DCW/LDSI/Chapter 1

Wikimedia, a globally recognized movement, is supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, which provides it with infrastructures such as Wikipedia and also allocates resources to advance the movement on a global scale. International communities collaborate and unite in their dedication to the cause of Free Knowledge. A vast network of Wikimedia organisations shares a collective mission: to empower people worldwide with unrestricted access to the sum of all human knowledge. Together, they navigate uncharted territory, confronting challenges that shape society and foster global transformation. With such trailblazing ideas the entities within the movement—including Wikimedia Foundation, affiliates, and other organisations—have made significant contributions to advocacy, leadership, and skills infrastructure through their initiatives. These endevours typically align with the larger Wikimedia Movement Strategy Initiatives further enriching the collective effort.

Wikimedia Vision 2030

Vision 2030 in the movement refers to a set of ten recommendations consisting of 47 initiatives and goals that the movement aims to achieve by 2030. The recommendations include:

• Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement
• Improve User Experience
• Provide Safety and Inclusion
• Ensure Equity in Decision-Making
• Coordinate Across Stakeholders
• Invest in Skills and Leadership Development
• Manage Internal Knowledge
• Identify Topics for Impact
• Innovate in Free Knowledge
• Evaluate, Iterate, and Adapt

These recommendations are part of a strategic direction which was created to guide the movement’s future by 2030. Each recommendation has a specific direction and is grouped with several initiatives.

Current scenario of leadership in Wikimedia movement

Leadership within Wikimedia is distinctive for its decentralized and organic nature, lacking traditional organizational structures. Previous efforts to define and enhance this leadership have been limited. The Leadership Development Working Group (LDWG) undertook the task of documenting a generalized pattern of leadership within the movement, recognizing its varied manifestations across different cultural, linguistic, and organizational contexts within Wikimedia. The LDWG's work aimed to provide a foundation for local groups and projects to further develop and refine Wikimedia leadership according to their specific needs and circumstances.

We conducted a survey to understand the needs and requirements of Wikimedians with respect to leadership and skills infrastructure within the movement. We received responses from 71 Wikimedians on our online survey. Most of the responses came from editors who were associated with user-groups, and a few associated with chapters. We observed 39.4% to have an experience of more than five years, and that the primary project on which they edited was Wikipedia, followed by Commons, and then by Wikidata. 70.4% had participated in leadership related activities previously, while 42.3% were satisfied with the leadership development opportunities they had experienced within the Wikimedia movement. 29.6% think of this as a neutal, and 2.8% are dissatisfied, whilst 1.4% feel heavily dissatisfied with this.

The general leadership activities in which Wikimedians participated are:

• Mentorship programs (36.6%)
• Leadership workshops (26.8%)
• Conferences or events (50.7%)
• Online courses or webinars (42.3%)
• Nothing (14.1%)

We tried to map the outcome of these opportunities. We observed that these help stabilise and improve leadership skills, ability, confidence, and network connections.

On the skills infrastructure, we observed that 38% rated the current availability of resources and support for acquiring and improving skills related to Wikimedia projects and leadership roles as "Good", 38% rated it as "Fair", whilst 9.9% felt it was very poor, and 14.1% feels it is excellent.