Grants:Committees

Regional Fund Committees

The primary role of the Regional Fund Committees (RFC, also Regional Funds Committees, Regional Grants Committees) is strategic thought partnership to help understand the complexities of Wikimedia Foundation Funding regions and to make funding decisions for grant applications in the regions, providing knowledge and expertise to applicants to support successful movement activities.

An important aspect of the Wikimedia Foundation’s funding programs is the role that volunteer committees have in providing both guidance and support to applicants as well as making decisions about how movement funds should be distributed. Based on the movement strategy recommendations, we maintain committees that enable communities in each region and thematic experts to have a central role in setting priorities and allocating funds for specific types of initiatives. Each of these processes benefits greatly from existing expertise, new ideas, and awareness of required skills and circumstances for local communities.

Current members

We have seven regional committees leading our participatory processes.

Username	Regional Fund Committee	Term started	Notes
FocalPoint	CEECA	October 2021
MikyM	CEECA	October 2021
Reda Kerbouche	CEECA	October 2021
Красный	CEECA	August 2021
Nataev	CEECA	February 2022
Justine.toms	CEECA	June 2022
Nina1009	CEECA	April 2023
BKlen-CEEhub	CEECA	May 2024	non-voting member, CEE Hub
Aotfs2013	ESEAP	August 2021
Chipmunkdavis	ESEAP	August 2021
Exec8	ESEAP	August 2021
Kunokuno	ESEAP	August 2021
Alphama	ESEAP	October 2022
22Kartika	ESEAP	September 2022
GhoziSeptiandri	ESEAP	September 2022
Kunirasem	ESEAP	September 2022
taweetham	ESEAP	September 2022
IvomarDos	LAC	January 2023
marsebu	LAC	January 2023
Superzerocool	LAC	January 2023
Onica aguilar	LAC	September 2023
PilarSaenz	LAC	September 2023
Vanett Graneros	LAC	September 2023
Fjmustak	MEA (MENA)	August 2021
NANöR	MEA (MENA)	September 2021
Ibrahim.ID	MEA (MENA)	September 2023
Nehaoua	MEA (MENA)	September 2023
Reda benkhadra	MEA (MENA)	September 2023
Aristidek5maya	MEA (SSA)	August 2021
Azogbonon	MEA (SSA)	August 2021
Aimeabibis	MEA (SSA)	September 2023
capitainAfrika	MEA (SSA)	September 2023
Dnshitobu	MEA (SSA)	September 2023
Gilbert Ndihokubwayo	MEA (SSA)	September 2023
Iwuala Lucy	MEA (SSA)	September 2023
Pellagia Njau	MEA (SSA)	September 2023
Effeietsanders	NA	August 2021
Emjackson42	NA	August 2021
AbhiSuryawanshi	NA	August 2021
Matthewvetter	NA	August 2021
Redwidgeon	NA	August 2021
Wugapodes	NA	August 2021
Antiqueight	NWE	August 2021
mmo	NWE	August 2021
NickK	NWE	August 2021
Camelia.boban	NWE	October 2022
trondtr	NWE	October 2022
Yger	NWE	October 2022
Josiefraser	NWE	October 2023
Abraham Taherivand	NWE	October 2024
Astrid Carlsen	NWE	October 2024
Quelet	NWE	October 2024
Balajijagadesh	SA	August 2021
medhavigandhi	SA	August 2021
Nawaraj Ghimire	SA	August 2021
Tarunno	SA	August 2021
आर्या जोशी	SA	December 2023
Nabin K. Sapkota	SA	August 2024
Ravidreams	SA	August 2024

Inactive and past committee members

Roles and responsibilities

Contribute and provide feedback on the regional budget distribution across regions – how much goes into each regional budget.
Review proposals and make decisions on the funding amount grantees receive based on proposal evaluation. Committees are responsible for the decision-making process of the General Support Fund. Some committees, based on their capacity, are also involved in the decision-making of the Rapid Fund program.
Support the committee work by sharing knowledge, expertise and regional context with Community Resources and within committees to build needed capacities around resourcing, representation, and power sharing.

Other roles committee members may take

Offer mentorship to grantees and support to newcomers in Wikimedia Foundation Funds.
Play a role in conflict resolution.
Support the Program Officer in communication with grantees, different movement bodies, and the Wikimedia community. Write Diff posts about projects funded by the committee.
Identifying regional opportunities and challenges and aligning them with the funding decisions.
Make recommendations about funding practices to the Wikimedia Foundation.
Recruitment of other RFC members.

Conference Fund Support Committee

For the Conference Fund program, there is a separate committee consisting of different regional representatives. This committee is engaged in the decision-making process for the Conference Funds proposals and provides support to Conference organizers.

Term and tenure

Committee members commit to a minimum two-year service period and a maximum term limit of four years (with an option to extend if there is a shortage of new or experienced committee members). A rolling membership system is implemented to ensure that some experienced people are always on the committee. An additional two-year extension is possible in case continuity is required.

Selection and expertise

New Regional Fund Committee members are co-selected by the existing Regional Fund Committee and the Community Resources Team.

Selection criteria

Eligible

Members of the Wikimedia community
Volunteer board members of Wikimedia affiliates. Previous Executive Directors and Board Members of Wikimedia affiliates.
Members of mission-aligned organisations, partner institutions (EDU, Culture and Heritage, gender, etc.)
Individuals working or having expertise in regions of interest

Not eligible

Anyone receiving compensation as a staff through a Wikimedia affiliate or current General Support Fund, Wikimedia Alliances Fund, or Research Fund grant project. (This excludes grantee partners requesting Rapid Funds, Events and Conference Funds, and Movement Strategy Funds.)
Staff connected to projects funded by the Wikimedia Foundation within allied organisations.
Anyone receiving compensation for a paid role with the Wikimedia Foundation.
Anyone who is not compliant with the behavioral requirements for applicants to our funding programs.

Expertise desired

Understanding of Wikimedia programs, in addition to contributions to the online projects.
Strong ability to contribute and participate effectively in collaborative decision-making.
Effective communication and conflict resolution skills.
Expertise and insights related to the region of the RFC.
Alignment with the values of the 2030 strategic direction and the movement strategy recommendations.
Understanding of or willingness to learn about participatory grantmaking.
A demonstrated commitment to sharing skills and experience, and helping others grow.
Professional and/or volunteer experience and skills related to funds committee review work, such as budget management and application review skills, experience with governance of non-governmental organizations, background in common programmatic areas like culture and heritage, education, etc.
Expertise, including lived experience, related to diversity, equity and inclusion to help promote and support knowledge equity, and the increasing of geographic, gender, or age diversity.

Diversity criteria

Committee members understand and value diversity, including cultural, linguistic, and gender differences. We aim to support Regional Committees that represent and serve the needs of many communities in the movement, including those based on gender, language, ethnicity, age, and geography, amongst other characteristics.

Committee Open Calls

Composition

Size: The size of the committees varies in different funding regions with 5-10 members as of 2024.

Stakeholder Representation: Regional stakeholders can also be involved in some committees. For example, the CEECA Regional Fund Committee has a non voting representative from the CEE Hub. The committees with Community Resources can involve other stakeholders to ensure inclusion and representation.

Deliberations and decision-making

Frequency of deliberations or meetings

Committees communicate through online meetings, mailing lists, and Telegram groups. Some regional committee mailing lists also accept external communication. The work of the committee will vary from month to month. At the beginning, time for training will be required as well as during application review in the two rounds per year. Other moments would require less time focused on communication and mentorship.

Working language

Working language varies across regions. For example, the working language for the North American Committee is English, the Latin American and Caribbean committee works in Spanish, Portuguese, and French with interpretation and translation services, and the ESEAP Committee works in English, Mandarin, Japanese, and Indonesian. If the submitted application is in another language, committees can receive translation support.

Format of review and deliberations

For more details about the review process and review framework used, see: How are General Support Fund proposals reviewed for Wikimedia Community Fund?

Quorum and consensus

Committees use the gradients of the agreement scale for consensus building towards making inclusive funding decisions. Some committees use the 1-2-4-All approach for proposals reviews and deliberations. This means that there are 3-4 stages that an application undergoes that includes proposal review and deliberations. During the deliberations, Program Officers act as facilitators and provide Committees with requested additional information.

Program Officer's role

The Regional Program Officer from the Community Resources team support in administration, documentation, facilitation, coordination, communication, and serves in an advisory role.

Policies and transparency

Committee members are committed to the following policies and principles to support constructive dialogue with applicants and grantees:

Committee decisions and recommendations are published on grant talk pages. After every funding round, Committees have a meeting with their Program Officer to evaluate the completed work and identify areas of improvement.

Inactivity in the committee or not following the eligibility criteria and behavioral expectations can result in removal from the committee.

Committee surveys and feedback

Support and resources

Stipend: The regional committee members may receive a stipend of $100 every 2 months to offset costs of participation. Stipends can be used to pay for childcare, internet, transportation and other costs that make volunteering possible
Skill development opportunities: Training is provided to the committee members to support DEI, review, discussion, and decision-making. Committee members have access to skill building opportunities, including training on topics such as conflict transformation and nonviolent communication. Through their work on the tasks, members also learn by doing.

Other Fund Committees

Conference Fund Support Committee