Hello, everyone.
I'm writing with information about the Ombudsman Commission (OC), the small
group of volunteers who investigate complaints about violations of the
privacy policy, and in particular concerning the use of CheckUser and
Oversight tools, on any Wikimedia project for the Board of Trustees. I
apologize for the length of the announcement. :)
The application period for new commissioners for 2020 recently closed. The
Wikimedia Foundation is extremely grateful to the many experienced and
insightful volunteers who offered to assist with this work.
As with last year, this year’s OC will consist of eight members, with a
two-member advisory team who will guide the new commission and also, if
necessary, fill in in the event that the OC is unable to act due to
incapacity or recusal.
I am pleased to announce the composition of the 2020 OC:
Ajraddatz <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ajraddatz>
Ajraddatz has been an active user on Wikimedia since 2010, and has served
in various roles of community trust in that time, including as a Wikidata
Oversighter since 2013, a steward since 2014, and a Meta CheckUser since
2015.
Emufarmers <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Emufarmers>
Emufarmers has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2005. He is a
Metapedian who primarily edits the English Wikipedia; he is also a
bureaucrat and sysop on
MediaWiki.org, and has provided software support to
many third-party, non-Wikimedia wikis over the years. He has served as an
OTRS administrator since 2015. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since
2019.
DeltaQuad <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:DeltaQuad>
Amanda has been editing Wikipedia since 2009, when she made her first edits
to English Wikipedia. She has served many roles in the past including being
a sysop, holding advanced permissions and serving on an Arbitration
Committee for 4 years. Her work now focuses on the Ombudsmen Commission and
the re-development of a Global Unblock Ticket Request System (UTRS).
Kelapstick <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kelapstick>
Kelapstick has been a Wikimedian since 2006. He is primarily active on
English Wikipedia, where he is an Admin and former Oversighter and was an
Arbitrator between 2016 and 2018.
Taketa <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Taketa>
Taketa has been a Wikimedian since 2008 and has held a number of positions
in his time here, including Administrator and Bureaucrat on the Dutch
Wikipedia, Arbitrator on Dutch Wikipedia, Administrator on Wikidata,
Steward, and member of the Ombuds Commission. He has created about 7000 new
articles in several language Wikipedias. He currently serves on the board
of Wikimedia Belgium.
Teles <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Teles>
Lucas became a Wikipedian in 2007 and started to engage with CheckUser
rights in 2009, when he became a local CU on the Portuguese Wikipedia. He
held both Oversight and Checkuser rights on Ptwiki between 2015 and 2017,
when his term with the rights expired. He is currently an administrator on
Commons and Ptwiki. His traditional main focus has been on anti-vandalism
work. In 2012, the global community elected him as a steward, a position he
has held since. He served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018.
Uzoma Ozurumba <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Uzoma_Ozurumba>
Uzoma Ozurumba has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2017. She
contributes primarily to Meta, Commons, and the Igbo Wiktionary, of which
she is a founder. She is a co-founder of the Igbo Wikimedians User Group
and serves as a Strategy Liaison for that group.
Wikilover90 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wikilover90>Rupika has
been editing Wikimedia projects since 2014. A free knowledge advocate, she
edits primarily on Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata and is administrator on
Punjabi Wikisource. She organizes events such as Wiki Loves Folklore
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Folklore> and Wiki
Loves Women
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Women_South_Asia_2020>. She has
been supporting in activating the Open Movement in North India via various
Open GLAM initiatives such as Heritage GLAM
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Heritage_GLAM>. She has served on the
Ombuds Commission since 2019. ---------------
The 2020 OC’s advisors are:
Elmacenderesi <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Elmacenderesi>
Elmacenderesi has been working on Wikimedia projects since 2007, primarily
on the Turkish Wikipedia. There, he has been a CheckUser and a Bureaucrat
since 2008 and an Oversighter since 2011. He is also a member of Wikimedia
OTRS and serves as a global outreach coordinator, working with academic
institutions and GLAMs, for The Wikipedia Library. He has served on the
Ombuds Commission since 2018.
Galahad <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Galahad>
Carlos, currently editing as user:Galahad, has been contributing to
Wikimedia Projects since 2009. He is a member of Wikimedia Venezuela and
Wikimedistas de Perú User Group. He primarily contributes to
Spanish-language projects including Spanish Wikipedia and Spanish
Wikivoyage. He has been an administrator and bureaucrat of Spanish
Wikivoyage since 2013. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019.
Their willingness to remain, to bring their familiarity with processes and
their experience to the new arrivals, is greatly appreciated!
-------------
Please join me in thanking the following volunteers who are leaving OC, who
have given substantially of their time to serve the commission:
Dyolf77 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Dyolf77>
Habib started editing in 2010 and has been heavily engaged in community
affairs, both onwiki and as part of user groups, for years. A native of
Tunisia, he has been a free-culture advocate on a wide range of issues in
and beyond the movement. Onwiki, you can mainly find him helping out on
Commons, where he is a sysop, as well as the Arabic and French language
editions of Wikipedia. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018.
EVinente <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:EVinente>
Edilson has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2013. He is
primarily active on the Portuguese Wikipedia, where he is a checkuser,
oversighter, and administrator. He has served on the Ombuds Commission
since 2019.
Jamie Tubers <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jamie_Tubers>
Sam, who edits as Jamie Tubers, joined the English language Wikipedia
community in 2011 and has over the years expanded his activities into a
wide range of movement activities including co-founding the Wikimedia user
group Nigeria and helping to organize events like Wiki Loves Africa and
Wiki Loves Women. He is dedicated to correcting our content gaps and biases
related to Africa and raising awareness of the projects on the continent.
He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018.
Krd <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Krd>
Krd, who is primarily active on German Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, and
also serves at the Volunteer Response Team as an agent and OTRS admin, and
was a member of the German Wikipedia Arbitration Committee. He has served
on the Ombuds Commission since 2017.
-------------
I'd also like to say a big thank you to those returning and those coming
aboard for the first time, as well as to all those applied. Again, it was
an extremely able group of volunteers, and while this mix of users may best
serve the need for this year, I hope that those who applied will consider
applying again for future commissions.
Regards,
Karen
--
Karen Brown
Trust & Safety Specialist
Wikimedia Foundation
kbrown(a)wikimedia.org