View source for Wikimedia Foundation Board noticeboard/Board liaisons reflections on final Movement charter draft

=== Reflections on the final draft === <!--T:19-->

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The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees has a legal and fiduciary duty to consider any significant commitment or decision in light of the expected risk, value, cost, and benefit to Wikimedia's public interest mission. The value of new structures proposed in the final draft of the Movement Charter has to be weighed against their risk, their cost, and the resource demands of this movement at a time when we have all seen that the growth rate of revenue is not increasing at the same rate as in the past, while demands to invest more in the Wikimedia platforms, projects, and communities are increasing.

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As liaisons, we believe the '''risks and costs''' associated with the currently proposed form of the Global Council '''outweigh its potential value'''.

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Firstly and most importantly, the proposed Global Council's '''purpose''' is not clearly connected to advancing Wikimedia's public interest mission. It lacks a compelling explanation of '''how''' it will ensure more equitable decision-making and support the mission of sharing free knowledge. It also does not guide us on how to address many of the most pressing issues facing community governance on Wikimedia projects. We recognise that for some, the status quo '''also''' does not provide that clarity, but we do not believe that the final draft Charter moves us closer.

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Secondly, we note that the '''proposed structure and makeup''' of the Global Council have changed significantly with each iteration of the published drafts (from a small body to a large assembly to a flexible-sized body in the most recent text). This may have been done in response to feedback from multiple stakeholders, but it raises an ongoing concern we have expressed in all of our feedback that this proposed structure is not based on the ''form following function'' principle -- we do not see a deliberate or intentional design that seeks to meet the purpose of such a critical and important new body.

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Finally, as liaisons we believe that important elements within the final draft Charter, including, most critically, the ''Values and Principles'', require more consensus of communities before attempting to incorporate them into a larger document that enshrines binding commitments on us all. Ensuring values are understood, shared, and – importantly – prioritised similarly across the movement is essential to relying on them to help craft an effective and accepted decision-making framework.