Maryana, Just wanted to thank you for this email. Your openness, transparency, and dedication to listening to the movement's needs are deeply appreciated. I truly enjoy reading these emails, as they summarize many ongoing initiatives and achievements that we may not always be aware of.
Itzik On Thu, Aug 1, 2024 at 6:36 PM Maryana Iskander <[email protected]> wrote: > This message is being translated into other languages on Meta-wiki. > > العربية • español • français • português • 中文 > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/August_2024_Update> > > You can help with more languages. > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/August_2024_Update> > > Hi everyone - It’s approaching three years since I started getting to know > many of you through a nearly 300-person “listening tour” > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour> > that was designed to help me understand the current needs and the future > aspirations of the Wikimedia movement. A couple of months later, I > officially joined the Wikimedia Foundation as CEO. Since then, I have > regularly > communicated here and elsewhere > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates>about > what I’ve been doing and learning. And by now, I have met with or spoken to > thousands of you all over the world. > > As some of us travel to Wikimania next week, I wanted to reflect on where > we are now – both in the world, and in our movement. I also want to share a > few thoughts on the things that are keeping me up these days, what is > giving me hope, and where I need more help as we try to move forward > together. > > ===Setting priorities, showing results=== > > When I arrived in 2022, it was a very difficult moment of transition at > the Wikimedia Foundation. Leadership changes are always disruptive, and I > was met with a growing list of demands from Foundation staff, affiliates, > volunteers, and others about what needed to be changed, fixed, added, > eliminated, expanded, or devolved. And there wasn’t much agreement on any > of them. > > I listened first, and then got to work prioritising the Foundation’s focus > in areas that felt urgent and important, including: > > - > > Shifting more financial resources > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/Budget_Details#Prioritizing_support_for_the_Movement> > to affiliates and other movement entities by slowing the Foundation’s own > growth; > - > > Centering the technology needs of contributors and projects > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025#centeringtech> > as a top priority across the Foundation; > - > > Reaching and supporting global communities in many more languages > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Communications/Organization_communications_translators_group> > (from 6 to 30+); > - > > Providing more transparency about the Foundation’s staffing levels > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/Budget_Details#Staff_overview>, > budgeting details > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/Budget_Details>, > human resources policies > > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/>, > and executive salaries > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024/Foundation_Details#Compensation_Principles> > ; > - > > Assembling a capable leadership team > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Updates/Nine_month_update#Priority_2:_Leadership> > through both new hires and internal promotions > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/role/executive/> that is committed to > accountability, and strives to lead by example; > - > > Changing the Foundation’s orientation to have a more explicit external > focus > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/External_Trends> > on technology and social trends, laws and regulations, funding and > resourcing shifts that should inform our decisions and actions; > - > > And evolving our strategy and planning to more closely align to the > movement’s strategic direction and recommendations > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/History> > – more on this below. > > In a relatively short period of time, we have made significant > improvements responding to a range of concerns I encountered when I > arrived. This is not the full list of what has improved – of course there > is more to do and many more improvements to make. But I believe that the > Wikimedia Foundation has changed for the better. Some of you have let me > know whether or not you agree. > > === Puzzle solving=== > > And now? As I think about all the issues we face, I keep returning to > these puzzles > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour/The_Puzzles> > because, for me, they remain difficult questions that require inventive and > collective puzzle solving. I can’t solve them alone, and the Foundation > can’t solve them in isolation, either. > > The one that is keeping me up is whether we are delivering what the world > needs from us > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour/The_Puzzles#Puzzle_1:_What_does_the_world_need_from_us_now?>, > now? I want to talk more about how we strengthen communities all over > the world in the face of increased risks and threats to our people and > projects. Some of these include combating mis/disinformation > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/10/19/wikimedia-is-an-antidote-to-disinformation-introducing-a-repository-of-anti-disinformation-projects/> > in this blockbuster year of elections > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elections_in_2024>, the increasing > sophistication of cyberattacks on our platforms, tracking complex legal > requirements > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025/Goals/Safety_%26_Integrity#Legal_Defense_and_Compliance> > across a growing list of jurisdictions, responding to ongoing demands to > remove content on our sites > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/transparency/2023-2/>, the > questions being posed in novel legal cases > <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Legifer/juin_2024#Suite_concernant_les_deux_suppressions_juridiques_effectu%C3%A9es_par_la_Fondation_Wikimedia_sur_fr-WP> > that we are litigating right now, and the step-change increase I see in > crisis management and brand attacks for a more polarising world. > > These risks we face are mirrored by even bigger threats in the broader > knowledge ecosystem. These include more frequent internet shutdowns > <https://www.accessnow.org/internet-shutdowns-2023/>, threats to civic > spaces > <https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/06/mapping-and-addressing-threats-civic-space-online>, > decreasing freedom online, attacks on free expression, > <https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2023/repressive-power-artificial-intelligence> > lower levels of public trust in information sources, increased threats to > human rights, and the amplification effect of powerful AI tools > <https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05749> being introduced all at the same > time. > > In the face of all this, a mandate of our mission > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/mission/> is to “make and keep > useful information from [our] projects available on the internet free of > charge, in perpetuity.” What does this require of us, now? I want to talk > more about how our projects become “multigenerational > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/multigenerational>” to sustain > themselves in this volatile future. > > Are there enough contributors, administrators, and other editors with > extended rights to create, revise, and share the sum of all knowledge? Are > enough people with varied perspectives and experiences raising their hands > to participate in shaping their project communities, our global movement, > or even just to vote in elections? Can we maintain and increase the trust > of the public in our content, and also for our financing? > > All of this requires the Foundation to keep centering itself on enabling > the essential technical infrastructure that is core to every aspect of our > mission. In 2022, I said that while I can’t solve the puzzle of > tech-enablement > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour/The_Puzzles#Puzzle_3:_A_human-led,_tech-enabled_movement_must_be_strongly_%E2%80%98tech-enabled%E2%80%99>alone, > “I can take accountability for the leadership, focus, and clarity that is > needed to begin closing the gap between where we are and where we need to > be.” Since then, we’ve named this priority for the entire Foundation. Our > teams have accelerated what they can improve quickly, and named the things > that they can’t do alone. > > ====Making Progress ==== > > We are making progress. Over the last year, we have seen a 25% increase > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_Product_Insights/Reports/June_2024> > in MediaWiki core developers. Our engineering teams launched a new data > centre in South America > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/26/the-journey-to-open-our-first-data-center-in-south-america/> > reducing load times (by as much as one-third of a second) across the > region. They have also upgraded core technical infrastructure for more > security and sustainability. We’ve transformed accessibility > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/17/dark-modes-bright-future-how-dark-mode-will-transform-wikipedias-accessibility/> > on our projects with dark mode. Our stewards now have the ability to globally > block accounts <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/23/tech-news-2024-30/> > (not just IP addresses and IP ranges). Patrollers now can tackle > vandalism on mobile > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/10/%d9%90addressing-vandalism-with-a-tap-the-journey-of-introducing-the-patrolling-feature-in-the-mobile-app/>. > Communities can now customise wiki features > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Community_Configuration> to meet their > unique needs. Moderators can configure automated prevention or reversion > of bad edits > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Moderator_Tools/Automoderator> based on > scoring from a machine learning model. > > We also see progress in becoming more multilingual than in name only > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour/The_Puzzles#Puzzle_4:_Multilingual_in_name_only?> > and making more contributions count > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour/The_Puzzles#Puzzle_2:_Making_all_contributions_count>. > A new translation service (MinT > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/06/13/mint-supporting-underserved-languages-with-open-machine-translation/>) > supports 200+ underserved languages, including 44 with machine translation > for the first time. MinT is becoming the second most used translation > service (behind Google Translate) for Wikimedia projects. An Africa > growth pilot <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Growth_Pilot> > experimented with growing the active editor base in sub-Saharan Africa. > Early results > <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Africa_Growth_Pilot_Live_Tutorials_Evaluation_report_6_months.pdf> > show that participants trained in core Wikipedia policies experienced a 38% > decrease in 48-hour edit revert rate on English Wikipedia at 6 months. In > addition, as part of a new project to create tools that guide newer editors > to contribute in line with policies on their local wikis, we introduced > References > Check > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/06/17/references-check-encouraging-adding-citations-to-wikipedia/>. > With this tool, more than 42% of new content edits added references, and > were not reverted within 48 hours. > > The Foundation has worked to comply with significant new regulations > <https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/the-wikimedia-foundations-perspective-on-the-dsa-and-its-global-implications-b7e84a026d7e> > like the European Union’s Digital Services Act > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Services_Act?wprov=wppw2> when the > Wikimedia Foundation was the only nonprofit organisation to be classified > as a “very large online platform” (VLOP) alongside major tech platforms. A > disinformation team has built this repository > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Anti-Disinformation_Repository> to map > volunteer efforts promoting trustworthy information and acting against > disinformation. And many other Foundation teams have delivered results > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2024-2025#Progress_made_on_last_year%27s_plan> > on many other commitments. > > Less visible has been tackling intractable topics that have sometimes been > left unaddressed by the Foundation, probably because there is no happy > answer. Difficult and unpopular decisions must be made, and we are still > learning how to make them well together. Some of these include: how to > evolve our systems to keep scaling Wikipedia as essential infrastructure > for the internet while also enabling the varied needs of smaller projects? > How to face into the realities of an internet that is becoming more > fragmented, less open source, and less free? How to make the right > collective choices for Wikimedia’s future as generative AI disrupts the > search-driven web traffic we have relied on for decades? > > I wake up every day thinking about how many hard things like this we need > to solve together: protecting our people and projects from a now > much-longer list of sophisticated attacks and threats, complying with (or > dissenting from) a now much-longer list of laws, regulations, and legal > requirements; making the best moves we can now to sustain Wikimedia > projects for generations to come in a changed internet. > > === Progress also in our governance === > > With all of this need in the world, I hope that the governance of our > movement does not become an impossible puzzle. > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_impossible_puzzles> Many are > frustrated by the future of a charter, and the Foundation’s decision not to > ratify the current version. I can’t solve that frustration or confusion > here, but I can share my perspectives on what might help us move forward. > > When I arrived, these were some of my views and questions > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Chief_Executive_Officer/Maryana%E2%80%99s_Listening_Tour/The_Puzzles#Puzzle_5:_Projects_and_organisations> > : > > “Early on, I asked for help to learn more about the founding pillars of > Wikimedia projects, about the organisational values of the Wikimedia > Foundation, and about what led to prior successes and failures throughout > our 20-year history. What emerged for me is the circular puzzle of how best > to run and manage the centralised institutions of a decentralised, > volunteer-led movement? > > This question gets asked in many different ways: is the Wikimedia > Foundation more like a non-profit development organisation or a technology > company? What is the role of affiliated entities like chapters or user > groups? How do we account for the majority of ‘unaffiliated’ volunteers who > power our projects? > > These issues then become layered with views about the power and trust > relationship between movement actors, including (but not only) the > Foundation and communities. How should decisions be made? How should > resources be shared? In my experience, these are familiar debates across > many volunteer-led social movements around the world. > > In our context, I am learning that some dynamics are about fundamental > values, structure and power-sharing: “We operate by the tyranny of the > majority – consensus – this is not good enough.” “Transparency is a tool, > not a value. What is the end goal of what we need transparency for – to > build trust or to what end?” “Capacity is the issue, not resources. We are > volunteers – giving us money doesn’t give us time.” > > While other issues are about performance and execution: “Too much focus > on governance, not actual enablement of people and projects.” “What is the > focus of the Wikimedia Foundation today? It is totally unclear.” “We are > never willing to turn things off, shut things down or stop doing anything.” > > The puzzle is how to build convergence between our divergent > organisational forms and in support of our movement strategy. How do we > draw on similar pillars and principles even though our organisations cannot > be run like our projects? How does our diversity (of every possible form) > remain the catalyst for what it takes to create – not just imagine – a > world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all > knowledge?” > > I see similar sentiments echoed in the comments > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Ratification/Voting/Results#Voter_comments> > submitted alongside the charter ratification vote. For me, these dynamics > are likely to remain a feature of any large, diverse, and divergent global > movement. Yet, this movement has set shared goals > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Recommendations> that > we all have an obligation to implement effectively. > > The Foundation remains committed to the idea of having a charter for the > Wikimedia movement. My prior experience from other volunteer-led > movements is that we need more clarity than we currently have in the > conversations about how to share and devolve accountabilities, not only > power. The Foundation has put forward this open proposal to co-create > practical, time-bound experiments > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Board_resolution_and_vote_on_the_proposed_Movement_Charter/Appendix> > that are intended to represent a break from the past. This is a good-faith > effort to work on the practicalities of shifting accountability and > decision-making to representative councils and volunteer-led bodies. Your > questions, suggestions, and comments on Meta > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Board_resolution_and_vote_on_the_proposed_Movement_Charter/Appendix> > will help make the outcome more successful. > > We have also asked for proposals for how to progress on discussions about > a next version of a charter, taking into account challenges faced in this > process and the need to change it going forward, the Board’s expressed > reservations > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Board_liaisons_reflections_on_final_Movement_charter_draft>, > and the input submitted in the ratification vote. > > Even prior to this vote, the Foundation has itself been identifying areas > of accountability that should responsibly be transferred to others. We have > executed on this intent, like devolving educational programmatic > implementation to affiliates and others. Through this, we are learning that > even on a smaller scale, equity in decision-making requires multiple > stakeholders to agree on strategy, governance, financing, operations, > staffing, communications, risk management, and who takes ultimate > responsibility at the end of the day. > > Some of you joined a session I hosted at this year’s Wikimedia Summit to > ask what the Foundation should stop doing or hand over to others. While no > specific proposals were offered, it is a conversation that we intend to > continue. We need more clarity, not less, on roles and responsibilities in > our movement – this has been and remains a priority for me and the Board of > Trustees, who I see as deeply committed to Wikimedia’s mission and global > communities. > > Where I need more help is how to make progress within my reality of > managing a much larger, highly regulated, more distributed, exceedingly > complex organisation like the Wikimedia Foundation is today. I personally > believe it is possible to change nearly anything we want about the > Foundation – with clear-eyed, informed, and realistic understandings of the > practical trade-offs and real-world consequences of those changes. > > I am confident that the input provided on the Foundation’s open proposal > plus the conversations next week for those attending Wikimania will help us > find a clearer path forward together. > > ===Rational optimism=== > > These governance questions may be discouraging to some of you right now. > Not me. I know we can solve them… and draw on the best of our values and > humanity along the way. > > One second ago, people around the world accessed Wikipedia > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/26/the-journey-to-open-our-first-data-center-in-south-america/> > 5,500 times. Our reach is consequential. I see from our readers, donors, > partners, and allies that what we do is needed now more than ever before. I > see that our values continue to unite people > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2024/04/23/open-letter-protect-wikipedia-global-digital-compact/> > everywhere. I see that we can work with others to advance our commitments > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/our-work/open-the-knowledge/journalism-awards/> > to equity. > > In tough moments, this global community always finds its way through. > That’s what the Wikimedia movement has been doing for almost 25 years, in > spite of the critics, naysayers, and sceptics. We do this by assuming > good faith <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith>, > engaging > with respect and civility > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars#Wikipedia's_editors_should_treat_each_other_with_respect_and_civility>, > expressing appreciation > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Barnstars>, and talking through > our disagreements. And above all, having each other’s backs > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)/Archive_7#c-Ganesha811-20240627142100-WMF_has_our_back> > now when the world is really counting on us. > > I welcome your reflections and your input on-wiki > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Board_resolution_and_vote_on_the_proposed_Movement_Charter/Appendix> > about the path forward. You can contact me at [email protected] or > on my talk page > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/User_talk:MIskander-WMF> > or by signing up for a conversation > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/Talking:_2024> > with me and other Foundation leaders and Trustees at Talking: 2024. > > > Maryana > > > Maryana Iskander > > Wikimedia Foundation CEO > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/EVHMZZE6JPFKCRGPN2ADGVXJSVQ7O3ET/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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