Hello, Thanks for the detailed update. This email definitely explains a lot of things. Thanks for working on this. One question, how is this new design aligned/(syncing) with Strategy2030 recommendations? (if that is applicable) Thanks again for the update. User:Titodutta
On Tue, 28 Apr 2020 at 15:39, Nataliia Tymkiv <ntym...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Dear all, > > I would like to share with you some updates on Wikimedia Foundation Board > governance, concerning board composition, annual planning, and more. > > The past few weeks and months have been difficult for many of us as > COVID-19 changes our schedules and lives, but we are being really true to > the vision of “the world in which every single human being can freely share > in the sum of all knowledge”—on the whole the visits to Wikimedia projects > have increased by more than 30% over the past month. It is impressive that > the volunteer communities continue to produce the information that informs > everyone through graphs and data seen by millions and careful synthesis of > the medical and administrative facts. Wikimedia volunteers’ work is present > in top stories on the novel coronavirus. We volunteers do this despite the > need to tend to home chores, take care of kids and the elderly, probably > feeling depressed or fearing for our jobs, economy, health and the lives of > relatives and friends all over the world. > > In these circumstances, it may seem odd to be hearing about board > governance updates, but those are still important, for the long-term > thriving of our movement. I joined the Board because I wanted to explore > ways of improving understanding between the Foundation and the communities, > and to help the trustees provide what was needed to our communities. No > Board will ever do this perfectly, and I know, as do we all, that there > have been occasions in the long years of the movement on which the Board > had not supported the Foundation and communities in the ways we all hoped > and needed. We as Board members want to play our part in building a > Wikimedia that will sustain our mission far into the future. Please forgive > the length of this message—it is a lot of things to share in one letter. > > == Designing a better Board for Wikimedia == > > One of the most significant initiatives the Board worked on collectively > over the last year was to run an official Board governance review. In large > part this review was a response to direct requests for clarification from > the community over several years. I will explain a few of the > recommendations that came from this review, and the changes we are making > based on these recommendations. > > In early 2019, the Foundation Board Chair and Executive Director > commissioned Board Veritas (named Taylor Strategic Partnerships at the > time) to review how the Board might more effectively support the goals of > the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia movement. Board Veritas was > chosen because of their expertise in the governance of U.S. nonprofits with > global operations and internationally diverse boards, as well as their > background in developing strategic comparisons with other not-for-profit > boards. > > The resulting recommendations [1] centered on increasing the Board’s > effectiveness in fulfilling its governance responsibilities, including > improving the process for selecting Board members; developing greater > clarity around Board roles, responsibilities and accountabilities; better > leveraging the talents and skills of trustees in service to the > Foundation’s mission and strategic goals; improving trust and interactions > between the Board, the ED/CEO, and staff; and strengthening strategy and > program oversight. > > The Board began taking steps to respond to the recommendations right away, > at a special meeting in July 2019 [2]. At that meeting, we lengthened the > terms of Board officer and committee chair positions from one year to three > years, and we tasked the Board Governance Committee with the preparation of > proposals for how to implement additional changes. > > We will have more to share in the near future when the Board will be > engaging broadly on the outcomes, but the first big planned change is > expanding the number of seats on the Board, from 10 to 16. This includes > increasing the current number of seats sourced from the wider Wikimedia > community (including affiliates) by three, for a total of eight > community-sourced seats. The majority of the Board and I feel that this > overall growth is necessary for us to increase our capacity to meet the > governance needs of the Foundation—and better reflect the growing and > diverse communities we serve with the increased number of voices from > community sources. > > == Community-selected Board seats == > > The voting process to select nominees for three Community-selected Board > seats was intended to open candidate submissions soon. In normal > circumstances this selection process occurs every three years and would run > this month. However, we feel that the widespread global impact from the > ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting strain on resources make it > unwise and unreasonable to continue the voting process on its planned > timeline: > > The selection process requires extensive effort from community members (to > read proposals, ask questions, be engaged and informed, and of course > vote); candidates (to write statements and engage with community > questions); the Elections Committee (to run the process, including > responding to questions and engaging across languages); Foundation staff > (to support the Elections Committee in running the process and coordinating > the work across all stakeholders); and the Board (to make high-level > decisions and follow the process, also across languages). Given the public > health crisis and the many extraordinary demands on every person’s time and > attention, we believe we can not expect or require the level of sustained > effort and engagement needed to hold a successful trustee selection. > > We do not want to delay the trustee selection process any longer than we > have to, and we will continue to evaluate whether it is appropriate to > proceed based on the best information available to us. It takes time to > plan and run the selection, so once the postponed process can resume we > will still need to work out the best timing for it. It does not currently > seem likely that the process will resume before August 2020, but we are > committed to completing it before the end of June 2021. > > In order to ensure sustained community representation on the Board, we are > extending the terms of the three community-selected trustees currently > occupying those seats (María, Dariusz, and James) for up to a year until we > are all ready to run the postponed process. I would like to thank them for > their service to our communities and dedication to our shared mission. > > Note: The selection process is mandated by the Bylaws to happen every three > years according to a schedule and process set by the Board of Trustees. The > process last occurred in 2017, so if we determine that it is best to > postpone the process past 2020, this will require a modification of the > Bylaws. The necessary modification of the Bylaws will be part of > forthcoming recommendations as we learn more about when we can all dedicate > the necessary time to the selection process. > > == Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan timeline == > > The Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan would normally be completed in April > and posted for your feedback in May. This year, the Board has provisionally > approved an extended and revised timeline for annual planning in order for > us to remain sensitive to global economic conditions and revenue > projections. > > We are also adjusting the timelines and expectations for our affiliates > during this time. Our affiliates and user groups hold a lot of in-person > events and are transitioning some of their work online and having to > postpone or cancel some events entirely. We are all having to rethink the > next year and recognize that the adjustment is going to take time. This > pandemic is a changing situation and will affect parts of the globe > differently over time. We need to remain flexible during this time of > uncertainty. > > There will be future updates on annual plan progress from the Foundation, > but we wanted to let you know as soon as we could that the usual timelines > are postponed. > > == Board meeting minutes & resolutions == > > Some of you have asked for minutes and resolutions from our recent > meetings, as we are behind in publishing these notes. I apologize that we > fell behind in this; once we were behind, it became harder to catch up, and > we have only now been able to read and approve them all. The minutes were > posted and you will find them on the Wikimedia Foundation Governance Wiki > [3]. I shall update on this thread when they are all up. > > Voting online to approve the minutes is not always possible, so we are > approving them during our meetings. The timeline of the expected publishing > of the minutes was too ambitious, and this would need to change. Amanda > Keton, our General Counsel and Secretary of the Board, will see to adopting > the practices needed and having support in place to help us review more > quickly. > > == To recap == > > * In early 2019, the Foundation Board Chair and Executive Director hired > Board Veritas to conduct a Board Governance Review, and we are sharing the > resulting recommendations [1]. > > * We are planning to expand the number of seats on the Board, from 10 to > 16. This includes increasing the current number of seats sourced from the > wider Wikimedia community (including affiliates) by three, for a total of > eight community-sourced seats. This change will require changing the > Bylaws, especially regarding the selection pathway for the additional > seats. We plan to present the Board’s vision and hold a community > discussion as part of the process for the Bylaws change. > > * We are postponing the trustee selection process by up to a year because > of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by up to a year, the resulting strain on > resources, and the added burden to our communities. And we shall be > modifying the Bylaws to allow for this revised timeline in the selection > process, if needed. > > * We are approving an extended timeline for the Wikimedia Foundation Annual > Plan. > > * And we are posting the remaining backlog of trustee meeting minutes and > resolutions. After they are all up, I shall update on this thread. > > As these are a lot of topics to talk about, please post your > thoughts/comments on the talk page of my message on Meta: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Updates_from_April_28,_2020 > . It would be easier to have a structured discussion there, rather than > dozens of emails in this thread. Depending on interest and our shared > situation we might hold a video “town hall” to discuss more details of some > of these plans with you all. > > Also we are currently working on an update to our 2016 statement on > community culture in order to reinforce our commitment to safety on our > projects. We look forward to sharing it with you in May. > > Please take care of yourselves. > > [1] > > https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Board_Veritas_Governance_Recommendations_Final_Public_Copy.pdf > > [2] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes/2019-7-10 > > [3] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetings > > Best regards, > antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv > > NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working > hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You > should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in > advance! > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > 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> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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>
