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Wiki Loves Women
Contents
What we do
  • A monthly thematic working session with the group (private recording for group members)
  • Bi-monthly office hours on Thursdays
  • Ongoing Telegram group for discussion
  • Participation to #SheSaid drive in Oct 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Wiki Loves Women's Focus Group Working Meetings in 2024

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Date What? Coordinator Topic / Guest Explanation / Links
September, 25th 2024 Working Session
  • New campaign planning
  • All
 The team discussed organising a year-long Wikidata campaign with monthly themes, starting in January 2025. They agreed on a bi-monthly theme change to ensure manageable workloads. The campaign will focus on African women, with a global perspective. Training sessions will be conducted both internally for the team and publicly. The team will divide into communication, management, and training groups. They will prepare by conducting Wikidata training in the remaining months of 2024. The name of the campaign is to be decided. Future sessions will finalise the campaign's goals and roles, and explore potential expansion to other Wikimedia projects.
August, 21st 2024 Working Session
  • New campaign brainstorming
  • All
 The members had their first brainstorming regarding the new campaign answering the following questionsː

Purpose and Goals

  • On which platforms are we running this campaign?
  • What is the primary objective of this campaign?
  • What specific outcomes do we want to achieve with this campaign?
  • How will this campaign support Wikimedia X Women mission and values? And When?

Target Audience

  • Who is the target audience for this campaign? (Gender, Age, Location)
  • What are the key motivations or needs of our target audience?
  • How can we effectively reach and engage with this audience?

Resources and Support

  • What resources (time, budget, tools) are available for this campaign?
  • How can we involve volunteers and community members in the campaign?
  • What additional support or expertise might we need to execute the campaign?

Metrics and Evaluation

  • How will we measure the success of this campaign?
  • What key performance indicators (KPIs) should we track?
  • How can we gather feedback from our audience to improve future campaigns?

Challenges and Risks

  • What potential challenges or obstacles could we face during this campaign?
  • How can we mitigate risks and ensure the campaign stays on track?

Teams needed?

  • Comms team
  • Partnerships team
  • Managing team
  • Training team
July, 17th 2024 Working Session
  • Engagement issues and the Future of the FG
  • All
 During the recent online working session, members addressed key challenges related to participation, communication, and group dynamics while setting goals for the future. Low engagement was attributed to conflicting schedules, language barriers, and a lack of clear direction, with suggestions for clearer project goals and more mentorship for new members. Communication channels were deemed ineffective, prompting recommendations for more timely updates and quicker messaging platforms. Members highlighted the need for technical training and centralized resources, proposing workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions for ongoing support. While the overall group atmosphere was positive, stronger interpersonal connections and conflict resolution were encouraged, with informal check-ins and team-building activities suggested to improve collaboration. Clearer task assignments and project management tools were proposed to streamline responsibilities. Looking ahead to 2025, the group hopes to see increased participation, stronger partnerships, and a key role in advocacy, aiming to complete high-impact projects and expand their network. This session provided valuable insights for addressing current challenges and preparing for future growth.

Decision takenː the Focus Group members will start planning and working on a campaign which will run in 2025.

June, 21st 2024 Working Session During the working session, members attended a presentation by Florence Devouard on the topic of Conflict of Interest (COI). She provided an in-depth understanding of COI, explaining how to identify potential COI scenarios and offering an overview of relevant policies. Florence also discussed best practices for managing and disclosing conflicts of interest in various contexts. Following the presentation, group members participated in a showcase where they shared different COI cases they had encountered and explained how they managed those situations. This interactive session allowed for valuable insights and practical learning on navigating conflicts of interest.
May, 8th 2024 Working Session
  • Partnerships
 As voted and agreed upon during the dreaming session, the Focus Group members engaged in a discussion about partnerships. Isla facilitated the session, raising several critical questions to guide the conversation:
  • Why are partners important?
  • What are your project needs?
  • What are your greatest challenges?

Isla then presented 18 steps to establishing a successful partnership. These steps covered essential strategies and best practices to help the group build strong, collaborative relationships with their partners, addressing the importance of shared goals, clear communication, and mutual support. The discussion provided valuable insights and practical guidance for the members to enhance their partnership efforts.

March, 20th 2024 Working Session
  • Welcome New Members
 During the working session, the group welcomed the new members. There was a presentation about the focus group, detailing its members and the activities conducted in 2023 and the SheSaid campaign followed by an icebreaker discussion.

The New members areː

To know more about the Wiki Loves Women Focus Group members, please visit this page.

February 14th, 2024 Working Session
  • New year plan
 On February 14th, the Focus Group convened its inaugural working session for the year 2024. The gathering took the form of a visionary meeting, uniting all members to deliberate on the future trajectory of the Focus Group. Key topics covered during the session included:
  1. Reflection on the Highlights of 2023:
    • Work achievements
    • Personal milestones
    • Participated activities
    • Insights gained from focus sessions
  2. Aspirations for 2024:
    • Collective goals and objectives
  3. Learning by Doing:
    • Training initiatives
    • Strategies for growth
    • Formulation of policies and guidelines
    • Knowledge-sharing sessions
    • Project support discussions
December 2023 - January 2024 Offline Activity Afek Feedback survey In December 2023, the members answered to the annual feedback survey in purpose to improve the activities of the Focus Group.

Areas for Improvement:

  • Enhancing Individual Impact: While the individual has gained valuable skills, including venturing beyond their comfort zone and assuming a leadership role, there is a potential area for improvement in ensuring a more focused and strategic application of these skills.

Future Focus:

  • Integration of New Members: Welcoming and incorporating new members into the group.
  • Continuous Participation in Skill-Enhancing Sessions: Consistent engagement in working sessions, specifically aimed at refining technical skills.
  • Launch of a New Project or Campaign: The introduction of a fresh project or campaign resulting from three years of collaborative endeavors by the group.

Wiki Loves Women's Focus Group Working Meetings in 2023

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Date What? Coordinator Topic / Guest Explanation / Links Images
December 13th, 2023 Party
  • End of the year party
  • All
 End of the year party: the Focus Group members hosted a party where they celebrated another year together and played games.
A group photo
November 29th, 2023 Working Session In the working session, Ciell covered key aspects of central notice banners, emphasizing:
  1. Definition and purpose of a central notice banner.
  2. Guidelines associated with central notice banners.
  3. Procedures for requesting a central notice banner.

In the latter part of the session, participants engaged in a hands-on exercise related to requesting a central notice for the Wiki Loves Unicorn contest.

Ciell presenting
October 25th, 2023 Working Session During this working session, Rachel provided a presentation on strategies for effectively promoting projects on social media to enhance their visibility and significance. The main focus was on selecting the appropriate social media platforms, developing an effective content strategy, maintaining consistency in posting, engaging with the audience, and monitoring key metrics. Additionally, members received training on using the "Later" tool to schedule posts.
Rachel presenting
October 12th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 31st 2023 Training Sessions How to edit Wikiquote in 3 languages During the month of October, the dedicated members of the WLW Focus Group participated in a total of five public training sessions conducted in three different languages: Arabic, French, and English. Among these sessions, one was expertly led by our fellow member, Minette.

These training sessions had a primary objective: to empower and equip group members with the knowledge and skills necessary to enhance their contributions and leadership in organizing the #SheSaid campaign within their respective countries. These efforts reflect the group's commitment to fostering collaboration and promoting gender equity across linguistic and cultural boundaries.

Florence presenting the SheSaid campaign
August 28th & 30th, 2023 Working Session The WLW Focus Group members recently conducted two productive working sessions dedicated to grants. The first session, conducted in English by Florence, focused on the intricacies of submitting grant applications to the Wikimedia Foundation, providing valuable insights and guidance for the application process. The second session, conducted in French by Pascal Radigue, centered around the process of seeking micro-financing from Wikifranca, offering members a comprehensive understanding of how to request financial support for their initiatives. These sessions reflect the group's commitment to fostering a multilingual and inclusive approach to grant opportunities within the Wikimedia community.
July 26th, 2023 Working Session During a working session, Florence conducted a presentation for the Focus Group members on the subject of grants and reports. The topic was divided into seven partsː
  1. Target of the report (main audience)
  2. What does the main stakeholder need it for?
  3. Talk about pre-documentation stored prior
  4. Related to the structure
  5. Will be about writing itself
  6. Beautifying the report
  7. Publishing
June 21st, 2023 Working Session
  • Community engagement issues
  • All
 The Focus Group members had a working session, during which they discussed the community engagement issues. The main topics they focused on areː
  • Which channels do you use to communicate with your community?
  • How do you make your community discoverable?
  • What are your objectives for community engagement and what do you hope to accomplish through it?
  • How can we develop an understanding of engagement terminology and avoid using jargon when interacting with the community?
  • How can we cultivate a greater level of comfort when facing challenges, conflicts, and differing opinions, and actively engage with them?
Some answers of the questions discussed
May 17th, 2023 Working Session Under the guidance of Isla, the Focus Group members engaged in a discussion centered around governance issues. The main focus of the discussion revolved around two key points:
  • Sharing and Reviewing Plans: During the discussion, each member had the opportunity to talk about their individual plans for the year. This allowed for a collaborative effort to identify areas where mutual support and assistance could be provided among the members. By understanding each other's goals and initiatives, they aimed to create a supportive environment within the group.
  • Interests in Governance: Another crucial aspect of the discussion was exploring the specific aspects of governance that each member was interested in. This provided valuable insights into the diverse interests and expertise within the Focus Group, enabling them to tailor their discussions and activities to address these interests effectively.

Through this open and collaborative discussion, the Focus Group members sought to strengthen their understanding of governance issues, enhance cooperation, and promote a more effective and inclusive approach to their work within the Wikimedia and Open movements.

Group photo
April 19th, 2023 Working Session
  • Use the translation system to organize pages in several languages
  • Florence
 During the working session, the members had a pesentation by Florence about the translation system mainly focusing on:
  • Translating Wiki pages in terms of interface (setting up project or organization pages on meta and WikiCommons and other projects)
Florence presenting the translation system
March 22nd, 2023 Working Session #SheSaid Climate workshop During the working session, the members had a pesentation by Carol about the #SheSaid campaign as one of the most important projects that the members work on. During the second part of the session, the members had a practical workshop with Florence.
Carol presenting the #SheSaid campaign
March 9th, 2023 Office Hour The members had a presentation about the ISA tool mainly focusing on:
Afek presenting the ISA tool
March 2nd, 2023 Office Hour During the office hour the members discussed the activities of the Africa Environment Day and the Launch of the ISA Tell Us About Her : Women on the Frontline Climate campaign. Wiki Loves Women is celebrating women throughout March 2023 with a *Tell Us About Her* drive. The drive is aimed at improving the visibility of women in climate change as well as their works on Wikimedia projects.
One of our social media visuals
February 22nd, 2023 Working Session Welcoming the new members During the working session, the members welcomed the new members suggested by themselves. The session included three parts:
  • An Icebreaker: the new and old members presented themselves.
  • A prsentation about the WLW Focus Group, the activities and the leadership prorgam.
  • A presentation about the Africa Environment initiative.

The new members who joined us are:

Links:

A group photo of the new and old members
February 8th, 2023 Office Hour Clementine The Africa Environment Initiative During the Ofice Hour, Clementine presented the Africa Knowledge Initiative focusing on:
  • The context of the project
  • The activities
  • The Micro-funding
  • The topics

Link to the presentation

Clementine presenting the Africa Environment Initiative
February 1st, 2023 Working Session New year plan During the first working session, the Focus Group members shared their aspirations for the new year and their plans for personal growth. They also identified areas where they might need support from each other to achieve their goals as Focus Group members and as wikimedians. To facilitate this discussion, we used a Jamboard to explore the following topics:
  • Goals as a Focus Group member in 2023
  • Skills they would like to have (Personal development)
  • Things to do get out of the comfort zone (More of like challenging ourselves)
  • Reflect on last year what are the things we can improve about the Focus Group Programme from last year.
The jamboard
December 2022 - January 2023 Offline Activity Afek Feedback survey The members answered to the annual feedback survey in purpose to improve the activities of the Focus Group.
  • 100% of the members want to continue the experience.
  • 77.8% of the members want to expand the group.
  • On a scale of 1 to 5, 77.8% of the members rated 5 to the value and interest of the working sessions.

Looking forward 2023, the members would like to cover the following topics: Governance issues - developing from volunteer group to an entity. Grants & reports Community engagement issues Community organising and keeping meta pages updated Use the translation system to get organizing pages in several languages How to start a user group? Gender equality and steps to ensure that our programs at community level are gender sensitive

Some statistics from the survey

Wiki Loves Women's Focus Group Working Meetings in 2022

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December 2022

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End of the year party: In December the Focus Group members hosted a party where they celebrated another year together and played funny games.

November 2022

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Working Group Session:

Office Hours:

  • Thu, 10th November, 2022: The #SheSaid campaign: problems on WikiQuote.
  • Thu, 23rd November, 2022: The #SheSaid campaign: updates.

October 2022

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Working Group Session:

  • Title: Community building – part 2
  • Guests: Isla Haddow-Flood
  • Time: Wed, 19th October, 2022 at 4pm UTC

Office Hours:

  • Thu, 13th October, 2022: The #SheSaid campaign.
  • Thu, 27th October, 2022: The #SheSaid campaign.

September 2022

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Working Group Session:

  • Title: IP rights on Wikimedia Commons
  • Guests: Florence Devouard
  • Time: Wed, 21st September, 2022 at 4pm UTC

Office Hours:

August 2022

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Working Group Session:

Office Hours:

  • Thu, 4th August, 2022: The #SheSaid Grant application.
  • Thu, 25th August, 2022: Applying for the #SheSaid grants.

July 2022

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Working Group Session:

  • Title: Navigating lack of sources and media representation for underrepresented peoples
  • Guests: Betty Kankam-Boadu and Sherry Antoine
  • Time: Wed 6 July, 17h00 (UTC+1)

Discussing the reality of media gaps, how they affect our work, and what we can do about them. Betty shared about her experiences as a broadcast journalist and media activist in Ghana and the impact that has had on her career. Sherry shared her experiences both as a media professional but as a Wikimedian supporting and partnering with key groups to ensure representation of people of colour is kept top of mind.

Links from the discussion:
From Betty:

From Sherry:

June 2022

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Working Group Session:

  • Title: Community building and motivation (part I)
  • Guests: Isla Haddow-Flood
  • Time: Wed 22 June, 17h00 (UTC+1)

Topic focus:

  • Why people volunteer or join a community
  • Psychologically, volunteerism helps people to feel more connected (which in turn wards off loneliness and depression). Volunteering and being part of a larger community:
  • Connects like-minded people to others,
  • Builds self-confidence and self-esteem,
  • Provides a sense of purpose,
  • Places personal or professional challenges within a wider context,
  • Promotes long term planning (activating a possible future).
  • The reasons movement members have joined Open movements
  • The reasons they stay
  • What they need to keep being involved

Research:

May 2022

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In Mai 2022 the Focus Group discussed and voted for the topics of the upcoming working Sessions.

April 2022

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In April 2022 the Focus Group had 2 offices hours, during which, the members discussed the IP rights on Wikimedia Commons and the She Said campaign.

March 2022

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In March 2022 the Focus Group had 2 offices hours, during which, the members discussed the creation of campaigns on the ISA tool and shared experiences.

February 2022

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In February 2022 the Focus Group had a tutorial on How to Translate a Wikipage.

January 2022

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In 2022 the Focus Group regrouped and reflected and shared lessons learnt of activities and events from 2021. Hence we discussed about what each member would like to take away in the new year and how they envision to develop themselves this year and also share what key areas they may need help from them to reach their vision and personal development as a Focus Group Members. Using a Jamboard, we focused on the following aspects ;

  • Goals as a Focus Group member in 2022
  • Skills you'd like to have (Personal development)
  • Things to do get out of your comfort zone (More of like challenging yourself)
  • Reflect on last year what 2 things can you improve about the Focus Group Programme from last year
Office Hour
  • Focus : WLW Focus Group grant report writing
  • Date: 13 January 2022
  • The WLW Focus Group met to get assistance with any questions they may have concerning their WLW grant report writing.

Wiki Loves Women's Focus Group Working Meetings in 2021

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December 2021

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WLW Focus Group Members Christmas party

On the Dec 15th the Focus Group members hosted a Christmas party where they hosted fun activities, guessing games and also reflected on the year and how the Focus Group Programme was. Below is an image of the virtual Christmas party. Some of the fun things done for the Christmas party was too have the Focus group have a fun vacation dress code which was a hat, sunglasses and a beverage of their choice. In conclusion the Focus group shared their highlights and appreciations about the programme and how it has positively impacted their lives, hence we have shared to constantly connect and keep inspiring each other.

November 2021

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On the 24th of November 2021 the Focus Group Members will be having their working group session where we will having a second session discussing on Reporting to WMF and the community. with the following key topics;

The new Community Fund portal

- Reporting, documentation with photographs + media; - Tools to use when measure and track contributions as well as dashboard final statistics, see below links;

- Storytelling to the community to share about reporting;

October 2021

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On the 20th of October 2021 the Focus Group Members will be having their working group session where we will discuss on Reporting. with the following key topics;

  • What are the expectations from reporting, impact done or providing the stats of the work done.
  • Importance of updating and recording what a community does, possibly create a Meta page where a record of activities are recorded which helps for identifying active communities and possible collaborations with other communities.
  • Tracking wikiquote stats: an in depth deep dive on Dashboard ensuring that the Focus Group Members add their participants on their dashboards and the set the dashboard accordingly adding the SheSaid Campaign to their dashboards.
  • Tracking wiki quotes through the Recent Changes tool on Wikiquote and using filters.
  • Uploading images to Commons and categorising them using SheSaid Category.
  • Best ways to record how funds will be spent.

September 2021 : Events organising and planning : organizing your event

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On the 8th of September 2021 the Focus Group Members will be having their working group session where we will discuss and will work on Events organising and planning.

  • The check list:

1. Preparing for your event: (Candy)

2. Keeping track of impact (Candy and Anthere)

3. Communications during event (not done ---> to reschedule)

4. Creating a friendly and safe environment (Isla - could not make it --> to reschedule)

5. Host your event! Take photos!

  • This is what you are ready for!

6. Reporting and documentation (Anthere or Minette)

7. Demo of how to create a wikiquote entry (Anthere), done during Office Hour

8. Focus Group Members assignments, done during Office Hour

  • The Focus group to create redlists of women in their countries
  • The focus group members to create or improve 10 Women Wiki Quotes

August 2021: events planning and organizing : Planning your event

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On the 11th of August 2021 the Focus Group Members had their third working group session where we discussed and worked on Events organising and planning.

  • The check list:

1. Build a team

2. Secure a location

3. Decide the focus of your event (theme, project, material) and then create lists of suggested activities to help the participants

4. Plan the structure of the event/s

5. Set up the event times

6. Communications platforms

  • what channels are your participants on
  • what do they need to know before hand, what will get them excited

July 2021 : building a profile page on the wiki

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On the 7th of July 2021 the Focus Group Members had their second working group session where we discussed and worked on "Building your profile in Wiki". Some of the key elements that discussed were:

Refering document : Wiki Loves Women Mooc/Building your own profile

After the session, the Focus Group Members were encouraged to improve their User Pages, this will help them to easily get involved with the community of Wikipedia editors and also make it easier to for them to get contacted via your User Page for any discussions or notifications. It was also proposed that Group Members review one another profiles :)

June 2021 : Launch and how to submit a grant to WMF

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The Wiki Loves Women project has launched its Focus Group coaching programme with 12 female members from Botswana, Cameroon, France, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The Focus Group Members initiative kickstarted in June by hosting the first ever working session on June 2nd. In this working session the main discussions were about what the programme is about, goals and expectations from the Focus Group Members. We also discussed the future Wiki Loves Women/SheSaid initiative meant for October 2021. Another platform that we use to stay in touch with the Focus Group to support and make announcements is on Telegram, which is quite convenient for communication.

Some of the key activities that were achieved in this month was to have all the Focus Group members meet up and support them in submitting their rapid grants proposals for the #SheSaid initiative. A number of office hour sessions were held in June to assist the Focus Group to successfully submit their rapid grant requests.

Office Hours in 2021

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What kinds of support can we provide?

Focused on advising and supporting movement Focus Group Members running #SheSaid campaigns. The support includes:

  • Providing consultations on Wikiquote, organising events, technologies, tools and tactics that relevant to running campaigns.
  • Advising Focus group members and peer to peer feedback and sharing of ideas on best practices to run and facilitate training events online and offline.
  • Assist the Focus Group members to identify and seek capacities, funding needs, and other resources needed to run their campaigns.

Monthly Office Hours are carried out to assist the Focus Group members.

Office Hour 9
  • Date: 10th November 2021
Office Hour 8
  • Date: 28th October 2021
Office Hour 7
  • Date: 14th October 2021
Office Hour 6
  • Repeat Training and Walkthrough on Wikiquote
  • Date: 30th September 2021
Office Hour 5
  • Training and Walkthrough on Wikiquote
  • Date: 2 September 2021
  • Resourceful Link: Video
Office Hour 4
  • Further review on Project meta pages for focus group and provide support
  • Date: 26 August 2021
Office Hour 3
  • How to organise events and formulate a project page, compile editing tips and tricks for your community on editting
  • Date: 19 August 2021
  • Resourceful Link: Event Toolkit
Special session
  • Wiki Loves Women Focus Group Programme presented at Wikimania 2021
  • Date: 14 August 2021
  • Youtube Link:
Office Hour 2
  • Profiling on Wikimedia, review other focus group members user pages
  • Date: 27th July 2021
Office Hour 1
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