - not just another it.wiki sysop 12:09, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
7.  Support —DerHexer (Talk) 14:06, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
8.  Support Superzerocool (talk) 13:37, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
9. Esteban (talk) 22:05, 5 January 2018 (UTC) as volunteer
10.  Support --Millars (talk) 22:54, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
11.  Support Laura Fiorucci (talk) 23:15, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
12.  Support He is a person who knows how to listen, thanks Mboix (talk) 08:02, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
13.  Support--Jaluj (talk) 19:40, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
14.  Oppose Sometimes last year, I asked your opinion on how to deal with something I considered as personal attack on my facebook timeline. I requested your opinion via facebook as you are on my friends list. It was not a formal report but you immediately took the matter to AffCom. To me that was an egregious poor judgement on your part as I didn't reported the matter to AffCom or asked you to contact AffCom on my behalf. This is not a behavior I want to see in a potential AffCom member and I am sorry that I am unable to support you at this time. Regards. Wikicology (talk) 22:13, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
15.  Support --Warko (talk) 15:27, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
16.  Support Of course. --Oscar_. (talk) · @ 03:58, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
17. Steun Having institutional memory can be incredibly valuable. Maor is one of the few remianing members that have served on the committee for a longer time - and I think one or two more years could be valuable to transfer that understanding, insight and knowledge to new members. Effeietsanders (talk) 23:45, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
18.  Support Carlos is an experimented wikimedian also AffComm member that have proven experience. My trust on his skills. --ProtoplasmaKid (WM-MX) (talk) 18:37, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
19.  Support Isha (talk) 14:45, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
20.  Support Not only an active and prolific member in our projects, Carlos has dedicated in the past years to support and empower our affiliates and communities. He has been a great representative in the AffCom, not only for the Latin American volunteers, but for our movement in general. --Osmar Valdebenito, B1mbo (talk) 15:00, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
21.  Support I believe Carlos has a lot of experience serving in the committee, which is very valuable. He also knows how to deal with complex situations, making him a strong candidate, also, as pointed above, he can transfer his experience to other members that are newer, creating continuity in the committe, if needed. 3BRBS (talk) 15:45, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. @Maor X: Thanks for your commitment and the time and effort you've invested over the past 5 years as a member of AffCom! What do you think AffCom has accomplished in this time and how do you see its future role in the community? You write that I [..] am familiar with the way it works and with what we can improve internally. Could you list a few examples of what needs to change and what's kept you from doing so up until now? Best, Braveheart (talk) 10:23, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

   Hello @Braveheart:, thanks for your question. I am very proud of what we have done so far -the network of affiliates is growing at a constant pace, and some User Groups are mature and robust enough to apply for chapterhood status -actually some of them are more robuts than some small chapters -and I think this is great. Of course, these three affiliation models were conceived at a very specific moment in time, and maybe it's time we review the current models and even add a new one. Now, once of the major challenges to the committee, in my opinion, is the rise of conflicts -between individuals in the same affiliate, between affiliates and when the personal issued between individuals end up dragging their affiliates to the conflict. The growth in the number of affiliates conversely adds to the risk of conflicts, and although it is not simple to prevent them from arising, the way we are dealing with those conflicts can be improved, but we need to re-define the conflict resolution strategies on one side and perhaps more importantly, define strategies to educate and value the importance of dialogue as a pre-emptive tool, as well as defining some sort of mechanism to encourage contributors to join existing affiliates with the same scope in the same geographic area, rather than creating their own -why? we are humans, it is easy to see competitors in what we do and not see them as allies, since we are all in the same boat, and also for strenghtening the safe space policy at Wikimedia events, but not just focusing on its implementation but educating people about its importance; for me, prevention should have a priority. I think we should work hand in hand with the WMF, the affiliates and the community as a whole to improve how we handle al sorts of conflicts in our movement. Why has this not happened? Coordinating such reforms with all stakeholders take time and despite we receive excellent support from the WMF Staff, dicussing and reaching consensus is time-consuming, and making everyone happy can be difficult. But I'm confident the AffCom can lead this and succeed, we have had an excellent chemistry working together, in a very diverse team composed of very committed wikimedians :) --Maor X (talk) 17:59, 6 January 2018 (UTC)

2. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:21, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your question, @John Cummings:, ad I think it is not just a good question, but one that we must make not just in the AffCom but also across the movement, perhaps via a RfC or something just to start with. We currently have three models of affiliation, but they do not adjust to every single group of wikimedians in their particular context -so I think it is time now to work on refreshing those models, and perhaps include another or even two new ones. Now, it's a bit difficult to compare the NGOs mentioned in your question since our movement is quite different but one thing that might be worth reviewing is the funding models; not just how they are doing it now, but also how we are doing it and if it's worth expanding the list of affiliates who can do it. I personally think such list can be expanded. Let's try to work on that, would you be willing to help? Maor X (talk) 19:19, 13 January 2018 (UTC) 19:07, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your answer, I'd be very willing to help with this. Thanks again, John Cummings (talk) 17:01, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

1. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:32, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Biplab Anand (Biplab Anand)

Hi there ! I'm Biplab Anand from both my name and Wikimedia Username, a decent multilingual Global rollbacker, Global sysop and also a Global renamer from Nepal. I've involved in Wikimedia projects since 2013 and have been actively involved in Maithili, Nepali and Hindi Wikipedia as well as other Asian language Wikipedias. I'm one of the founding member of Maithili Wikimedians User Group, also part of Wikimedians of Nepal & a major volunteer for the formation of Maithili Wikipedia. I have got the opportunities to meet the Wikip(m)edians from all around the globe at major wiki events such as Wikimania 2015, BN10, TTT 2015, WikiConference India 2016, WikiConference 2017, etc. Not only this, I've also been involved in all the major events, outreach, meetups of Wikimedia movement organized by MWUG & Wikimedia Nepal. All this & my Global Account Stats reflect my active dedication, better coordination & motivation, a bit experienced & skilled in the involvement with Wikimedia Projects. Moreover, I have also been involved in motivating & collaborating with indic language communities in the region to form their User Groups. In this way, my deep interest in Wikimedia Projects and my contribution in it excites me to be the part of Affiliations Committee. Thanks for your consideration.

* How do you think affiliates work best to together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
Affiliates have quite active wikip(m)edians as members from around the globe that's make it helpful for them to take effective decisions on recommendations. As a result of such committee with diverse experience also helping out all those enthusiastic Wikip(m)edians around the world.

* What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
As far as my views are concerned on affiliates role, I think affiliates will take major responsibilities towards the expansion of active user groups and chapters to all the regions where there is lack of Wikimedia movements and it's advantages to the community. Affiliates should also support existing user groups and chapters for their more effective and active involvements.

* What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
I am Nepal born with understanding of multiple languages and we have started our Maithili Wikimedians User Group and I am also one of the active Wikip(m)edian in my region and member of Wikimedians of Nepal User Group. In our region, there is not enough user groups and even chapter. So, if I get opportunity to be the member of affiliates committee my experience of Wikimedia movement in the region will help the committee to make better recommendations for the expansion user groups and chapter in this region as it really need.

Endorsements

1.  Support User is passionate and dedicated person, and working for betterment of Wikimedia movement in Nepal with very good technical and social skills. He is one the leaders of Wikimedians in Nepal. I support his nomination.--Nirajan pant (talk) 04:19, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
2.  Support Biplab has a good communication skill, technical skills. Always willing to learn and always share with community. -- Bijay Chaurasia (Talk) 05:44, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
3.  Support Biplab is very hard working and has good communication skills. He has a ability to bring and encourage people to join the community on Wiki movements. I know Biplab Anand personally and support his nomination. --Janak Bhatta (talk) 06:04, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
4.  Support Biplab is one of the prominent member of the Wikipedia community in Nepal. He is very supportive and helpful too. I strongly support his nomination and belive that he deserves to be the Affcom member.-- Pankaj Deo (Talk) 10:06, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
5.  Support I know him from his first edit in wikipedia. He has proved to be a change driving contributor in Nepali and Maithali language. His aspirations and the ability to generate energy and new ideas can help the entire community being an Affcom member. -Krish Dulal (talk) 12:53, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
6.  Support I also know Biplab from his first edit in wikipedia. He is a very active contributor in Nepali wikipedia and a key person of Maithali Wikipedia and also actively involved in Wikimedia Movement. As I know him personally, he deserves to be the Affcom member.- Nirmal Dulal (talk) 17:31, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
7.  Support Biplab Anand is very hard working and has good communication skills. His ability to bring and encourage people to join the community shows how much he loves what he does. His contribution toward Wikimedia projects make me support his nomination. I know him personally, and can confirm his dedication, therefore I support his application. Zeetendra ^») 10:04, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
8.  Support Very active and passionate Wikipedian --Kritzolina (talk) 17:35, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
9.  Support--Jamie Tubers (talk) 23:30, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
10.  Support Perfect User.--आर्यावर्त (talk) 16:54, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
11.  Support--Flixtey (talk) 13:26, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
12.  Support-- Bodhisattwa (talk) 15:21, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
13.  Support--Atudu (talk) 03:23, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
14.  Support--R.P.Joshi talk 04:49, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
15.  Support Passionate and committed. --Filipinayzd (talk) 16:10, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
16.  Support Perfect User --Raju Jangid (talk) 16:31, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
17.  Support - Excellent candidate and experienced.CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 18:21, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
18.  Support- A pivotal user in Nepali, Maithili,Bhojpuri and Hindi language wikipedias who also contributed to release Doteli Wikipedia. Highly motivated and inspirational due to his tireless contributions and leadership skills. He'll be a great Affcom member. --सरोज कुमार ढकाल (talk) 17:16, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
19.  Support Active and passionate Wikipedian -Hasive • talk • 12:06, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
20.  Support Biplab is a very active and passionate Wikipedian, His experiences in working with multi-lingual communities and leadership quality will be an asset to the Affiliations Committeee. --Sailesh Patnaik 15:28, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
21.  Support--Very active contributor. DARIO SEVERI (talk) 13:09, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
22.  Support Happy see an Indian on cards. Moreover, Bilap has an excellent record of both (online and offline) contributions to the movement. Regards, Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (talk — mail) 05:16, 12 January 2018 (UTC)
23.  Support--Saroj Uprety (talk) 09:03, 12 January 2018 (UTC)
24.  Support This User has good manner. And I will see him Affiliations Committee's Member. Thanks--Jayprakash >>> Talk 07:56, 13 January 2018 (UTC)
25.  Support Biplab is a committed wikimedian and an important element of Wikimedia movement in Nepal. My trust on his work in AffCom.--ProtoplasmaKid (WM-MX) (talk) 18:35, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
26.  Support --Osmar Valdebenito, B1mbo (talk) 15:00, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
27. Support - IMHO, Deserving Candidate. — TBhagat (talk) 12:33, 23 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:21, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
2. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:33, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Abel Lifaefi Mbula (BamLifa)

1. Full name: Abel Lifaefi Mbula and Wikimedia username: BamLifa.
2. I've joined the movement in march 2015. Since then I spend a lot of time trying to understand (and or discover?) the in and out of the major projects of the WMF and organizing meets up in order to create an official Wikimedia DRCongo User Group. I am one of organizer of WikiConv Francophone. Living in a country with low Internet connectivity (there are only 2% of the population who can access Internet), I have the experience of gathering people, and discuss about Wikipedia. What I learned from this experience is that I have the ability to motivate a group in any given region to discuss a topic and get it started. In addition to that skill, I have a great experience in project managements and communication. I speak both English and French in a professional level, and Lingala, Swahili and Italian in a basic level.
3. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Wikimedia is an open and transparency organization. Everything is discussed by the community. After the community has discussed which projects need more attention (i.e projects or initiatives to be developed by WMF) the AffCom has to assign tasks to each affiliate regarding to its relevant experience in order to get a good result in record time. This example can help you well understand what I'm saying: the community votes for 15 projects to be developed in the coming months or years. The next step is to prioritize tasks and identify skills within affiliates. Let assume that there are 45 members. So, 3 affiliates can work on 1 project. Doing this will foster diversity in all projects.

1. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

Bring more affiliates especially from Africa and Asia. To do that, the AffCom must identify great contributor(s) in each region and motivate him (them) and facilitate him (them) creating a Wikimedia affiliate group.

1. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

Three skills make me a unique applicant: cultural diversity, experience working with groups in difficult conditioned areas, 3-4 lingual speaker.

Endorsements

1. Mahveotm

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:22, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
2. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:33, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Emna Mizouni (Emnamizouni)

‘Asslema (Hello) ! I am Emna Mizouni, User Emnamizouni, a proud member of Wikimedia TN User Group since its creation. I’ve joined the Wikimedia movement in 2013 during the Wiki Loves Monuments photo contest (in which Wikimedia TN UG started its partnership with Carthagina and CLibre). Within my affiliate and as Head of Carthagina organisation, I was part of the organising team of several contests and workshops (Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiki Loves Africa, Wikip(m)edia workshops...). I also was honoured to join the amazing team that hosted the first ever regional conference for the Arab Wikimedians WikiArabia 2015 in Monastir, Tunisia. Happily, I got the chance to be of help to the Egyptian Wikimedians this year when they hosted the third Arabic meet-up WikiArabia Cairo, collaborating with the organisers the media and social media coverage. Relying on my work expertise, I contributed previously with managing the Arabic Wikipedia Twitter account. Now, in addition of being the WTNUG spokesperson and one of its GLAM coordinators, I’m part of the Social Media team too. As Carthagina’s Lead and Wikimedia’s member, I’m supervising a very interesting project MedinaPedia that started couple of years ago in Tunis (documenting monuments of the Medina of Tunis on Wikipedia and Wikimedia commons), now it's expanding to other cities (Sfax for example) and potentially (under discussion) other Arab cities. As part of the global community and a proud African, I’m so happy to be part of the organising team of the upcoming Wiki Indaba Tunis 2018 and one of the three program co-chairs for Wikimania Cape Town 2018.

I’ve been part of the AffCom for two years now and I’m running again for this term! If you ask "Why?" The answer is simple; I’m excited about being part of the committee that works with all the affiliates who are spending lots of efforts and doing an amazing job for the world’s leading movement for Open Knowledge. I really enjoy being of help to the other members of the global community and especially collaborating with them to be compliant to do efficiently their duties.

How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives? Affiliates could come together and partner through their members when they get together in the different Wikimedia occasions and spot the common points and grab those opportunities. Easy to say, but in reality and through the work I’ve been part of in the Tunisian Affiliate; partnership is key of success between the Wikimedia community in Tunisia and its partners (Carthagina and CLibre). On a wider level, to celebrate the Arabic Wikipedia Day, this year, Wikimedia Levant coordinated with Women in Red and Wikimedia DC and with the Wikimedia TN User Group, we had a guest from WikiMujeres (a collaboration that was suggested during WikiWomen Camp). These aren’t the only example, but Transparency and ethics and of course following the established policies help in shaping effectively joint projects and initiatives.

What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years? Affiliates have a key role in the movement, they are leading the local and regional communities and this shapes the movement’s impact globally. Currently, we are witnessing a thrive to structure the emerging communities (the African community is one of the examples). Local members within the affiliates are more and more committed showing a strong source of proposal for the future of the movement (the outputs of the strategy tracks are a living proof).

What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate? I am part of an affiliate as well as other groups that gathers people with (very) different backgrounds and successful projects and initiatives. I am also part of the emerging communities (Arabic and Indaba communities), I know the struggles they go through and could easily understand the needs in case of any challenges. Other than my commitment within the Wikimedia movement, I am part of other organisations and entities either as a Leader, member or a volunteer, so this enriched my way of managing tasks and duties, understanding legal framework (especially with running an organisation), negotiating and concluding (partnerships for example), advocating for change,... In addition to, the fluency in the languages I speak (native Arabic speaker, English, French, and basic level in Spanish and other languages), the different communities I am part of and my communications skills, I am used to conflict resolutions and mediation by theory (through studies and trainings) and by practice in several cases either within the movement or in other occasions where my expertise was needed. I am a sociable person, I don’t hesitate to reach out to other people even if I don’t know them to work with them, ask for help, etc...

Last but not least, I’m familiar with the AffCom work; I joined in Jan 2016, spent the first year in getting to know the system and familiarising myself with the different tasks. Now I’m used to the team and willing to allocate time and help the AffCom members in their mission within the Wikimedia ecosystem. Thankyou !

Endorsements

1.  Support --Kritzolina (talk) 17:36, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
2.  Support--Jamie Tubers (talk) 23:30, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
3.  Support--Ki7sun3 (talk) 13:41, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
4.  Support Multichill (talk) 21:02, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
5.  Support--Jaluj (talk) 03:28, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
6.  Support Ravan (talk) 08:06, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
7.  Support --Flixtey (talk) 13:30, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
8.  Support --Margott (talk) 14:10, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
9.  Support Emna has a previous experience as a AffCom member. She is a trusted wikimedian and doing a great job in many organizations. Dyolf77 (talk) 14:16, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
10.  Support --PierreSelim (talk) 17:24, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
11.  Support —DerHexer (Talk) 14:07, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
12.  Support -Hasive • talk • 12:06, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
13.  Support a woman with criteria and commitment. The wikimedia community needs it. Mboix (talk) 08:05, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
14.  Support --Imoisset (talk) 14:18, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
15.  Support Blossom Ozurumba ^Talk 18:01, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
16.  Support --Warko (talk) 17:13, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
17. Steun - In my experience, Emna brings a valuable perspective, and has experience in volunteer organizations beyond Wikimedia. Effeietsanders (talk) 23:42, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
18.  Support --Artix Kreiger (Message Wall) 12:21, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
19.  Support In addition to his great skills as Wikimedian and Wikipedian, Emna have an authentic and marvelous sense of build communities. I can not fail to mention also her excellent way of being, and its authentic commitment to reduce the gender gap. --ProtoplasmaKid (WM-MX) (talk) 18:39, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
20.  Support --Osmar Valdebenito, B1mbo (talk) 15:00, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:22, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

 Dear John, thanks for spotting this important point. Personally, I believe that the Wikimedia movement has to be aligned and in constant contact with other movements, foundations and organisations that share similar missions and values. As part of my commitment in the movement, I suggested in several occasions that we partner with them (for example, in WikiArabia 2017, I suggested that we include Global Voices Lingua and thankfully the organisers responded yes). Their affiliates model as well could be an inspiration, so keeping contact and learning from their experiences is definitely an addition to our movement. 

1. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:34, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

 I understand your concerns about the financial challenges that we may face as you see only the growing number, but I assure you that it is a good sign that our movement is still growing and serving its great mission. As you might be aware of some of the affiliates don't rely only on the WMF funds only, they are becoming more and more established and seek their own funds and build prosperous partnerships. As for the AffCom, we have to divide our work into categories to respond accordingly to the different types and status of the movement's affiliates. I hope this gives you an idea of the opportunity I see in the increase of affiliates. Best :)

Thanks for your reply. I read your response, and I wanted to say that, I do not think that in the present moment, the capability of some affiliates to finance themselves, balances the growth of affiliates on the other hand, if I understood correctly. Also, I think growth is an opportunity, as many other things, when its analyzed, understood, and then actions are taken that relate to this understanding, throughout conscious decisions based on the state of things (even if mistakes are done in the way). If I can make an analogy, plants that grow, can become a forest that eats a city, or also a beautiful garden, therefore, I fail to see the concrete idea behind the opportunity that you mention. Cheers! 3BRBS (talk) 01:40, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

Andrea Patricia Kleiman (Jaluj)

I am a licensed clinical psychologist with 30 years of experience in counseling, teaching and guidance inside an interdisciplinary team work. My educational background includes a Master'sDegree in Art, a Master'sDegree in Psychology and I am currently in my Neuroscience Ph.D I worked 20 years at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and I am currently conducting a research at a hospital. I lived in four different countries (Argentina, Uruguay, Italy and Israel) and I’ve been traveling all around the world (I know 30 countries) because I love to meet people from different cultures. My native language is Spanish but I am fluent in English, French, Italian and I perfectly understand Portugues. I used to speak Hebrew but I can not read it. I am a passionate wikipedian and wikimedian and I have a clear commitment to the movement. I have participated in many Wikimanias and international conferences such as Wikiwomen camp (Mexico City and Buenos Aires), Wikidiversity Conference (Stockolm) and Iberoconf.

How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I believe that affiliates work best together when they know each other. Communication is the key to working through challenging situations. In a collaborative environment, each user’s past experience, work style, cultural values, expectations, and self-interest will surface and impact the ability of the group to effectively work together. We need to establish priorities and fulfill them, statments are useless if they are not acomplished. We need to start prioritizing and it is very important to be realistic when developing a collaborative work plan. Making a decision at the top of the organization it is useless if the affiliates dont share it. There are many more chances of meeting the objectives and expectations when affiliates share the decision-making.

What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

I think it is important to have a more fluid relationship between wikimedians and wikipedia editors and that user groups should reflect the diversity of opinions and views of our active editors and users. We need direct communication channels and we need to encourage the movement to own the issues more collectively. We should represent the movement's diversity and include more sensitive and diverse people, and help them to grow into leaders.

What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

I am a Board Member of Wikimedia Argentina for the second time, a founder member of Wikimedia Uruguay and a very committed member of Wikimedia Spain. I am involved in the Iberocoop regional cooperation network. I know pretty well wikimedians from all LatinAmerica’s countries, Spain (WMSpain, Wikimujeres, Basque Wikimedians User Group and Amical) and Italy (WMItaly and WikiDonne). I know many wikimedians from other countries from around the world because I’ve been in many international meetings and I work online with many of them. I’ve been engaged with the Community Health and Harrasment Working Group and I am a member of the Wikimedia Diversity Group. I work with patients teaching them how to edit in our projects because I believe that diversity and the inclusion of people from very different backgrounds will be what saves the wikimedia movement. I am committed engaging women to narrow the gender gap in Wikipedia. I am engage in WikiWomen's Collaborative, co-founder of Interwiki Women Collaboration and I am the founder of Muj(lh)eres latinoamericanas en Wikimedia. I organice editathons and talks in universities about Wikipedia all around. I am also very active online in projects related with diversity. I am the founder of Wikiproyecto Mujeres, Mujeres en la Arquitectura, Proyecto mujeres árabes y latinoamericanas and Mujeres africanas in Wikipedia in Spanish. With moreless 48000 editions, I am a sysop in Wikiquote. I feel that I have excellent public speaking and communication skills. I am very good with interpersonal relationship building and I feel very comfortable working with collaborative groups. Part of my job as a counselor is to resolve conflicts between people (I work with groups and couples), I am very good at listening and mediating. I am always willing to engage with everything that helps to recruite more diverse people to our movement. I am committed to learn and grow facing every new challenge and any new role which I would like to do. I’m very keen to join the committee, as a woman and as a Latin American, I believe that I can contribute not only with my experience and expertise but with my vision of the world.

Endorsements

1.  Support Active, passionate, friendly Wikipedian! --Kritzolina (talk) 17:37, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
2.  Support Ravan (talk) 08:07, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
3.  Support One of the most experienced and passionate Wikimedians I have ever known. With her knowledge about Wikimedia both in the online and offline world, I trust that User: Jaluj will bring diverse perspectives to the AffCom table. --Netha Hussain (talk) 08:11, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
4.  Support Very passionate and trustworthy Wikimedian. ;) --Vanbasten 23 (talk) 08:35, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
5.  Support Soy el usuario AnselmiJuan, y conozco a la candidata Andrea Patricia Kleiman (usaria Jaluj), porque en general he seguido las actividades de Wikimedia Argentina, donde dicha wikipedista ha desarrollado distintas actividades, y entre ellas, ha participado en los vídeos promocionales confeccionados por WM-AR. Pero además, la usuaria Jaluj también ha venido a Uruguay un par de veces en los últimos dos años para participar en actividades de WM-UY en Montevideo y La Paloma, oportunidad en la que la he conocido personalmente. -- AnselmiJuan (discusión) 09:15, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
6.  Support I know her work and her commitment in the wikimedia movement and the projects. Convinced that she will be able to make a good contribution to the AffCom. --Mboix (talk) 09:29, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
7.  Support She's one of the most active wikimedians I've ever met. I admire her proactivity and work to improve diversity on different Wikimedia projects. Gini10 (talk) 10:26, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
8.  SupportI support the candidacy of Jaluj for considering her very suitable for the position. --Fedaro (talk) 11:54, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
9.  Support Very active, committed and enthusiastic wikimedian, with a strong and solid compromise in reducing the gender gap.--Fixertool (talk) 12:57, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
10.  Support --Margott (talk) 14:11, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
11.  Support Would be a great asset. Blmurch (talk) 15:57, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
12.  Support A very active Wikimedian that intensely collaborates in reducing the gender gap on Wikipedia and other projects.--Señoritaleona (talk) 17:22, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
13.  Support Great commitment and enthusiasm in the different Wikimedia projects. --Rodelar (talk) 18:51, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
14.  Support active wiki woman--ArmAg 21:04, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
15.  Support Really cares for people, proven by her latest work with special people. --   ManosHacker ^talk 22:08, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
16.  Support Very committed person, and experienced Wikimedian, Jmvkrecords ⚜ (Intra talk) 07:44, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
17.  Support A very proactive and supportive community member. --Pepe piton (talk) 14:26, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
18.  Support Entusiasta, no da problemas... --Roberto Fiadone (talk) 14:44, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
19.  Support -- Sailesh Patnaik 14:47, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
20.  Support Santga (talk) 14:50, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
21.  Support Lourdes Cardenal (talk) 15:16, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
22.  Support She would be a great asset to the community with her understanding of inclusion and people. -Chinmayisk (talk) 17:53, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
23.  Support Wonderful! Yeza (talk) 14:03, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
24.  Support She is an active, committed and experienced Wikimedian. Alpinu (talk) 20:31, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
25.  Support Una usuaria muy comprometida con la Fundación Wikimedia, a quien además conozco personalmente como una excelente persona. --Marcelo (talk) 23:06, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
26.  Support Soy una usuaria de Perú, contacté a Jaluj a raiz de mi involucramiento con la campaña Arte+Feminismo. Puedo dar fe de su compromiso con la reducción de la brecha de género en Wikipedia. --Yhhue91 (talk) 02:59, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
27.  Support Soy una usuaria de España, conozco Jaluj por haber coincidido en diferentes reuniones. Es una usuaria muy activa en la reducción de la brecha de género y excelente editora. Tiputini (talk) 11:47, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
28.  Support She has my complete trust, she's a passionate and supportive Wikimedian with a thorough background. Definitely a good choice. --Sannita - not just another it.wiki sysop 12:08, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
29.  Support Rodrigo Padula (talk) 13:31, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
30.  Support Met Andrea as a flatmate at Wikimania 2016, she's passionate and diligent at everything she does. I especially appreciate her like-mindedness when it comes to supporting disadvantaged citizens and encouraging them to join the Wikimedia movement. Definitely an asset for the Affiliations Committee!--Saintfevrier (talk) 21:17, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
31.  Support Esteban (talk) 22:04, 5 January 2018 (UTC) as volunteer
32.  Support Una entusiasta wikipedista y una persona comprometida. Butoro (talk) 23:08, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
33.  Support Me parece una usuaria comprometida y trabajadora --Miacara76 (talk) 00:10, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
34.  Support Un aporte positivo y mi respaldo total. Very proactive! --Taichi - (あ！) 03:54, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
35.  Support En los últimos años he compartido numerosas actividades con Andrea como compañeros en Wikimedia Argentina (en algunos casos organizadas por ella misma). Tengo una gran admiración por el fuerte compromiso y la dedicación y pasión que tiene Andrea hacia con el movimiento. Estoy convencido de que sería una muy positiva incorporación al AffCom.--Lcsrns (Talk) 04:07, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
36.  Support — Cethos (discusión) 04:23, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
37. Support --Cocolacoste (talk) 05:12, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
38.  Support Su compromiso, entusiasmo, capacidad de trabajo y liderazgo sumarán más aportes al movimiento desde el AffCom. --Imoisset (talk) 11:13, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
39.  Support Conozco a Andrea hace unos años en línea y en la vida real y he visto su constancia al impulsar proyectos coordinados,creo que sería un aporte positivo al AffCom. --Caleidoscopic (talk) 19:05, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
40.  Support —DerHexer (Talk) 14:07, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
41.  Support "Flomarciani (talk) 15:44, 7 January 2018 (UTC)"
42.  Support She's a very committed user. --Góngora _(T•ES) 17:15, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
43.  Support an active candidate in the Wikimedia space -------- Mompati Dikunwane
44.  Support19Tarrestnom6506:58, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
45.  Support Sin duda hará un buen trabajo. --Vsuarezp (talk) 09:15, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
46.  Support I know her since several years, thanks to collaborations on Wikimedia projects, Wikimedia Spain and Iberocoop, and we met in several conferences. I know that she works a lot and well, and I'm confident that she will do a good work. --Millars (talk) 13:31, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
47.  Support-Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:19, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
48.  Support Laura Fiorucci (talk) 23:09, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
49.  Support Blossom Ozurumba ^Talk 18:01, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
50.  Support -- NaBUru38 (talk) 17:34, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
51.  Support per Saintfevrier above. Wikicology (talk) 05:55, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
52.  Support -- Adolfobrigido (talk) 11:04, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
53.  Support I am sure that she will do a good work, she has shown its compromise in the progress of the projects; it's work in the different Wikimedia projects and chapters guarantee it. Besides, I met in the last Wikimania (Montreal) and I verified everything in person. Ivanhercaz | User talk 03:14, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
54.  Support Of course. --Oscar_. (talk) · @ 03:58, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
55.  Support as per first comment. Active, passionate, and friendly. I met her in person, in Stockholm. Good luck! Rehman 09:52, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
56.  Support B25es (talk) 17:24, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
57.  Support --Metrónomo-Goldwyn-Mayer 21:41, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
58.  Support -- - I have met Andrea in the diversity conference. She is very committed and friendly. Moreover, she has an international profile, and will certainly be of good use in the committee. Good luck with the application. Anass from Morocco. Anass Sedrati (talk) 22:18, 14 January 2018 (UTC).
59.  Support Full comitted with the project and its growth and development.--Antur (talk) 14:34, 17 January 2018 (UTC)
60.  Support -- Freddy2001 ^talk 07:35, 18 January 2018 (UTC)
61.  Support: Jaluj is a dedicated Wikimedian who I have met in person at several Wikimedia events. I am confident that AffCom in general and Wikimedia's diversity initiatives in particular would benefit from her presence in the committee. -- Rohini (talk) 11:36, 22 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:22, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
2. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:34, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Stuart Prior (Battleofalma)

Hi, I’m Stuart Prior, I am currently a Programme Coordinator at Wikimedia UK, and my professional background is in project management, event management and financial services.

My main goals are to join the committee to:

• Move it to an appointed/elected model. I would aim to add capacity and drive to the committee to research and implement a more transparent process more similar to the models used by the boards of Wikimedia affiliates or other NGOs in general.

• To help harmonise the committee's rules with other groups such as the FDC.

• To investigate how AffCom can add capacity for movement governance to support the work of an already stretched Funds Dissemination Committee.

More generally, I would push for diversity, accountability and equity within and between movement affiliates, as well as for AffCom to provide more continuous support for affiliates as they grow.

Naturally I would recuse myself from any deliberations relating to UK-based affiliates.

Questions & Answers

How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Good communication, well established relationships, boundaries and an understanding of the individual goals as well as the joint goals.

What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

Similar to that of their role over the last three years. Successful affiliates act as a bridge between institutions, other communities and the Wikimedia community. And an established affiliate with good processes, reputation and management can build long term, stable relationships with organisations who then become part of our movement, such as librarians, curators and other cultural professionals.The work of Amical in getting Wikipedia integrated into libraries is a great example, or Wikimedia Argentina’s work in education. But there’s more than just the delivery of projects, in that Wikimedia affiliates are also responsible for a collective peer-led governance of the movement, encouraging best practice, and ensuring that the reputation of Wikimedia is a good one. This is why I think AffCom is important, and this is why I want it to have a stronger democratic mandate.

What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

Rather admirably, the committee’s done such a good job of encouraging representation from our emerging communities that it currently lacks a significant European perspective (1 member of 11), which holds many of the affiliates and largest communities and I’d hope to give a bit more voice to this part of the world.

That and my experience at an affiliate that had a significant governance issue in 2012, that has shaped the organisation’s approach to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. It taught me a lot about mistakes that can be made when establishing an affiliate, and how those can escalate if not addressed. Additionally, WMUK has faced some potential diplomatic challenges with other usergroups and communities in the same group of islands and avoided any disputes.

In my work I have supported the establishment of Wikimedia Community Ireland and built a good relationship and regular communication around our work, and I aim to ensure WMUK support without being overbearing as they grow. We are a London-based affiliate for practical reasons, but we are emphatically not an English organisation. We are heavily present in Welsh and Scottish GLAMs but we are always mindful of the fact that projects must be led from Wales or Scotland, by the Scots and the Welsh, and have recently won funding to directly support even more Scottish projects with a staff member in Scotland.

Thanks Battleofalma (talk) 19:03, 31 December 2017 (UTC)

Endorsements

1. Adorabutton (talk) 19:14, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
2. Wikicology (talk) 21:48, 31 December 2017 (UTC)
3.  Support --Ki7sun3 (talk) 13:37, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
4.  Support —Siebrand (talk) 13:41, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
5.  Support Stuart has been an invaluable ally as Wikimedia Community Ireland has grown. He has given me his time and expertise on a number of occasions, giving me advice on our work. In relation to our growth within the wider Wikimedia community, he has ensured that we have had a voice at a number of key larger conversations. He is always keenly aware that the experience of larger affiliates and chapters should not dictate the development of smaller groups. Smirkybec (talk) 15:44, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
6.  Support AffCom is in dire need of reform, and Stuart is well placed to push such necessary reform forward. Wittylama (talk) 19:20, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
7.  Support Multichill (talk) 21:04, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
8.  Support --Flixtey (talk) 13:32, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
9.  Support --Margott (talk) 14:11, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
10.  Support Stuart knows a huge number of people within the affiliates because of his work at Wikimedia UK and as a volunteer, whenever I don't know who to talk to about something I ask Stuart who the right person is. He would be a very valuable addition to the committee. John Cummings (talk) 14:18, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
11.  Support Stuart has been an invaluable ally to the Art+Feminism team. He has given us so much advice on outreach and engagement worldwide and has always been supportive of us. --Siankevans (talk) 14:27, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
12.  Support I totally support the vision of Stuart on the AffCom! --PierreSelim (talk) 17:26, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
13.  Support --Tóraí (talk) 23:22, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
14.  Support -- failed projects 00:52, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
15.  Support -- Sailesh Patnaik 14:46, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
16.  Support Philip Kopetzky (talk) 14:59, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
17.  Support --Theredproject (talk) 22:02, 4 January 2018 (UTC)
18.  Support --Jamie Tubers (talk) 01:51, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
19.  Support And that's another column of the Wikimedia community I support with all my heart. --Sannita - not just another it.wiki sysop 12:10, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
20.  Support Rodrigo Padula (talk) 13:29, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
21.  Support - I think Stuart Prior is a great candidate for Affiliations Committee. He contributions indicate that he has no problem performing repetative tasks and he will only do good with the extra tools.CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 18:31, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
22.  Support —DerHexer (Talk) 14:07, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
23.  Support AugusteBlanqui (talk) 11:17, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
24.  Support -Hasive • talk • 12:02, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
25.  Support As a member of Wikimedia Community Ireland, I endorse the comments of Smirkybec above. Sharonlflynn (talk) 15:18, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
26.  Support Mahveotm (talk) 15:44, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
27.  Support, wholeheartedly. I've worked with Stuart a few times, and have found him to be an great asset to the movement. --Deskana (talk) 13:29, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
28.  Support. Well experienced. All the best! Rehman 09:53, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
29.  Support I completely support Stuart's aims for the committee. Moreover, his work with Wikimedia UK and supporting other affiliates gives him experience which the committee could no doubt make good use of. Richard Nevell (talk) 21:28, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
30. Steun I'm not entirely certain that I agree with Stuart's estimate of the primary challenges. However, based on my interactions with him around Wikimania, I do trust that when presented with the challenges AffCom has been facing for years, Stuart will be able to suggest improvements in workflow and focus. Effeietsanders (talk) 23:42, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
31.  Support I support Stuart's priorities. Stuart could be a driving force to move the committee forward. In my opinion, the committee has – within the (organizational) Wikimedia movement – a lot of potential, which it doesn't fully tap into. Also, the committee's input for 2nd phase of the Movement Strategy process would be crucial, where it could bring in its expertise, experience and wisdom, and I hope with him the committee could have a strong voice within this process. I think, Stuart would be a great addition to this committee and I'm glad that he's running again. --Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE) (talk) 10:02, 12 January 2018 (UTC)
32.  Support --Gnom (talk) Let's make Wikipedia green! 19:44, 12 January 2018 (UTC)
33.  Support --Artix Kreiger (Message Wall) 12:21, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
34.  Support --Osmar Valdebenito, B1mbo (talk) 15:00, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
35.  Support I stand by my endorsement of last round, and strongly believe Stuart would be an asset to AffCom, and that as part of the committee he can be a great positive force for the movement. Jean-Fred (talk) 21:52, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations? Thanks, John Cummings (talk) 12:23, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

• It's a good question, and I think it's worth researching. However, my understanding of some of those models mentioned is that the funding structure is very different from ours, and that ultimately funding methods tend to drive structure.

For example, Amnesty International raise money locally, then redistribute globally, and the affiliates fund the International Secretariat. Which would be like fundraising being devolved and then part of those funds being used to fund WMF, as opposed to WMF doing the bulk of the fundraising and then making grants.

The others mentioned seems to have slightly "lighter" models or they piggyback off existing organisations: Something that can ensure that there are existing governance track records and professionals to support a cause.

Hard to be comprehensive here, but I think it's definitely worth talking to other NGOs about their structures and the advantages/disadvantages. Battleofalma (talk) 17:12, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

• • Thanks vey much Battleofalma. John Cummings (talk) 15:13, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

1. At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? 3BRBS (talk) 16:34, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks @3BRBS:, scalability is something that needs to be addressed, and while I think affiliates are important and should continue to be created there needs to be a clear strategy behind their creation, their collective management, and an understanding of the costs and implications in the years to come.

So my early work with Wikimedia was helping run Wikimania 2014, and it made me very conscious of what small changes can make in terms of total costs. What is the cost to the movement of creating a usergroup? Not a great deal individually, but the longer term effect of the doubling of the number of usergroups has been to increase the cost of the Wikimedia Conference by it requiring a larger venue and also requiring more scholarships for usergroup representatives at c€3000 per usergroup. With 83 Usergroups now, you can see the potential annual cost implications.

Now, that's not to say that this is a waste. I believe wholeheartedly that face to face interactions at events like Wikimedia Conference are very important, but it is an example of a financial cost to the movement and something we should be conscious of.

Another thing is has been a small trend of the same individuals attending consecutive years but representing different usergroups, and that doesn't feel like the optimal result if the aim of usergroups is to engage a wider group of different people.
Are we just creating more organisations without expanding a community to fill them?
If individuals in the community crowd-out other volunteers by taking multiple official roles, then we are denying new people opportunities to get more involved, so the creation of new organisations should drive new people joining the community, not just the creation of "hats".

My second point is about management. How can we encourage organic growth while also having a clear strategy that encourages efficiency?
Could any affiliates present in the same region or duplicating work consolidate?
Should some usergroups or thematic organisations be chapters and should some chapters be usergroups? (some chapters that are not very active retain influence via their chapter's vote for the WMF board while some more active usergroups do not have this vote)
Could an existing regional group of Wikimedia affiliates such as in Latin America have more of a collective say in shaping their regional affiliate structure?

I don't have all the answers for the above, but I think these are definitely questions that AffCom should be discussing and if appointed, I would hope to drive that discussion. Battleofalma (talk) 14:16, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your reply. After reading your response, I think it would be nice to know, if you have any concrete ideas/proposals that might address the -interesting- points and questions you raised, since I understand that you agree with the fact that this is an issue that at least deserves to be talked about. Cheers! 3BRBS (talk) 01:31, 19 January 2018 (UTC)