Wikimedia Foundation Board noticeboard/Late August 2024 update

Hi again - I wrote three weeks ago about where I thought we were heading as a movement. You can read that letter on Meta. It focused on the many challenges I see facing us in the world, and the opportunities we have to respond. I also shared hopes for constructive discussions at Wikimania that might clarify some next steps in developing a charter for the Wikimedia movement.

Thank you to all who are engaging with me, the Wikimedia Foundation staff, and Trustees, with a spirit of generosity, openness, and collective problem-solving. I acknowledge the difficult feedback we received about how the Foundation’s actions in the charter process may have eroded some trust. It will be hard to get everything right going forward, but we intend to approach next steps with more clarity about the Foundation’s obligations, limitations, and what changes we believe are possible under what conditions.

While the Board of Trustees outlined reasons for not ratifying this version of a charter, they also asked for help with this open proposal to co-create three realistic, time-bound experiments related to grants distribution, product/technology, and the affiliate ecosystem (some of the areas identified for a future Global Council). On-wiki feedback and sessions hosted at Wikimania have already improved the design of these experiments, and more input is needed.

Also, a consensus emerged from the helpful comments that were submitted through the ratification vote, on-wiki input, and constructive conversations during Wikimania sessions, that a “mapping exercise” could provide visibility into the areas of the charter where there is broad agreement, as well as areas of disagreement or divergence. The Board of Trustees tasked its Governance Committee to work on this mapping with other stakeholders who wish to remain engaged (e.g., affiliates, interested contributors, former members of the Movement Charter Drafting Committee) – input on how to design this exercise over the coming weeks is welcomed here. A summary of this mapping exercise will be published when it is completed. The intent is to find a practical path forward over the next several months.

The Wikimedia Foundation remains committed to a charter for our movement, with a goal of responsibly shifting more accountability and decision-making to representative councils and volunteer-led bodies. The 2030 movement strategy guides the Foundation’s work, and has been explicitly and repeatedly stated in the annual plan and budget. How we achieve many of the recommendations – including that of equity in decision-making – is where I believe people have differences of opinion and approach. Yet, to make difficult decisions together, we must come together and agree on our shared roles and responsibilities.

As I wrote before, the world needs the Wikimedia projects now more than ever, and at a time when we are experiencing rapid changes in how knowledge is being created, curated, and transmitted. As usual, we must face into many complex social, technical, regulatory and financial trends that require us to adapt swiftly. Finding the opportunities in these changes needs us all.

This email is also co-signed by Board Chair Nat Tymkiv and Governance Committee Chair Dariusz Jemielniak as we all work on finding a collective path forward. You can always contact me at miskanderwikimedia.org or on my talk page or by signing up for a conversation with Foundation leaders and Trustees at Talking: 2024. The Board of Trustees will watch this page for ongoing input and questions, and I will also provide regular updates here and elsewhere.

Maryana Iskander CEO, Wikimedia Foundation

Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Board of Trustees

Dariusz Jemielniak Chair, Governance Committee