All boards members of the WMF are required legally to represent the
interests of the WMF no matter how they arrived on the board. However,
when I was on the board I viewed the best interests of the foundation
and community as inseparable as neither can succeed without the other.
J
Sent from Gmail Mobile
On Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 11:55 Galder Gonzalez Larrañaga
<galder...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Dear Natalia and Lorenzo,
I have read your message and there are good reasons to support
what you are claiming there, even if I don't share your views. The
discussion about how to share power is always complex, and the
ones losing power might have good reasons to try keeping it. I
don't doubt that whatever the WMF BoT decides will be for done in
good faith, and not only to prevent sharing power.
However, I find something weird in your message. You, Natalia,
were directly appointed by the board, so it is evident that, as a
Liaison to the MCDC, you have represented the Board's view and
interests. My doubt resides more in how it is possible that
Lorenzo, who was elected by the community to serve the community's
view (whatever that means, I will return to that soon) acts as a
liaison for the WMF and not for the community itself.
I know that acting as a representative of "the community" is not
easy: we don't know yet what the community is going to vote. We
don't have a crystal ball, and that's why promoting a vote in one
direction or the other is not a problem by itself. It would be
more interesting if the four "community" elected members at the
BoT vote aligned with the community, and the two Affiliated
elected members vote aligned with the affiliates voting. Whatever
it is.
We don't know what the Community and the Affiliates will vote yet.
But we know why you were elected, because every candidate
presented goals and priorities for the election. I would like to
quote a couple of sentences from your stated goals
(https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2021/Candidates/Lorenzo_Losa)
/Now, with the Movement Strategy, the new Global Council is
expected to finally give a body that is truly representative of
our movement. We don't know yet how it will be shaped, but in
order to achieve its potential the Wikimedia Foundation Board, and
the Wikimedia Foundation itself, will have to learn a new way./
/
/
/Strategy implementation, in a fair way. (...). This strategy
talks about decentralization, equity in decision-making,
empowering communities. This is a great opportunity to change our
movement for the better. At the same time, there is the risk that
a time of changes will end favouring the old power structures. We
need to make sure this does not happen./
/
/
/The community is a governing body. The community is not just a
bunch of people providing free work to support the projects. The
community is the Wikimedia movement itself. It is our ultimate
decision-making body./
/
/
It's evident that people can change their mind, and that accessing
to other viewpoints and information may affect what we decide.
Anyway, it would be interesting to know which are the reasons to
making just the opposite that was stated. As a community member, I
think that this is an interesting insight on why we should oppose
the Movement Charter.
Thanks
Galder
/
/
/
/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Nataliia Tymkiv <ntym...@wikimedia.org>
*Sent:* Friday, June 21, 2024 1:17 AM
*To:* Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
*Subject:* [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Board liaisons
reflections on final Movement charter draft
Dear all,
We are grateful to the Movement Charter Drafting Committee (MCDC)
members, who have dedicated their time and energy to putting
forward this final draft of the Movement Charter. They have
demonstrated tremendous resilience and perseverance in grappling
with ways to increase our collective sense of belonging as a
movement, and outlining roles and responsibilities intended to
help us all make better decisions in steering the Wikimedia
movement into the future.
For some, this final draft Charter represents an extension of the
Movement Strategy process that began in earnest in 2020. There are
many reflections on this history, some nostalgic and others less
so. The 2030 strategic direction has guided and continues to guide
the Wikimedia Foundation’s strategy. As the Foundation’s annual
plan this year
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/History>
observed, there is much to celebrate in the collective advancement
of the original ten movement strategy recommendations
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Recommendations>,
including shared progress in creating more equitable and
decentralised decision-making structures.
At the same time, we should all recognise that the world around us
has shifted significantly since the movement strategy process
began, that our limited resources require much more pragmatic
trade-offs and choices, and that the Board has a duty to consider
the risk, value, cost and benefit of any significant commitments
being made to advance the mission.
As requested by the MCDC, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
Trustees has, over the last few months, shared with the committee
its direct feedback on the previous Movement Charter drafts,
including its perspectives on the Global Council
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Movement_Charter/Archive_5#Wikimedia_Foundation_perspectives_on_the_Global_Council>
and its feedback on a previous draft
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Movement_Charter/Archive_5#Wikimedia_Foundation_feedback_on_Movement_Charter_Final_Draft>
that we posted publicly. Liaisons have also engaged in regular and
ongoing meetings with the MCDC members, including inviting the
MCDC members to all Board meetings and Strategic retreats since
June 2022.
Our general observation, which is elaborated in the body of this
letter, is that the final draft of the Movement Charter *still
does not address the significant concerns* previously raised by
the Board. Thus, as liaisons, *our recommendations* to the
Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees are:
* *not to ratify* the final draft of the Movement Charter *as
proposed; and*
* *support* the Foundation in developing *concrete, time-bound
next steps* on a more practical scale, allowing us all to
*evaluate progress*, and see what to change or build on.
We believe that approving this version of the Charter, despite the
tremendous amount of work and resources already put into it, would
not be the right call. Instead, we think it is better to continue
pursuing the same goals the draft Charter also sought to pursue in
a different way, by identifying key areas where the final draft
Charter provides us with guidance on concrete steps that can be
taken towards increasing volunteer and movement oversight of
certain core areas of responsibility. We believe this will allow
the Foundation, and all of us, to live into the recommendation of
Movement Strategy to evaluate, iterate, and adapt
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Recommendations/Evaluate,_Iterate,_and_Adapt>
as we go, rather than too quickly to agree to new structures that
may not yet be fit for purpose.
As liaisons, we first shared this recommendation and our
reflections with the MCDC on June 18 and then with the rest of the
Wikimedia Foundation Board on June 20 (including a short draft
brief
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Board_liaisons_reflections_on_final_Movement_charter_draft/Brief>).
The Board is reviewing the final draft of the Movement Charter now
and *plans to vote during a special meeting between June 25 and
July 9*, during the voting period for all affiliates and
individuals
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Supplementary_Document/Ratification_Methodology#Sequence_of_voting>.
== Context for sharing these reflections: why now? ==
As liaisons, we believe that the final draft does not address the
concerns previously stated by the Board of Trustees in its
feedback
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Movement_Charter/Archive_5#Wikimedia_Foundation_feedback_on_Movement_Charter_Final_Draft>
on previous drafts of the Charter. Specifically, the final draft
still falls short of providing a clear enough explanation of *how*
it will advance Wikimedia's public interest mission and
effectively address the shortcomings of Wikimedia's current
structures to enable more effective and equitable decisions.
These points are not new and were shared in previous Board
feedback to the MCDC, including the January 22 letter (shared
publicly in February
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Movement_Charter/Archive_5#Wikimedia_Foundation_perspectives_on_the_Global_Council>)
in response to the first public draft and the May letter
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Movement_Charter/Archive_5#Wikimedia_Foundation_feedback_on_Movement_Charter_Final_Draft>
in response to the second public draft. In response to both
affiliates and individual contributors who have asked the
Foundation to speak more clearly about its views, and do it
sooner, we felt it was important to reiterate these points in the
interest of transparency and learning.
== Process accountability ==
We, as liaisons, have heard concerns and frustrations about the
Movement Charter process. It faced significant challenges and
constraints from the impact of the pandemic limiting travel and
in-person meetings; resignations of several members of the MCDC;
and other issues that extended the timeline to 2.5 years. It was a
shared hope by all to have this process successfully wrapped up
sooner.
For some of this, the Board certainly must take some
responsibility. This is the purpose of the Board’s oversight, as
well as its governance responsibilities. An important lesson
learnt through this experience is that large-scale processes
should have more explicit and clear expectations up front so that
as a stakeholder the Foundation can engage directly and openly
earlier about its own positions, views and boundaries. It is not
easy to find this balance, but this is essential to moving forward
differently. These and other lessons should be documented, and
built upon in any future processes aimed at hard-to-reverse
movement-wide commitments (for example, the Playbook
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Reports/Movement_Strategy_Playbook>
that was developed after the Wikimedia's Movement Strategy process).
== Reflections on the final draft ==
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees has a legal and
fiduciary duty to consider any significant commitment or decision
in light of the expected risk, value, cost, and benefit to
Wikimedia's public interest mission. The value of new structures
proposed in the final draft of the Movement Charter has to be
weighed against their risk, their cost, and the resource demands
of this movement at a time when we have all seen that the growth
rate of revenue is not increasing at the same rate as in the past,
while demands to invest more in the Wikimedia platforms, projects,
and communities are increasing.
As liaisons, we believe the *risks and costs* associated with the
currently proposed form of the Global Council *outweigh its
potential value*.
Firstly and most importantly, the proposed Global Council's
*purpose* is not clearly connected to advancing Wikimedia's public
interest mission. It lacks a compelling explanation of *how* it
will ensure more equitable decision-making and support the mission
of sharing free knowledge. It also does not guide us on how to
address many of the most pressing issues facing community
governance on Wikimedia projects. We recognise that for some, the
status quo *also* does not provide that clarity, but we do not
believe that the final draft Charter moves us closer.
Secondly, we note that the *proposed structure and makeup* of the
Global Council have changed significantly with each iteration of
the published drafts (from a small body to a large assembly to a
flexible-sized body in the most recent text). This may have been
done in response to feedback from multiple stakeholders, but it
raises an ongoing concern we have expressed in all of our feedback
that this proposed structure is not based on the /form following
function/ principle -- we do not see a deliberate or intentional
design that seeks to meet the purpose of such a critical and
important new body.
Finally, as liaisons we believe that important elements within the
final draft Charter, including, most critically, the /Values and
Principles/, require more consensus of communities before
attempting to incorporate them into a larger document that
enshrines binding commitments on us all. Ensuring values are
understood, shared, and - importantly - prioritised similarly
across the movement is essential to relying on them to help craft
an effective and accepted decision-making framework.
== Wikimedia Foundation’s commitment: what to do
irrespective of the outcome of the ratification vote ==
As liaisons, the proposal that we are making to the Board is that,
instead of ratifying the Movement Charter in its current form, it
is better to follow the Movement Strategy Recommendation to
experiment
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Recommendations/Evaluate,_Iterate,_and_Adapt>
more quickly with key areas of responsibility before establishing
a more permanent body with a wider scope. That is why,
irrespective of the outcome of the final draft Charter vote, the
Foundation has already begun to work on shifting core areas of
decision-making
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/History#Clarifying_movement_roles_and_responsibilities_moving_forward>
to increased volunteer oversight, including *fund dissemination*,
and volunteers offering more immediate input on Foundation
decisions, such as *advising on product & technology*.
More specifically, we propose that by January 2025, fund
dissemination, which is one functional area of the proposed Global
Council, be handled by a global decision-making body to determine
the Wikimedia Foundation's regional allocation of grants budgets
for the rest of fiscal year 2024-2025 and to plan grantmaking
estimates for the next two years. A global, but narrower scope,
will help to experiment with more accountability for the results.
This process, which we shall ask to be co-created with affiliates
and individual community members, would build on the experience of
the Regional Funds Committees
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Regional_Committees>,
and the past Funds Dissemination Committee
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Funds_Dissemination_Committee>,
in line with the Movement Strategy 2030 Initiative #27
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Initiatives/Flexible_resource_allocation_framework>
and the work currently taking place with Affiliate EDs and
Regional Funds Committees to determine the Wikimedia Foundation's
regional allocation of grants budgets for FY 2024-2025. It is
important to document and publish the lessons learned from each
step of the process and use these to inform future decision-making
and the possible creation of permanent committees and/or movement
bodies.
Additionally, as liaisons we also propose moving forward with the
establishment of a Product & Technology Advisory Council
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Product_and_Technology_Advisory_Council/Proposal>,
following a proposal from the Foundation that was shared with the
MCDC. This is in line with Movement Strategy 2030 Initiative #31
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Initiatives/Technology_Council>
to advance shared decision-making and co-creative spaces in
technology spaces that are fundamental to support the mission.
== Next steps ==
As all affiliates and individuals prepare to vote on the final
Charter draft, we as liaisons hope that voters will also take the
time to provide written comments alongside their “yes”, “no”, and
“--”
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Supplementary_Document/Ratification_Methodology#Method_of_voting>
vote so that everyone will learn as much as possible about how we
all can move forward with decision-making structures that are more
effective, with an equity lens, for our complex global community
to advance Wikimedia’s mission in the world.
As previously noted, the Board is reviewing the final draft of the
Movement charter now and *plans to vote during a special meeting
between June 25 and July 9*, during the voting period for all
affiliates and individuals
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Supplementary_Document/Ratification_Methodology#Sequence_of_voting>.
This will allow the Board to consider all public comments
available before the start of the voting while casting its vote
alongside affiliates and individual contributors.
At the MCDC’s request, the results of the Board’s vote will be
shared only after the vote of individuals and affiliates has
concluded, so as not to influence their voting, but likely before
the outcomes of those votes are published, and not before July 10.
As we all await the outcome of the final draft Charter vote, it
will be important to be ready to take concrete steps that will
help move us forward as a movement. Wikimania will be an
opportunity to begin constructive and productive conversations on
these and other immediate next steps, informed by the comments
left by individuals and affiliates during the vote. Working
together on practical, time-bound steps will shape a better and
more equitable framework for making decisions. With a shared
commitment, this moment of change can foster a greater sense of
belonging, one that can sometimes feel elusive in this widely
diverse global movement.
Best regards
Nat and Lorenzo
Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees liaisons to the Movement
Charter Drafting Committee
===========================================
Best regards,
antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv
Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
/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!/
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