Welcome Esra! I'm thrilled to have you join the Board. Sydney
Sydney Poore User:FloNight Co-founder Kentucky Wikimedians, Co-founder WikiWomen User Group, Co-founder WikiConference North America Board member of Wiki Project Med Foundation On Fri, Dec 1, 2017 at 3:59 PM, Christophe Henner <chen...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > With the appointment of Raju to the Board of Trustees a couple of months > ago, we were left with a remaining open vacancy to fill. I am thrilled to > share that after several months of searching and discussions, we have made > another important appointment. At our November Board Retreat, the Board > appointed and welcomed Esra’a Al Shafei to fill our vacant expert seat. > > Esra'a is a prominent international human rights activist and social > entrepreneur. She founded and directs Majal, a nonprofit which utilizes > digital media to amplify under-reported and marginalized voices throughout > the Middle East and North Africa. For those of you that heard her keynote > presentation at this year's Wikimania, I think you will agree she will make > a very valuable addition to the Board and brings an important perspective > and skillset to the Board's efforts. > > Below (and on the Wikimedia Blog) you will find the official announcement > about Esra’a Al Shafei. Please join me in warmly welcoming her to the > Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees and to the Wikimedia movement! > > Christophe > Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees > > P.S. Due to the nature of Esra’a’s work, sharing photos or videos of Esra’a > may endanger her safety or the safety of others. To help ensure the privacy > and safety of Esra’a and her colleagues, we are not sharing any photographs > or videos of Esra'a. We ask that you please join us in supporting this > important safety consideration. > > > Press release > > Header: Esra'a Al Shafei joins Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees > > Subheader: Bahraini human rights activist and social entrepreneur brings to > the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees more than a decade of experience > in applying creative solutions to challenges faced by underserved and > underrepresented communities. > > Image: https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esraa.png[a] > <https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1wNmwgJkUPp25nVLRVgX5WzU_ > LuEi5a9gJDpB7HWEft4/mobilebasic#cmnt1> > [b] > <https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1wNmwgJkUPp25nVLRVgX5WzU_ > LuEi5a9gJDpB7HWEft4/mobilebasic#cmnt2> > [c] > <https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1wNmwgJkUPp25nVLRVgX5WzU_ > LuEi5a9gJDpB7HWEft4/mobilebasic#cmnt3> > [d] > <https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1wNmwgJkUPp25nVLRVgX5WzU_ > LuEi5a9gJDpB7HWEft4/mobilebasic#cmnt4> > > San Francisco, California, 1 December 2017 — The Wikimedia Foundation today > announced the appointment of Esra'a Al Shafei, a prominent human rights > activist and a passionate defender of free expression, to the Wikimedia > Foundation Board of Trustees. > > A native of Bahrain, Esra'a’s work aims to increase and protect free > speech, promote expression for youth and underrepresented voices, and > improve the lives of LGBTQ people in the Middle East and North Africa. She > founded and directs Majal, a network of online platforms that > amplify under-reported and marginalized voices. > > “Esra'a shares Wikimedia's foundational belief that shared knowledge can > facilitate shared understanding,” said Wikimedia Foundation Executive > Director, Katherine Maher. "Her achievements exemplify how intentional > community building can be a powerful tool for positive change, while > her passion > for beautiful and engaging user experiences will only elevate our work. We > are so fortunate to have her perspective in support of our global Wikimedia > communities." > > Esra'a founded Majal in 2006 as Mideast Youth, at the time a series of > blogs bringing a voice to marginalized and underrepresented young > people across the Middle East. Today, the organization's team helps build > communities that celebrate, protect, and promote diversity and social > justice. Their endeavors include CrowdVoice.org, which curates crowdsourced > media to contextualize social movements throughout the world; Mideast > Tunes, the largest web and mobile app showcasing underground musicians in > the Middle East and North Africa who use music as a tool for social change; > and Ahwaa.org, an open discussion platform for Arab LGBTQ individuals that > uses game mechanics to protect and engage its community. > > > “When I first encountered Wikipedia shortly after obtaining an internet > connection in the early 2000s, I felt that the true purpose of the internet > was realized. With Wikipedia, I accessed research regarding persecuted > communities in my home country and the wider region: ethnic and religious > minorities whom we were discouraged from learning about, and whose > histories and beliefs were dictated to us from a singular government > perspective. Wikipedia’s open source and crowdsourcing practices would > inspire the platforms I built to advocate for underrepresented communities, > and the internet would shape my life’s work in advocating for freedom of > expression and identity around the world,” said Esra'a. > > Esra'a received the Berkman Award for Internet Innovation from the Berkman > Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School in 2008 for > "outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society." The > World Economic Forum listed her as one of "15 Women Changing the World in > 2015." She has won the "Most Courageous Media" Prize from Free Press > Unlimited, and the Monaco Media Prize, which acknowledges innovative uses > of media for the betterment of humanity. > > She has been featured in Fast Company as one of the "100 Most Creative > People in Business;" in The Daily Beast as one of the 17 bravest bloggers > worldwide; and in Forbes' "30 Under 30" list of social entrepreneurs making > an impact in the world. > > Esra'a was a keynote speaker at Wikimania 2017 in Montreal, the annual > conference centered on the Wikimedia projects. > > “Esra'a brings tech expertise and a valuable perspective to the Board - > coming from a region where access to information is not taken for granted. > I was impressed by her talk during Wikimania 2017 on 'Experiences from the > Middle East: Overcoming Challenges and Serving Communities'. I think her > experience in that region will be important to our efforts around the > globe,” said Nataliia Tymkiv, Governance Chair for the Board. > > Esra'a is a senior TED Fellow, an Echoing Green fellow, and a Director’s > Fellow at the MIT Media Lab. She received a Shuttleworth Foundation > Fellowship in 2012 for her work on CrowdVoice.org. > > Esra'a joins nine other Foundation Trustees > <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q% > 3Dhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees% > 26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;ust%3D1512164054873000%26amp;usg% > 3DAFQjCNHvsp86oFFv5hD8SZzexjBIHdrkWA&sa=D&ust=1512164054901000&usg= > AFQjCNGS6qlGUSUBQzF5PmvviPecf7Kw4A> > who > collectively bring expertise in the Wikimedia community, financial > oversight, governance, and organizational development; and a commitment to > advancing Wikimedia’s mission of free knowledge for all. > > She was approved unanimously by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. > Her term is effective December 2017 and will continue for three years. > Please see the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees > <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q% > 3Dhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees% > 26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;ust%3D1512164054873000%26amp;usg% > 3DAFQjCNHvsp86oFFv5hD8SZzexjBIHdrkWA&sa=D&ust=1512164054901000&usg= > AFQjCNGS6qlGUSUBQzF5PmvviPecf7Kw4A> > for > complete biographies. > > About the Wikimedia Foundation > > The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that supports and > operates Wikipedia and its sister free knowledge projects. Wikipedia is the > world’s free knowledge resource, spanning more than 45 million articles > across nearly 300 languages. Every month, more than 200,000 people edit > Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, collectively creating and improving > knowledge that is accessed by more than 1 billion unique devices every > month. This all makes Wikipedia one of the most popular web properties in > the world. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is > a 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants. > > Esra’a Al Shafei profile > > Esra'a Al Shafei is a human rights activist and the founder and director of > Majal, a nonprofit which helps build communities that celebrate, protect, > and promote diversity, and social justice. > > A native of Bahrain, Esra'a works avidly to increase and protect free > speech, promote expression for youth and underrepresented voices, and > improve the lives of LGBTQ people in the Middle East and North Africa. She > founded Majal in 2006 as Mideast Youth. The organization has built online > platforms that creatively facilitate the struggle for social change in the > Middle East and North Africa. > > Esra'a received the Berkman Award for Internet Innovation from Berkman > Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School in 2008 for > "outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society." The > World Economic Forum listed her as one of "15 Women Changing the World in > 2015." > > She has won the "Most Courageous Media" Prize from Free Press Unlimited, > and the Monaco Media Prize, which acknowledges innovative uses of media for > the betterment of humanity. > > Esra'a is a senior TED Fellow, an Echoing Green fellow, and a Director’s > Fellow at the MIT Media Lab. She received a Shuttleworth Foundation > Fellowship in 2012 for her work on CrowdVoice.org. She lives in the Middle > East and North Africa region. > _______________________________________________ > 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: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?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: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
