Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/Election 2024/Nominations

Nomination template

Do not edit this section. Edit this page and copy the template below to a new subsection below "Nominations". Replace the template text and italics with your nomination information.

Username

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Have you been on the WikiNYC board in the past? If so, when?

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Describe your involvement with WikiNYC in the past. If you were a board member in the past, please also include a summary of the contributions to chapter governance you're most proud of. [500 words max]

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Why do you want to join the WikiNYC board? In what ways would you be most interested to help? [500 words max]

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Which, if any, of the officer positions align with your skills and interests? (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary). This is just to gauge interest; the elected board will decide who should be in which position. Answers like "none of the above" or "I'd prefer to wait and see" are acceptable.

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Nominations

Bob Kosovsky

Username

kosboot (talk)

Have you been on the WikiNYC board in the past? If so, when?

I've been on the board continuously for about 7 years

Describe your involvement with WikiNYC in the past. If you were a board member in the past, please also include a summary of the contributions to chapter governance you're most proud of. [500 words max]

During the pandemic I held the position of treasurer (a position I've temporarily resumed). Most importantly I was involved in creating WMNYC's Strategic Plan.

Why do you want to join the WikiNYC board? In what ways would you be most interested to help? [500 words max]

As a long-time board member I feel that I can make help WikiNYC grow in becoming more present in local NYC life and become more effective in reaching our local goal as well as the overall goals of the Wikimedia Movement.

Which, if any, of the officer positions align with your skills and interests? (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary). This is just to gauge interest; the elected board will decide who should be in which position. Answers like "none of the above" or "I'd prefer to wait and see" are acceptable.

As WikiNYC is scaling up I would prefer to relinquish the treasurer position to someone more experienced in dealing with finances. I am still most interested in modifying and implementing the Strategic Plan'.'

David Hecht

Username

Wileycount (talk)

Have you been on the WikiNYC board in the past? If so, when?

I am currently finishing my first term on the board, as a one-year appointee.

Describe your involvement with WikiNYC in the past. If you were a board member in the past, please also include a summary of the contributions to chapter governance you're most proud of. [500 words max]

I have been quite involved in the chapter for the last year and a half, first hosting some events at Prime Produce, and then joining the board to serve as Secretary. I’m very proud of helping to make WikiWednesdays and Hacking Nights occur consistently in Hell’s Kitchen, as well as hosting or supporting other WikiNYC events, such as the Climate Editathon, Community Gardens Editathon, Wikiday, and Wikicurious. I was particularly glad to lend my support and experience with the production of Wikipedia Day–most memorably in the cutting of the WikiCake! (see: Commons Category: Spherical Wikipedia Logo Cakes)

I’m also very excited about helping to expand the reach of the chapter and facilitating access to Wikimedia projects to new communities, especially those historically underrepresented in the editor ranks.

As part of the Board, I’m very proud of helping to implement the strategic plan, specifically in being part of the hiring and onboarding process for the new Executive Director. Building on the intensive work of the hiring committee, I was honored to help move through the final decision process and push the chapter ahead in pursuing its mission.

Why do you want to join the WikiNYC board? In what ways would you be most interested to help? [500 words max]

It was quite gratifying to be a part of the board in the last year. I felt like my skills and experience, in areas such as organizational design, nonprofit operations, event planning and production, and facilitation, were relevant and valuable to the board’s work. My continually deepening engagement with the Wikimedia community, in NYC and beyond, has been the source of much inspiration, knowledge, and positive experiences.

Most importantly, I am excited about the impact I can make in both supporting the existing community of editors and contributors, and expanding the reach and awareness of the importance of the work of WikiNYC to new participants. In that vein, I’m very excited to continue to support the work of Pacita Rudder, our new ED, who is bringing a new level of operational and organizational energy and experience to bear and pursuing a vision of growth and increased impact of the work we do. This is part of the pursuit of progress through our strategic plan, as well as an important goal for the coming years—I’m very excited to help achieve that.

Which, if any, of the officer positions align with your skills and interests? (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary). This is just to gauge interest; the elected board will decide who should be in which position. Answers like "none of the above" or "I'd prefer to wait and see" are acceptable.

In the past year, I’ve served as Secretary and have generally been comfortable in the role. I have also been supported in that role by other members of the Board, and have likewise supported other members of the board, reflecting a collaborative and supportive approach to governance that I hope to maintain and perpetuate.

Giancarlo Mainardi

Username

^Complex/_Rational

Have you been on the WikiNYC board in the past? If so, when?

I was elected to the board in September 2023 and am finishing my one-year term.

Describe your involvement with WikiNYC in the past. If you were a board member in the past, please also include a summary of the contributions to chapter governance you're most proud of. [500 words max]

I have regularly attended WikiNYC meetups since summer 2022 and served on the board since last fall. Most of my board work involved maintenance of chapter documentation and helping with organization of several events, in particular Wikipedia Day 2024 and Wikicurious WikiNYC Civic Hall. I have also been a co-facilitator at several events, such as our semi-regular WikiWednesdays. At Civic Hall, I was one of several "Wiki-coaches" for newcomers and am happy to help with outreach and expanding our chapter's prospective member base. Recently, I also joined the board's Strategic Planning Committee; we are working to devise a new short-term plan for the direction of our chapter.

Why do you want to join the WikiNYC board? In what ways would you be most interested to help? [500 words max]

Following this year's successes, particularly the hiring of our executive director and robust event programming, I would like to continue in strategic planning and as a facilitator at chapter events; these are the areas I feel are most aligned to my skill set. As part of strategic planning, I am interested in working with quantitative metrics to measure our progress, and ultimately working with the board to determine our longer-term direction and goals.

Which, if any, of the officer positions align with your skills and interests? (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary). This is just to gauge interest; the elected board will decide who should be in which position. Answers like "none of the above" or "I'd prefer to wait and see" are acceptable.

I am inclined to leave the officer duties to more experienced individuals, and instead focus on strategic planning and facilitating events, though I am open to assuming officer duties (potentially the vice president role) at the board's discretion. (statement amended 20 September following an offline meeting)

Molly Stark Dean

Username

mollystarkdean (talk)

Have you been on the WikiNYC board in the past? If so, when?

No

Describe your involvement with WikiNYC in the past. If you were a board member in the past, please also include a summary of the contributions to chapter governance you're most proud of. [500 words max]

My work with Wikipedia started with my appointment to the board of Women Do News, an organization promoting digital gender equality for women in journalism. I host monthly flash edits that teach journalists how to edit on Wikipedia. My real Wiki-journey started with WikiCon North America. I saw how well-run the event was and wanted to help out. I started with knowing a local baker who could make a rad cake. And then, like most Wikimedians, I became a chronic volunteer ready to help wherever I could for Wikipedia's birthday.

Why do you want to join the WikiNYC board? In what ways would you be most interested to help? [500 words max]

The power of WikiNYC is contagious: the people I met on the WikiNYC board uphold the Wiki-tradition of being chronically curious and detail-determined. I've lived in New York City since 2007 and I'm always looking for more ways to become involved with my local community. Q train 4 Life!

Which, if any, of the officer positions align with your skills and interests? (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary). This is just to gauge interest; the elected board will decide who should be in which position. Answers like "none of the above" or "I'd prefer to wait and see" are acceptable.

My skillset is media relations and event/food organizing. I trust that the board will assign me where I am needed most, aligning with my area of expertise.

Abbad Diraneyya

Username

عباد ديرانية (talk)

Have you been on the WikiNYC board in the past? If so, when?

No

Describe your involvement with WikiNYC in the past. If you were a board member in the past, please also include a summary of the contributions to chapter governance you're most proud of. [500 words max]

Since moving to NYC one year ago to get a master's at Columbia, I've been participating in Wikimedia NYC events on a near monthly basis. I attended events like governor's Island Wikinics, prime produce edit-a-thons, and Wikipedia's birthday celebration. I also gave a presentation on WikiData Day in April October, and have been planning to launch a Columbia University Wiki club, although the pressure of my degree has so far delayed that. Hopefully still happening some time!

Why do you want to join the WikiNYC board? In what ways would you be most interested to help? [500 words max]

I'm interested in joining the Board because I have a deep yet diverse Wikimedia experience that I hope to contribute. For the past 15 years, I've contributed to various Wikimedia projects, co-founded and led a user group, and worked at the Wikimedia Foundation.

I've been editing Arabic Wikipedia for over 15 years, contributing over a thousand articles. The bulk of contributions are in the form of featured content, of which I wrote about 100 articles in Arabic.

In 2014, I co-founded the Wikimedians of the Levant user group and was elected as its leader for five years. During this period, the user group grew into 100 active members, contributed to 3,000-4,000 Wikipedia entries annually, employed permanent staff, and established an annual budget of 25k USD.

From 2019 to 2023, I was a member of the Wikimedia Foundation's 2030 Strategy Teamm, in the capacity of a Knowledge Manager. This role gave me a deep insight of the various problems and nuanced contexts of the multitude of wiki communities around the world, as well as deep awareness of the strategy's development and impact.

As part of Wikimedia New York's board, I hope to be able to voice and apply what I learned from these vastly different Wikimedia roles and experiences. I enjoyed participating in many of the chapter's great events in the city, and I believe there's a lot of room to grow on campuses and beyond. During my time as a Wikimedia affiliate leader, community growth has always been my focus, and I strongly believe it's an aspect that I would be able to add lot in here, should I join the Wikimedia NYC board.

Which, if any, of the officer positions align with your skills and interests? (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary). This is just to gauge interest; the elected board will decide who should be in which position. Answers like "none of the above" or "I'd prefer to wait and see" are acceptable.

I'm open to the Secretary role since it aligns with my existing experience an past roles.