Affiliations Committee/Candidates/June 2020

Update: Effective 1 July 2020, the application period has closed.

The Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members!

The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms. As the committee must hold mid-year elections to replenish its members at this time, those joining the committee during the current process will serve a slightly extended term from July 2020 through December 2022.

If you would like to be considered for an appointment to the Affiliations Committee during our current recruitment cycle, please post your application on this page. All applications must be submitted by 30 June 2020.

Step 1. Post your application here by 30 June 2020. Your application must include the following information:

1. Your full name and Wikimedia username
2. A statement describing your relevant education, experience, abilities, skills, knowledge, availability, and motivation for joining the committee.
3. Answers to the following questions:

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?
4. Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

Step 2. Complete the self-assessment survey between June 01, 2020 and June 30, 2020

The privacy statement that applies to the survey can be found here.

NOTE: The survey will take 15 mins. Please do not close your browser. If you need a break, you are advised to keep the browser open. In case of losing the link, please reach out to mkaur-ctrwikimedia.org

Step 3. Once you have completed the above, send an email announcing your application to affcomlists.wikimedia.org before the application deadline.

All candidates must complete the Self Assessment Survey, which will be available from June 5 for all applicants.

All Wikimedians are invited to share endorsements and comments about candidates. If you provide a negative comment, please cite appropriate evidence for your concerns; it is not appropriate to simply state a negative opinion without factual evidence. We would like to maintain a friendly space for candidates to state their interest without fear of public ridicule.

Candidates

Piyush Mourya (हिंदुस्थान वासी (talk · contribs))

I am Piyush Mourya. Member of the Hindi Wikimedians User Group. I am a bachelors in Arts. I started editing Wikipedia in 2013. I am in offline activities since 2015 with some breaks. And since last year I have taken part in countless events and programs. I have been an admin on Hindi Wikipedia since 2017.

I can write documents and have sufficient knowledge of English to communicate well. I have written more than 3,000 articles on Hindi Wikipedia and this is the proof of my writing skills. More than 20 of my articles are featured (displayed) on the main page. I have also written some articles on English Wikipedia. I have beginner knowledge about computer logic and C- Programming language. And as a Bachelors of Arts I have sufficient skill and knowledge about the different types of subjects (I have done this in Hindi).

I have served as the contact person of Hindi Wikimedians User Group for 2019-20 term. And I also helped in organizing the recently concluded conference held in February, 2020. Between this I take care of all the works assigned and asked from me by different communities members and User Groups. I have attended three national conferences of my community prior to this. Also attended TTT 2019 organized by CIS. I have trained many new users in different workshops and seminars, now also do this by online means. Also takes part in different meetups. As an editor I have more than 53,500 edits made on Hindi Wikipedia, Wikidata, English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Bhojpuri Wikipedia and Hindi Wikisource. I have also organized the Project Tiger Writing contest, Asian Month writing contest and Wiki Loves Women 2020 on my home Wikipedia. I also have sufficient knowledge of the working of Wikidata where I have more than 11,000 edits. My motivation for joining the affiliates committee is to represent my community and share their and other underrepresented communities views which did not get much value previously. I can speak and write Hindi, English, Bhojpuri and Awadhi.

• How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Affiliates give the volunteers group recognition where they can do different activities to promote their cause or objectives. The committee will guide them on different aspects of group management. By including a diverse group of people to its committee it gets input from many different people with different backgrounds and cultures. By coordinating and with regular communication within the communities members affiliates will move forward the movement to its ultimate objective: Free access to all of all the known knowledge of humankind.

• What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

The role of the affiliates in the Wikimedia movement will be very important and valuable in shaping the movement in the next three years. Volunteers coming forward and creating user groups will be guiding the movement and their opinions will matter. Most importantly editors who come forward and create user groups, chapters and other affiliates will bring the collective strength of the different communities together and they will be the potential powerhouse who will move the movement forward. Because ultimately I believe they are editors who can implement the suggestions or inputs coming forward from the Foundation. And there should be no middleman between the Foundation and the editors who make the projects up and running.

• What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

I will be the first person I believe from the Hindi Wikimedia community to be on the Wikimedia affiliates committee. I’m an admin on Hindi Wikipedia and a respectful member of the community. Served as a contact person of Hindi Wikimedians User Group so I am a recognised representative for the community. I will bring the thoughts of the underrepresented communities of my region where there are millions of people who if grouped together can make the movement objectives possible. Aslo first as an editor I know what kind of things hinders someone to become a regular editor which if overcome can benefit the movement at large.

• Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

Recognitions. Because as a member of an underrepresented community I know pretty well how it is important to give proper attention and value to those communities who don't have the privilege and knowledge of the movement and lack behind it because of this. There are several communities in India where these things happen and they missed out on this organized structure of the Foundation. There English language is also the cause of them missing out. These communities and their leaders can understand Hindi pretty well. So I as a native speaker of Hindi and a respected member of Hindi Wikimedians User Group can guide them effectively.

Can be reached by email - Piyush93688@gmail.com

Endorsements

1. Strong support - A very Good contributor at Hindi Wikipedia, along with the other projects. I have worked with the user collaboratively (on hiwiki) and admire his abilities and competences. The user has been one of the most valuable reviewers in the past and still a guiding person until now. The user has helped us formulating some of the most important policies on hiwiki, and this proves his ability to understand and carry forward the fundamental motives of being a Wikipedian. I believe he understands many of the problems of underrepresented communities. His communication skills are good, he has shown enough concerns about our problems and he can do many good things for the underrepresented communities. Wish him to perform his best! --SM7^--talk-- 08:43, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
2. Strong support - As aptly mentioned above by SM7 and needless to repeat the same, user is competent enough to work for the recognition of underrepresent communities. He is well versed in Hindi, Awadhi, Bhojpuri and has pretty good communication skills in English as well (as per my interactions with him). A truly deserving candidate. Wish him all the best. --अजीत कुमार तिवारी (talk) 17:37, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
3. Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
4. Support This candidate has my strongest support of all candidates here. South Asia is 20% of the world's population and currently AffCom has no representative for the Hindi community. I see other representation of people who can use Hindi, but Piyush is the only candidate who is a solid contributor to Hindi Wikipedia (7 years, 40k edits in Hindi) when such editors are very scarce and urgently needed immediately. AffCom de-recognized Wikimedia India last year and the WMF relationship with India is in struggle right now. Piyush was not involved in previous politics about the Wiki India chapter, so that is helpful at this time, and also this user speaks up on the mailing list and can politely and directly make assertive claims without tension about when a Western culture tradition will not work in the context of South Asia. This user can be friendly and practical in re-organizing the relationship and also advocate for the special needs of South Asia and other non-Western countries. I would like to see this person in AffCom. I recognize that many Wikimedians who are internationally active may not know Piyush personally because he has not been an attendee at global events such as Wikimania, but has been active in person participating in national Wikipedia conferences in India. I trust that this person will advocate for the Wikipedia community and expect that there will be local stakeholder representation in programs for volunteer Wikimedia community members. I appreciate that for past programs in India, this user has supported Indian representation in programs for India. Blue Rasberry (talk) 15:28, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
5. Strong support Maina Tudu (talk) 12:39, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
6. Strong support रोहित साव27 (talk) 19:56, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
7. Strong support - Ashok Talk 16:57, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
8. Support-- Pankaj Deo (Talk) 14:29, 4 July 2020 (UTC)
9. Support: good candidate, knows the movement, excellent on-Wiki editing work. This will be a value-addition in the team, I personally feel. -- Tito Dutta (talk) 18:03, 6 July 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

• Thank you for volunteering to help people and organizations. How do you plan to deal with the tension between thematic groups or user groups aiming at supporting non-Wikipedia projects with the superstructure named Wikipedia Penguin Colony (or some similar name the board may elect)? Noé (talk) 09:14, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Hi @Noé:! Thank you for your question. I think you are talking about the proposal of rebranding Wikimedia Foundation by making change in its name to Wikipedia.

I think that is a kind of divisive issue between the communities and the Foundation. And I believe only discussion is the solution here. By our Wikimedia project's guidelines we should evaluate better points from the discussion and take next steps after that. I think that is the answer of your question. Thank you.--Hindust@ni^{क्या करें? बातें!} 18:26, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for this answer! I hope discussion in good faith should help to resolve every conflict, but I also think it is not always possible. Noé (talk) 08:33, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

• Its great to see that you are gearing for challenges other than volunteerism. I also have a question for you and I am not expecting any generic answer or whataboutery. What will be your stand in case of a conflict which might lead you to a point where you have to chose between volunteerism and profession? How will you resolve such issues without compromising either of your responsibilities (as we must respect one's profession and volunteer work both) with the community. As rightly mentioned by Noé, discussion for discussion sake does'nt serve the cause every time. We have a recent experience of Project Toledo. I have enough reasons to endorse you, but I need your views on this first. --अजीत कुमार तिवारी (talk) 13:36, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

Hello @अजीत कुमार तिवारी:, like I mentioned in my description about myself. I have come from volunteering background with years of editing experience. I'm certainly proud of this and I like to think all I got is this. So my first priority will be the volunteering communities. And how I am going to handle this? I would like to take one example. As I am aware of the most recent and conflicting issue of name changing of the Foundation, which is causing lots of anxiety to most communities members and user groups. I will take this issue whenever a related discussion take place. Keep updating the people who makes decisions about the volunteers issues.

I don't think any professionalism will come into play because all people who have elected or appointed to some body can also express their opinions in volunteer capacity. But whenever a work will be assigned to me which can be conflicting to or against my volunteer mind, I can openly disclose that (which many people do). Maybe I have to do that work by being in a profession but it can have my volunteer imprint on it. My main objective will be to enhance the voices of volunteer community's interest. Thanks.--Hindust@ni^{क्या करें? बातें!} 05:40, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for clearing your stand without being politically correct. As a fellow wikimedian I never doubted your volunteerism and onwiki editing ethics. There might be some difference of opinion ahead, therefore get ready for these kind of things if selected. You truly deserve to be there and now I will definitely endorse this nomination of yours. --अजीत कुमार तिवारी (talk) 17:19, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

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• Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future?Nattes à chat (talk) 14:28, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Hi Nattes à chat. In our communities (in the sense of north Indian language communities) it can only be reduced by grassroots movements. High profile events and outreach doesn't give us a single established female editor in years! But just a year and two of outreach in women's colleges and other institutions where main language of education is Hindi, we brought on many female editors with us. Whenever a big event happened for reducing gender gap we just got flag bearers not editors. They do edit but only in formality. Ultimately we need editors first. So, in this role my method to reduce the gender gap will be by trying to make partnerships with these kind of institutions and take part in events to bring the female editors to the Wikimedia projects.

About the second part of your question. The process of making Universal Code of Conduct is happening right now. I'm of the opinion that every community should have its policies on conduct and that can be enforced by the community themselves (or in very extreme cases it can be brought to the attention of stewards). That's my view and so far the current plan. But in any case if the UOC became binding to some extent then the communities can make changes to their policies and guidelines. In my personal opinion, only slightly to suit their needs. Thanks!.--Hindust@ni^{क्या करें? बातें!} 04:39, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Anthony B. Diaz (Kunokuno (talk) 14:07, 14 June 2020 (UTC))

I am Anthony B. Diaz, a member of the PhiliWiki Community. I have served as secretary and chairman of the GLAM Committee during 2019-2020. I have started to take interest on Wikipedia way back 2012 when I have attended the Open Web Day on a local University conducted by Wikimedia Philippines. I’ve supported the next Open Web Day on 2013 as part of the logistics team and also participated on the edit-a-thon. But it was only on January 2018, during the WikiGap challenge since I’ve been actively doing online participation for our community activities. I am a published Bikolano writer and mostly I was engaged on doing article translations and creating new articles in line with our local literary scenes and cultural subjects. During my term, I have spearheaded the #1Lib1Ref Campaign Philippines in partnership with the University of Nueva Caceres. Also, I was part of the Bikol Wiktionary Trainer’s training and have been actively contributing on the Bikol Wiktionary Incubator ever since. I also do tagging on WikiCommons and connecting Bikol articles on Wikidata. One of my biggest contributions on the Wikimedia Community is being a project leader of the first Art and Feminism Edit-a-thon in the Philippines. It was held just a few weeks before the pandemic outbreak but still we’ve achieved and surpassed our estimated new article creation and number of edits. After my term as Secretary of the Philwiki Community, I have focused on being an administrator of our local Wikipedia, creating templates, fixing module errors, locating much reliable references, deletion of dead links, and creating new articles. Also, just recently I’ve participated on the Kundiman Wikiweek Edit-a-thon and the AfLIA 1Lib1Ref. Being a published writer here in the Philippines, I knew well enough that I have the advanced expertise on language usage both in Bikol and English. I am also a fluent Filipino speaker. I knew well that my dedication for enriching literature and bridging the demographic gaps on entire Wikipedia Community is what motivates me to be part of the Affiliations Committee (AffCom).

• How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Volunteers on Wikimedia projects are from different parts of the world. It would be helpful if the Affiliations Committee is diverse enough in terms of nationalities so as to measure which programs are with the highest impacts. That way, it would be weighed objectively. Also, it would be beneficial if affiliates have already experienced handling Wikimedia projects, such as edit-a-thons and tutorials since the Foundation is after on the creating of free and reliable resource of knowledge for the entire world. Previous end existing project heads have first-hand experience on handling volunteers.

• What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

The affiliates serve as mediator between the Wikimedia Foundation and the volunteers. Mostly of the tasks requires the control of what projects would positively affect the entire Wikimedia Community. The role of the affiliates as evaluators of applicants for User Groups, Chapters, and Thematic Organizations requires a keen eye to ensure that every interested volunteer has its goals in line with the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation.

• What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

I am an experienced writer, though most of my works covers fiction writing and my published works were poetry and novel. Creating new articles on our local Wiki has enhanced my technical writing skills. I am also a member of an art group here in the Philippines. Both these writing and art community I’m involved in can be invited to be active volunteers.

• Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

I am interested on serving the Conflict Prevention & Intervention since I have many times experience seeing groups being hindered on their goals because of personal disputes. I believe that a healthy competition is helpful in every group, but once it has exceeded the limits of minimal rivalry, then it creates the conflict.

Endorsements

1. I support him, I know he will be a good one about this.. -- ShiminUfesoj 11:05, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
2. Strong support Anthony B. Diaz, a nationally-known multi-awarded writer in the Philippines, using three languages (Bikol, Tagalog and English) have consistently shown passion and dedication in his work. Definitely, he will be an asset in the Affiliation Committee bringing with him a different and fresh perspective as he comes from a small language Wikipedia. Ringer (talk) 15:52, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
3. Support - Looking at the above mentioned contributions by the user, I support. Best of luck!--SM7^--talk-- 08:55, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
4. Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
5. Strong support Anthony Diaz, a proponent of several events in the Philippines had shown great passion in handling events, good leadership in accomplishing projects and good judgment in handling disputes between co-editors. I believe this will be all good avenue for him to prove more of his leadership and more accomplishments in line with the mission of the Wikimedia Movement.Dang Brazal (Talk) 10:24, 29 June 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. Thank you for volunteering to help people and organizations. How do you plan to deal with the tension between thematic groups or user groups aiming at supporting non-Wikipedia projects with the superstructure named Wikipedia Penguin Colony (or some similar name the board may elect)? Noé (talk) 09:14, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for this question Noé. I see no problem with this as long as their aim is in line with the over-all mission of the foundation. The fact that they’ve reached out for the support of Wikimedia only shows that they’re much willing to do partnership programs and projects. As to the stability of the Wikimedia itself, it has withstand a long years of doing its goal so this kind of tension is almost easily to be resolved and I am more willing to be part of taking charge on handling this if given the chance. Thank you. Kunokuno (talk) 13:29, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer Noé (talk) 09:42, 21 June 2020 (UTC

1. Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future? Nattes à chat (talk) 14:17, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for this question Nattes à chat. I have already made my part on reducing the gender gap by joining the annual WikiGap Edit-a-thon 2 years in a row, and will continually do so. Also, just this year, before the pandemic outbreak, I have conducted the Art and Feminism campaign by which one of its objectives is to fix the issues on gender gap. You may check our team's outcome here: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Kunokuno/Art_and_Feminism_in_the_Philippines_2020/home. I think there's already an existing code of conduct when it comes to this and there were user groups that have the specific objective of addressing this concern. The best thing the AffCom could do is to consistently support this movements and as an individual editor, take part in actually contributing articles to bridge this gap. Thank you. Kunokuno (talk) 16:02, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Başak Tosun (Basak (Basak (talk) 14:50, 15 June 2020 (UTC))

This is Basak Tosun (User:Basak). I have studied Political Science and International Relations and then worked on Internet Services sector for 16 years. I am a contributor of Wikimedia projects since 2005. I mainly contribute to Turkish Wikipedia. For long time, I was only an online contributor; i discovered that contributions to free knowledge could go beyond editing after i joined an international WikiCamp in 2015. Then i contacted fellow wikipedians to form a user group in Turkey and became one of the founder members of Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey. I've took the responsibility of Wikipedia Education Programs in the group. I have organised Education Programs in several courses at 8 different universities. Additionaly, i take part in organising edit-a-thons, partnership search, organising local contests. I am proud that despite the Wikipedia block in Turkey during 2016-2019; our group was able to continue some of its activities and represented Turkish community in international events. During last 5 years, I had a chance to participate many international Wikimedia events, get to know Wikimedians from very many different parts of the world and learn about the Wikimedia Movement. In 2019, i became member of two other user groups established in that year: Wikigrannies User Group; Wikimedians of Turkic Languages User Group. I would like to be a member of Affiliations Commitee to share my experiences with the Wikimedians around the world.

• How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Affiliates work best together when they can easily reach to and communicate with each other. Every affiliate have different conditions such as the regulations of their country and the culture of their editor community; and therfore each have their own way of doing projects, solving problems. Still every affiliate would learn and inspire from both the good experiences and the mistakes of other affiliates. They would find such learning oppurtunities when they come together and talk either face-to-face settings or in-distance. Learning the details of and accessing the documents of the partnership projects that worked well in the past would be useful as a beginning point for other fruitful partnerships. Like many wiki editors do when working in wiki articles, it might be useful first copying then changing, localising and expanding the available material.

• What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

According to the Strategic Direction, by 2030, the Wikimedia contributors will not only work on the mission of developing content but go further; they will be working to build an infrastrucuture to collect and use diffeent forms of free, trusted knowledge; and to build more diverse and strgonger community. In next three years, the affiliates will be important actors in moving towards this direction especially in increasing the diversity of the community by working on how to remove the barriers to contribute free knowledge. Affiliates will also play a crucial role in developing the skills of the contributors (skills about Wikidata and new projects).

• What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

As a founder member of the only user group in a country as large as Turkey, I would bring my experiences in starting a user group and in planining activites that would reach large and diverse audiences to the service of those volunteers who are willing to establish and maintain an organisation in their editor community. With the experience i have started to develop in two other international user groups as well as at the Wikimedia events i attend, I could be useful in helping the affiliates to get to know each other and partner on projects and initiatives. I hope that i could be especially useful in building a network especially in Turkic world. I also hope that i could encourage women contributors to be more active in not only editing but also actively taking part in offline events and projects.

• Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

I would be more interested in serving on Recognitions committee. My previous experiences in the movement is more on creating and sustaining groups rather conflict prevention and intervention; i could support affiliates by sharing this experience.

Endorsements

1. Strong support Basak is one of the most active Wikimedian, who has experience working with different affiliates and also has an international orientation, knows the intricacies of different cultures and I think she is appropriate for this position. --Jaba1977 (talk) 17:14, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
2. Support The Affiliations Committee is one of the most important institutions within the Wikimedia Movement, and there is a necessity to have professional and experienced users on the committee. Even though I haven't yet had any interaction with Basak so far, the commitment and attitude of this user is undoubtful and will be an excellent addition to the Affiliations Committee.--George M. (talk) 19:43, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
3. Support Basak is an active and experienced Wikimedian with great organizational and communication skills, and strong relations to the international community, especially the CEE. She will be a valuable member of the AffCom. --Khutuck (talk) 20:49, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
4. Support Basak took actions especially during the wikipedia restrictions in Turkey. Her communication and coordination is strong among the local users. Her taking place in it will be pretty beneficial for affiliations committee in terms of the diversity and committee’s gaining strength.--Pragdon (talk) 21:23, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
5. Support She is an experienced and active user. --Turkmen ^talk 21:28, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
6. Support Başak is highly skilled and motivated contributor of Wikimedia projects both offline and online. Her experiences in help founding and structuring affiliates in a tough environment is especially a valuable asset.--HakanIST (talk) 05:34, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
7. Strong support Highly recommended candidate for this position.--Armenmir (talk) 06:22, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
8. Strong support I have met Başak in different Wikimedia events and I can say that she has so many strong professional qualities and passion for Wikipedia and Wikimedia Movement that she can successfully take this role and bring her expertise to the AffCom.--Lilitik22 (talk) 11:06, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
9. Strong support Basak is very experienced and professional Wikimedian. She has communication and organizational skills, which is so important for wikimedian activity. Also, she is permanent contributor for turkish wikipedia, wikimedia movement and etc. from 2005, so I strongly support her. Good Luck.--იაკობ მახარაძე (talk) 16:39, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
10. Support An active member of Wikimedia family, in and out of Wikimedia projects. She's being active for years with pleasure, and since she's volunteered for this position, I see no reason for not giving it :)--Nanahuatl (talk) 19:51, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
11. Strong support She was started education program in Turkey, also one of leader when Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey establishing committee. She can use communication skills with other committees, user groups, chapters and foundation. Good luck. Sakhalinio (talk) 22:54, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
12. Strong support A little more than a decade ago, I planted the seeds of what I hoped to evolve into a chapter in Turkey one day. We had to start somewhere, but I was still extremely pessimistic about whether or not it would turn into reality. The country had (and still has) a very problematic justice system, and I knew that a legal entity would be under constant attacks. Fast forward to today: If we have managed to form an official user group of WMF and are now on the verge of founding a legal entity under the laws of Turkey only after a decade after that online initiative, Basak should be the first person to thank and give much-deserved credit. Along with some excellent volunteers whose name you see above me, Basak has simply elevated our game with her selfless outreach efforts. She has been a natural leader and an excellent communicator, and considering that she is from a patriarchical society where people only tend to follow and/or listen to those who have authority and/or privileges, I find the fact that she has never been an admin on any content wiki very impressive. Of all the Wikimedians I have met over the years, I can't think of a more suitable candidate for the job.--Vito Genovese 23:46, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
13. Strong support Basak is helpful and active contributor. She is skilled and kind member of WMTR. Highly recommended for AffCom. chansey ^message?
14. Strong support Basak has been a leader of Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey for many years. She has both organizational and communication skills and motivation to help AffCom. Good luck. --Laz (talk) 10:34, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
15. Strong support.شيماء (talk) 11:29, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
16. Strong support been privileged to work with her, she is amazing Mardetanha ^talk 20:26, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
17. Strong support--Avicenno (talk) 22:32, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
18. Support I think she is an acceptable candidate for this position.--Marikuna-115 (talk) 07:33, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
19. Support Başak is a very experienced user.SAİT71 (talk) 10:30, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
20. Support --Joalpe (talk) 15:07, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
21. Support Başak is a very experienced Wikimedian, and in my view, one of the strongest pillars of the Turkish Wikimedia Community, inspiring each one of them and her skills are definitely what we need in an AffCom member to support our community :-) --Maor X (talk) 18:03, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
22. Strong support a skillfull candidate, a smart Wikipedian --Armineaghayan
23. Support Basak is active, helpful and experienced a Wikimedian. Especially in Turkey, she works to publicize the names of Wikipedia and its sister projects. She is also one of the leading members in WMTR's participation to many international wiki events. I believe that she will support the committee's work with her experiences. --Uncitoyen^talk 09:04, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
24. Support She is a helpful and experienced person. If I'm not mistaken, she was started education program in Turkey few times. She is definitely suitable for this position. --ToprakM ^✉ 09:38, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
25. Support Basak=Wikipedia, Wikipedia=Basak e.c. 10:57, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
26. Support An ideal candidate. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:03, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
27. Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:08, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
28. Support - Violetova (talk) 12:30, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
29. Support --Visem (talk) 23:08, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
30. Support Amir (talk) 23:21, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
31. Support I'm working with her in WikiGrannies UG and I really appreciate her engagement. --Camelia (talk) 10:41, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
32. Support Tar Lócesilion (talk) 01:20, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
33. Support - CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 11:29, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
34. Support. --Mervat (talk) 12:13, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
35. Support. I konw Başak for her strong communication skills and hardworking nature. --Nevit (talk) 17:46, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
36. Support. --Csisc (talk) 18:08, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
37. Support. She is very helpful and willing to take her job to the end. She is very exprienced and active in all projects and takes on permanent responsibility for the development of Wikipedia. She is the person who Wikipedia needs. Endless support.Thecatcherintherye (talk) 00:09, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
38. Strong support--evrifaessa^talk 17:24, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
39. Strong support Basak has been a highly active Wikimedian for years, and i support her. --єυνσηια / talk 17:27, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
40. Support--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:08, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
41. Support Have seen her support, understanding and wisdom on and off wiki, in various languages and circumstances. --Frhdkazan (talk) 05:56, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
42. Support As a member of Wikimedia User Community Turkey and being a part of every activities for Turkish Wiki community, I trust her for that responsibility and wish her best for future. --justinianus 06:43, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. Thank you for volunteering to help people and organizations. How do you plan to deal with the tension between thematic groups or user groups aiming at supporting non-Wikipedia projects with the superstructure named Wikipedia Penguin Colony (or some similar name the board may elect)? Noé (talk) 09:14, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your question @Noé:! Any new group that will be functioning under new brand will also have to be sharing the vision of the movement therefore i see no reason to assume a tension between the new groups depending on whether the group use wiki projects or non-wiki projects in trying to collect and diseminate different forms of free, trusted knowledge. In dealing with a possible tension between groups, i would prefer not focusing on which project the groups are supporting, i would try to concentrate on the common goals and the shared vision.--Basak (talk) 22:53, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Ok, thank you for your answer! Noé (talk) 07:38, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

• Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future? Nattes à chat (talk) 14:17, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for the questions @Nattes à chat:. I see this role as an opportunity to share my experiences within my community with other affiliates; and in my community while many activities paused, our work for reducing the gender gap including edit-a-thons and gender related wiki-projects did not stop even during the block of Wikipedia in the country. Therefore, i believe i can play a role in reducing the gender gap by carrying those experiences to other affiliates. About your second question, I support the establishment of a future code of conduct. By supporting to create a more collaborative working athmoshpere, the code of counduct would serve the new affiliates build a more inclusive and stronger community from the beginning; therefore would make it possible to make commitment to enforce it in the future.--Basak (talk) 15:39, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Ravan J Al-Taie (Ravan (talk · contribs))

I am Ravan Al-Taie. I'm the founder of Iraqi Wikimedians User Group. I am an engineer, working as a professional in Oil industry. I started editing Wikipedia in 2008, edited Arabic wikipedia and became an admin in 2013 for more than 6 years. In 2015, I've represented the community of volunteers of Wikipedia in receiving the Princess of Asturias award in Spain. My mother language is Arabic, but I speak Kurdish language fluently as well, that's why I helped in Kurdish Wikipedia and currently helping other colleagues to correctly start Kurdish Wikipidian user group as per the foundation process because I strongly believe the more diverse we are the best to be in representing the global knowledge heritage.

I've led several offline activities such as organizing WLM for 3 years in Iraq, as well as starting the first editathon and learning workshop in all Iraq with great success. After that, I've focused on ladies in order to decrease the big gender gap we have in Arabic Wikipedia. Currently working on a self-managed project (online) to teach more than 50 interested ladies from all around Middle East how to participate in different Wikipedia projects. I've participated in many regional and international Wiki events such as Wikimania (2012,2013,2015), Wikimedia Conference (2018), Wikiwomen camp 2017, Wikidata conference (2017), WikiArabia (2015,2016, 2017).

What motivates me to be part of AffCom is that I'me certain that having a point of view from a different place of the globe would definitely pushes the committee forward and in order to me, it will be a great opportunity to get advantage of my previous experiences in creating usergroups.

Other than being a volunteer to meet my passion for free knowledge, in the professional life, I'm an entrepreneur, started already 3 different successful business. I think this experience would work greatly in helping others how to start their new affiliates successfully.

• How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I've seen myself several successful cooperation between Latin usergroups and Arabic user groups in adding great amount of valuable data in all Wiki projects. So I believe it's a very good way to gather the interested editors under one umbrella, be more organized and recognized in order to finally achieve much more results.

• What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

The next 3 years will be very important in verifying the recommendations for 2030 strategy. Real diversity and good representation of all the missing cultures in Wikimedia projects should be achieved in order to reflect the equal opportunity of anyone in the planet to count their voices in deciding the direction of free knowledge and widen the horizon of the foundation projects. Affiliates are a crucial part of organizing these communities in order to help them be a valuable effective part of all the projects.

• What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

As a founder of my country's user group, and as a female contributor interested in activate more women into all the project, I believe I will use all my energy in pushing the process forward in order to make an obvious positive change.

• Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognition OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

Both. I mean anyone of them would be perfect for me. As a founder of an underrepresented community I'm fully aware of the importance of helping these communities to have their own representatives and having them organized in order to achieve more for their language and community. At the same time, I can be a good negotiator for solving any conflict or helping in preventing them in the first way.

Can be reached by email - engineer_ravan@yahoo.com

Endorsements

1. Support She is an experienced and active user. --Nehaoua (talk) 09:40, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
2. Support, I absolutely support Ravan. She's one of the great supporters of the movement objectives. I am pretty sure she'll be a valuable addition to affcom. Good luck. --Mervat (talk) 10:02, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
3. Support experienced user --Alaa :)..! 10:11, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
4. Support I strongly support.--Michel Bakni (talk) 10:13, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
5. Support Trustworthy and active user from what we know on ar.wiki--باسم (talk) 10:18, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
6. Support for sure.--Faisal ^talk 10:52, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
7. Support, Good luck. Mohamed Belgazem (talk) 10:55, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
8. Support, good luck Ravan. دنيا (talk) 11:05, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
9. Support, I wish you all the best, Ravan. --Ahmed M Farrag (talk) 12:38, 19 June 2020 (UTC
10. Support. --Freedom's Falcon (talk) 15:09, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
11. Support. Ahmad.aea.99 (talk) 20:47, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
12. Support --Ibrahim.ID ✪ 23:24, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
13. Support Mohamed Ouda (talk) 05:51, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
14. Support strongly recommend Ravan (Um Sanad) --Mahmood (talk) 16:13, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
15. Support I couldn't imagine a better candidate. Patricio.lorente (talk) 20:58, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
16. Support strongly recommend Ravan --Sarmad (talk)
17. Support, good luck Ravan Nassima Chahboun (talk) 22:26, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
18. Strong support Ravan is a very active, experienced and passionate Wikimedian. Actively involved within the Arabic community, founder of the Iraqi Wikimedians User Group she is also helping the emerging community of Kurdish Wikipidians. Ravan was and still involved in many projects in the region. She is very professional and has excellent communications skills. Ravan is a perfect fit for this position and will do an excellent work. I strongly support and recommend her. --Yamen (talk) 01:49, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
19. Support I highly recommend Ravan, as a hard working and experienced user. -- Kushared (talk) 06:07, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
20. Strong support Active user.. good luck, Ravan.--ولاء (talk) 06:13, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
21. Support Ravan is an experienced and active user, all support.-- Anass Sedrati (talk) 09:23, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
22. Support I know Ravan since 2012 and she is constantly up to date on the Wiki movement. I am confident in her. Dyolf77 (talk) 11:10, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
23. Strong support Ravan is an inspiration for many Arab female users. I would definitely give her my full support! May Hachem93 (talk) 17:34, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
24. Support Ravan is not just one of the most committed and dedicated Wikimedians in the Arab World that I have met, she is also an example for all of us to follow, with her energy and experience which will be a great asset for the committee :-) --Maor X (talk) 17:58, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
25. Strong support Ravan one of the most active Wikimedians in the Arab and Asian world with a strong adaptability and a great communication skills, she has very good knowledge about the communities and their work. she is a perfect fit for this position.-Ahmed Mohi El din (talk) 22:48, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
26. Neutral I'm sorry but I'm not convinced by the response about LGBT+ article deletion below. As a member of WMLGBT user group, I would be worried that we will have a harder time compared to other affiliates Amir (talk) 12:38, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
27. Support Ravan is an ambitious Wikipedian that has gained the community's respect. As a former AffCom member, I see Ravan as a good fit for the position, and that she will perform the duties of an AffCom member to the utmost. --Fjmustak (talk) 16:23, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
28. Support An ideal candidate. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:03, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
29. Strong support Raven is one of the most active Wikimedian, she has a great experience. Also, she has communication and organizational skills. I strongly support and recommend her. Zeinebtakouti (talk) 18:58, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
30. Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:08, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
31. Support --FShbib (talk) 04:15, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
32. Support -- I believe that Ravan can do a great work for the affiliations. So I am strong support this wikimedian.--Reda Kerbouche (talk) 06:00, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
33. Support--Alexmar983 (talk) 11:42, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
34. Support. I'm voting here as a user. During these elections round I will not vote as an AffCom member - as I'm a candidate myself - so I cannot influence the final decision. But I have something to say. I followed the deletion discussion in arwiki and I disagreed with the decision, as well as I disagreed with Ravan's position. But I respect her right (and of all those who expressed there for deletion) to have a different opinion of mine (or anyone else) and don't be judged for this. We have all different backgrounds and we are all living hard times that made us suspicious sometimes. Ravan has my support she will act with respect for all. She has also the support of people I care and respect, including who was in AffCom and understands is a role she can perfectly cover. We are talking here of people, not of articles on Wikipedia. And a person is much more than a sentence said in one circumstance. --Camelia (talk) 10:07, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
35. Support -J. Ansari Talk 02:06, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
36. Support - CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 11:31, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
37. Support I think Ravan will be a good addition to the committee, having extensive experience of an affiliate in a sometimes challenging environment. Battleofalma (talk) 12:22, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
38. Strong support I have known Ravan for years and to follow up on her activity inside and outside the wiki movement, she has a good reputation and notoriety in the movement, I think she is able to give positive energy extra to propel the community to other dimensions. and I am convinced that the affcom will find in it a new breath of fresh air. --Mohammed Bachounda (talk) 10:58, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
39. Support Knowledgeable Wikimedian, and active Wikipedian in Arabic projects. Ravan will perfectly fit in the AffCom position. --Reda benkhadra (talk) 15:05, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
40. Support Strongly supported.--سامي الرحيلي (talk) 15:27, 6 July 2020 (UTC)
41. Support Strongly supported. I believe that she can do a great work. -- Bikarhêner (talk) 22:53, 21 July 2020 (UTC)
42. Strong support --Balyozxane (talk) 14:10, 22 July 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. Thank you for volunteering to help people and organizations. How do you plan to deal with the tension between thematic groups or user groups aiming at supporting non-Wikipedia projects with the superstructure named Wikipedia Penguin Colony (or some similar name the board may elect)? Noé (talk) 09:14, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the question, I don't believe such tension would appear frequently. But in case it happened, reminding everyone that we all are working for free knowledge should ease the situation. Resources dedicated are dedicated for all, finding a way which all projects can support each other would make everyone that they are a part of a win-win case. Ravan (talk) 22:27, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. This tension already exist, and it's visible during the annual Community Tech Wishlist Survey. I hope it will be possible to build collaboration and positive situation, but I am not sure the Affiliations Committee with have this role anyway. -- Noé (talk) 09:45, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

1. Hi! Based on your strong support for the speedy deletion of Sarah Hegazi, the late Egyptian LGBTQ+ activist article, I wanted to ask how we can expect you to treat LGBTQ+ groups fairly? Ircpresident (talk) 14:16, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

   I think there is a misunderstanding here and mixing different things, I've voted due to notability issues that I explained there in details, I can assure you that I will be fair to everyone not only LGBTQ+ groups because being a wikipedian (especially for that long time) means you've decided to be a humanitarian in the first place. We are all here volunteering and contributing by our time and effort for the benefit of all human kind knowledge heritage, I'm part of this community because all what matters is that you and I want to provide free knowledge for people who need it by their own language. Gender, religion, color, nationality, sexual orientation, or even political conflicts don't matter to me at all as long as we are all collaborating together for the same purpose, writing by the rules that applies on all of us.Ravan (talk) 22:57, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

   I would like to comment here on Ravan's comment. I believe marking the article for speedy deletion was definitely misguided, and a misinterpretation of the policy of speedy deletion (a trap several others fell into in the deletion request). I completely disagree with Ravan's opinion on the matter of Sarah's notability, and am appalled at the way the deletion request was handled, but having known Ravan for several years and engaged with her in intellectual conversations, I can say with certainty that her position on the matter is not based on bigotry. --Fjmustak (talk) 16:13, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

   This would be my view of Ravan, also. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:02, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

   User:Raven: Stop using the offensive term "sexual preference". See this guide: "Avoid the offensive term "sexual preference," which is used to suggest that being gay, lesbian, or bisexual is voluntary and therefore "curable."" Amir (talk) 22:08, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

   Amir: I've changed it to sexual orientation.Ravan (talk) 23:07, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

1. Unfortunately, I’m so disappointed to see some people using my vote in a deletion discussion of Sara Hijazi article to accuse me that I’m biased and may treat LGBTQ+ user groups unfairly.

Below is the exact translation of my vote in Arabic: “ Actually, I feel so empathetic with Sarah Hijazi’s case, I’m very sad and touched that she couldn’t resist this ugly world and it’s refusal of accepting everyone. But at the same time, even my empathy and sadness were great but Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, works by regulations and rules, it’s not a place for an obituary or expressing opinions. Simply, when a person will come in 10 years and check for this article he/she will find that Sarah was an Egyptian lady, confessed that she is a lesbian, the government arrested her then let her go, she left after that to Canada and didn’t handle the consequences of all this abusing then committed suicide. how many persons in Middle East are identical to the description above? Hundreds if now thousands. There is nothing special thing that Sarah did except her courage in facing the society in which thousands are doing on daily basis. I’m so sorry that feelings are not supposed to affect an encyclopedia and I believe the versions of her article in other languages will be deleted soon after some admins will have time and go through it to review it”. Above was my opinion which was based on the rules of notability in Arabic Wikipedia and on my sense of staying impartial. (Not emotionally biased) If you disagree with the rules, we can discuss the policies of the encyclopedia in a democratic way as we always do at least to make our understanding of them more clear. I’ve got rallies of people sending me emails asking me to change my vote, other teams rallied to oppose my nomination in Affcom because they doubt my judgment in LGBTQ+ related activities, even some of them hold meeting asking others to oppose my nomination. If you are a member of any LGBTQ+ usergroup in Wikimedia projects community, go and check how many of them know me for almost 10 years and ask them if at any moment they felt or saw or hear that I’m biased against them or not fully supporting their rights. My strong believe in human kind and their diversity and accepting everyone was the reason I became a Wikipedian in the first place, and it’s what will drive me forward to keep volunteering and offer more and more. Ravan (talk) 23:11, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

User:Ravan: Thanks for your thoughtful response. I want to say my point is in direction of unconscious bias against LGBT+ community. There are three things I can point out here:

• We could use your reasoning for George Floyd as well, he was one of many many people killed by racism and police brutality in US. You basically erased the documentation of pain of other LGBT+ people are enduring by deleting the only case that grabbed media's attention and symbolized all the systemic pain on LGBT+ community in ME.
• You said "I believe the versions of her article in other languages will be deleted soon after some admins will have time and go through it to review it". She is so obviously notable that someone from Arabic Wikipedia went around and tried to delete her article in German and French Wikipedia (note it was someone from Arabic Wikipedia, not the community of those wikis). The German one got immediately reverted and French is all "Keep" now.
• Ironically while someone from Arabic Wikipedia has been going around trying to get her article deleted in other wikis, they put this horrible hostile English message in her RfD basically telling people "This is our wiki, mind your own business". Have you done anything about this?

That being said, I change my vote to neutral and I hope you be more mindful in future. Amir (talk) 10:00, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

1. Amir:I regret, I am affiliated with Wikipedia in French (2011) before the Wikipedia in Arabic (2019) and I am the requester to delete the article. My opinion that I gave a notice to wait to delete in Arabic wiki, so your words are imaginary

(Tradution automatique du français:je regrette, je suis affilié à Wikipédia en français (2011 ) avant le Wikipédia en Arabe et je suis le demandeur de suppression de l'article. malgré que j'ai donné un avis d'attendre en wiki arabe, donc vos propos sont imaginaires) --Nehaoua (talk) 00:42, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

1. Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future? Nattes à chat (talk) 14:17, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Nattes à chat: Thanks a lot for your question, in fact I'm working on Gender gap file since 2015 and even before that. Here is a presentation presented in 2015 with Siko Bouterse, I've organized as well a competition with Walaa to increase the content of female related articles and it was a huge success. You can check the results here. With that said, I'm so eager and interested to see a very big improvement, an obvious one, in this matter. Regarding to the code of conduct, I've participated in the discussion of creating it and will do as well in the reviews. We all need a fair code of conduct that can be applied on everyone, guarantees equity and freedom as well as making sure all the foundation projects are a safe place to participate. New affiliates commitment will come as every single person is obliged to comply with it as a person, then as a team member as well.Ravan (talk) 15:38, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Bunty Avieson (Doctor 17 (talk · contribs))

I'm Bunty Avieson (Doctor 17), a media academic at University of Sydney and a member of Wikimedia Australia. I learned to edit at an Art & Feminism event in March 2017 and immediately followed up with an online course. I have since hosted edit-a-thons in Sydney and Bhutan, but my interest goes beyond editing to the larger goals of the Wikimedia movement, particularly around knowledge equity and diversity. I’m currently leading two research projects to build smaller language Wikipedias. One is a collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai to train two groups of retired Tamils, in both Sydney and Mumbai, to edit Tamil Wikipedia. The other is a three-year project funded by the Australian Research Council, to train Bhutanese to publish on both English Wikipedia and also develop their Dzongkha site. (I presented this project at Wikimania 2018 and feedback from the Wikimedia community informed its final design. WMF funded my training pilot in Bhutan - pix here). In 2019, I co-hosted an international conference at USYD, bringing together scholars, librarians, Wikipedians and Indigenous researchers, to talk about the innovative ways communities were working with Wikipedia. It was hugely successful and by request, we were going to followup in 2020 with the theme Wikipedia in education, when covid struck. I'm an active member of Women Write Wiki and Women In Red.

• How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I think active listening is key. People who come with projects or an idea are passionate and motivated to participate and build communities, and affiliates are there to encourage and guide them, acting as bridge between the WMF and the wider Wikipedia community.

• What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

To support the groups and people whose applications come before the committee, to help them achieve whatever it is they seek to do. The 2030 strategy will also require some adaptability, to ensure the overall vision of the movement is realised.

• What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

I was a journalist for 20 years before doing my PhD about the media in Bhutan, have consulted to Reporters Without Borders, Asia-Pacific and am currently a Principal Investigator in the Worlds of Journalism study. I bring strong skills in communication, literacy, critical thinking, inter-cultural competency and collaboration. I’ve looked at Wikipedia from a range of perspectives and would very much like to serve on this committee as a way to contribute to the movement and also to learn about the innovative things being done throughout communities.

• Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

Recognitions.

Endorsements

1. Support – AffCom could well benefit from Bunty's specific skillset and different perspective upon working with our worldwide community groups around the world. Being someone who has come to the Wikiverse from an academic background studying colonialism, journalism, and especially the communities of Bhutan - brings a necessary critical eye to the methodologies of our Affiliations process - which is absolutely fundamental to ensuring knowledge equity as part of the movement strategy. Wittylama (talk) 08:12, 18 June 2020 (UTC).
2. Bidgee (Talk) 00:46, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
3. Support --Pru.mitchell (talk) 01:17, 19 June 2020 (UTC) An excellent candidate with strong people skills, organisational skills and communication skills. Her understanding of issues in established and developing communities is invaluable and would be an asset in this role.
4. Canley (talk) 04:08, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
5. Hfordsa (talk) 06:21, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
6. Armineaghayan
7. Support I can't think of a worthier and more energised candidate. Fransplace (talk) 23:57, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
8. Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:09, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
9. Support --Oronsay (talk) 01:43, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
10. Support .She is an experienced and active user.MargaretRDonald (talk) 01:46, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
11. Strong support --CooeeCapella (talk) 01:52, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
12. Strong support Bunty is an experienced and innovative researcher and a leader, who has been working tirelessly to expand the diversity and equity in Wikimedia communities in Australia and Bhutan. She has a wealth of research-based knowledge and practical experience to contribute to advance the goals of the Wikipedia movement. --Am sup (talk) 06:35, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
13. Strong support -- Pushblock (talk) 06:30, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
14. Support Great candidate for this role! MurielMary (talk) 12:34, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
15. Strong support Superbly qualified candidate for this role!
16. 220.240.249.5 03:29, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
17. Strong support Excellent candidate for this role, I heartedly support her. AdaBorg (talk) 12:41, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
18. Strong support Can't think of a better candidate for this role. Long-term contributor, generous teacher, strong track record of cross-cultural community work, one of Australia's most valued Wikipedians! Tenniscourtisland (talk) 12:24, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
19. Strong support//Passionfruitvine (talk) 05:03, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. Thank you for volunteering to help people and organizations. How do you plan to deal with the tension between thematic groups or user groups aiming at supporting non-Wikipedia projects with the superstructure named Wikipedia Penguin Colony (or some similar name the board may elect)? Noé (talk) 09:14, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
   1. Thanks for the question Noé. I would listen to the groups to try to understand what it is they are trying to do and then seek to understand the source of the tensions as a first step towards resolving the issue.
   2. Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future? Nattes à chat (talk) 14:17, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
      

Excellent question Nattes à chat! Bridging the gender gap is a key issue for Wikipedia and one that I work towards. It is embedded in my uni research, my work at feminist editathons (such as hosting #KnowMyName at NSW State Library in 2019 and helping at University of Sydney's Franklin Women and Art&Feminism events) and it is reflected in the articles I edit. Identifying the concrete steps I would take on the committee is harder to answer. I would be new to the committee so don't feel qualified to say. Certainly I would bring an intersectional feminist perspective to every issue. I fully support a code of conduct that recognises the realities of the editing environment for women.#Doctor 17 (talk)

Rajeeb Dutta (Marajozkee (talk · contribs))

I am Rajeeb Dutta,(Username: Marajozkee), a passionate Wikimedian from India. My family says, I eat, sleep and breathe Wikipedia.
Picture of Rajeeb

In the professional work front, I am a Freelance IT/ITES consultant, with an overall 20 years of corporate experience in Education/IT/ITES domain, in the capacity of varied roles hovering over in Training, Designing & Branding, HR, Technical Sales working mostly with International clients, having a keen understanding of "bureaucratic" processes, building teams, problem-solving, monitoring & strategic development with an eye on administration, legal aspects and organizational growth.

In terms of volunteer capacity, I have been an active volunteer for almost four years now and worked on different projects and under different capacities as a volunteer. I’m very keen to join the committee because I feel I can add value to it and my candidature will able to fulfill what the committee is looking from a prospective candidate.

I have been fortunate to be in touch with Affiliate representatives, FDC and AffCom members, WMF staffs and Wiki(p)medians across the globe and my participation in Local offline & online meet-ups, National Edit-a-thon & International edit-a-thon (won prizes as well), National Workshops, Wiki Walks documenting Heritage sites and cemeteries([1]), Local conferences and International conference (GLAMTLV2018)had given me an exposure about the movement and those learning and experiences further helped me to understand and perform various tasks related to community building, viz., organizing & conducting online & offline Wiki events, viz., International meet-up (India & Russian Wikimedians at St.Petersburg, 2018), Local meet-up, workshops for new Wikipedians, training Wikipedians, recruitment of volunteers and founding a Wiki Pathshala(Wiki Club), organizing team member of various National and International Wikimedia projects like, (Wiki Loves Monuments 2018 in India, Wiki Women for Women Wellbeing Workshop - Kolkata, SVG Translation Campaign 2019 in India, Wiki Loves Love 2019, Wiki Loves Africa 2019,Interwiki Women Collaboration, WikiGap 2019, Kolkata, India, 1lib1ref Kolkata May 2019, Wiki Loves Cricket World Cup 2019, Queering Wikipedia Conference, Syberthon 2020.

I had have managed in volunteer capacity, various social media accounts, Twitter accounts for Wikimania, Interwiki Women Collaboration, Queering Wikipedia Conference, Facebook accounts for WikiDonne, Wikimedians for Sustainable Development, Wikimedia LGBT other than that I have a founded a Facebook Group Bengal Knowledge Hub where I post updates about the movement. To be in touch with new editors, I am active in various social media platforms like Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Slack.

I am proud co-founder of Wikimedians for Sustainable Development User Group and proud member of various Wikimedia User Groups, Creative Commons Network. Today, only, I am working on a SCI project and all set to role out a presentation on Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons.

I understand that the committee's (14 years) main responsibility is to provide guidance to volunteers around the world in establishing Wikimedia Chapters, Thematic Organizations, and User Groups, and I feel that I have the education, experience, abilities, skills and knowledge to do justice to the job and can be a voice of South Asia. I have excellent communication skills in English with Bachelors in English (Major) and having a Master's degrees in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) helps me to understand, create and maintain relationships in the movement. I love challenges and push myself until and unless I come up with flying colors. With various levels of proficiency, I'm a polyglot (English, Bangla, Hindi). I being a freelancer can be flexible on my work time schedule and can devote the required time for the committee. Thanks for your consideration.

1) How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

I believe that affiliates work best together when they started interacting and know each other. Communication should be the key to work through challenging situations. We are blessed that Affiliates have active and experienced wikip(m)edians as members with diverse experience from around the globe that's makes a better understanding to take effective decisions on recommendations. I would like to see affiliates collaborating with each other following Wikimedia Strategy for 2030 in terms of goals and objectives.

2) What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Recommendations had been released and no decisions have been made to change the current affiliation models yet. Even in the next three years time, I feel AffCom will continue to play the key role in building the capacity of the Wikimedia movement. It will continue to help to create mutual interactions and collaborations between Affiliates. It will be growing not just in numbers also in sizes, there will be more cross-border and cross-regional interactions between Affiliates, keeping in vision Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Recommendations.

3) What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

I am a breath of fresh air. I have experience with volunteer engagement and community building and being a member of the AffCom would allow me to further engage with various affiliates and volunteers from the wider Wikimedia movement. I have always striven to be a team player, an effective communicator and though I’m not perfect, still I believe my education, skills and experiences will be beneficial to the Committee’s further development. I am sure I will be an asset to AffCom if my candidature is given a consideration.

4) Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

Affiliate Recognitions subcommittee. However, I am flexible as needs be.

Endorsements

1. Support Rajeeb has been active wikipedian and has helped in organising many events. I believe his selection in the committee would be of gteat use. --Sushant savla (talk) 11:43, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
2. Support --Gereon K. (talk) 11:46, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
3. Support -- Sumasa (talk) 12:15, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
4. Strong support Rajeeb is indeed a community builder and an experienced Wikimedian. He deserves to be at AffCom.--Rcsharmawiki (talk) 12:46, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
5. Support-- Rajeeb is a friendly and active organizer. He explained to me about Wikidata. He is dedicated to organizing wiki events. I wish you all the best.--Dolon Prova (talk) 13:12, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
6. Support-- He deserves the place. Sanjog.dev (talk) 13:44, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
7. Support- Rajeeb is an active Wikipedian and I support him Ircpresident (talk) 14:01, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
8. Support— I met Rajeeb in person and I saw how much he is passionate one, so yes he deserves عرين أسد أبو رمان (talk)
9. Support-- Rajeeb is a kind and friendly person. He helps me alot not only me he always helps everyone. so I think he deserves it.--Rajdeep ghuman (talk) 14:50, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
10. Support --Joalpe (talk) 15:05, 21 June 2020 (UTC). A kind and serious Wikimedian, a perfect fit for a position that requires great communication and interpersonal skills. --Joalpe (talk) 15:05, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
11. Strong support--Joy sagar Murmu (talk) 15:33, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
12. Strong support -- Rajeeb is a committed personality, He is one of the best choices, he deserves, hence my strong support. Ahmed Nisar (talk) 16:14, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
13. Support Nassima Chahboun (talk) 18:55, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
14. Support Gurlal Maan (talk) 08:12, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
15. Support Armineaghayan
16. Support Strongly support. He is very active and committed to his work. Nettime Sujata (talk) 11:24, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
17. Support I strongly support Rajeev. I think, He is the absolutely right for the place and well deserving guy. KK 12:22, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
18. Support - Sangram Keshari Senapati (talk) 12:53, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
19. Support Vopyan (talk) 15:28, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
20. Support Celestinesucess (talk) 18:13, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
21. Support --- FULBERT (talk) 18:35, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
22. Support--I strongly support him.He is very committed personality.he deserves to be one.Priyankasingha1811 (talk) 16:10, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
23. Support Active Wikimedian with good initiatives. He deserves to be one. Sandeep Raut (talk) 19:59, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
24. Support--- Darwin ^Ahoy! 22:04, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
25. Support -Isaac Kanguya✌ (talk) 06:10, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
26. Support Rajeev is an active Wikimedian and involve in various outreach activities for the community buildup. I believe in his capability and endorse him.-❙❚❚❙❙ JinOy ❚❙❚❙❙ ✉ 06:33, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
27. Support --Owula kpakpo (talk) 07:24, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
28. Support A passionate Wikimedian with a lot of good ideas. dwf² (runding) 16:25, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
29. Support --Aidee MV (talk) 17:41, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
30. Support Rajeeb has maintained a Supportive and collegial relationship since we met at GLAM Tel Aviv 2018, he is capable of leading and will do well --Kclibrarian (talk)
31. Support Rajeeb is a passionate, helpful, empathic Wikimedian. He has experience working with international, multilingual, multicultural teams of people on Wikimedia projects and conferences. He is well-versed in diversity, equity, and inclusion issues and understands LGBTQ+ / feminist issues very well. He would be excellent in this role. RachelWex (talk) 18:46, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
32. Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:10, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
33. Support He is very supportive Wikipedian. He helps us to grow the Santali Wikipedia since its begening. I strongly support him. --Manik Soren (talk) 02:26, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
34. Support--Anup Sadi (talk) 03:13, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
35. Support - Violetova (talk) 12:30, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
36. Support - To my knoledge, Rajeeb is an excellent Wikimedia volunteer, represents many projects and above all very friendly without any arrogancy inspite of his 20 years of experience in various fields. He is a very suitable candidate. --Subas Chandra Rout (talk) 13:25, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
37. Support আফতাবুজ্জামান (talk) 13:49, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
38. SupportNattes à chat (talk) 14:14, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
39. Support --Visem (talk) 23:09, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
40. Support - Working with Rajeeb as a jury member for an online contest revealed his high level of dedication to the Wikimedia movement. He is prompt to respond with meticulous reasoning to give the best you can imagine. SuperSwift (talk) 23:19, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
41. Support Amir (talk) 23:23, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
42. Support - Rajeeb introduced me in the world of Wikipedia, he is a passionate Wikipedian and I wish him all the best.Barbiesona (talk) 15:18, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
43. Support I'm working with him in various project, is a passionate Wikimedian and I support his application. --Camelia (talk) 17:40, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
44. Strong support I support Rajeeb's wish to become a member of AFFCOM. I have collaborated with him a couple of times and I am inspired by his commitment to the Wikimedia community.. Kayusyussuf (talk) 20:35, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
45. Support Rajeeb is a supporting, caring and passionate volunteer I endorse his candidature for the affiliation committee, R Ashwani Banjan Murmu (talk) 00:33, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
46. Support -J. Ansari Talk 02:04, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
47. Support Rajeeb I believe has the capability to be a part of the team because he is diligent and hardworking as well.Joy Agyepong (talk) 07:37, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
48. Support He is very active, supportive and passionate Wikimedian. IMO, he is good candidate for this role as he has good experience dealing with the community problems as well as his collaboration with the South Asian affiliates is a plus. Best of luck!--Nilamkarn (talk) 11:21, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
49. Support - CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 11:32, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
50. Strong support Maina Tudu (talk) 12:44, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
51. Support Maffeth.opiana (talk) 12:56, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
52. Support -- Pranayraj Vangari ^{(talk) |Contribs)} 16:51, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
53. Support Great temperament. I have always seen a smile on Rajeeb's face and he is very kind person open to different collaborations. Wikilover90 (talk) 11:50, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
54. Support -Jayprakash >>> Talk 09:34, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
55. Support--WikiTatik (talk) 18:32, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
56. Support-- I was meet and discuss with rajeeb in india, he has wery interested by the community and want to give better to her. --Mohammed Bachounda (talk) 10:58, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
57. Support. --Csisc (talk) 18:14, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
58. Support Very helpful user across multiple projects. T Cells^Talk 20:31, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
59. Strong support Rajeeb inspired me to join Wikimedia Commons and asked me to share my collection of photographs. He is good a good trainer and organizer. Adots215 (talk) 03:06, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
60. Strong support Rajeeb introduced me to the world of wikipedia and taught me many things about sharing in wikipedia. He is very enthusiastic person and hardworking also. Wikibongmon (talk) 10:11, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
61. Strong support I have been observing him passionately involved in developing Wikipedia.Indeed there is a power within him which attracts youngs to engage themselves in editing wikipedia for more improve service. If this devoted and experienced Wikipedian is selected, his dedication, working experience would be very important to extend the purpose and field of wikipedia. My best wish is always with him.Duttasubha88 (talk) 12:32, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
62. Strong support Rajeeb will be a good choice since he is very keen to learn every new things and good communicator. -- Sumita Roy Dutta (talk) 18:07, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
63. Support--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:11, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
64. Support Have seen Rajeeb being actively contributing through various channels and fora, including offline. --Frhdkazan (talk) 05:59, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
65. Support Harditaher (talk) 11:36, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
66. Strong support I like to point out, Rajeeb is the one who told me anyone can edit in Wikipedia and helped me to create my account and then edit. He is a good mentor and always ready to help.Maguputi (talk) 12:47, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
67. Support -IM3847 (talk) 14:38, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
68. Support, Rajeeb is an excellent communicator very applicable for these kind of tasks, he is well known to nearly all of us here. --Ssr (talk) 08:35, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
69. Support, very good candidate --Nellkasssr (talk) 10:33, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
70. Strong support --Dhanalakshmi .K. T (talk) 05:23, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
71. Strong support --Aliva Sahoo (talk) 06:54, 4 July 2020 (UTC)
72. Support -- Pankaj Deo (Talk) 14:26, 4 July 2020 (UTC)
73. Support --Yamen (talk) 19:47, 10 July 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

1. Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future?Nattes à chat (talk) 14:28, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Thanks a lot my dear friend, for your kind endorsement and asking a question very much relevant today. Now, as far as your first part of the question is concerned, Yes, if you track my entire wiki journey, I have had always tried to work in my volunteer capacity keeping me in mind two words, ‘Diversity’ and ‘Gender gap’. Whether as a participant, facilitator, mentor or as an organiser, for projects like Wiki Women for Women Wellbeing Workshop - Kolkata, SVG Translation Campaign 2019 in India, Wiki Loves Love 2019, Wiki Loves Africa 2019,Interwiki Women Collaboration, WikiGap 2019, Kolkata, India,Queering Wikipedia Conference, Syberthon 2020. Regards, to the last part of your question, I think to have a Universal Code of Conduct is a much waited wish for the community and it will be my honor to be a part of the drafting committee. I think communities will play a vital role for its implementation.

Florence Devouard (Anthere (talk · contribs))

I am Florence, aka user:Anthere. I have been a wikipedian since early 2002 and got involved in several capacities in our mouvement. Languages: French native, English 3
In a first phase, I was an editor on the English and the newly born French wikipedias, where I wrote my share of articles and participated to setting up early rules and guidelines. Formally trained in Food and Agricultural Sciences, most of my early contributions were somewhat related to those fields but I also enjoyed editing in other areas. Very early on, I realized that we had to become an international mouvement (which we were absolutely not back in 2002-2003) and quickly decided to put some of my energy to make sure it would happen.
In a second phase, I got deeply involved both at the local and at the global governance level, with a lot of multitasking in administration, finances, fundraising, legal, staff recrutement etc. I spent 4 years on the board of trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, and was the second Chair of the board immediately after Jimmy Wales. I also co-founded Wikimedia France, one of the first wikimedia chapters and was on its board several years. Within those two roles, I obviously collected experience of what it is to be the central piece of the formal organisation (WMF) and what it is to be an affiliate (WM FR), and had to made tough decisions basing myself on what I thought was best for the mouvement in general. Whilst "the affiliation system" did not exist yet, I clearly played a role in the set-up of the current structure.
In a third phase of my wikimedia life, I decided to refocus on my country and became vice-chair of Wikimedia France, and in the end... it was mostly about finances, administration, fundraising, legal... again. A very typical task I took care of during those years was the Chapter Agreement, which included the Fundraising Agreement, with Garfield back then.
End of 2012, for many reasons, some completely personal and some related to my wikimedia involvement, I decided to move on to a completely different sphere of activity, and quit giving so much time to Wikimedia France and instead put my focus in the development of our african community so that this one would grow, become strong, and provide skills and voices in our mouvement. With Isla Haddow Flood, I co-launched a collection of complementary initiatives, the most successful ones in my view being the photo contest Wiki Loves Africa, the gender-gap initiative Wiki Loves Women or the education offline project Wiki Challenge Ecoles d'Afrique. To facilitate our operations in Africa, we also co-founded a Cap Town based (South Africa) non profit, Wiki in Africa (which is... not an affiliate, but a "friend and ally" organisation, under APG). About 2 years ago, I also joined the other gender gap initiative les sans pagEs and recently handled its recognition as an affiliate. I also resumed hosting events, train new comers, and generally being a "wikimedia helpful contact" in my little geography (I live south of France). This is my most "hands-on" involvement, with a high interest for Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata.
Those years since 2013 have been fascinating to me to discover another facet of the "affiliation" world. In 2013, there were less than 5 chapters/UG in Africa and those were quite small and informal (when compared to what Wikimedia France had become for example). I believe we (WikiAfrica) have partnered with basically every single african chapter/ug at some point or another, and I would make the free claim that we helped several of them to actually emerge or grow as wikimedia affiliates.

1) How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

There is never lack of great ideas. The real problem is implementation as it requires time, energy, money etc.
The best way forward is in partnerships between orgs so that the workload can be shared, the skills used where they are needed, and the global impact maximum. This is what we are trying to do with an initiative such as Wiki Loves Africa where over 15 orgs partners to make it happen. Another great example is WikiGap, which is globally visible now due to it involving several of our wikimedia orgs around the world. One of the challenges to make that happen is communication, and awareness of what other groups are doing. This can happen thanks to Wikimedia Newsletters (such as the Glam one) or thematic portals (such as the Gender Gap portal which I recently completely updated or Visitors to wikimedia offices (not in Covid times...). This awareness of the others and what they do can not simply happen during one annual meeting in Berlin which only a select few can attend, or even a few additional regional conferences. And the multiplication of affiliates in the past 2 years makes it increasingly difficult to have a good visibility of the whole network. Hence the importance to work on several parallel systems to provide more opportunities to discover what other affiliates are doing, and foster discussions".

2) What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

Keyword in the above sentence is "the role". Singular. I do not think we should see the affiliates with a singular perspective, but with a multiple perspectives. We primarily need flexibility. Some affiliates need to be incorporated, whilst others not. Some affiliates are geographically defined, others are thematically defined. Some affiliates are single language, whilst others are multilingual. Each plays different roles. Some have a role in the power-balance. Some have a role in the fundraising. Some in the outreach. Most focus on supporting a small segment of our community. Some provide an unvaluable technical expertise. Some are more services providers to the other affiliates. There are many many roles and I believe this is how it should be. Not a one-shoe fits all.

3) What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

I can provide a sort of unique perspective on the Affiliation Committee, due to a variety of past experiences

1. formerly being on the board of the mother ship (Wikimedia Foundation)
2. formely being on the board of a big affiliate (Wikimedia France)
3. being the group contact for two affiliates (offline and Les sans pagEs) and having been through one of those recognition processes
4. being a board member in a non-affiliated org, that falls in this very vague category of "friends and allies" (Wiki in Africa)
5. having informally advised and supported several usergroups in their creation, growth, and recognition (without being on the AffCom) + a couple of times advised on intra-conflict within UG, and inter conflict between UG (without being on the AffCom).

I have always considered chapters and usergroup essential to our global mouvement, as a source of creativity, empowerment, local involvement, and global resilience. So why now ? to make it short, precisely because the strategy process is coming to an end and we can expect that elements will have to be discussed and implemented which will greatly impact the affiliate structure, because the rebranding process is likely to impact the recognition process, because changes affecting the structure might create conflict between entities, because the times they are changin'

I bring strong skills in critical thinking, inter-cultural competency, and collaboration as well as the capacity to help change a status quo if necessary.

4) Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

I will be happy to serve in both depending on the needs.

Endorsements

• Strong support Florence is a founding member of projects(Wiki Loves Africa and Wiki Loves Women) which have activated many Wikimedia communities in Africa. She is one of the brains behind projects which have helped and continue to help in bridging the gender gap on Wikipedia. Her work inspires me and her continuous support for other female Wikimedians, especially us from Africa is remarkable. I therefore believe she deserves a spot on the Affiliations Committee Celestinesucess (talk) 18:10, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Jalu (talk) 20:12, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Pyb (talk) 20:57, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support For all reasons.--- Darwin ^Ahoy! 21:53, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support a stand-out candidate. Hugely impressive CV of Wikimedia achievements and experience. Doctor 17 (talk) 03:40, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Anthere has a wealth of experience, knowledge and mostly passion for the movement. She has an amazing, strategic brain that is tempered with enormous patience and compassion. As she states, Affcom (and the rest of the movement), is about to face change ... and you need the best people possible on the team. Islahaddow (talk) 04:21, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Anthere has a tremendous experience and knowledge of the Wikimedia Movement, which will be extremely valuable in AffCom. --Opsylac (talk) 07:37, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support No doubt Florence/Anthere is very knowledgeable about the Wikimedia movement and the affiliates, and would be a very great addition to the AffCom. Amqui (talk) 14:32, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support--Geugeor Georges (talk) 14:34, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Florence is an inspiring and experienced candidate. AffCom would be in a good hand. dwf² (runding) 16:24, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:11, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• --Joalpe (talk) 02:32, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support you have my support--Reda Kerbouche (talk) 06:04, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Great experience through the Offline Wikimedians UG. Legoktm (talk) 10:11, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support her knowledge and experience is vast and she has been there from the start. Also her role as a mentor to many wikimedians, her willingness to share and support others make her invaluable. She is a born negociator, has strategic vision and has proved that she cares about the values of our movement. Nattes à chat (talk) 12:24, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Hatonjan (talk) 22:14, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Florence has a wide and multifocal vision of our affiliates, communities and whole movement. --Camelia (talk) 10:41, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support the right experience.--Alexmar983 (talk) 23:04, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Tar Lócesilion (talk) 01:20, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support> --Mervat (talk) 12:16, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support One of the most amazing people in Wikimedia community who never fails to inspire people with her professionalism and affinity. Wikilover90 (talk) 11:50, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support KCVelaga (talk) 19:54, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Great11 (talk) 00:51, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support - I don't want to tell you his story, anyone can find out by doing a little bit of searching. she had the ability and the feeling to make very successful projects. she was able to focus on her city and her country, but that wasn't enough for her. She widened her perspective by working with a very under-represented continent and she was given the deal. when not many people were interested in us. l'affcom can benefit from her vast experience, she offers her skills as a volunteer, what more do we want? --Mohammed Bachounda (talk) 10:58, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support --Wikinade (talk) 11:11, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Chico Venancio (talk) 17:13, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support This is a highly trusted and one of the Wikimedia movement most experienced user. I have worked with her on several projects. This person should have been a member of the AffCom a long time ago. T Cells^Talk 20:37, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Moyg (talk) 21:39, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support
  

Florence is a dedicated Wikimedian with track records of achievements and the ability to work and collaborate with diverse people and groups. I believe she will make a huge impact in this role. Uzoma 12:07, 30 June 2020 (UTC)

• Strong support Florence always surprises me for her commitment and for the clarity of her vision. she has been around for such a long time and she is still not embittered: she really loves this movement and she is always ready to find solutions to make things better and to make things moving smoother. her experience is astonishing, but also her optimism, her capacities and her loyalty to the projects and the communities. iopensa (talk) 17:37, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Florence has led so many movement initiatives, and she is very knowledgeable about the workings of this movement and the affiliates. She surely deserves to be a part of AffCom.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:13, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support I am very much impressed with Florence's engagement around Kumusha Takes Wiki and other projects in Africa, quote them publicly in Russia - had a privilege to finally meet her during Wikimania 2019 in Stockholm. --Frhdkazan (talk) 06:03, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support, once met her personally, had a good impression =)) --Ssr (talk) 08:36, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your position on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future? Nattes à chat (talk) 14:17, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

I am definitly supportive of a long-due code of conduct and I will be happy to participate in its set-up. I believe affiliates ought to be united by a common charter, and this charter should refer to the code of conduct (planned Universal Code of Conduct). It should be one of the tasks of AffCom members to push for this to be implemented. Anthere (talk)

Camelia Boban (Camelia.boban (talk · contribs))

Born in Romania, since 1992 I live in Rome (Italy). I have a daughter of almost 18 years old (Wikipedian only when it comes to science and translating articles from English 🙂). I have a degree in Economic Sciences at the University of Craiova (Romania) and I work as an analyst programmer in the enterprise environment for an IT company in Rome. Wikipedian since 18th March 2007 I became a wikimedian some months after, on 2nd September. I started the WikiDonne project in Italian Wikipedia after Wikimania 2016 Esino Lario and after a while, I co-founded WikiDonne User Group. I am also a member of other user groups (WikiClassics, WikiGrannies), and chapters (WMIT, WMSE, WMAR, WMCH, WMNY, WMDC). I'm interested in diversity, gender gap, science, the reason for which, with my affiliate, I supported or launched various campaigns (Interwiki Women Collaboration, Wiki Loves Sport, Wiki Loves Fashion, Wiki Loves Folklore, Wikigap, Art + Feminism) and I co-ordinated the Diversity Working Group for the Strategy 2030 and the Diversity Space at Wikimania 2019 in Stockholm. I became an AffCom member 4 years ago, I am part of the Mediation Subcommittee and I serve as treasurer. I have intermediate English skills and I am theoretically available after 8 PM CET time during the working days and on the weekend. Why do I want to join the committee again? Because I like it, it is a great team and we are doing something useful; affiliates need a body to ask questions, to help them organizing, growing, and solve conflicts. And who better than someone who knows the community and is doing the same work with the own affiliate? I love to put people together and promote individual or collective initiatives on the social media channels I manage (between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and telegram).

• How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

With the unified account, our projects have crossed, we are no longer isolated in our language projects, we can participate in international events. Regional initiatives between affiliates, based on language or common interests, but also transversal projects or thematic initiatives in multiple languages (like Interwiki Women Collaboration, Wikigap, Wiki Loves Folklore, Art + Feminism with a lot of participation from many countries). These are winning initiatives because they stimulate participation, the healthy competition, and in terms of results it becomes a single voice, strong, instead of many single voices, each on its own.

• What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

I see it as a central role. If we want to become the essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge, the organized and officially recognized groups - most that isolated initiatives - are facilitated to collaborate with partners and governmental entities. And thus extend the visibility, knowledge, and use of wiki projects.

• What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

I'm not uniquely qualified, there are hundreds of motivated and perfect candidates of wikimedians out there. What I can bring are 4 years of experience in AffCom, the knowledge of the problems facing affiliates, a fair and transparency sense on doing things.

• Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

I prefer the same committee I was active since now: Conflict Prevention & Intervention

Endorsements

• Strong support She has made a lot for our movement.--Jalu (talk) 20:14, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support --- Darwin ^Ahoy! 21:54, 22 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 00:13, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Joalpe (talk) 02:31, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Nattes à chat (talk) 14:13, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support--Alexmar983 (talk) 13:30, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Well grounded in collaboration and knowledgeable about the movement and the need for inclusive policy, which broadens our diversity. SusunW (talk) 15:51, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support- Anthere (talk)
• Support --Visem (talk) 23:10, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support I worked with her in Wiki Donne and quite appreciate her work. Amir (talk) 23:24, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Tar Lócesilion (talk) 01:20, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Camelia is involved with many wikimedia projects and manages the WikiDonne group with all enthusiasm. I fully endorse her candidacy.Joy Agyepong (talk) 08:30, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support - CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 11:33, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Maffeth.opiana (talk) 12:55, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support A humble person with great achievements. I cannot imagine a better person than her. Wikilover90 (talk) 11:50, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support - Une personne competente, sage, et sait comment gérer les situations -- Nehaoua (talk) 00:17, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Wikinade (talk) 11:14, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Chico Venancio (talk) 17:13, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Experience-wise, she is definitely qualified. Friendly and approachable. -Filipinayzd (talk) 09:46, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Camelia is a dedicated member of the movement and she's been part of a lot of impactful initiatives. She deserves to be a part of AffCom.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:15, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Camelia was wise and patient enough to see even her own daughter to change her originally critical approach and start editing Wikipedia, so I'm confident she'll be a great AffCom member. --Frhdkazan (talk) 06:06, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future? Nattes à chat (talk) 14:17, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Yes, I do, as my entire wiki work is about diversity and gender gap. I created WikiDonne project in Italian Wikipedia and I co-founded WikiDonne user group which has as a goal increasing diversity (any kind of: gender, sexual identity, age, different abilities, cultural, linguistic, geographical etc), supporting non or underrepresented groups. I'm a full supporter of having at least a basic common Code of Conduct for the affiliate (taking in account that we all agree about civil behavior in our affiliates and projects, but some other conditions - including laws - are different from country to country, so maybe we cannot have the same identic full CoC for all). Since April 2017 WikiDonne adopted a CoC (the same used on the MediaWiki technical spaces). Thank you to be aware of this Nattes à chat. --Camelia (talk) 14:01, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Dear Camilia, As you have served in Affcom for the past years, how do you evaluate the performance of affcom, and if you were to change something of how it manages affiliates and how it approves new groups, what would it be? Best. --Mervat (talk) 17:29, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Dear @Mervat:, sorry for the delay, here are my responses:

• How do you evaluate the performance of AffCom?

There is sometimes a mismatch between what AffCom is doing and how this "what" and "how" AffCom is doing is perceived by some parts of the community. AffCom did its best in that particular situation with that particular knowledge and experience it had at that moment. I know this is not enough and not satisfying for all, but we don't have the glass ball and the issues that we couldn't predict helped us to improve some steps on our processes, adding things not done before which helped us to have a wide vision on situations and dynamics that can occur (e.g. inform the affiliates in the same territory about an application and ask for concerns).

• if you were to change something of how it manages affiliates, what would it be?

Managing the affiliates is a common process where AffCom is only one of the parts involved. AffCom acts at the beginning, checking the requests to become an affiliate are observed: a certain number of members with a certain number of edits, be aligned with the Wikimedia mission - pursue our goals of free knowledge for anyone, have a pertinent name and logo, have civil conduct, including at least a peaceful civil cohabitation with another affiliate (as is the "face" of the movement with communities and partners) -, fill a report of activity every year. Obviously, for chapters and ThOrgs, the requests become more, as being a legal entity means additional duties regarding the law in that country (annual plan and so on). That's it, than AffCom intervenes only when problems appear and are things within its competence.

• if you were to change something of how it approves new groups, what would it be?

This is my opinion about recognitions: I think that arriving first to be recognized as an affiliate it is not something that must preclude equal opportunities for those who arrive later. Giving the opportunity to a group of passionate people to organize as a new affiliate - if they are active, are aligned with our mission, don't engage in conflicts and respect the rules and the policies that are subscribing when they ask to become an affiliate, reason for which is essential to have also a Code of Conduct - is like giving the opportunity to someone who never edited Wikipedia to do it. Is the base of our philosophy, we can only be open to all those who share our vision. UG are flexible entities, that engage people around a language, a topic, a territory. They are inspired to preserve their local culture and if they act as they pledged to do it, they must have this chance. Some of them will grow, gaining experience and capacity building, until becoming a more organized body - like chapters and ThOrgs, with the legal capacity to partnership with other entities, and do things bigger - or just continuing doing things better. All chapters and ThOrgs starting by being a UG as, at that time, was given them this first opportunity. The UGs are based on language, topic, and territory that allow them to minimize overlaps. Turning back to the question "If I were to change how it approves new groups", one idea was to keep in mind also the country's size/population during the recognition process. But how can we deal this with little countries but with so much diversity (different languages, different ethnicity/groups of the population)? Finland could be a good example. --Camelia (talk) 11:02, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

Jeffrey Keefer (FULBERT (talk · contribs))

My name is Jeffrey and I live and work in New York City. I work in organizational learning and nonprofit capacity building, teach in higher education, and serve as a Wikimedian in Residence for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). I started editing Wikipedia three years ago while attending an open education conference in London where I went to a workshop and was challenged to learn to try editing Wikipedia. Between then and now Wikimedia has become my online home, where I edit and teach students how to use our Wikimedia projects, am active across all three types of Affiliates, and was one of the writers of the Movement Strategy Recomendations. I have a PhD in educational research.

I am or have been involved in a number of Wikipedia + Wikimedia projects across the Movement:

• Wikimedia Movement Strategy: Integrator, Writer, and Co-Coordinator of the Capacity Building Working Group
• Election Facilitator for the Affiliate-Selected Board Seats (ASBS) election, 2019.
• Member of the Board, Wikimedia New York City
• Member, Project Grants Committee
• AffCom Reporting Representative, LGBT+ User Group
• Member, Editorial Board of the WikiJournal of Humanities
• Member, Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network
• Member, Wiki Project Med Foundation
• Member, WikiConference North America User Group

Now that the Movement Strategy Recommendations are approved and are about to move forward, I have the time and commitment to continue my Wikipedia service, and hope that I can make a positive contribution as a member of AffCom.

• How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Affiliates work best when they they are bold in their efforts to communicate together openly and in an atmosphere that promotes trust and safety. This means that affiliates spend time together, meet with one another, and listen to one another following the simple-to-say but often challenging to practice, Assume Good Faith. In this way, Assume Good Faith is a notion that summarizes both what it means to be a Wikimedian as well as a worldview for how to survive, and even thrive, in our Movement and across society.

• What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

Affiliates are at the core of the Movement, and will certainly be here in three years if the Movement itself will survive. There is no Movement without Affiliates, and while the name, look, process, or specifics will likely continue to evolve, it will not continue without those who see a greater good working together toward knowledge equity and knowledge as a service. The Movement Strategy Recommendations made bold statements that can be possible only when we have people from all corners of the world involved, and this is what I see as the current role of the Affiliations Committee--to encourage, nurture, and support them where they are and with what they need to move, together, toward our shared goals.

• What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?

I have an in-depth understanding of the Movement Strategy, and as one of the volunteers able to participate in the most three recent steps in the process, I continually said that I would rather be a part of the process than watch and complain about it from the sidelines. It is far easier to point out what goes wrong than to roll up one's sleeves and try to help. I am not afraid of working on behalf of this Movement that has been so beneficial in my life, and believe that my passion for helping where I can, knowing this experiment in crowdsourcing open knowledge has taken us this far, may play some role in embracing the nearly endless possibilities still ahead of us.

• Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

While I am open to serving where needed, I am especially interested in the Conflict Prevention & Intervention subcommittee. This subcommittee seems aligned with the upcoming Universal Code of Conduct, something I believe can help us to actively contribute to the best of our abilities without facing fear or conflict through participation. I see conflict prevention and intervention as an opportunity to help us all work together toward a common goal, and as a rising tide lifts all boats, the more we can work together, the better our entire experience of the Movement will be. Preventing conflict has implications far beyond only those of us here reading these words right now.

Endorsements

• Strong support Having worked with Jeffrey over 2 years, I know that he is a tireless worker, with unending dedication to the Wikimedia movement. He would be a huge asset to AffCom and their work. Smirkybec (talk) 10:37, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Probably the most hardworking person I stumbled across in the last few years in the movement. I don't have doubts that it will bring change to the AffCom as a whole --Oscar_. (talk) 10:58, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 11:35, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support he knows different affiliates.--Alexmar983 (talk) 11:41, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Highly professional, positive minded and patient, will be great as part of the Affcom team. --Fæ (talk) 12:12, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Jeffrey would be excellent in this role. I have collaborated with him on many projects. More important than being knowledgeable and effective I trust his good ethics, calm and direct discussion habits, and sensitivity to the challenges of others. Blue Rasberry (talk) 12:36, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support very nice to work with Ad Huikeshoven (talk) 13:10, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support for his commitment to conflict prevention and willingness to serve on the Universal Cose of Conduct Nattes à chat (talk) 14:12, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support for his deep knowledge of WM culture and his committment to strategy - Kosboot (talk) 13:46, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support for his diplomatic approach to all exchanges and depth of knowledge in the movement. I have worked closely with him both in a group and one-on-one and find that he is sensitive and calm when dealing with others and approaches situations with a professionalism that inspires trust in the collaborative process. A true asset to our movement. SusunW (talk) 15:48, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support I can also confirm his strong communication skills, commitment and diplomatic communication, as well as sharp eye for details. --Zblace (talk) 16:18, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support very nice to work with WikiLester (talk) 18:38, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support I have worked closely with him and it was a pleasure to listen to his perspectives and find solutions to each of the problems we encountered. he has good social and communication skills that might be very useful for this roles. --Marcmiquel (talk) 19:11, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support I have worked closely with FULBERT in my official capacity and wholeheartedly support his nomination. FULBERT is a passionate advocate for equality in the movement and is a true Wikimedian with great expertise in movement culture, operations, and structures. He would be a fantastic asset. Mehrvellous (talk) 20:14, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support I have worked with Jeffery in WMLGBT quite often and he helped me with lots and lots of issues, his knowledge and passion about the movement is quite heart-warming. Amir (talk) 23:26, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Even if I didn't personally interact so much, I worked with Jeff during the whole process of strategy plus other community calls. Is not only engagement - and if writing the recommendations during Christmas is not, what else could be? - but is also about being a model, a point of reference for others. And Jeff is. --Camelia (talk) 10:41, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support My interactions with Jeffery on- and off-wiki at multiple Wikimedia movement events suggest he is a wonderful candidate for this position. He is familiar with the movement, community, and our collective goals and challenges. -Another Believer (talk) 15:10, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Tar Lócesilion (talk) 01:19, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support I was lucky to work with him on Capacity Building Working Group. He's done an amazing job. His passion and solution oriented thinking about movement is inspiring. Also has great communication skills.--HakanIST (talk) 06:22, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support - He is extremely well suited to the role. He's very knowledgeable about the wikimedia landscape and how it relates to the wider world. More importantly, he is always willing to put in the hard emotional labour needed to think deeply about other perspectives. T.Shafee(Evo﹠Evo)^talk 09:28, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support He is really talented and skillful person with great sensitivity and temperament. Wikilover90 (talk) 11:50, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support My direct interaction with Jeffery was during last year's Project Grants Committee deliberations. He has a very unique and balanced perspective that can help looking at a project/community/problem from a new perspective, that might otherwise be missed. He also has a very clear line of thought, which avoids vagueness in discussions. I am happy that he is interested to serve in the conflict prevention subcommittee. Also, his work in other areas, such as LGBT+ and ASBS election facilitator are quite substantial. KCVelaga (talk) 20:00, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support One of the driving forces of the LGBT+ User Group --Shikeishu (talk) 12:32, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support I am happy to seeing Jeffrey application. I have worked with this user and I can confirm that they are competent and experienced. T Cells^Talk 20:40, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Jeffrey has been dedicated to several areas of this movement. He surely deserves to be a part of this committee!--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:19, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support AffCom position requires attentive listening, supporting, as well as the wisdom to step back, ask hard questions and take a balanced decision. From my personal interaction, I feel Jeffrey has the heart and guts that are a necessary ammo for the job. --Frhdkazan (talk) 06:11, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support Involvement with the Movement Strategy, as well as very active membership and leadership in the affiliate space, makes Jeffrey an excellent candidate. Having worked with Jeffrey both online and offline I have no doubts that they'd be a great committee member. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 06:56, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

Do you think you can support in this role the task of reducing the gender gap and how could you concretely do it? What is your positon on the establishment of a future code of conduct and how can new affiliates commit to enforcing it in the future? Nattes à chat (talk) 14:17, 24 June 2020 (UTC) +1 Zblace (talk) 16:19, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for these questions Nattes à chat and Zblace. One of the ways of reducing the gender gap across the Movement is attending to the Principles upon which all of the Movement Strategy Recommendations were built. These Principles speak to what it means to be a Wikimedian, and while several of these speak to your questions (e.g., Equity & Empowerment or Transparency & Accountability), the first one is People-centeredness, meaning "that every aspect of our Movement must address the needs and challenges of the people who power it and whom it serves, so that each one can contribute in their best way to the sum of human knowledge." One cannot have half of humanity unrepresented in some way within our Movement, and as a result I see AffCom playing a role to support and guide those who seek to balance what has historically been out of balance. This can only be done in a culture where people feel safe and have safeguards in place (i.e., the Universal Code of Conduct) to protect them while they are volunteering their time to create a comprehensive collection of human knowledge. If accepted into AffCom membership, I have volunteered to serve on the Conflict Prevention & Intervention subcommittee. While I see this as helping to diffuse and prevent conflicts from arising, this also involves actively stepping in if affiliates do not uphold their commitments in service of the Movement Strategy goals of knowledge as a service and knowledge equity. If the Movement orients itself in these directions, then part of AffCom's role will likely involve helping to equitably build capacity for affiliates to be able to effectively move in that direction. --- FULBERT (talk) 18:25, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Rupika (User:Wikilover90)

My name is Rupika Sharma. I started with my previous username Rupika08, now go by Wikilover90. I am co-founder of Punjabi Wikimedians User Group, one of the first user groups affiliated with WMF in India and co-founder of Wikipedia Asian Month User Group. I have an academic background in Computer Science engineering and have four years of work experience in communications and management. I have been a volunteer since August 2014 in Punjabi Wikipedia and later also started supporting other sister projects in different languages, including Wikimedia Commons, Wikisource and Wikidata.

I have been Project coordinator and designer for the Wikipedia animation movie ‘Wikipedia Tales - A Trip To Lahore’, for promotion of Punjabi and English Wikipedia on social media, coordinator for Wiki Loves Food edit-a-thon in partnership with World Heritage Cuisine Summit & Food Festival 2018, established first ever Wiki Club in North India - Chandigarh Wiki Club in 2017, was on the local Organizing Team of Wiki Conference India in 2016, organized multiple workshops, edit-a-thons and meetups, such as, Wikidata Workshop Chandigarh, Wikipedia Workshop MM Modi College,etc. and was National Jury in Supporting Indian Language Wikipedias Program and organizer from Punjabi Wikipedia in Project Tiger. In addition to that, I have been serving as Patroller at Punjabi Wikipedia and have served as an active leader in policy making for quality content for Punjabi Wikipedia. I am also serving as Admin at Punjabi Wikisource. I founded Project Heritage GLAM for government and non-government GLAM partnerships, digitization of rare South Asian literature, Wikisource development, advocacy, campaign designing, documentation and have been serving as its Project Manager since 2018. With this project, Punjabi Wikisource has become the fastest growing community among all Wikimedia Projects in 2018-2019.

I designed and coordinated the Access to Arts Conference - the first Summit to be organized in India for the artist community for awareness and advocacy about Open Access, Creative Commons Licenses and Wikimedia Commons Project in partnership with Punjab Lalit Kala Akademy, State Council of Arts under the Ministry Of Culture of India.

I have been serving as the head of the Media & Communications team in the international team of Wikipedia Asian Month Project, which is the world's largest writing competition in the world since 2018 and 2019 and is organized on behalf of Wikipedia Asian Month User Group annually. In 2018, I along with Psychoslave conceptualized and designed Wiki Loves Love, an international version of the Commons Photography contest for cultures and festivals of the globe along with advocating for Wikilove in our movement. And in 2020, co-ordinated Wiki Loves Folklore international Photography contest that aims to document folk cultures in different regions of the world.

I am a key contributor and advocate to open knowledge in India making special efforts on open access with different initiatives around advocacy with authors, artists and GLAM community. I have engaged in advocacy efforts for open access with various cultural institutions and government departments, including, Municipal Library Patiala, Municipal Library Ludhiana, Government Museum & Art Gallery and Punjab Arts Council. I am the first Wikimedian-in-residence for GLAM from India and have worked with Rajindra Victoria Diamond Silver Jubilee Municipal Public Library and made collaborations with Panjab Digital Library and other cultural institutions and government departments from India.

I have been actively collaborating with Wikimedia Affiliates, including Arabic Wikipedia - Wikimedians of Levant, Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Deutschland, Wikimedia Belgium, Wikimedia New York, Le Sans Pages, Wikimedia Austria, Wikimedia Poland, and numerous affiliates from Africa and Asia for different projects and initiatives. In addition to that, I have formed active collaborations with Wikimedians with my participation in Wikimania,  Wikimedia Conference 2018 and interviews with Wikimedians from emerging communities from Africa, Asia and Latin America, about their experiences of Wikimedia Conference 2018 and what the free knowledge movement means to them. I was in the Program team of Wikimania Stockholms in 2019 as one of the space organizers for “Readership space” with Anne Gomez from New Readers Team and organized various panels, workshops, discussion sessions, and talks on GLAM, Community growth, Safety and Strategy. I am also in international team of Queering Wikipedia, first Wikimedia international conference for Queer community and  co-ordinator for international Commons Contest Wiki Loves Pride 2019 to celebrate LGBT culture and history and increase LGBTQ+-related media in Commons.

I am a native speaker of English, Hindi, Punjabi, and have basic skills in Urdu, Sanskrit, French and Japanese. I have been serving in the Ombudsman Commission since January 2019 and I have garnered a good in-depth understanding of how a Wikimedia Committee for the community support function. My role in the Ombudsman Commission directly concerns investigating complaints about violations of the Privacy Policy, the Access to nonpublic personal data policy, the CheckUser policy and the oversight policy on Wikimedia projects in close engagement with the Trust & Safety team of Wikimedia Foundation.. And I believe this experience can be useful in supporting the Movement Affiliates with Conflict Prevention & Intervention work for Affcom. Additionally, I am also serving as 1Lib1Ref campaign as Asian Ambassador to mentor, inspire and provide support to the Wikipedia & Library User Group and other participating affiliates and online communities for this project run by The Wikipedia Library.

In my volunteer and professional experience in different roles, I have come to have an in-depth understanding of our movement and the sensitivities around international and cross-cultural conversations and practices. I have served in Wikimedia Foundation in different roles and capacities, including, Movement Strategy 2018-20 process as Strategy Liaison and in that role, I have actively collaborated in the development of the movement strategy recommendations process, working closely with connectors and writers and other working group members in this process. I also supported and engaged with different affiliates, marginalized groups from Asia and Africa to ensure participation of the diverse constituents and stakeholders of our movement with inclusiveness and diversity towards the Wikimedia 2030 vision. I have also served in the Wikimedia Foundation Community Resource team as Junior Program Officer to support the communities via the Rapid Grants process.

I am a member of over 16 user groups, including, Wikipedia Asian Month User Group, Wikipedia & Education User Group, Wikisource Community User Group, Wikimedia LGBT+User Group, WikiWomen's User Group, Punjabi Wikimedians, Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network, Wikimedia and Libraries User Group, Wikidonne User Group, Gender Diversity Visibility Community User Group, Les sans pagEs, Wikibase Community User Group, Whose Knowledge?, Hindi Wikimedians User Group, Commons Photographers User Group, and Wikimedia Digitization User Group. With my experience with the affiliate administration, I am confident that I can use my skills and knowledge to contribute effectively to the Affcom Committee. I would be happy and honored to be a part of this committee to help Wikimedia Communities grow effectively in organizational capacity in line with our Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Recommendations.

(1) How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

Affiliates can perform best with collaboration and learnings with each other. It is only with shared learning that an organization can expand its resources & capacity and progress with time. This way support, successful models for fundraising and partnerships, technology and techniques for various projects such as GLAM, digitization, conflict management, organizational structure can be shared and the affiliates who are lacking in these resources due to geographical or capacity building issues can borrow and improve the scope of their projects or governance models and progress and grow with time. For affiliates in the emerging communities, there are many challenges managing resources, technology, fundraising techniques and capacity to develop the organizational structure. Various factors, such as cultural context, lack of resources and advocacy challenges with the local governments makes them deficient in certain capacities. I think a lot can be learned from the developed affiliates with a successful track record with governance and organization models. On the other hand, thematic affiliates impart useful knowledge that is more specific in the context of expertise. Such affiliates support interested Wikimedia contributors to join hands with them to collaborate and learn from them.

Similarly, small communities, sometimes have successful capacity building with a large volunteer base along with a healthy amount of community health. Learning from each other, we can empower each other in multiple departments.

(2) What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

Each organization has defined goals and scope. Though working for the mission of dissemination of knowledge, they do it in different fields, geographical areas, different sister projects of Wikimedia in themes ranging from education, GLAM, partnerships, technology, fundraising, advancement and different languages of the world. Having affiliates in different operational capacities with Chapters, User Groups and thematic organizations ensures that contributors get resources and structures to volunteer in various action areas of their interest more effectively. Since 2001, Wikimedia Foundation has come a long way by advancing in different aspects and becoming one of five most powerful internet bodies over this time. I see the affiliates taking this achievement further and helping our movement to advance our mission in a more powerful way with increased capacity and participation, equity and more definition in our strategic goals in the coming three years.

(3) What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?

Affcom supports Wikimedia communities to establish new affiliates that assist Wikimedia communities to make the collaborations that serve the purpose and goals defined by them. There are affiliates who have people skilled in governance, while others need to engage consultants and experts. To ensure the effectiveness for equity, diversity and inclusion, there can be steps taken towards supporting the governance models for emergent groups that seek guidance for governance and policy support for developing their bylaws, building a defined organizational structure and support and safety protocols. My professional experience as a collaborator in the Movement Strategy and my understanding of the process can be helpful in supporting the Committee with the next steps of the implementation phase.

In my problem solving abilities, I would like to emphasize on my experience of Ombudsman Commission of one and half years where I have been involved in solving complex cases with investigation of complaints about violations of the Privacy Policy, the Access to nonpublic personal data policy, the CheckUser policy and the oversight policy on Wikimedia projects in close engagement with the Trust & Safety team of Wikimedia Foundation. This expertise can be helpful in supporting the Affiliates that need assistance from Affcom for resolving conflicts.

‎I can communicate in some languages effectively (en-N, Pa-4, Hi-N, Ur-2, sa-2, ja-2, Fr-2).

I have worked with Wikimedians from local and international regions in various projects, and therefore, I am well versed with the development and challenges faced by both small and large scaled communities. With my background in Communications and community engagement, I can also assist in maintaining communication channels for the committee. I have experience in organizational management in philanthropic organizations and I have been able to learn in depth about the governance models of nonprofits and affiliates and these experiences can be a positive addition in the Affcom committee.

Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention? I am open to supporting both. My priority would be to serve for Conflict Prevention & Intervention for the reasons mentioned above.

Endorsements

• Support I worked with Rupika in many projects and I cannot find a more passionate and tireless candidate. --Camelia (talk) 18:28, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Nothing else to add. During Strategy she has worked with a lot of varied communities in areas (Indian subcontinent, EASAP and even Africa) that will be very relevant when it comes to affiliates recognition. The number of different communities she knows will also provide a valuable knowledge about the diversity of our movement and the difficulties to make an affiliate grow up. In other words: She is fully prepared for the task and her experience will be very valuable.--TaronjaSatsuma (talk) 20:06, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 20:45, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support There is no need to speak too much about her, she is amazing dedicate person filled with lots of experience. I believe she is a deserving candidate for the Affiliations Committe. R Ashwani Banjan Murmu (talk) 00:26, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support I know her dedication. She would be a true asset and will be a good professional to the strategy.--கி.மூர்த்தி (talk) 00:57, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Tar Lócesilion (talk) 01:20, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support -J. Ansari Talk 02:02, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Amir (talk) 03:42, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support - Faismeen (talk) 05:45, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support A dedicated and deserving candidate. She has worked a lot and there should be some representatition from South Asian community because it has large number of active language projects. It is also one of the fastest growing community. --Gazal world (talk) 07:53, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support--Rajdeep ghuman (talk) 07:55, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Rupika is a very passionate individual who always strives to get work done. I believe her expertise here will ensure great achievements for the committee and the community at large.Joy Agyepong (talk) 08:25, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika is a very dedicated and hard working wikimedian who does not save any effort for the good and well-being of the community. I believe that she should definitely be part of the Affcom. A profile like Rupika's has definitely its place there. Anass Sedrati (talk) 09:08, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support - CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 11:28, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Maina Tudu (talk) 12:49, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Maffeth.opiana (talk) 12:56, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika is highly skilled, heathfully dedicated to our Wikimedia community, and completely aligned with the Wikimedia Foundation values. Really she's the incarnation of "strive for excellence". On top of that she acts with kindness and an open mindset. --Psychoslave (talk) 15:56, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika is very helpful and she knew how to communicate with new users to increase their contribution. In Wiki Loves Love and WAM, she inspired me to upload photos to commons and to write more articles everyday. And for this, I think she is perfect. -Sangram Keshari Senapati (talk) 16:37, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support--Jalu (talk) 18:53, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support I think Rupika would make a fantastic addition to AffCom. Having worked with her in various capacities over the past couple years, I am really glad she is offering to help in this way. --- FULBERT (talk) 19:09, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika is very helpful, dedicated and hard working wikimedian--कल्याणी कोतकर (talk) 11:18, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika has been a long time member of the community now, and has substantial experience in diverse areas of outreach and the movement at-large. Her professional experience is also quite diverse. I believe that her experience in setting up a non-profit, from scratch, will be useful in adding perspective about making organisations (affiliates) sustainable. KCVelaga (talk) 20:05, 27 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support She is very dedicated women towards Wikimedia movement. Her past experiences and activities are awesome for this committee. Strong support for this nomination.-Jayprakash >>> Talk
• Strong support I worked with Rupika and saw her dedication towards her job. She is very helpful and hardworking. Nettime Sujata (talk) 09:52, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika has ample of experience, therefore I believe she is a perfect fit for the role. Uzoma 19:30, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support I have organized Punjabi Arabic Ealaqat with Rupika and she is very active and ready to help. Looking forward to have another collaboration soon --Avicenno (talk) 21:25, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support She is a Very good Contributer on Punjabi and English wikipedia . I have worked with her some of other projects on wikimedia . She helped me formulating some of the important part on wikimedia projects . Her communication skills are very strong and she also can do many good things for wikimedia foundation . Truly Deserving Candidate . Wish her all the best . -Aliva Sahoo (talk) 02:20, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika is one of the most dedicated and hardworking Wikimedian I've ever met. SuswethaK (talk) 11:05, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Chico Venancio (talk) 17:13, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Sure.--- Darwin ^Ahoy! 20:59, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Sandesh9822 (talk) 07:27, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Best wishes for Rupika --Tiven2240 (talk) 14:47, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika has vast professional experience with international organizations. Suffice to say her intercultural collaborations and impactful projects showcase her analytical ability to understand people and to design programs with exceptional innovation that is aimed at missing gaps in our movement.--*•.¸♡ ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝔹𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕡𝕒𝕝 ♡¸.•*^{𝕋𝕒𝕝𝕜} 15:26, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support From her GLAM works, international campaigns to her professional work with WMF, Rupika has never failed to connect communities from all around the world. Harkawal Benipal (talk) 16:26, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Case of point, she is a skillful person capable of great things. She can be a valuable edition to the Affcom.-Harnoor ghuman (talk) 17:17, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Rupika is a true leader who had a typical postive team spirit and before me whatever others had written I am strongly inclined with those notes. She had grown me too in her varous projects. She will be a gem in Affcom. --Sumita Roy Dutta (talk) 17:58, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support Rupika is a passionate member of the movement who has led a lot of impactful projects in her community. She surely deserves a seat in the Affiliations Committee.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:22, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support I see Rupika's active constructive involvement in the spaces I periodically visit.--Frhdkazan (talk) 06:15, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support without hesitation, veyr good candidate. Cheers, VIGNERON * ^discut. 12:48, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support Experienced and has been great to work with through Wikipedia Asian Month. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 06:58, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support--Dhanalakshmi .K. T (talk) 05:24, 3 July 2020 (UTC)

Application withdrawal acknowledgment

The Affiliations Committee acknowledges that Rupika Sharma withdrew her application after the election results were announced. --Rosiestep (talk) 19:50, 20 July 2020 (UTC)

Pavan Santhosh Surampudi (User:Pavan santhosh.s)

I have been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2013 and I predominantly contribute to Telugu Wikimedia projects. I have been contributing to the larger movement in various capacities, which include, but not limited to, sysop on Telugu Wikipedia, member of Community Health Working Group of Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy. From December 2015 to July 2019, I was associated with CIS-A2K, Wikimedia Foundation’s movement partner in India, as a Community Advocate in staff capacity. Currently I am working as a Community Manager at Quora.

During my time with CIS-A2K, I worked on projects related to community building, editor retention, developing community resources, and quality improvement aspects of Telugu Wikipedia and other Telugu-language Wikimedia projects. Apart from these, I have been extensively involved in collaboratively developing annual work plans for the organisation, and also writing respective reports for the same. Some of the projects that I have been substantially involved in planning and execution in voluntary capacity are, The Wikipedia Library Conference 2019 India, Telugu Wikipedia project which improved more than 20 thousand village articles with substantial information, Telugu Wikipedia 11th Anniversary celebrations, etc., and as staff member,Wikimedia Summit India 2019, Train the Trainer 2019, Regional level Train the Trainer in Hyderabad, etc.,

Based on this experience, I have gained knowledge about Wikimedia projects, Contribution, Meta-activities, affiliates and movement partners. Along with this, based on my professional experience, I gained significant experience in other knowledge production platforms. I will fulfil any responsibility taken in the team and am willing to contribute a substantial amount of my volunteer time to Wikimedia for this position as I feel this is an important service to the community.

Over all these years with Wikimedia, I have seen the affiliate structure emerging to serve the movement’s needs -- I have witnessed the strengths, complications, and failures that emerged out of the current structure, and I am very much interested in making it better.

How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

In many cases, a work or say a project that an affiliate does can be very useful for another affiliate, be it a project idea or the learning that comes from it. Documenting plays a very important role, it is important for affiliates to improve their documentation and for other affiliates to go through that documentation and adopt things from them. This will help for affiliates to manage their resources well, and also come up with innovative projects for their communities. Regularly organising regional conferences would also be a great to improve inter affiliate networks and collaborations.

What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

As a whole, major changes in the world, especially observing the rise of the Internet and increasing demands for distance/digital education, are making open knowledge more necessary to society. In this situation, many organisations, movements, and people are going to work with the Wikimedia movement in a new order that is going to happen. This positive pressure helps affiliates to gain more experience, activity, and commitment towards mission. Affiliate structures like User Groups are going to be well benefited from this scenario, if planned. They will be able to identify the right partners and collaborators at the grass root level and make use of the opportunities. By sharing their institutional knowledge across the movement, these affiliates are also going to support the movement getting into a better direction.

What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified candidate?

I come from a community which does not have a formal affiliate, and there were times where there was a dire need to have an affiliate but it got delayed for various internal reasons. But fortunately, we are now progressively working towards it. At the same time, being a staffer of CIS-A2K I had regularly engaged with various affiliates and communities (more than 20) to say for various events, projects and community development measures for almost three years. This helped me to develop a unique experience of dealing with various situations in complex structures such as India. Also being involved with the Community Health working group of Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy, I am well aware of the strategic direction and how that affects our movement in the long run. Since I have been both a volunteer and a professional in the Wikimedia movement, I can empathise from various perspectives towards a situation.

Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on?

Conflict Prevention & Intervention subcommittee. However, I am flexible as needs be.

Endorsements

• Strong support I have worked with Pavan, He is very helpful and dedicated person and towards Wikimedia Movement. I believe his selection in the committee would be of great use.-- Pranayraj Vangari ^{(talk) |Contribs)} 14:47, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support He is unbelievable and well trusted user. I met him twice in the past. And very impressed from him knowlege about the Wikimedia strategy discussions. He has very understanding in wikimedia movement--Jayprakash >>> Talk 15:44, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Pavan is a friendly and trust worthy person. He does understand Wikimedia movement well. Li-Yun Lin (talk) 16:44, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support -J. Ansari Talk 16:56, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 18:30, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support I have collaborated with Pavan on a lot of projects, ranging from local edit-a-thons to national conferences. He is very empathetic as a person, and tries to remain neutral in discussions, which I think is a very important aspects for conflict resolution. He is an excellent team-worker and can also bring everyone together, and spearhead if needed. Due to work experience with CIS-A2K, he gained incredible insights into working of communities, especially in a country as diverse as India. I had extensive conversations with him during his stint with the Community Health Working Group, and his perspective towards community health and anti-harassment is excellent. KCVelaga (talk) 21:01, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support I've watched Pavan's work from afar only, but have confidence he would be a valuable AffCom member.--Frhdkazan (talk) 06:20, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support -IM3847 (talk) 14:37, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support: in my personal opinion, three things make this application interesting and promising. a) his extensive on-Wiki editing experience, which is extremely important, b) his direct experience of working and collaborating with Telugu and several other Indian communities, and c) his experience in the Strategy2030 process. The combination of these three skills make Pavan an eligible AffCom candidate, I feel. Regards. -- Tito Dutta (talk) 17:55, 6 July 2020 (UTC)

Suyash Dwivedi (User:Suyash.dwivedi)

I am Suyash Dwivedi (User name: Suyash.dwivedi). I have done my graduation in Electronics Engineering. Developing new electronic gadgets, photography, interacting with people, learning new things, listening to classical music, watching plays and classical dance are my hobbies. I like to connect with people from different places, communities, and backgrounds, to understand, try to solve issues and to help them. I like to discuss important issues and am ready to learn from others' experiences. I have taken part in many important discussions , surveys, consultations and online offline meetups organized by volunteers, Wiki projects and WMF.I have good communication skills in English, Hindi (native fluency), Good understanding in Sanskrit, Marathi ,Bhojpuri ,Rajasthani, Awadhi, I also have basic understanding of Punjabi, Fiji Hindi. I have been a Wikimedian since 2013. Mostly I edit on Commons, Hindi, English, Wikidata, GLAM, Wikivoyage and sometimes on other Wikipedia projects like Punjabi. I have organized many outreach activities, including conferences and edit-a-thons. I am a founder member of Hindi Wikimedians User Group and was a flag bearer, from June 2017 - April 2019. Apart from Hindi. I also contribute to English Sanskrit, Marathi, and Punjabi language Wikimedia projects. I was the Lead Organizer of Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in India, hosted Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Salon in Bhopal, organized Wikipedia Asian Month for Hindi and Sanskrit languages in 2016-2017-2018 and 2019 (for Sanskrit).I am member of many user groups like Commons Photographers User Group, WikiDonne User Group,Wiki Project Med etc. I have participated in the ‘10th World Hindi Conference 2015 (India)’ and participated and hosted the “Hindi Wikipedia” stall in an exhibition at the ‘11th World Hindi Conference 2018 (Mauritius)’. I have participated in the following Wikimedia events: WikiConference India 2016,GLAM-Wiki 2018 (Israel) I was one of the panelists for ‘Working with the government for GLAM projects’ discussion, Wikimania 2019 (Stockholm, Sweden) Presented ‘pywikisource’ in Hackathon Showcase. I worked with the Trust and Safety team on a contract as ‘Universal Code of Conduct Facilitator’ (25 Feb- 24 May 2020). I have good experience in documentation. I also contribute to other sister projects like Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, GLAM, Wikivoyage. Currently, I am working on the Internet in a Box (IIAB) hardware to make this device easy to install and control in public places. I also contribute to various like-minded projects to the Wikimedia movement, such as Creative Commons, ‘Common Voice’ by Mozilla. Raspberry Pi Foundation (JAM organizer), OSM, OpenCon, and Internet Archive. I am volunteering in various UN Environment Programme and campaigns, Google Local Guides (Level 9) and a member of the National Ataxia Foundation. Here is the list of my offline /online involvements.

I have seen many editors (and groups of editors) are doing wonderful contributions in movement in many ways, either developing technologies to help other users or advocating , promoting Wiki Projects among their social , regional and international level network. Those users are either not aware that their effort can be benefited by forming a user group or thematic groups. Sometimes I feel they hesitate and feel a burden because of lack of awareness about affiliation models . Also many new user groups have many doubts regarding how successfully and collaborative effort can be made to give useful contrastive benefits to community or movement as whole. I want to help to fill those gaps with my volunteer time.

How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?

When affiliates work together, it always gives wonderful results WLM, WAM, WLE are few examples. Affiliates learn a lot from each other's experience, documentation, even sometimes we get wonderful solutions to resolve challenges hindrance moreover sometimes networking helps if any affiliate wants to outreach.

What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?

The next three years are very important as we have to evidence 2030 strategy recommendations, Covid-19 pandemic also affected the Wikimedia movement. Various affiliates like those who are involved in GLAM projects or organizing editathon, outreach, etc. are at least 1-2 yrs lagged behind. It's really a big challenge for all the affiliates to think more innovatively to strengthen the Wikimedia movement during this period.

What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified candidate?

I have organized various conferences, workshops, outreach activities, and online competitions like WLM and WAM. I have also initiated partnerships like GLAM, Wiki Project Med with many organizations outside Wikipedia. I have also served as UCoC Facilitator, I think experiences and learning by these activities will help me to serve effectively.

Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on?

My priority would be to serve on the Recognitions subcommittee.

Endorsements

• Support KCVelaga (talk) 21:02, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support as he very experenced person. Him Situation Handling skills are very impressive. He talked and collaborated with Government officials, Indian Foreign Ministry for Wikipedia in the past. And recently did a very good job for the Universal Code of Conduct.--Jayprakash >>> Talk 21:57, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
• Support --Novak Watchmen (talk) 04:10, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support Suyash is a Cofounder of Hindi wikimedians user group and experienced candidate.I have worked with him in lots of projects like WAM, WLW, Tiger project ect.. AffCom would be in a good hand -J. Ansari Talk 05:57, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support I've previously heard about Suyash's very positive technical contributions, as well as have seen his passionate but balanced interaction with others.--Frhdkazan (talk) 06:28, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support NehalDaveND (talk) 07:31, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support आर्यावर्त (talk) 10:31, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support Armineaghayan ArmAg 10:43, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support Maffeth.opiana (talk) 10:46, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support Harditaher (talk) 11:35, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support Trikutdas (talk) 15:29, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support--Avicenno (talk) 21:16, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support --Dhanalakshmi .K. T (talk) 05:21, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support --Ashish Bhatnagartalk 10:56, 3 July 2020 (UTC) The user has been well connected to the Wiki-projects for a pretty long period. He will be an asset to the committee if given a chance. He is having excellent skills in public exposure, and has covered major international events. He is one of the founder members of Hindi Wikimedians User group. He has been contributing enormously towards outreach programs and what not. Possesses an understanding for wikimedia movements as a whole. Committee will definitely be benefitted on his insertion.
• Support --Aidee MV (talk) 18:23, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support --Aliva Sahoo (talk) 06:47, 4 July 2020 (UTC)
• Support -- Pankaj Deo (Talk) 14:22, 4 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support --Srishti (talk) 06:21, 5 July 2020 (UTC)
• Strong support __Chaduvari (talk) 01:47, 10 July 2020 (UTC)