Hi everyone,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, following the recommendation of
staff, has resolved to pause the Movement Brand Project until the next
calendar year.[1] We recognize that much of the Wikimedia movement’s
activities, events, and key collaborations have been put on hold or
restructured due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have received formal
requests to pause Movement Brand Project activities to reflect this
need.[2]
The Board remains persuaded that there is potential value in making change
to our branding system in service of our goals of engaging more people in
our mission. However, we also know that change moves at the speed of trust.
We have asked staff to meaningfully engage with community concerns and
address the request for equitable decision-making within the process. We
also ask members of the community to use this pause to consider how equity
may ask us to let go of some aspects of our past, in order to create space
for what could be. Making these decisions together, with so many passionate
perspectives, will be challenging, but building this capacity is essential
for how we grow together as a thriving global movement.
In the meantime, we will establish a small ad-hoc Board committee to liaise
with staff, and develop a process of collaboration and decision-making
appropriate for the Movement’s brand. This committee will constitute
Trustees James Heilman, Raju Narisetti, and Shani Evenstein Sigalov. We
hope and intend for this committee to include a small number of community
representatives from affiliates, open letter signatories, and emerging
communities, and Foundation staff to be designated by the Executive
Director. We’ll update you with more details on the committee soon.
In 2021, using insights and recommendations gleaned through the ad-hoc
committee, the Brand Project team will restart collaboration and
communicate next steps accordingly. This resolution was ratified on
September 24, 2020.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari
[1]
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Pause_of_Brand_Development_Work
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_open_letter_on_renaming
--
María Sefidari Huici
Chair of the Board
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
_______________________________________________
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The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, following the recommendation of
staff, has resolved to pause the Movement Brand Project until the next
calendar year.[1] We recognize that much of the Wikimedia movement’s
activities, events, and key collaborations have been put on hold or
restructured due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have received formal
requests to pause Movement Brand Project activities to reflect this
need.[2]
The Board remains persuaded that there is potential value in making change
to our branding system in service of our goals of engaging more people in
our mission. However, we also know that change moves at the speed of trust.
We have asked staff to meaningfully engage with community concerns and
address the request for equitable decision-making within the process. We
also ask members of the community to use this pause to consider how equity
may ask us to let go of some aspects of our past, in order to create space
for what could be. Making these decisions together, with so many passionate
perspectives, will be challenging, but building this capacity is essential
for how we grow together as a thriving global movement.
In the meantime, we will establish a small ad-hoc Board committee to liaise
with staff, and develop a process of collaboration and decision-making
appropriate for the Movement’s brand. This committee will constitute
Trustees James Heilman, Raju Narisetti, and Shani Evenstein Sigalov. We
hope and intend for this committee to include a small number of community
representatives from affiliates, open letter signatories, and emerging
communities, and Foundation staff to be designated by the Executive
Director. We’ll update you with more details on the committee soon.
In 2021, using insights and recommendations gleaned through the ad-hoc
committee, the Brand Project team will restart collaboration and
communicate next steps accordingly. This resolution was ratified on
September 24, 2020.
Kind regards,
María Sefidari
[1]
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Pause_of_Brand_Development_Work
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_open_letter_on_renaming
--
María Sefidari Huici
Chair of the Board
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
_______________________________________________
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
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