[Wikimedia-l] Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Request for Transparency Regarding WMF Staff in India

[hlamba510]

this meta page took my attention (kindly jump to the 19 Nov 2023 paragraph): 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_India_2023/Open_Community_Call

I would appreciate response from the mentioned people on the following issues:
*why "Hindi **Community** activity updates" needs to be presented by 
Praveen/Rachit {User:PDas (WMF) and User:RASharma (WMF)}, who don't represent 
the **community**?
*why the movement strategy activity needs to be led by the above two + one wci 
lead?
*why the call needs to be scheduled in parallel to the cwc final? the recent 
wikiwomancamp was also scheduled during navatri? considerable number of 
bharatiya female contributors couldn't join due to this which includes my 
wikipedia colleague who was sad and couldn't spend the festival with open mind. 
don't the current wmf staff members who are clearly snatching the lead of these 
community issues care about what the indian people are comfortable with? why 
the current wmf staff members make us to choose from either wikimedia or any 
national important event? a few days ago, i didn't agree with jayantilalji for 
being extra aggressive, now i also think ki the current wmf staff members are 
doing this to get promotions and and to show this to the wmf high officers. 

apki jankarike ke liye bata de ki hum bewakoof nahin hain

hope the questions will not be neglected.

your sincerely,
harish
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[Wikimedia-l] Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Request for Transparency Regarding WMF Staff in India

[Yohann Thomas]

Hi everyone

Sorry for the long rant here , but this is a thought of mine, being an
observer of the Indian community activities for many years.. I agree that
this discussion is best said on the Indian mailing list, but since a senior
staff has tried to respond to this query in an official way, i feel it is a
must, that i must add here on the Wikimedia mailing list.

Jayantilal has questioned WMF on a very pressing topic for which the indian
community has been discussing to no avail for more than almost a decade, if
not more ..& has been very heavy on the minds of the community for a long
time.

A few days ago, I came across the WMF India Community Consultation 2014
 blog
post

and was proud of how, as an Indian community, we had achieved so many of
the objectives we had set up. However, today, when I see this thread of
organising the WikiConference India , I feel that this conference, in my
opinion, has made a limited mark on the expectations of the larger Indian
community. If the organizing team had modest objectives, it could have kept
the name Wikiconference Hyderabad. However, keeping the name Wiki
Conference India (WCI), the expectations of the community on a national
level must be met.

A fellow editor from Sri Lanka had even questioned the importance of WCI in
the Asian region on the talk page
,
and an unsatisfactory answer was given by the organizing team. The
objectives have to be very clear on why we are organizing this event, who
do we invite, and on what scale we do this.

If the WMF staff is playing a major role in organizing the
WikiConferenceIndia 23, what are the major objectives it plans to achieve?
Yes, there is a problem of inadequate organic growth of volunteers. Does
WMF think that it can solve this problem by throwing money at it, by
helping to organize the WCI after 7 years, or does it have a concrete
action plan?

WMF might try to reply to the justified doubts , but by redirecting the
query to multiple project pages & links does not help in finding any
solution to the ongoing problems . I think the current situation requires
that after 9 years, another community consultation must be called, where
all stakeholders are invited on an Indian level, and all these pressing
concerns must be discussed.

Regards,
Yohann


On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 11:01 PM Belinda Mbambo 
wrote:

> Dear Jayantilal,
>
> The organizers of WikiConference India have already shared
> 
> more details about the event including staff engagement. Others invited
> you
> 
> to follow up on the talk page.
>
> CIS also responded to your question
> 
> on the list. For your thoughts on their proposal, you can follow up on the 
> grant
> page
> .
> Please note decisions about funding are made by the regional funding
> committee
> 
> of volunteers and not by Wikimedia Foundation staff.
>
> For your questions about hiring practices, you can read more here
> .
> If you have a question about existing projects, do feel free to contact
> that project's leads.
>
> Your latest question about scholarships combines affiliate staff and
> contractors with Foundation staff and contractors. To clarify, staff and
> contractors of the Foundation are not eligible for scholarships based on
> their paid work.
>
> Often though, staff and contractors of the Foundation come from the
> community itself and actively contribute to community initiatives as
> volunteers, and represent that work during different conferences.
>
> Best regards,
>
>
> *Belinda Mbambo*
> Senior Manager: Global Movement Communications
> Wikimedia Foundation 
>
>
>
> -- Forwarded message -
> From: Jayantilal Kothari 
> Date: Tue, Jun 13, 2023 at 3:58 PM
> Subject: [Wikimediaindia-l] Request for Transparency Regarding WMF Staff
> in India
>
> Dear Maryana Iskander and Wikimedia Foundation,
>
> I hope I am not disturbing you or have asked you to be in some place which
> I should not have. Please note that my concerns are only in good faith and
> not anything more. Earlier also WMF staff have asked community members to
> 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Request for Transparency Regarding WMF Staff in India

[effe iets anders]

Hi Jayantilal,

as I'm reading this, mostly as an outsider from a different community who
has great appreciation for everything that has been accomplished in various
communities in India, I can feel the tension. This is unfortunately nothing
new, and it's an ongoing balance that has to be struck between helping out
as a staff member on one hand, and not undercutting the community to
organize itself on the other. This is a challenge, even with the best of
intentions. This only gets harder when there is a (real or perceived)
struggle for influence/power. I have come to understand that India is an
even more complex situation, due to the influence of CIS.

I noticed that the WCI organizers have put forward
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_India_2023/Discussions_and_Feedback
in response to this thread. It might be beneficial for the conversation to
try and follow up with this attempt to conversation, and see how far you
get with regards to the transparency that you seek. If you can achieve this
without the intervention of Maryana, this is probably more advantageous for
everyone involved. That does not mean you have to agree with what is
desirable, but at least you would be able to work from a common base of
facts/information.

If there are aspects on that page that are possibly misleading from your
point of view, or simply information that is missing, you might be
interested in bringing this up on the talkpage.

Just a thought,

Lodewijk

On Wed, May 17, 2023 at 2:04 PM Jayantilal Kothari 
wrote:

> Dear Maryana,
>
> Your Listening Tour has been a commendable initiative to understand the
> voice of the community. However, the essence of listening lies in its
> responsiveness.
>
> Over ten days ago, we raised concerns that unfortunately remain
> unaddressed. This isn't a single person sentiment but a collective voice
> from the Indian Wikimedia community, a voice that has grown stronger since
> the recent Wiki Conference India.
>
> We're concerned about the WMF India staff's involvement in community-led
> events, notably the Wiki Conference India. While their participation is
> welcome, there's a growing perception of encroachment on community-led
> initiatives. The community's autonomy is being compromised, and several
> experienced community members have voiced this concern on the public
> mailing list.
>
> Furthermore, we've observed that the WMF India Staff is assisting
> community members in crafting emails and guiding them on how to handle this
> mailing list situation. As a community, we believe in the ability of our
> members to speak for themselves. Currently, it appears that only those on
> the WMF payroll—either through grant salary/contract or through WMF-funded
> CIS salary—are speaking on behalf of Wiki Conference India, seemingly under
> the guidance of WMF Staff India. We urge WMF India Staff to step back and
> allow the community to voice their concerns independently. Check the Wiki
> Conference India Team on Meta. Most of them are drawing salaries from WMF
> or CIS or have been previous employees in the last 5 years. Very few are
> people who have always been volunteers. Many of them have also not written
> WMF against their name because they say they did this conference as
> volunteers. Was there no volunteer to come forward and organize? This means
> WMF staff have not been able to grow the community.
>
> We wish to understand the roles, responsibilities, and contributions of
> the WMF India staff who actively participated in the Wiki Conference India.
> Being paid by funds raised through volunteer-built platforms like
> Wikipedia, their active participation in community spaces calls for higher
> accountability.
>
> WMF has spent so much money on Strategy 2030 but the India Conference had
> no session on it why? India is not important or what?  Sunday there was a
> session on Strategy 2030 but it was removed without telling participants.
> Why?
>
> We would like to clarify that this is not a request for personal
> information—since the identities of these staff members are already
> publicly known—but a call for professional transparency, as we seek to
> understand their specific roles and contributions. If these staff members
> were comfortable taking to the stage and receiving credit at the
> conference, they should be equally comfortable sharing the scope and impact
> of their work with the community that they serve. Their willingness to be
> in the public eye during the conference should extend to their professional
> commitments and achievements. We're keen to know about the partnerships
> they've formed over the past few years that have benefited Indian
> communities, the initiatives the communications team has launched beyond
> financial incentives for Instagram users, the community projects undertaken
> by other staff members, negative response on fundraising and the hiring
> practices aimed at empowering local user groups.
>
> Considering the nature of these questions,