Grants talk:Project/Chinmayisk/Community toolkit for Greater Diversity/Final

Regarding absence of individually identifying information about participants

We are not including information in our report that would identify specific participants because some participants have already reported harassment from the community and their safety is a priority for this. Consequently, we are not providing any identifying information that might make them targets, since it would undermine the central goal of the project to create an inclusive context for marginalized communities. We’ve discussed this decision with the Wikimedia Foundation and they support us in this approach.

Posted on behalf of Project Team by the Program Officer --Marti (WMF) (talk) 10:09, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

Report accepted

Dear Chinmayisk, Rohini, Shobhasv,

Thank you for submitting this thoughtful Final Report and congratulations on finishing your project. I am accepting it now with the following preliminary comments:

• As you know, the movement's strategic direction published in 2017 exhorts Wikimedians to strive to increase knowledge equity, stating that "As a social movement, we will focus our efforts on the knowledge and communities that have been left out by structures of power and privilege. We will welcome people from every background to build strong and diverse communities. We will break down the social, political, and technical barriers preventing people from accessing and contributing to free knowledge." I want to acknowledge the contribution you have all made toward this goal by seeking to create more safety for people who are especially impacted by the biases that plague Wikimedia projects, those "that have been left out by structures of power and privilege". This support is lacking and needed. In taking a stand as you have, we understand that you have put yourselves on the line and that this cost you, so I want to recognize and celebrate your courage.
• I appreciate your commitment to equity not just in the written content you produced, but in how you sought writers for that content. It is clear how much care and sensitivity went into creating an inclusive culture in the project work itself.
• I'm pleased to hear that some of the graduates of the training have adopted and incorporated specific practices like "volunteering as an interpreter for those who do not speak English, accommodating specific needs of the participants of the event, and drafting code of conduct policies for their respective organisations."
• It's wonderful to hear that some of the participants told you that they have gained confidence because of the training workshop. This is a terrific outcome and indicates that you were able to create a safe and supportive atmosphere.
• Thank you for your presentation at Wikimania!
• You mentioned that "From the observations of the facilitators it is possible to groom at least one of the participants in the group to assume leadership if adequate support and resources are made available to her." Let's talk more about what kind of support and resources would be most helpful.
• You also mentioned that "Some even expressed gratitude for providing them a space where they could discuss trivial questions without being harassed or ridiculed." Again, this speaks to the effectiveness of the work you have done to create an inclusive and welcoming space. I'm always sad to hear (as we do hear, across the movement) that harassment and ridicule are a persistent problme for those working toward knowledge equity for marginalized communities. It really highlights the need for and the value in projects like yours that provide spaces that offer meaningful support.
• You mentioned that you were unable to obtain translations for the modules owing to constraints of time and money, and that you intend to issue an open call for volunteers to translate the modules into different Indic languages and to contextualise them for local communities to be able to adopt them." We understand that the significant budgetary cuts that the Project Grants Committee made when approving your proposal mean that not all of your originally envisioned tasks could be completed. Translation and local contextualization are obviously especially important to the usefulness of the work you have done, so I would like to make sure it is supported. Inviting volunteers to translate is a good place to start. Perhaps we can brainstorm together about the most effective ways to extend this invitation, and later, if necessary, discuss whether additional resources might be required for translation to be fully completed.
• You also mentioned that "The approved budget for the project supported funds for text modules, not the video and podcast formats." Again, as just stated above: We understand that the significant budgetary cuts that the Project Grants Committee made when approving your proposal mean that not all of your originally proposed tasks could be completed in the way you first envisioned. It's no problem that you created text modules rather than video and podcast formats. Thank you for all of your work.

Specific feedback on the modules documented here.

I have not yet reviewed your expense report. I will notify our grants administrator that your Final Report has been accepted.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work on this important project.

Kind regards,

--Marti (WMF) (talk) 10:44, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

Website not opening

The website mentioned in the final report, ie., wikiinclusivity.in is not opening.--Pavanaja (talk) 05:41, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

@Pavanaja: This website has been down since January 2022 because the web hosting plan expired first and then the domain name. The project grant did not cover perpetual renewal of the domain name and web hosting. Hence, we are now in the process of resurrecting the contents of the project on Wikimedia projects. Until we transfer all the content to the Wikimedia projects, you may view the contents of the website in its web archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20210119203810/https://wikiinclusivity.in/ -- Rohini (talk) 14:34, 8 January 2023 (UTC)