Hello, Aron - I have posted a response to your inquiry on Wikimedia Space - thank you for sharing it there as well: https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/wikimedia-foundation-chief-of-community-engagement-to-leave-the-foundation/2194/3
Thank you to everyone for your feedback, offers of support, and keen insights. We will share more information in the coming months as we complete this transition. -greg ------- Gregory Varnum Communications Strategist Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> [email protected] Pronouns: He/Him/His > On Nov 17, 2019, at 1:56 PM, Aron Manning <[email protected]> wrote: > > Katherine Maher wrote: > >> Valerie and her team drafted >> an ambitious new vision for the work of Community Engagement—focused on >> decentralization of power and resources, safe and welcoming spaces, >> equitable collaboration, increased language and cultural fluency, dedicated >> programs for groups such as women and young people, and expansive >> partnerships in service of free knowledge. > > > >> With this vision in hand, Val and I both see this as the right juncture >> for > > her to move on to her next professional challenge. > > > I'm sorry to hear the news of her leaving. I wish her good fortune in her > next endeavour and I wish success for the WMF in implementing the vision of > her team. > > > Katherine Maher wrote: > >> We will not be starting a search for a new Chief of Community Engagement. >> Instead, over the course of the next few weeks, the seven teams currently >> within the Community Engagement (CE) department will be integrated into the >> Foundation’s other departments. > > > I believe this change might give a new chance to improve community > engagement with the WMF teams. > The Movement Strategy community conversations > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recommendations> > and the office actions consultation > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Office_actions/Community_consultation_on_partial_and_temporary_office_actions/09_2019> > was > a step in the good direction, but the community is looking for a more > engaged, real-time, person-to-person discussion with team members, besides > the unidirectional flow of these plans. As Valerie's ted talk states: > "Think Circles, Not Pyramids". We very much appreciate the contributions of > the few working group members, who joined the discussions, but hoped at > least one member of all working groups would join. > I hope as a result of this restructuring all teams and members will take > part to some extent in "community engagement". Direct communication is the > most effective way to achieve community goals. With the strong divide > between the WMF and the communities, I see direct communication as the only > way to bridge those gaps and create healthy cooperation between the > communities and the WMF. > I believe if engagement with the communities increases, the communities > will be more trusting and helpful to the teams, thereby paving the road to > success for the Movement's goals. > > > Katherine Maher wrote: > >> For example, if you need something from Trust & Safety or Community >> Resources, > > they’ll continue to be here to work with you. >> > > I appreciate the time invested by Karen (KBrown) and Samuel in the partial > bans consultation. In other matters however it is very hard to gain the > attention of T&S. I assumed it's the T&S team's purpose to address > community health issues, but I might be wrong. When I've reported an issue > of tool abuse and possible harassment to the T&S - that previously received > no response (not even acknowledgment > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration_Committee/Procedures#Incoming_mail>) > from the ArbCom -, almost 2 months (sic!) later I've received the following > response: "The issues you have described in your communication to us are a > local community governance matters, which fall outside of the Foundation's > remit. We respect the autonomy of the Wikimedia communities and, as a rule, > do not interfere." > This was at the time when Fram was temporarily banned by the T&S for > harassment. > I've clarified in a response that the issue involved Terms of Use > violation, which is the policy of the WMF, not the community. There was no > answer in the last 3 months. > > As the community health research projects revealed in previous years, > editors are occasionally bullied, harassed; often this is done to influence > decisions and silence different POVs. Established editors are part of a > social network of fellow editors, who can protect them from harm, but new > and casual editors don't enjoy such safety. > As an example: the first response I've received *from the OTRS*, when I > asked how to handle an issue of preferential treatment, that I often see > new users are a victim of: > "Report them to ANI and *hope you're not hit in the face with a boomerang*." > This is the safety new users can expect currently. Needless to say, such > response in a professional support team would be unacceptable. > > My questions are: Where should new and casual editors seek help in the new > team structure if the communities ignore their problem? What team and > individuals will work to improve community health? > > > Paul J. Weiss wrote: > >> I definitely do not want Trust & Safety to narrow its focus to ensuring > > enforcement & reducing liability. As you know, legal but negative behavior >> is a significant threat to the future of Wikipedia and sister projects. The >> team needs to be organizationally placed to maximize, not minimize, its >> access to resources, the community, and other staff as well as its impact. >> Placing it in Legal could, for example, decrease significantly contact and >> trust from our community members whose experience with laws is that they >> are used as weapons and tools to oppress rather than engendering fairness >> and cooperation. >> > > I wholly agree with your concern, my first thought too. However, my > experience (as detailed above) and observation is that T&S already only > gets involved with legal matters, therefore placing it under the Legal > department won't change anything in the regard. That's why I have no > concerns about that move. > > > Katherine Maher wrote: > >> The planned restructure and expansion of Community Engagement was intended >> to help us support > > the community in achieving these goals [of the Medium Term Plan]. This >> includes the MTP’s focus on >> building a thriving movement, increasing community health and diversity, >> and growing among new languages, regions, and audiences. We set these goals >> as part of our interpretation of the Movement Strategy, and they will >> remain our focus for the medium term. >> I still believe we need to make many of these changes, as well as be >> prepared for further changes that may arise from the recommendations of the >> Movement Strategy Working Groups. > > > This year many long-running community and governance issues surfaced: the > mass-desysop proposals of Azerbaijani and Croatian Wikipedias, admin > civility issues on English Wikipedia and a few long-term, valued editors > being sanctioned. These were present for many years and these are just the > public issues known to me. > > I believe in the Movement's targets of diverse, inclusive communities and I > recognize that we are very far from it. I believe the WMF has the resources > to increase community health and diversity, if that target is pursued > consistently. Change is not an easy task however and cannot be done without > close cooperation with the communities. The key to community acceptance is > transparency, communication, and practical solutions; enforcing rules and > unilateral decisions would only result in resistance. I hope there will be > specific roles in the new structure to engage with the community on a daily > basis to resolve community issues and establish healthy practices. I've > suggested in the partial bans consultation, that the WMF hire professional > arbitrators/mediators to tackle the hardest cases in cooperation with > community-elected arbitrators. Professionals would bring a new set of more > nuanced tools to the table to resolve issues with minimal sanctions and > without punishments. > > > The WMF is facing a huge challenge. I wish the best luck and good faith > from the community to achieve the Movement's targets. > > Sincerely, > Aron Manning > > > > > On Fri, 15 Nov 2019 at 3:36 pm, 'Katherine Maher' <[email protected] >> wrote: > >> --------- Original Message --------- >> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Chief of Community Engagement >> to leave the Foundation >> From: 'Katherine Maher' <[email protected]> >> Date: 11/15/19 3:36 pm >> To: 'Wikimedia Mailing List' <[email protected]> >> >> Hello everyone, >> >> I am writing to let you know that Val D’Costa, Chief Community Engagement >> Officer, is leaving the Wikimedia Foundation. I also want to share some >> changes we’re making around how the Foundation organizes staff in the >> Community Engagement department. >> >> Val joined us last January, bringing nearly three decades of experience >> launching and growing international initiatives in emerging markets. With >> the Wikimedia 2030 movement strategy as a guide, Val and her team drafted >> an ambitious new vision for the work of Community Engagement—focused on >> decentralization of power and resources, safe and welcoming spaces, >> equitable collaboration, increased language and cultural fluency, dedicated >> programs for groups such as women and young people, and expansive >> partnerships in service of free knowledge. >> >> With this vision in hand, Val and I both see this as the right juncture for >> her to move on to her next professional challenge. While she will be >> leaving the position of Chief of Community Engagement, she will remain on >> as a consultant to me for a brief period. >> >> I am deeply appreciative of Val’s time with us at the Foundation and want >> to thank her for the contributions she has made to the Wikimedia movement. >> She has been a passionate and persuasive advocate for our mission and >> pushed us to expand our vision of what could be possible for our movement. >> I wish her the absolute best in what she does next. >> >> *== What comes next for Community Engagement ==* >> >> I'll be direct -- we are making changes to the CE department structure. >> >> We will not be starting a search for a new Chief of Community Engagement. >> Instead, over the course of the next few weeks, the seven teams currently >> within the Community Engagement (CE) department will be integrated into the >> Foundation’s other departments. By January, all of the teams will have >> joined their new departments, and “Community Engagement” will no longer be >> a standalone department. >> >> The teams currently in CE will be integrated with other Foundation >> departments aligned with executive leadership goals and based on their >> scope and focus, as well as how they might grow in the future. Some of >> these alignments are intuitive, such as Trust & Safety returning to the >> Legal department; others might not be immediately apparent. >> >> *== What does this mean for your work? ==* >> >> Although we have a good sense of which teams will integrate with which >> departments, we are still meeting with the individual teams to work on the >> specific details of the transition. Our focus is on continuity for existing >> community programs and support for Foundation staff in making this change. >> You may hear from staff seeking input on those arrangements, and I want to >> thank you in advance for any feedback you may have. >> >> We expect to wrap up these conversations in early December, to begin >> transitions in mid-December, and for the transitions to be completed by the >> beginning of January, at which point we’ll be able to share an overview of >> the new arrangements in full. >> >> The work of the Community Engagement teams will remain the same throughout >> this period of transition. For example, if you need something from Trust & >> Safety or Community Resources, they’ll continue to be here to work with >> you. If you have a project or program underway with a CE team or staff >> member, that work will also continue. If you have any questions, please >> feel free to reach out to Greg Varnum at [email protected] or leave >> your question in Wikimedia Space [1] and we’ll make sure we find an answer >> to your question. >> >> *== Why are we making this change? ==* >> >> The Community Engagement department has grown and evolved since it was >> created in 2015. We have brought in people with an increasingly diverse set >> of skills and backgrounds and introduced new support for additional >> languages, geographies, and areas of work, such as community health. >> >> While this has helped the Foundation come a long way in addressing the >> needs of the movement, it has also created complexity. The breadth of >> activities and competencies now supported by the department is quite >> large—today, we have people working on issues as diverse as GLAM collection >> management, participatory grantmaking, and contributor safety—and >> increasingly, across many geographies, cultures, and languages. >> >> This has created challenges for how we effectively coordinate such a range >> of specializations, how we assess their efficacy and impact against our >> mission. At the same time, as the Foundation has grown, we have developed >> capacities in other departments who will be good partners to those serving >> our community mission. >> >> In making these changes, we see an opportunity to align the functions of >> the Foundation with the future of the mission and movement, and better >> serve long-time contributors and emerging communities alike. Over time, we >> anticipate these new arrangements will deepen the understanding of >> community efforts among all Foundation staff and programs, integrate >> community perspective across program design and support, and open up space >> for bold and fresh thinking about how to move our movement forward. >> >> *== What about the future? ==* >> >> Some people may be wondering, what does this mean for the proposed work in >> the Annual or Medium Term plans, or the planned restructure of the >> Community Engagement department to a new regional approach? >> >> We remain fully committed to the work and goals of the Medium Term Plan. >> For example, although Val was not able to attend Indaba to celebrate with >> the African community, our COO and Deputy General Counsel, Janeen Uzzell >> and Tony Sebro, both attended. >> >> The planned restructure and expansion of CE was intended to help us support >> the community in achieving these goals. This includes the MTP’s focus on >> building a thriving movement, increasing community health and diversity, >> and growing among new languages, regions, and audiences. We set these goals >> as part of our interpretation of the Movement Strategy, and they will >> remain our focus for the medium term. >> >> I still believe we need to make many of these changes, as well as be >> prepared for further changes that may arise from the recommendations of the >> Movement Strategy Working Groups. We see a future that could include >> improved regional support, and expanded programmatic support for emerging >> communities, whether those are new languages, geographies, or areas of >> practice. >> >> However, we are putting those plans on hold for the next few weeks, while >> we focus is on supporting the existing teams through this transition. I >> want us to make sure that goes well, before turning our attention to the >> future. That said, I fully expect to resume work on how we expand our >> support for these critical new areas in the first quarter of the new >> calendar year. >> >> == Final thoughts == >> >> I want to be absolutely clear that these changes are in no way an >> indication that the Foundation is decreasing our commitment to support for >> the movement. I hope you see how this offers an opportunity to do the exact >> opposite—to set us up to support the movement in the best way we can. >> >> For those with an interest in Wikimedia history, it’s worth noting that the >> Foundation has taken many different shapes over the years. In 2014, teams >> focused on community support were embedded in other departments. At the >> time, we were much smaller, and our ability to truly engage with the full >> breadth of the movement was more limited. In 2019, the community engagement >> teams are better resourced, more global, and more representative of the >> movement (although there’s always space for continued improvement). >> >> We see this as the right moment to integrate the perspectives, experiences, >> and skills of these teams across the Foundation, ensuring that support for >> the movement is woven into all the Foundation’s work. As Wikimedians, we >> know change is a constant—and it is through change that we often do our >> best work, solve our hardest problems, and find our new path forward. Thank >> you in advance as we take this next step to support the future of our >> movement. >> >> Sincerely, >> Katherine >> >> [1] >> >> https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/wikimedia-foundation-chief-of-community-engagement-to-leave-the-foundation/2194 >> >> Katherine Maher (she/her) >> >> Executive Director >> >> Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> New messages to: [email protected] >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
