Dear Ido.
I share your concern about these problems and thanks for exercising your right
to voice your concerns. I'm a bit worried about the potentially devastating
effects of these problems on the Wikimedia Projects. Personally, I don't want
to have any reason to lose confidence in the BoT but I think the community
deserves clarity on certain issues. Volunteers and affiliates are major
backbones of the Wikimedia Foundation and they need to understand why certain
decision is taken by the WMF. I probably do not understand why the BoT decided
to remain silent on pertinent issues raised here over a month now. This is
worrisome and heartbreaking.
Best,
Olatunde Isaac
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT (Ilario Valdelli)
2. Re: An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT (Andrea Zanni)
3. Re: An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT (Cristian Consonni)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:15:24 +0100
From: Ilario Valdelli <valde...@gmail.com>
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT
Message-ID:
<CAKHM5EQrxwyugi_Q_6X7=_qjxawmuafhn+kkzue_bv1dl1g...@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Hi Ido,
your email is interesting and reveals an important issue: the governance of
a no for profit organization is a little bit different from that of a
"commercial" company.
In my opinion there is an unclear definition of the stakeholders and the
definition of the importance of these stakeholders and the relations they
have.
Missing a clear definition of these entities and how they are related and
what kind of potential conflicts can be generated by them, it can only
drive to the current picture.
Kind regards
On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 9:04 AM, ido ivri <idoi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear members of the WMF Board of Trustees,
>
> I’ve been following the recent events silently - from the voting out of
> James Heilman, to the unfortunate timing of recruiting Arnnon Geshuri and
> the lack of clear, timely communication around WMF strategy in in general
> and specifically around the so-called “Knowledge Engine” grant, received by
> the Knight Foundation.
>
> Even more alarming to me, is the slew of exceptional community-facing
> employees who left (or are leaving) the Foundation, accompanied by muffled
> sounds of discontent from staying Foundation employees.
>
> I’m breaking my silence because I’m very concerned. My concerns stem from
> my past experiences with facilitating strategic changes and my experience
> in grantmaking - both in and outside of the Movement.
>
> I’m concerned because it’s evident that the Foundation is undergoing a
> deep, strategic change. But this change is not accompanied by the required
> transparency, honesty and accountability required by the Foundation in
> order to truly transform in a way that's beneficial for the organization
> and its community.
>
> I’m concerned, because while the “Knowledge Engine” grant provides only a
> specific example, it underlines a larger picture that is disturbing:
> concealment (rather than openness) as a default, lack of consultation with
> the community and weak, general communication around important matters only
> after bad press. I also suspect that the vocal members of the community are
> right, and that a $250K grant is not the issue, but it part of a bigger
> move that will require significantly more resources for the Foundation to
> implement.
>
> Lastly, I’m concerned because all this stirs no clear communication from
> the Board of Trustees. A Board of Trustees implies there should be trust
> between the Board and its constituents. I suspect this isn’t the case
> anymore.
>
> If any APG-receiving affiliate conducted itself in such a non transparent,
> dishonest manner and with lack of clear, timely communication with its
> community and stakeholders, it would get seriously reprimanded by the
> Foundation: its board audited, its budget cut, etc. Expecting the
> Foundation to be held to a lower standard than any of its worldwide
> affiliates is just hypocritical.
>
> I urge the Board of Trustees - Don’t forget that the community of
> volunteers and affiliates is a major stakeholder of the Wikimedia
> Foundation - and many of us are concerned. I think the community deserves
> to better understand where the Wikimedia Foundation is going, and get
> honest answers about the changes in the organization, for us to be trusting
> again. Please start communicating clearly about those topics.
>
> With utmost respect,
>
> Ido (AKA AlleyCat80)
>
>
> Board Member, WMIL
>
> Member, Simple APG & GAC.
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
--
Ilario Valdelli
Wikimedia CH
Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens
Association pour l’avancement des connaissances libre
Associazione per il sostegno alla conoscenza libera
Switzerland - 8008 Zürich
Wikipedia: Ilario <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ilario>
Skype: valdelli
Tel: +41764821371
http://www.wikimedia.ch
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:44:14 +0100
From: Andrea Zanni <zanni.andre...@gmail.com>
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT
Message-ID:
<CAC=vxyyuznw7ohp3df3wmavavkjc3o_8pasoft0rssjwl8+...@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Thanks Ido.
For what is worth, and in my personal capacity (I'm not affiliated with
Wikimedia Italia any more) I completely second your concern,
Discussions are ongoing from months now and BoT seems frozen in silence.
People really don't understand why.
I would also like to thank you for expressing it in such a delicate, polite
but clear tone.
Aubrey
On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 11:15 AM, Ilario Valdelli <valde...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi Ido,
> your email is interesting and reveals an important issue: the governance of
> a no for profit organization is a little bit different from that of a
> "commercial" company.
>
> In my opinion there is an unclear definition of the stakeholders and the
> definition of the importance of these stakeholders and the relations they
> have.
>
> Missing a clear definition of these entities and how they are related and
> what kind of potential conflicts can be generated by them, it can only
> drive to the current picture.
>
> Kind regards
>
> On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 9:04 AM, ido ivri <idoi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear members of the WMF Board of Trustees,
> >
> > I’ve been following the recent events silently - from the voting out of
> > James Heilman, to the unfortunate timing of recruiting Arnnon Geshuri and
> > the lack of clear, timely communication around WMF strategy in in general
> > and specifically around the so-called “Knowledge Engine” grant, received
> by
> > the Knight Foundation.
> >
> > Even more alarming to me, is the slew of exceptional community-facing
> > employees who left (or are leaving) the Foundation, accompanied by
> muffled
> > sounds of discontent from staying Foundation employees.
> >
> > I’m breaking my silence because I’m very concerned. My concerns stem from
> > my past experiences with facilitating strategic changes and my experience
> > in grantmaking - both in and outside of the Movement.
> >
> > I’m concerned because it’s evident that the Foundation is undergoing a
> > deep, strategic change. But this change is not accompanied by the
> required
> > transparency, honesty and accountability required by the Foundation in
> > order to truly transform in a way that's beneficial for the organization
> > and its community.
> >
> > I’m concerned, because while the “Knowledge Engine” grant provides only a
> > specific example, it underlines a larger picture that is disturbing:
> > concealment (rather than openness) as a default, lack of consultation
> with
> > the community and weak, general communication around important matters
> only
> > after bad press. I also suspect that the vocal members of the community
> are
> > right, and that a $250K grant is not the issue, but it part of a bigger
> > move that will require significantly more resources for the Foundation to
> > implement.
> >
> > Lastly, I’m concerned because all this stirs no clear communication from
> > the Board of Trustees. A Board of Trustees implies there should be trust
> > between the Board and its constituents. I suspect this isn’t the case
> > anymore.
> >
> > If any APG-receiving affiliate conducted itself in such a non
> transparent,
> > dishonest manner and with lack of clear, timely communication with its
> > community and stakeholders, it would get seriously reprimanded by the
> > Foundation: its board audited, its budget cut, etc. Expecting the
> > Foundation to be held to a lower standard than any of its worldwide
> > affiliates is just hypocritical.
> >
> > I urge the Board of Trustees - Don’t forget that the community of
> > volunteers and affiliates is a major stakeholder of the Wikimedia
> > Foundation - and many of us are concerned. I think the community deserves
> > to better understand where the Wikimedia Foundation is going, and get
> > honest answers about the changes in the organization, for us to be
> trusting
> > again. Please start communicating clearly about those topics.
> >
> > With utmost respect,
> >
> > Ido (AKA AlleyCat80)
> >
> >
> > Board Member, WMIL
> >
> > Member, Simple APG & GAC.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Ilario Valdelli
> Wikimedia CH
> Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens
> Association pour l’avancement des connaissances libre
> Associazione per il sostegno alla conoscenza libera
> Switzerland - 8008 Zürich
> Wikipedia: Ilario <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ilario>
> Skype: valdelli
> Tel: +41764821371
> http://www.wikimedia.ch
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:54:03 +0100
From: Cristian Consonni <kikkocrist...@gmail.com>
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] An Open Letter to Wikimedia Foundation BoT
Message-ID:
<CAEs8i0jZvieC7gxMEgnw=zq3l0z2fhqq0ondci++xnuqwog...@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Hi,
2016-02-18 11:44 GMT+01:00 Andrea Zanni <zanni.andre...@gmail.com>:
> Thanks Ido.
> For what is worth, and in my personal capacity (I'm not affiliated with
> Wikimedia Italia any more) I completely second your concern,
> Discussions are ongoing from months now and BoT seems frozen in silence.
> People really don't understand why.
>
> I would also like to thank you for expressing it in such a delicate, polite
> but clear tone.
strong +1
Thanks Ido for your thoughtful email, which I wholeheartedly support.
I like very much your email because it voices what I think many
Wikimedians are feeling but may not be keen on expressing themselves
publicly.
2016-02-18 9:04 GMT+01:00 ido ivri <idoi...@gmail.com>:
> I’m concerned because it’s evident that the Foundation is undergoing a
> deep, strategic change. But this change is not accompanied by the required
> transparency, honesty and accountability required by the Foundation in
> order to truly transform in a way that's beneficial for the organization
> and its community.
I share this concern completely.
The only thing I would add to what Ido said is: is there a way that we
- as a community - could help?
Remember that the community is not only a shareholder but also the
greatest asset we have.
Cristian
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