Congrats Charlotte and WMFr for everything you have done and achieved in such a short period of time. A truly impressive and meaningful accomplishment and demonstration of the capacity of Wikimedians to use the movement's tools and ethos to effect positive change.
On Wed, Jun 6, 2018 at 6:04 PM <charlotte.matoussow...@wikimedia.fr> wrote: > Dear all, > > > > As we reflected on our Wikimedia Conference experience and as we just got > an answer from the FDC, which we thank warmly, the Wikimédia France Board > thought we should give you an update on our current situation. > > > > Since September 2017, the newly elected Board and the staff have dedicated > their energy to the improvement of the governance and an organizational > restructuring. We would like to share with the community all the efforts > that have been made during the last 8 months in order to restore confidence > and to rebuild Wikimédia France. > > > > First steps > > > > The first steps we took were: > > * Reopening communication channels with our members; > > * Having two general assemblies[1][2] and widely renewing the Board; > > * Successfully completing the Grant expectations process[3] which had been > set by WMF during the 2017 crisis at Wikimédia France; > > * Governance review by external auditors (report will be published soon); > > * Constant discussions with WMF. > > > > Major staff restructuring > > > > Since then, a major staff reorganization and a transition to a flatter > organization have taken place. > > > > The two employees at the head of the organization(Executive Director and > Deputy Executive Director) of the Association in 2017 left Wikimédia France > (WMFr) in the last quarter of the year. > > > > In order to work on the reorganizing, during the second half of 2017, the > Board conducted individual interviews with all employees to establish a > general state of the organization and to collect ideas for WMFr's and its > staff's future. With those elements in hand, and after several months > reflecting and observing how the Association functioned in the absence of > salaried management, the Board came to the conclusion that the team's > maturity and relative autonomy made possible a less hierarchical > organization than the classical one (i.e. “Board / Executive Director / > staff”). It has been decided to carry out an internal reorganization of the > team, without further recruitment to replace the Directors. > > > > The new organization unfolds as follows[4]. The Board stays in charge of > managing the Association, whilst proceeding to two delegations of power: a > delegation to Resources and an operational delegation, each receiving part > of the Employer's liability and part of strategic functions. The Board > occupies its role in strategy and budget matters, and also reserves the > right of final decision for all sensitive Employer competencies (like > decisions of dismissal, sanction or recruitment). Our goal here is twofold: > to no longer concentrate all responsibilities in the hands of only one > person and to minimize the risk of having the Board disempowered by > depriving it of its right (and duty) to take fundamental decisions. > > In addition to these HR and Operational delegations of power, he Board is > also considering implementing a Financial delegation of power, able to > bring together the skills of an accountant and a chartered accountant > within the internal staff. This would lead, in the medium term, to an > organization presenting as a four-headed structure: Human Resources, > Operations , Finances and Board — all of these under the control of the > General Assembly. > > > > To fill the two new positions created, the Board has decided to choose two > staff members whom it trusts and whose qualities it has had the opportunity > to observe in the past few months: Cindy David for the HR part and Rémy > Gerbet for the Operational part. Being aware that an organization without > salaried direction is not without difficulties, the Board has decided to > begin with a three-month probationary period, during which the work of the > two appointees will be evaluated, as well as the ability of the Board > itself to properly fulfil its role. At the end of these three months, a > first assessment will be made and the new organization will be either > validated, abandoned, or tested for three more months before final > decision. In order to implement this new organization, our staff will be > provided, if need be, with professional training. > > The new structure now counts 8 FTEs, including a newly hired Junior > Fundraiser position, instead of 11 in 2017. We are confident that this new > structure is well suited to bring Wikimédia France forward effectively. > > > > The reorganizing of the team also comes with a complete overhaul of the > salary grid[5][6]. > > > > Relying on the global Movement > > > > Our Chair, Vice-Chair and Operational Coordinator took part in the > Wikimedia Conference. This was an amazing opportunity to learn, to work on > the strategy, to develop partnerships and, perhaps more importantly, to > strengthen our relationships with the numerous organizations and > individuals that constitute the Wikimedia movement. > > > > We were especially glad to have the opportunity to attend the first > meeting of affiliates without Executive Director (France, Italy, New York > City, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine), which was a first promising step towards a > fruitful collaboration. We benefitted from their feedback regarding their > organizational experience and we hope we will soon be able to offer a > sustainable alternative model to an ED-based organization. > > > > Looking to the future > > > > On top of all this efforts, we are looking to the future: > > * We have submitted our proposal to the FDC[7], with a positive > feedback[8]. We took into account the criticisms of the last two years, > notably by drastically reducing the amount requested from the FDC (-236,000 > €). We are really glad that the FDC gave such consideration to our efforts > and we sincerely thank them. > > * Although very busy with our internal projects, we do not forget that we > are part of the Wikimedia movement. We intend to allocate time to attend > Wikimania, Wikimedia Conference, Executive Directors and Chairpersons > meetings, Big Fat Meeting and to be involved in the elaboration of > Wikimedia 2030 strategy. > > * The chapter's governance has been fully reviewed by two teams of > external auditors. A governance review report will be published and > discussed with our community[9]. First major changes are due for the next > general assembly at the end of 2018. > > > > The last few months were not easy. However, moral support and help from > the Wikimedia movement and its wish that Wikimédia France would become a > successful chapter again helped us find the energy to overcome the many > challenges we had to face. > > > > We are looking forward to the year ahead, as we strengthen our > organization and develop efficient and impactful programs and would like to > thank our members, the Wikimedia Foundation, the affiliates, and all the > individual people who supported us during these difficult times. > > > > Thank you, > > > > > > Charlotte Matoussowsky > Vice-chair of Wikimédia France > > <mailto:charlotte.matoussow...@wikimedia.fr> > charlotte.matoussow...@wikimedia.fr > > > > -------- > > [1] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikim%C3%A9dia_France/Assembl%C3%A9e_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale/septembre_2017 > > [2] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikim%C3%A9dia_France/Assembl%C3%A9e_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale/d%C3%A9cembre_2017 > > [3] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grant_expectations_for_Wikimedia_France_-_2017-2018 > > [4]https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Organigramme_WMFR.png > > [5] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikim%C3%A9dia_France/Gouvernance/Salaires > > [6] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikim%C3%A9dia_France/Gouvernance/Grilles_salariales > > [7] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2017-2018_round_2/Wikim%C3%A9dia_France/Proposal_form > > [8] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_recommendations/2017-2018_Round_2#Wikim%C3%A9dia_France > > [9] Links to this report will be provided shortly. > > > > > > > > --- > L'absence de virus dans ce courrier électronique a été vérifiée par le > logiciel antivirus Avast. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > _______________________________________________ > 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>
