Hello, I am the Senior Program Manager for GLAM and Culture at the Wikimedia Foundation. I'm based in London.
This conversation has touched on a number of different topics but I would like to address the points made about Krishna Chaitanya Velaga. WMF hires short-term contractors from time to time. Krishna worked on a part-time contract for a data mapping project. Information about this project was shared in December 2019's This Month in GLAM newsletter <https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/December_2019/Contents/WMF_GLAM_report> and there is a Project page on Meta Wiki <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:GLAM-Wiki_Mapping>. This was not a community outreach position focused on India or any other specific country; it looked at GLAM-wiki projects globally. Krishna was one of two contractors, with the second contractor being based in Europe. Part-time contractors are allowed to apply for WMF grants under certain conditions. You can read the relevant policy here <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Policies/WMF_staff_eligibility>. Please also note that the conference grant that was referred to has a fiscal sponsor <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Fiscal_sponsorships>. The Centre for Internet & Society <https://cis-india.org/> administered the grant on behalf of User:KCVelaga <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:KCVelaga> and User:Pavan santhosh.s <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pavan_santhosh.s>. I trust this addresses your concerns. I do understand from this conversation that paid opportunities with WMF are of interest to this list and I will certainly circulate any future opportunities within my area of responsibility. All my best, Fiona On Mon, 15 Jun 2020 at 15:04, Krishna Chaitanya Velaga <kcvel...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello everyone, > > Firstly, I would like to condemn this email from a person named “Arvind > Menon” - this email is very much a personal attack on me, to misguide a > community member, character assasination and to defame, all using a fake > profile. If the person is actually seeking any information for community > benefit, as Piyush rightly pointed, it would be helpful to know the > person’s Wikimedia identity, and their work. Otherwise, this can merely be > regarded as an ad hominem attack, which has happened several times in the > past on this mailing list. > > Before I go into details, I have been very disturbed by this email, as > several people were asking me, and I was pressurised. I personally request > community members to look for authenticity before considering anything. I > fear this might become a practice to target people just by creating fake > profiles/emails, and wrongfully nameshaming them on public platforms, > without complete understanding. > > Regarding my role with WMF, firstly, there was a contract, but I did not > have any employment, and do not hold any. There has been public > documentation about it, and stating there wasn't any is untrue. All the > relevant details+evidence will be put forward. I have asked WMF support > regarding the same, and they would be giving further on this shortly > (probably in a day or two) after this email. > > I would like to particularly focus on the WikiConference India part. My > relation with WMF has nothing to do with the grant, and no benefit of the > same has been applied in either of the contexts. Though initially people > expressed concerns, many of them, after clarifying, went on to support the > proposal, and it gained more than 40 endorsements > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference/WikiConference_India_2020#Endorsements> > from community members, which shows the community is in favour of the > proposal and the conference. WMF comments were not against it. We created > FAQs > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference/WikiConference_India_2020#FAQs> > on the grant page itself to help community members understand the reasons > behind it, and even all the questions on talk page were answered. We also > mentioned that “all bills worth valuing more than ₹30,000.00 will be > publicly published” - this demonstrates transparency, in an attempt to > establish a new practice. Anyway, the entire Conference and Event Grants > program has been paused due to COVID-19 pandemic, and none of the proposals > forwarded from the initial stage. > > I provided clarification even though the initial email doesn’t address me > or respectfully seeks any information. I am taking this effort to provide > detailed clarification, for the sake of community members and understanding > only. This email, though posted by a fake profile, created great stress, > and almost spoiled my entire day. I once again request the community to be > careful of random postings with unidentifiable identities. I wonder if > there is any way further such personal attacks can be avoided, towards any > community member. > > Regards, > > Krishna Chaitanya V. > > On Sun, 14 Jun 2020, 20:55 Piyush Maurya, <piyush93...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi Arvind, >> >> There are many cases where WMF appointed someone for x community and >> community didn't know nothing about it until the process is over. >> >> Transparency is lacking in the foundation's working environment. If you >> share your username or what you do in the Wikimedia projects it will give >> your comments some value. >> >> Kind regards, >> Piyush >> (User:हिंदुस्थान वासी) >> >> >> On Sun, 14 Jun 2020, 4:50 pm Arvind Menon, <tnkp...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi, >>> >>> The individual grantee for Wikiconference India 2020 grant had secretly >>> done a WMF Contract job with the Community Program Team some month ago. >>> There was no public announcement for the job so I believe no selection >>> process or hidden selection and no public documentation that he was >>> working. My question is why was he given the job depriving other community >>> members from India who want to work but apply and get rejected. What was >>> the need of WMF to hide the process by not informing or documenting. >>> >>> So on Wikiconference India grant WMF was applying to WMF and WMF was >>> going to accept WMF grant. Atleast from WMF grant comments it looks because >>> community blamed grant taking so much money. >>> >>> To me, this is utter misuse of power and abuse of donation money. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >>> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l > -- *Fiona Romeo* Senior Program Manager, GLAM and Culture Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
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