[Wikimedia-l] WMF Grantmaking invites you to review the partnership grant proposal from Ação Educativa, Brazil
[translation in Portuguese below] Dear friends and colleagues, tl;dr We are planning on partnering with the non-profit organization Ação Educativa to carry out Wikimedia program work in Brazil, funded by a partnership grant from the Wikimedia Foundation. This letter explains the context for the proposed partnership, and calls for community input on the plan. Context: After identifying Brazil as a high-potential development target for the Wikimedia movement in 2010, and the hiring of a team of consultants in early 2012 to form the Brazil Catalyst Program,[1], the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees determined in 2012 that the Foundation should narrow its focus,[2] to concentrate on supporting global Wikimedia communities through two core competencies -- technology and grantmaking. In line with that narrowing of focus, the Foundation is looking to partner with local organizations to execute programmatic activities in partnership with the local Wikimedia communities, rather than to have consultant teams in place. The catalyst program in India was transitioned to a grant with the Centre for Internet and Society[3] in July 2012 [4] as part of its Access to Knowledge (A2K) focus,[5] and the Brazil team has similarly been exploring the possibility of a similar partner in Brazil. On Ação: Ação Educativa [6] (literally: Educational Action) is a not for profit civil organization that has been working over the past 18 years in Brazil on rights to education. In order to achieve this, it builds capacity among social movement groups, schools and communities for the production and dissemination of knowledge and the mobilization and impact on public policies. Its mission is to promote the rights for education, culture and youth, aiming at social justice, participatory democracy and sustainable development. Ação Educativa has extensive experience in building and strengthening communities in the education and human rights fields, including more globally. On the partnership: The Brazil team of consultants, led by Oona Castro, has been in conversation with the Brazilian Wikimedia community about a transition to a partnership grant since October 2012 [7]. For several months, Oona and her team researched potential partners, exploring over 15 local organisations who had an affinity to the Wikimedia movement in values, mission and programmatic scope [8]. In February 2013, the team shortlisted two organisations - Ação Educativa and Coletivo Digital - and visited them, with community volunteers [9] [10]. I joined them on this visit. After these meetings, Foundation staff, the Brazil team and community members discussed the pros and cons of both organisations. While both are well aligned to the Wikimedia movement’s mission and work, particularly in Brazil, the team felt that Ação Educativa has the stability and sustainability to offer the Brazil team - and the Brazilian community - a strong institutional home and partnership. In addition, Ação Educativa offers critical value with its considerable experience and expertise in growing communities and networks in the field of education, at the same time as it sees value in the Wikimedia movement’s expertise in online communities and free knowledge. The team continues to feel that it is likely to partner with Coletivo Digital on specific projects. Budget: The budget for 2013-14 is 557,863 USD (R$ 1.115.726) Invitation to review: As I mentioned in my letter to the community a few weeks ago,[11] we intend to have partnership grants be reviewed by both local Wikimedia communities as well as the global. We therefore welcome community review of the proposed project plan and budget. Please read the materials on Meta,[12] and join the conversation on the talk page. We will be engaging in this conversation for three weeks from now - till October 10 - after which we hope to proceed with establishing the partnership (based on changes or comments arising from the community review). Feel free to respond with questions or clarifications on the talk page. Thanks, Anasuya Sengupta Senior Director of Grantmaking Wikimedia Foundation [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brazil_Program [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sue_Gardner/Narrowing_focus [3] http://cis-india.org/ [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/India_Program_Announcement_and_FAQ_-_30_July_2012 [5] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014 [6] www.acaoeducativa.org.br [7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Programa_Catalisador_do_Brasil/Planejamento_2012-2013#Estrutura_e_Modelo_de_Gest.C3.A3o_do_Programa_Catalisado_do_Brasil [8] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programa_Catalisador_do_Brasil/Planejamento_2012-2013/Parcerias [9] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programa_Catalisador_do_Brasil/Planejamento_2012-2013/Parcerias/A%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Educativa/Encontro_2013-02-22 [10]
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Grantmaking invites you to review the partnership grant proposal from Ação Educativa, Brazil
With (quick) apologies: the correct place to review the proposal is here.[1] Reference 12 in the mail above is an earlier version. :-) thanks, Anasuya [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programa_Catalisador_do_Brasil/Planejamento_2012-2013/Parcerias/A%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Educativa/Proposal 2013/9/20 Anasuya Sengupta asengu...@wikimedia.org [translation in Portuguese below] Dear friends and colleagues, tl;dr We are planning on partnering with the non-profit organization Ação Educativa to carry out Wikimedia program work in Brazil, funded by a partnership grant from the Wikimedia Foundation. This letter explains the context for the proposed partnership, and calls for community input on the plan. Context: After identifying Brazil as a high-potential development target for the Wikimedia movement in 2010, and the hiring of a team of consultants in early 2012 to form the Brazil Catalyst Program,[1], the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees determined in 2012 that the Foundation should narrow its focus,[2] to concentrate on supporting global Wikimedia communities through two core competencies -- technology and grantmaking. In line with that narrowing of focus, the Foundation is looking to partner with local organizations to execute programmatic activities in partnership with the local Wikimedia communities, rather than to have consultant teams in place. The catalyst program in India was transitioned to a grant with the Centre for Internet and Society[3] in July 2012 [4] as part of its Access to Knowledge (A2K) focus,[5] and the Brazil team has similarly been exploring the possibility of a similar partner in Brazil. On Ação: Ação Educativa [6] (literally: Educational Action) is a not for profit civil organization that has been working over the past 18 years in Brazil on rights to education. In order to achieve this, it builds capacity among social movement groups, schools and communities for the production and dissemination of knowledge and the mobilization and impact on public policies. Its mission is to promote the rights for education, culture and youth, aiming at social justice, participatory democracy and sustainable development. Ação Educativa has extensive experience in building and strengthening communities in the education and human rights fields, including more globally. On the partnership: The Brazil team of consultants, led by Oona Castro, has been in conversation with the Brazilian Wikimedia community about a transition to a partnership grant since October 2012 [7]. For several months, Oona and her team researched potential partners, exploring over 15 local organisations who had an affinity to the Wikimedia movement in values, mission and programmatic scope [8]. In February 2013, the team shortlisted two organisations - Ação Educativa and Coletivo Digital - and visited them, with community volunteers [9] [10]. I joined them on this visit. After these meetings, Foundation staff, the Brazil team and community members discussed the pros and cons of both organisations. While both are well aligned to the Wikimedia movement’s mission and work, particularly in Brazil, the team felt that Ação Educativa has the stability and sustainability to offer the Brazil team - and the Brazilian community - a strong institutional home and partnership. In addition, Ação Educativa offers critical value with its considerable experience and expertise in growing communities and networks in the field of education, at the same time as it sees value in the Wikimedia movement’s expertise in online communities and free knowledge. The team continues to feel that it is likely to partner with Coletivo Digital on specific projects. Budget: The budget for 2013-14 is 557,863 USD (R$ 1.115.726) Invitation to review: As I mentioned in my letter to the community a few weeks ago,[11] we intend to have partnership grants be reviewed by both local Wikimedia communities as well as the global. We therefore welcome community review of the proposed project plan and budget. Please read the materials on Meta,[12] and join the conversation on the talk page. We will be engaging in this conversation for three weeks from now - till October 10 - after which we hope to proceed with establishing the partnership (based on changes or comments arising from the community review). Feel free to respond with questions or clarifications on the talk page. Thanks, Anasuya Sengupta Senior Director of Grantmaking Wikimedia Foundation [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brazil_Program [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sue_Gardner/Narrowing_focus [3] http://cis-india.org/ [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/India_Program_Announcement_and_FAQ_-_30_July_2012 [5] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014 [6] www.acaoeducativa.org.br [7]
