View source for Affiliations Committee/Candidates/December 2017

== Maor Malul ({{user8|Maor X}})==

You can call me Carlos, too :)

I joined the AffCom in 2013, when my life was undergoing quite a few changes -not simply moving to a new country (from Venezuela to Israel) but literally, starting a new life. The AffCom has been part of these changes for these past 4 years, and the committee itself has undergone quite a few changes in these years as well - since starting to recognize User Groups, to the large number of UGs we have today, to work with dedicated Wikimedia Staff support. 83 User Groups, 37 chapters and one Thematic Organization; those numbers may be easy to read, but they mean a lot -they mean how far our movement in the form of organized communities affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation is reaching. And that is great, but comes with many challenges.

The simplification of the User Group approval process has a lot of credit in this huge increase, but as many groups appear here and there, the potential for conlict arises. Why? well, we're human beings and we may have very different opinions on how to do things. And that's where the conflict may start. But we must strive to channel all the energies put in these emerging conflicts to creation and spread of knowledge, to create new projects, new alliances. I'm not going to say it is easy. I'm not going to say it is difficult, either. It is a challenge, albeit a very gratifying one. Working with such a diverse team at the Affiliations Committee has opened my mind and my vision of not just our movement, but the world itself.

Due to my background (being born and raised in Latin America, currently living in Israel) has permitted me to reach to more people and enrich our experiences, in many cases not needing to rely on a third language to communicate and that helps people to feel able to express their ideas more freely, as well as supporting the need for safe spaces, where no discrimination is allowed, under any circumstance. 

I have been a wikimedian for almost 12 years, and can't be more proud of being part of this movement, the one that changed the way the world obtains knowledge, in so many languages, formats and devices. I am an admin in the Ladino Wikipedia, and used to be a test-admin in the Wikimedia Incubator, have completed one [[w:en:User:Maor_X/100wikidays|#100wikidays]], one [[commons:User:Maor X/100wikiCommonsDays|#100wikicommonsdays]] and I'm halfway on my second [[w:lad:Usador:Maor X/100wikidays|#100commondays]] -this time, focusing in living women from the Middle East, all in Ladino. My first #100wikidays was dedicated to jewish women, completing new articles in Ladino, English, Spanish and Portuguese -the languages I mostly contribute in, and the topic that I think requires most of our efforts, the gender gap across the different projects. I'm also a member of the Language Committee. I'm a member of [[Wikimedia Israel]] and a founding and former board member) of [[Wikimedia Venezuela]], a chapter that has seen very difficult times due to the socio-economic collapse of the country; but despite of this, the chapter is growing -slowly, but it's growing. I have learnt from such a "special" situation that an affiliate requires passion, effort, a lot of dedication and especially, tons of persistence and a big deal of support from other affiliates, the WMF Staff and the AffCom. 


'''1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?'''
I think that one of the best tools we have, is to encourage the development of friendships between members of affiliates. Encounters do help, but working online together helps a great deal too. The personal relationships between members of Iberocoop has helped nurture a core of contributors from different affiliates to work together, establish new projects and especially, feel comfortable to express their ideas and convert them into vital pieces of projects.

'''2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?'''
Affiliates need to continue growing, not just in number but also in size -and whenever possible, the professionalization of the affiliate. This, and a healthy interaction between affiliates are crucial to guarantee the success of the 2030 movement strategy. And the AffCom can help ease that interaction, as well as the growth and how to handle it, especially the conflicts that may arise.

'''3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?'''
#I was born and raised in Latin America, and am familiar with the development of smaller, minority communities (I also speak a Native American language, [[incubator:Wp/guc/Ee'iyalaaya a'laülaasü|Wayuunaiki]], and an endangered language, [[w:lad:Especial:Àjustamientos/Maor_X|Ladino]], and contribute to both). I can communicate effectively in quite a few languages (es-n, en-4, pt-4, lad-4, de-3, he-3, guc-3, it-3, ar-2, fr-2). I live in the Middle East, and have worked with many wikimedians from the region in smaller projects. 
#I work in outbound tech support, so I have experience in reaching out to people, understanding their needs and how to help them the most effective way possible.
#I have experience on setting up an affiliate (a founding member of [[Wikimedia Venezuela]]) and how to navigate through the bureaucracy and paperwork requireed, and also, I have worked at an Israeli NGO that strives for a more equal society, which that has helped me learn a lot about small NGOs, how they work, how to advocate at a local scale, interact with the local government and how to reach out to more people and increase the awareness and importance of what we are doing.
#I am straightforward and like to go directly to the point; we just can't waste movement resources -regardless if they are human, monetary or logistic ones.
#I have been a member of the AffCom and am familiar with the way it works and with what we can improve internally. And I just happen to be honored to work with such a group of talented, passionate wikimedians.

=== Endorsements ===
# {{s}} Has previous experiences which I believe will be very beneficial to the committee.[[User:Rberchie|Rberchie]] ([[User talk:Rberchie|talk]]) 18:00, 30 December 2017 (UTC)
# {{s}}--[[User:Jamie Tubers|Jamie Tubers]] ([[User talk:Jamie Tubers|talk]]) 23:30, 1 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}}--[[User:Flixtey|Flixtey]] ([[User talk:Flixtey|talk]]) 13:31, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} --[[User:Lilitik22|Lilitik22]] ([[User talk:Lilitik22|talk]]) 18:04, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} --[[User:Armineaghayan|ArmAg]] 21:08, 3 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{support}} He has my complete support, because of his previous experiences and his involvement with the Wikimedia movement. We'll definitely need him! --[[User:Sannita|Sannita]] - <small>''[[User talk:Sannita|not just another it.wiki sysop]]''</small> 12:09, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{s}} —[[User:DerHexer|DerHexer]]&nbsp;<small>[[User talk:DerHexer|(Talk)]]</small> 14:06, 7 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{s}} [[User:Superzerocool|Superzerocool]] ([[User talk:Superzerocool|talk]]) 13:37, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
# [[User:Ezarate|Esteban]] ([[User talk:Ezarate|talk]]) 22:05, 5 January 2018 (UTC) as volunteer
# {{s}} --[[User:Millars|Millars]] ([[User talk:Millars|talk]]) 22:54, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} [[User:Laura Fiorucci|Laura Fiorucci]] ([[User talk:Laura Fiorucci|talk]]) 23:15, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} He is a person who knows how to listen, thanks [[User:Mboix|Mboix]] ([[User talk:Mboix|talk]]) 08:02, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}}--[[User:Jaluj|Jaluj]] ([[User talk:Jaluj|talk]]) 19:40, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{o}} Sometimes last year, I asked your opinion on how to deal with something I considered as personal attack on my facebook timeline. I requested your opinion via facebook as you are on my friends list. It was not a formal report but you immediately took the matter to AffCom. To me that was an egregious poor judgement on your part as I didn't reported the matter to AffCom or asked you to contact AffCom on my behalf. This is not a behavior I want to see in a potential AffCom member and I am sorry that I am unable to support you at this time. Regards. [[User:Wikicology|Wikicology]] ([[User talk:Wikicology|talk]]) 22:13, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} --[[User:Warko|Warko]] ([[User talk:Warko|talk]]) 15:27, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
#  {{Support}} Of course. --[[User:Oscar_.|Oscar_.]] <small>([[User talk:Oscar .|talk]]) · [[Special:EmailUser/Oscar .|@]]</small> 03:58, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
# '''Steun''' Having institutional memory can be incredibly valuable. Maor is one of the few remianing members that have served on the committee for a longer time - and I think one or two more years could be valuable to transfer that understanding, insight and knowledge to new members. [[User:Effeietsanders|Effeietsanders]] ([[User talk:Effeietsanders|talk]]) 23:45, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
#  {{Support}} Carlos is an experimented wikimedian also AffComm member that have proven experience. My trust on his skills. --[[User:ProtoplasmaKid|ProtoplasmaKid (WM-MX)]] ([[User talk:ProtoplasmaKid|talk]]) 18:37, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} [[User:Isha|Isha]] ([[User talk:Isha|talk]]) 14:45, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} Not only an active and prolific member in our projects, Carlos has dedicated in the past years to support and empower our affiliates and communities. He has been a great representative in the AffCom, not only for the Latin American volunteers, but for our movement in general. --[[User:B1mbo|Osmar Valdebenito, B1mbo]] ([[User talk:B1mbo|talk]]) 15:00, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
# {{Support}} I believe Carlos has a lot of experience serving in the committee, which is very valuable. He also knows how to deal with complex situations, making him a strong candidate, also, as pointed above, he can transfer his experience to other members that are newer, creating continuity in the committe, if needed. [[User:3BRBS|3BRBS]] ([[User talk:3BRBS|talk]]) 15:45, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

=== Questions for the candidate ===
# {{ping|Maor X}} Thanks for your commitment and the time and effort you've invested over the past 5 years as a member of AffCom! What do you think AffCom has accomplished in this time and how do you see its future role in the community? You write that ''I [..] am familiar with the way it works and with what we can improve internally''. Could you list a few examples of what needs to change and what's kept you from doing so up until now? Best, [[User:Braveheart|Braveheart]] ([[User talk:Braveheart|talk]]) 10:23, 5 January 2018 (UTC)
#:Hello {{ping|Braveheart}}, thanks for your question. I am very proud of what we have done so far -the network of affiliates is growing at a constant pace, and some User Groups are mature and robust enough to apply for chapterhood status -actually some of them are more robuts than some small chapters -and I think this is great. Of course, these three affiliation models were conceived at a very specific moment in time, and maybe it's time we review the current models and even add a new one. Now, once of the major challenges to the committee, in my opinion, is the rise of conflicts -between individuals in the same affiliate, between affiliates and when the personal issued between individuals end up dragging their affiliates to the conflict. The growth in the number of affiliates conversely adds to the risk of conflicts, and although it is not simple to prevent them from arising, the way we are dealing with those conflicts can be improved, but we need to re-define the conflict resolution strategies on one side and perhaps more importantly, define strategies to educate and value the importance of dialogue as a pre-emptive tool, as well as defining some sort of mechanism to encourage contributors to join existing affiliates with the same scope in the same geographic area, rather than creating their own -why? we are humans, it is easy to see competitors in what we do and not see them as allies, since we are all in the same boat, and also for strenghtening the safe space policy at Wikimedia events, but not just focusing on its implementation but educating people about its importance; for me, prevention should have a priority. I think we should work hand in hand with the WMF, the affiliates and the community as a whole to improve how we handle al sorts of conflicts in our movement. Why has this not happened? Coordinating such reforms with all stakeholders take time and despite we receive excellent support from the WMF Staff, dicussing and reaching consensus is time-consuming, and making everyone happy can be difficult. But I'm confident the AffCom can lead this and succeed, we have had an excellent chemistry working together, in a very diverse team composed of very committed wikimedians :) --[[User:Maor X|Maor X]] ([[User talk:Maor X|talk]]) 17:59, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
# There are many organisations who use affiliate models e.g Amnesty International, Creative Commons, Oxfam, Mozilla. What do you think we could learn from the affiliate models used by these and other organisations?  Thanks, [[User:John Cummings|John Cummings]] ([[User talk:John Cummings|talk]]) 12:21, 11 January 2018 (UTC)
::Thanks for your question, {{ping|John Cummings}}, ad I think it is not just a good question, but one that we must make not just in the AffCom but also across the movement, perhaps via a RfC or something just to start with. We currently have three models of affiliation, but they do not adjust to every single group of wikimedians in their particular context -so I think it is time now to work on refreshing those models, and perhaps include another or even two new ones. Now, it's a bit difficult to compare the NGOs mentioned in your question since our movement is quite different but one thing that might be worth reviewing is the funding models; not just how they are doing it now, but also how we are doing it and if it's worth expanding the list of affiliates who can do it. I personally think such list can be expanded. Let's try to work on that, would you be willing to help? [[User:Maor X|Maor X]] ([[User talk:Maor X|talk]]) 19:19, 13 January 2018 (UTC) 19:07, 13 January 2018 (UTC)
:::Thanks for your answer, I'd be very willing to help with this. Thanks again, [[User:John Cummings|John Cummings]] ([[User talk:John Cummings|talk]]) 17:01, 14 January 2018 (UTC)
# At this moment there are 83 users groups and, from one perspective at least, to effectively allow them to participate in Wikimedia activities, it seems financially challenging if the number of user groups keeps growing organically ¿How do you think AffCom should deal, relate and behave towards the conformation and approval of new user groups? [[User:3BRBS|3BRBS]] ([[User talk:3BRBS|talk]]) 16:32, 16 January 2018 (UTC)