Wikimedia Foundation elections/2022/Affiliate Organization Participation/Candidate Questions/Question7

How will you as an individual board member align your duty of loyalty to the organization with the diversity of stakeholder expectations from across the movement?

This question was proposed and selected by the Affiliate Representatives of the 2022 Board of Trustees election. Translations of the questions and answers may be found on the Movement Strategy Forum

Farah Jack Mustaklem (Fjmustak)

A trustee’s first and foremost duty is to work in the best interest of the organisation. That said, I believe the well-being of the movement as a whole is in the best interest of the Foundnation. As an individual board member, I will make sure that different stakeholders’ opinions and concerns are heard, and if they don’t go against the interest of the Foundation, will have them in mind when having discussions and making decisions.

Mike Peel (Mike Peel)

I don't foresee a big conflict here. WMF won't succeed unless it effectively listens to, and interacts with, its stakeholders across the Wikimedia movement.

Gilbert Ndihokubwayo (Gilbert Ndihokubwayo)

My work as an individual board member will be collaborative work. Together with the movement stakeholders we should better identify and agree the needs and expectations and then validate my duty of loyalty. This will help to organize myself and plan the prioritization of my duties responsibilities.

Tobechukwu Precious Friday (Tochiprecious)

If elected as a Board member, it means I won’t be able to address topics and speak as an individual anymore but I will continue to be a part of/attend community-led meetings, attend movement strategy events, continue to edit Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikiquote and Wiktionary, continue to mentor new/prospective editors/communities.

Lionel Scheepmans (Lionel Scheepmans)

I'm looking for the prosperity of the mission supported by the mouvement, (free sharing knowledge in the world) and not for the prosperity of the Foundation or any stakeholder. That's very important to focus on the mission and never on the institutions.

Abderamane Abakar Brahim (Abakar B)

My duty is collective intelligence refers to the ability of a community to bring together intelligence and knowledge to move towards a common goal. It results from the quality of the interactions between its members. Constantly valued, coordinated in real time, which leads to an effective mobilization of skills.

Joris Darlington Quarshie (Joris Darlington Quarshie)

As a Trustee for the Wikimedia Foundation, I will align my duty of loyalty to the organization with the diversity of stakeholders' expectations through identifying the needs of the stakeholders, managing the stakeholders differently, keeping them in the loop, sharing evidence and research, producing value regularly and keeping track of the stakeholders' sentiments.

Egbe Eugene Agbor (Eugene233)

No response yet.

Kunal Mehta (Legoktm)

First, I fully understand and accept the legal responsibility of "fiduciary duty" as required by Florida/US non-profit law.

To quote the linked Meta-Wiki page, "The duty of loyalty requires that Trustees act in the best interest of the Foundation..." The WMF's interests are summed up in its Vision and Mission statements and ultimately match the goals of the broader Movement. So I don't forsee any conflict with having "duty of loyalty" to the WMF and incorporating diverse stakeholder expectations.

Shani Evenstein Sigalov (Esh77)

Since I have already been through this non-trivial issue, I can share that once “ordained” as a Trustee, one’s loyalty is immediately to the organization, but at the same time it is also to the movement, in all its glory and diversity of stakeholders.

As trustees we do not serve one stakeholder or another, but rather everyone. This is our fiduciary responsibility, and this also allows WMF to fulfil its goal of supporting the movement and enabling the 2030 strategic direction.

Gina Bennett (Redwidgeon)

This is another very good question and it’s difficult to answer. We all have our biases and loyalties (whether we intend them or not) & perhaps the best we can do is to identify these, and to be aware of how they may affect our judgement. I would work hard to listen to stakeholder expectations & seek, through consultation with my peers and others, to make decisions for the good of the organization.

Michał Buczyński (Aegis Maelstrom)

Resignation from other positions and fiduciary duties are certain, fortunately also Article II of the WMF Bylaws is important. WMF mission is empowerment and effective, global content dissemination; co-ordination of individual volunteers and independent movement organizations. Thus, subsidiarity and support of distributed networks are not only means and reasons of tremendous success of Wikip(m)edia but also a recognized value itself.
Thus, I believe benefit of the WMF, benefit of the overall ecosystem, and the benefit of the free knowledge and audiences, can be and should be well-aligned.