Grants talk:Simple/Applications/Wikimedia México/2020-2022

Comments from WMF

Hello Claudia Muñoz (WMMX) and Wikimedia México, thanks again for submitting your Simple APG application. We have reviewed it and have some questions that we’d like you to respond:

• Under the Community support section you have mentioned that you would like “to organize more face-to-face meetings with our community”. Given the current COVID-19 restrictions, do you think this might be achievable in the upcoming year?
• You have mentioned you would organize three in-person Board meetings. Do you feel like they can all happen in the second half of the year or can you do one online and hold two more after December?
• We appreciate your work in terms of addressing the gender gap through the Editatona project. What specific research projects do you plan to implement over the gender gap and free knowledge phenomenon? Do you have any measures of success in this regard?
• Podcasts are awesome! Will you be using the Wikimedia Commons or an external website to upload them? Do you have other ideas on how you can use the purchased recording device and accessories?
• Do you have a way of recording podcasts without having to be in the same room with the guests? If not, will you still be able to produce the same number of shows?
• Will you purchase assembled DIY scanners or assemble them on your own? For these scanners you would need digital cameras and probably Raspberry Pis. Have you included their costs in the corresponding budget line?
• What kind of content will you prioritize in the Digitization project?
• In the upcoming year, you plan to support the creation of new Wikimedia projects in the Triqui and Mixe languages. Is this request coming from the indegionous communities?
• Is it correct that you were able to work on Mayan Wikipedia in Incubator last year? Does it make sense to tackle new languages or to keep with getting the Mayan language out of incubator?
• We are excited that you plan to design an online course for the educators. Will you host this course outside of the Wikimedia projects?
• You have budgeted funds for “Open GLAM”, but it is not reflected in the application page. Could you please include some details about the Open GLAM project?
• This year WM MX requests funds to hire Data and Gender Consultants. To better understand their engagement in the Annual Plan, I have the following questions:
  • How many hours will be their projected work? Could you add them to your Staffing Plan?
  • Is the Data Consultant going to make any paid edits on Wikidata?
  • In which projects other than “Events” will the Data Consultant be engaged?
  • What is your need for designing data editions and visualizing them?

Thank you again for your work on the application and for your contributions to the Wikimedia Movement! I’ll look forward to your response. Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 06:46, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Answers to WMF

Hello DSaroyan (WMF) Thanks for your comments and questions. These are our answers:

• One of our goals is to be closer to our volunteer communities. However, due to the current situation, we have considered increasing the number of online sessions, attending to the health indications of our country and the Wikimedia Foundation. In these weeks we explored methods and ideas for online spaces with specific communities with whom we can start and adapt our activities to a virtual way and then continue with face-to-face activities, attending to government health indications.
• The board meets online once a month, so it is possible to organize an online session and the two face-to-face meetings take place after December.
• This consultancy has as one of its objectives to carry out two formal research projects. On one hand, study the phenomenon of the Gender Gap on Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects in a qualitative and quantitative way and to evaluate the impact that the Editatona project has had on the participation of Mexican women. On the other hand, there will be a comparative analysis of the Gender Gap in Wikimedia projects among Latin American countries, where activities are already taking place on this topic. We recognize the efforts that the community and researchers have made on this topic in other countries, however, the results that we expect are publications that present data and conclusions that allow us to integrate and attend to these needs specifically in Mexico and that may be useful in other Latin American countries. These researches will help us think about local and regional particularities to give better attention to this problem.
• The audios will be hosted on Wikimedia Commons and will also be broadcast on other platforms such as Soundcloud and Spotify, with which they may have a greater diffusion. The equipment and accessories will also be used to conduct interviews or videos as part of the dissemination and documentation of the activities we carry out.
• We can make calls or interviews remotely that will later be edited and can be broadcast in the same way.
• We will be able to build and assemble the scanners, so we have included materials in the cost and we also consider the purchase of digital cameras.
• We are very interested in disseminating and digitizing local content that cannot be located online at all and that responds to the interests and needs of the communities and organizations with which we work. We have had some negotiations with libraries in the states of Puebla and Aguascalientes, which will be resumed when the circumstances are favorable.
• Yes. Last year we started working with groups and communities in the state of Oaxaca, editing content in Spanish. This year, they indicated their interest in starting to edit Wikipedia in their own language through the Incubator. These communities have also participated in initiatives on indigenous languages of Latin America in digital media, so their experience will provide interesting reflections on the dissemination of their languages in collaborative projects such as Wikipedia.
• We consider that each community is different in its editing, organization and participation processes, since each one has different interests and ways of adapting Wikimedia projects to their contexts. Therefore, understanding their dynamics and objectives will allow us to attend each of these projects in their own environment, always taking into account the digital, technological and economic gaps they face to participate in voluntary projects such as Wikipedia.
• The online course will be designed on an e-Learning platform and will be based on the use and implementation of Wikimedia projects in the educational field. The educational materials that are generated will be available in Wikimedia Commons for consultation, use and distribution.
• Open GLAM is a meeting organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, in which universities, institutions and cultural organizations participate to promote the opening of cultural heritage on the Internet and present projects on preservation, digitization, open data, free licenses, etc. In this sense, we consider it important to organize for the second time this event that promotes and disseminates free knowledge in GLAM institutions in Mexico and makes Wikimedia projects visible as allies in this objective, as well as offering a free educational opportunity for attendees.
• Both consultancies are considered to work by objectives, with what we contemplate that they can work 12 hours per week. In the case of data consulting, its main objectives will be to design projects that support institutions to donate their databases to Wikidata through tools such as Query Service, Open Refine, Mix'n'Match or Quick Statements to edit, visualize or import databases to Wikidata. He or she will also teach workshops on editing and using Wikidata and link the data with Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. In Mexico there are several organizations related to the intersection of technology, Human Rights and gender that work with open data, so the projects, collaborations and agreements that will be generated will be transversal to the Wikimedia Mexico programs: gender, education and content creation. Finally, our interest in encouraging the edition, visualization and use of Wikidata data is that people and organizations can access data and information and generate analysis from a visualization. Data visualization helps to synthesize and communicate information so that non-specialized audiences can have a more effective understanding of it, which otherwise would not happen.

Thanks, --Claudia Muñoz (WMMX) (talk) 02:01, 16 May 2020 (UTC)

Simple APG Committee recommendation

We recommend that Wikimedia México receive a grant in the amount of $108,838 USD for one year. We were especially interested to see the group’s work in the gender gap space. Adding to the award winning program in gender gap, it is inspiring to see the proposal for research projects that will identify further gender gap needs in Mexico and be applicable in other Latin American countries.

The committee has also taken special interest in learning more about the indigenous languages the annual plan will be supporting. While it is great for us to learn that the decision to work on indigenous languages in incubator is initiated by the communities themselves, we encourage you to focus on a specific community for an extended amount of time before adding more languages in incubator. We would also like to commend you on your approach to learn about how each indigenous community is editing and showing up to participate in the process to create a more inclusive space moving forward.

In addition to these two programs, the committee is looking forward to seeing Wikimedia México’s education program growing in this time where schools and teachers are needing more support because of the impact COVID-19 has had on them.

For the committee, Rohini (talk) 08:39, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

APG approved in the amount of $108,838 USD

Congratulations! Wikimedia México’s Simple Annual Plan Grant is approved in the amount of $108,838 USD, with a grant term starting 1 July 2020 and ending 30 June 2021.

We appreciate the work that WMMX is doing through its four program areas of Community, Gender Gap, Content Creation, and Education. In the Community program, we clearly observe the chapter's community-centered approach. We appreciate that they explore new means of organizing community meetups, and hope that they can successfully adapt their projects to the circumstances determined by the COVID-19.

We commend Wikimedia México for its persistent work on addressing the participatory and content gender gaps through the Editatona project. We understand the chapter’s necessity in hiring a consultant to professionalize this effort and conduct research on the gender gap issues. We are happy that WMMX introduces new projects in the Annual Plan, such as podcasts and digitization projects, to diversify the created content and spotlight the cultural and linguistic diversity of Mexico. With their Education Officer, WMMX has been able to improve the Education program substantially; we will be interested to see the growth of educational projects and how they are impacted by the COVID-19. Additionally, we are excited that the chapter puts considerable effort into designing and integrating online courses for educators.

Last year, Wikimedia México had staff members for the first time. As they mentioned in the application, the new staff members allowed them to increase the number of activities and partners, as well as take care of administrative management. We hope that the chapter will continue working towards the capacity building of current staff members and will efficiently onboard the new consultants.

We look forward to working together in 2020-2021. Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 06:38, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

Reallocation for our 2020 - 2021 WMMX Grant

Hello @VThamaini (WMF):, after our conversation, I’ll summarize the points that we’d talked about in regards to the reallocation of some items from our grant. So here’s a little context:

Due to the Pandemic, our chapter, as many others, had to cancel all physical events. We adapted all our activities to be held online, from Community Support, to Gender Gap, to Content Creation. All our meetings, workshops, travels, courses, editathons had to be done with everyone at home. Including the Wikipedia en Español 20th Anniversary Meeting.

Just as all the physical events that were planned for 2020 and 2021 were all cancelled, that funds remain untouched. We can still celebrate and be in close touch even if every invitee remains in their homes, we still can hold an online meeting, and send a special Gift Box with some goodies to our friends and members (Wikimedians, Wikipedians and Board). Also, commissioning local artists to create a commemorative print, and send this to our friends too.

And as cherry on top, 3 murals celebrating the 20th Anniversary in 3 different cities where we have members and Wikimedia related activities (Like Puebla and Aguascalientes).

Regarding our current program Gender Gap / Editatona, We’re currently on the work with our Gender Gap Officer doing the research Towards a gender perspective diagnosis about women editing Wikipedia. Originally it would be an online report on Wikimedia Commons, but we thought that it can be a printed book, and be a reference that can be send to our members and friends; and even present it on Wikimania (now that it’s going to be virtual) So we changed that plan to a printed book.

About Content Creation, we thought about a way to say thanks to some of our Key Speakers, and collaborators on our webinars and workshops, with Gift Cards.

And, of course, our Education Program, after negotiations with UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), the biggest and most important University in our country, they agreed to create an online course that’s gonna teach how to edit Wikipedia, and potentially reach a large amount of teachers, academics, and researchers. These courses will be free for them, and, according to our Education Program, are designed to incorporate Wikipedia in the classroom on a daily basis.

So our petition is that from some of the Content Creation, Education, Open GLAM, Community Support events items like travel, expenses, accomodation, venues or merch, we found a Total for Reallocation of: 11,994.14 USD

To be allocated with the following items:

• 1 Zoom Account from march to june, for editathons, workshops & webinars.
• 3 Internet data packs with 150 mbs from march to june for staff.
• 1 computer core i3, this is for one of our staff members because his own got a malfunction, and in the future this will gonna work for editathons.
• 3 murals (street art) celebrating the Wikipedia’s 20th Anniversary in three different cities where we have associates and made previous events like Aguascalientes, Colima & Puebla, in fact Puebla is the second busiest city in México that handles events on Wikipedia.
• 100 printed copies of our Gender-Gap research Towards a gender perspective diagnosis about women editing Wikipedia.
• 50 gift boxes for our associates celebrating the Wikipedia en Español’s 20th Anniversary, this will contain a commemorative t-shirt, one mug with the Wikipedia print, and some other goodies, all sent by personalized delivery, arriving prior to may 20th (Wikipedia en Español’s 20th Anniversary).
• 50 commemorative prints celebrating the Wikipedia en Español’s 20th Anniversary, done by a local artist.
• 10 Amazon Gift Cards for 10 Key Speakers for our webinars, interviews and workshops.
• 3 Amazon Gift Cards as prizes for our 10th Anniversary #WikiChallenge (#WikiReto in spanish).
• 6 videos on “How to Edit Wikipedia” for our UNAM course, (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Total Allocated: 11,589.88 USD Difference: 364.26 USD

Thanks, looking forward to your reply, best regards --Agustín Peña (WMMX) (talk) 06:42, 18 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, @Agustín Peña (WMMX):and for taking the time to share the detailed breakdown during the meeting and sharing more about the context informing the needed changes. The pandemic has resulted in challenges that have led to the need for our community and partners to be flexible in the way they organize and continue to contribute to the mission. The suggested opportunities of reallocation, allow for continued engagement with the community while still remaining aligned to the set objectives and goals of the chapter. We are pleased to approve the request and wish you the very best as you implement the activities. Thank you!--VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 09:59, 18 February 2021 (UTC)