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Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/AfroCROWD:Continuing to Champion Communities of African Descent on and in Wikimedia and Improving the relevance of Wikipedia and open technology to communities of Color

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statusFunded
AfroCROWD: Continuing to Champion Communities of African Descent on and in Wikimedia and Improving the relevance of Wikipedia and open technology to communities of Color
start date2023-07-012023-07-01T00:00:00Z
end date2025-07-012024-06-30T00:00:00Z
budget (local currency)173489.33 USD
amount requested (USD)173489.33 USD
amount recommended (USD)145000
grant typeWikimedia Affiliate (chapter, thematic org., or user group)
funding regionNA
decision fiscal year2022-23
funding program roundRound 2
applicant and people related to proposalShanluan

Aliceba

Adjoajo
organization (if applicable)AfroCROWD
Final Learning Report

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Applicant details

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Wikimedia username(s):

Shanluan

Aliceba Adjoajo

Organization:

AfroCROWD

G. Have you received grants from the Wikimedia Foundation before?

Applied previously and did receive a grant

H. Have you received grants from any non-wiki organization before?

No

H.1 Which organization(s) did you receive grants from?

N/A

M. Do you have a fiscal sponsor?

Yes

M1. Fiscal organization name.

Fractured Atlas

Additional information

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R. Where will this proposal be implemented?

United States of America

S. Please indicate whether your work will be focused on one country (local), more than one or several countries in your region (regional) or has a cross-regional (global) scope:

International

S1. If you have answered regional or international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.

T. If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has. (optional)

https://afrocrowd.org/

https://twitter.com/afroCROWDit https://www.facebook.com/afroCROWD/ https://Instagram.com/AfroCROWD

M. Do you have a fiscal sponsor?

Yes

M1. Fiscal organization name.

Fractured Atlas

Proposal

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1. What is the overall vision of your organization and how does this proposal contribute to this? How does this proposal connect to past work and learning?

Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia (AfroCROWD) is a dedicated initiative and Wikimedia User Group that aims to promote the representation of people of African descent on Wikimedia projects. This includes amplifying content and providing training for editors. In addition, AfroCROWD is committed to increasing awareness and relevance of Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture and software movements among people of African descent. Our project, "Championing Communities of African Descent on and in Wikimedia and Improving the Relevance of Wikipedia and Open Technology to Communities of Color", is directly aligned with this goal. Through this project, AfroCROWD aims to make Wikimedia more accessible and relevant to communities of color, with a focus on people of African descent. Our efforts aim to help to build a more inclusive and diverse Wikimedia community, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of people of African descent.


Over the years, efforts have been made to introduce people of African descent to the Wikimedia movement through various events, conferences and workshops. However, with the advent of the pandemic, a new approach has been adopted, and the focus is now on increasing international connectivity and promoting interest in Wiki and open technology. This shift is aimed at addressing the persistent digital divide in these communities. In the past year, outreach efforts have been made to expand into the HBCU community and connect with Queer Trans Black Indigenous People of Color (QTBIPOC) who are represented in our community. We have also partnered with innovation and educational partners to increase our outreach efforts and make Wiki and open technology more relevant for these communities. Through these efforts, we hope to create more opportunities for underrepresented groups and build a more inclusive and diverse Wikimedia movement.


Through our experience, we have come to understand the importance of building long-term relationships with our partners. This means less emphasis on doing multiple projects each month and more on developing campaigns that can have a greater long-term impact. Our initiative, AfroCROWD, is built on a model that prioritizes spreading concepts and planting seeds among many partners. We take pride in the fact that we have been able to engage with numerous partnerships over time. However, we recognize that it is essential to focus on campaign development and expansion to increase our impact in focused areas. Therefore, we are shifting our approach to prioritize developing partnerships that can have a significant impact on communities of African descent worldwide. This approach will allow us to continue making a meaningful contribution to Wikimedia and free knowledge movements, while also fostering more meaningful and long-lasting partnerships.

2. What is the change that you are trying to bring about and why is this important?

The 2021 Community Insight survey report has shed light on the demographics of U.S. Wikipedia editors. The report shows that a staggering 89% of editors identify as white, while only 0.5% identify as Black or African American. Hispanic or Latino/a/x people were also severely underrepresented at 5.2%. In contrast, 8.8% of editors identified as Asian or Asian American, and 6% identified as biracial, multiracial, or another self-reported category. The report highlights the overrepresentation of white and Asian American editors in U.S. communities in proportion with population sizes and the severe underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic or Latino/a/x editors. This information is essential for understanding the perspectives that shape the content on Wikipedia.


Our project aims to improve engagement and representation of people of African descent on Wikipedia by promoting the relevancy of Wikipedia and Wiki technology to the African diaspora. To achieve this, we will connect with representatives from the African diaspora on a local level and collaborate with our partners in the Caribbean and Africa. Our ongoing awareness and social media campaign will reach out to participants, and we will hold regular monthly events both online and in-person. Through these events, we will provide participants with tools to edit and create content for Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata pages relevant to their communities. We recognize the importance of language in preserving cultural heritage, and to facilitate this, we will work with the native languages of the African diaspora and our international partners. Our project also seeks to preserve cultural heritage by engaging communities to collect and record oral knowledge and history through oral knowledge recordathons, which we have helped develop and spread. Overall, our project seeks to bridge knowledge gaps and promote cultural preservation within the African diaspora through the use of Wiki technology.


At our organization, we take gender issues seriously, and we recognize the importance of women's participation in all our project activities. As a woman-founded and woman-led organization, we believe that it is crucial to create a space where women's voices are heard, valued, and respected. Therefore, we are committed to promoting gender equity and inclusion throughout all our work. Recognizing the unique challenges that women face in society, particularly in male-dominated fields such as technology, we strive to ensure that our project provides a safe and supportive environment for women to participate fully. By doing so, we aim to empower women and promote gender equality both within our organization and in the wider community.

3. Describe your main approaches or strategies to achieve these changes and why you think they will be effective.

This program will involve a variety of activities aimed at improving representation on Wikimedia projects and promoting knowledge sharing. These activities will include workshops and events, translate-a-thons, edit-a-thons, training-the-trainer events, and oral knowledge record-a-thons, all of which will involve work on several Wikimedia projects such as Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, and Wikidata. AfroCROWD will work closely with partner organizations to create a program outline and deliver engaging events and workshops designed to train participants in editing and translating content, creating engaging visuals, and improving technical knowledge using Wiki technology. Additionally, we will identify and train approximately 50 participants who can train others in the African diaspora, ensuring the program's results are long-lasting. We will also collaborate with experts in African culture and representatives from organizations such as the UN and World Bank to enhance existing content on African culture and underrepresented leaders. Finally, we aim to use our knowledge gained from pioneering efforts such as translatathons and recordathons to take a deeper look at the African diaspora in a global context, investing more resources in Wikipedia editing, Wikidata training, WikiCommons uploads, and speakers for virtual symposiums to enable greater availability and addition of multicultural information on Wikimedia projects.

4. What are the activities you will be developing and delivering as part of these approaches or strategies?

AfroCROWD has set the goal to provide more than 40 online and in-person workshops by 2025, with the aim of training over 1,000 participants across their local and international partnership hubs in the Caribbean and African regions. The primary objective of these workshops is to increase awareness and representation of people of African descent among Wikipedia editors and contributors and encourage active participation in the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture, and software movements. The ultimate aim is to make Wikipedia and Wiki technology an integral part of the lives of people of color, while broadening knowledge of the expansive contributions of Black culture and history in Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects.

5. Do you want to apply for multi-year funding?      

Yes, for 3 years

5.1 If yes, provide a brief overview of Year 2 and Year 3 of the proposed plan and how this relates to the current proposal and your strategic plan?

Please see our Strategic Plan document attached which outlines year two and three.

6. Please include a timeline (operational calendar) for your proposal.

Please find our timeline (operational calendar) in the document attached.

7. Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?

Please see our Staffing Plan attached.

8. Please state if your proposal aims to work to bridge any of the identified CONTENT knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select up to THREE that most apply to your work.

Content Gender gap, Geography, Language

8.1 In a few sentences, explain how your work is specifically addressing this content gap (or Knowledge inequity) to ensure a greater representation of knowledge.

Language - The project will have a linguistic focus, with an emphasis on providing content in multiple languages spoken across the African continent and diaspora. Special attention will be given to languages used in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin. The goal is to increase representation and accessibility of diverse cultures and knowledge on the Wikimedia platform.


Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial - Promoting knowledge diversity through culture, ethnicity, religion, and race will ensure that the Wikimedia platform represents a broader range of African diaspora cultures, ethnicities, and religions.


Sexual orientation - We have made a concerted effort to ensure that all members of AfroCROWD, including those in the QTBIPOC community, are properly represented in all of our activities. To this end, we have engaged the services of a consultant from the QTBIPOC community to help us develop innovative strategies in this regard.

9. Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or THEMATIC focus. Select up to THREE that most apply to your work and explain the rationale for identifying these themes.

Education, Human Rights

10. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Please note, we had previously asked about inclusion and diversity in terms of CONTENTS, in this question we are asking about the diversity of PARTICIPANTS. Select up to THREE that most apply to your work.

Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background

11. What are your strategies for engaging participants, particularly those that currently are non-Wikimedia?

Creating safe and welcoming spaces for our target audience and participants is a fundamental aspect of AfroCROWD's internal culture. Our mission is to engage with and build a community. To achieve this, we utilize various tools such as social media, our website, mailing lists, and public events to attract new participants. We collaborate with partners who share our commitment to representation and inclusivity to create events, projects, and campaigns that go beyond the Wikimedia community and appeal to a broader audience. Since 2015, we have successfully attracted new Wikimedians monthly through these efforts. This year, we implemented a new outreach strategy that involved working with podcasts, social media influencers, group leaders, actors, musicians, and professors to connect our work with target and expanded communities. As a result, our outreach numbers have increased by 600%. While we do not have specific barriers to entry, we encourage participants to come to our events with the intention of participating and working with others. We provide registration materials to manage expectations, and we work with partners to ensure that participants have the necessary tools and resources to participate fully, including internet access, devices, and linguistic needs. These efforts have been helpful in increasing engagement among participants, both in-person and online.

12. In what ways are you actively seeking to contribute towards creating a safer, supportive, more equitable environment for participants and promoting the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy, and/or equivalent local policies and processes?

The initiative directly aligns with the values and principles of UCOC and Safe Space. It empowers individuals from diverse racial backgrounds to engage and participate in Wikimedia projects, promoting inclusivity and diversity. The project also fosters the development of relevant and interesting content for editors while creating a safe and positive environment for collaboration among all participants. Importantly, the project upholds the Wikimedia mission of promoting the sharing of global knowledge and encouraging global cooperation, free from prejudice and xenophobia. Participants in the project will be treated with mutual respect, trust, and solidarity, regardless of their age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, appearance, race, religion, or other self-identification. Any form of harassment will not be tolerated, and those who violate the rules will be asked to leave the event.

13. Do you have plans to work with Wikimedia communities, groups, or affiliates in your country, or in other countries, to implement this proposal?

Yes

13.1 If yes, please tell us about these connections online and offline and how you have let Wikimedia communities know about this proposal.

AfroCROWD uses a robust social media campaign to keep followers abreast of new information and events. The initiative also has a mailing list of over 3800 people. We regularly post event pages on Wikipedia and Meta when we have upcoming events and also post events to our On-Wiki meetup page. Finally, our website is also a conduit to our audience seeking to connect with us for coming events and other information, while our Youtube page provides even more information about our projects on demand. Beyond this, we engage in press, and represent our projects on partner media (examples include outreach on their social media, news blogs and webpages as well as recordings). We also engage in Wiki specific media like Wikipedia Weekly where our collaboration with Wiki Caribbean was the most viewed show on the site when it aired and is the third most viewed video they showcase. We've also begun working with social media influencers and podcasts to carry our message and reach. We aim to continue.

14. Will you be working with other external, non-Wikimedian partners to implement this proposal?

Yes

14.1 Please describe these partnerships and what motivates the potential partner to be part of the proposal and how they add value to your work.

AfroCROWD connects with grassroots, GLAM and educational organizations and communities driven in-line with our mission to amplify, and engage the BIPOC community with Wikimedia and open technological movements. Our core aim is to amplify marginalized communities of the African Diaspora and with that we synergize with global partners who wish to do the same. Every organization with which we connect synergizes with that mission and are motivated by it. Our partners include partners both within the Movement, and those new to it. We have also worked with social media influencers, and external partners this year seen in our timeline.

  • In order of projected events.

Brooklyn Library Haiti Cultural Exchange Access Now Jaaklac RightsCon Open Foundation West Africa in Ghana: African Wiki Challenge Howard University Center for African Studies SUNY Albany Wiki Caribbean, SEA Partners, Haitian Research Partner/ Podcast Partners Queering Wikimedia Ambassador's Association, Wiki Caribbean Howard University Professors and students, SMOOTHInc., Morgan State University Professors WikiVibrance Wiki Caribbean, Wiki Benin, Wiki Madagascar, Wiki Singapore, Wiki Niger, Wiki Burkina Faso, Wiki Nigeria and other partners Wiki Caribbean Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture Wiki Listen among other podcasts Ambassador's Association, Wiki Caribbean National Science Foundation REU ILLC Site Program Wiki Earth, CT Caribbean Cultural Centers Ambassador's Association, Wiki Benin LES Girls Club

15. How do you hope to sustain or expand the work carried out in this proposal after the grant?

Our growth and expansion will be achieved by maintaining and strengthening partnerships with our partner hubs in the US, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa, as well as other partners in the Diaspora. We will employ a variety of connection methods, including online, in-person, and proxy connections, and organize events and other opportunities for connection throughout the agreed period.


Furthermore, we will uphold our communication strategy, which involves engaging in both in-person and online activities with our partners and online communities. We will also maintain a robust social media presence across various channels and carry out targeted campaigns through these mediums.

In addition, we plan to continue to reach out to potential donors and sponsors who can support our efforts through donations in kind.

16. What kind of risks do you anticipate and how would you mitigate these. This can include factors such as external/contextual issues that may affect implementation, as well as internal issues, such as governance/leadership changes.

Please see our Risk Mitigation Strategy attached.

17. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select a maximum of three options that most apply.

Improve User Experience, Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Ensure Equity in Decision-making

18. Please state if your organization or group has a Strategic Plan that can help us further understand your proposal. You can also upload it here.  

Yes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gm4UJ6o8ATLgoezi_tnv51RtNYx86WC34ZXVEqYibwg/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs

Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation

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19. What do you hope to learn from your work in this fund proposal?

Please see our learning Sharing and Evaluation Document attached.

20. Based on these learning questions, what is the information or data you need to collect to answer these questions? Please register this information (as metric description) in the following space provided.

Main Metrics Description Target
Main (1): participants of the events, workshops and trainings As the project aims to be open to people of all backgrounds with a special focus on people of African descent, we expect strong interest from the public and aim to have over 1000 participants throughout the 3 years of the events. 1000
Main (2): number of events We aim to have an educational event at least once a month for the 3 years. 36
Main (3): Survey responses We aim to hold surveys inclusive of self identification and asking questions related to responses to question 19 600
N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A

Here are some additional metrics that you can use if they are relevant to your work. Please note that this is just an optional list, mostly of quantitative metrics. They may complement the qualitative metrics you have defined in the previous boxes.

Additional Metrics Description Target
Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities N/A N/A
Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities N/A N/A
Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability N/A N/A
Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors N/A N/A
Diversity of participants brought in by grantees N/A N/A
Number of people reached through social media publications N/A N/A
Number of activities developed N/A N/A
Number of volunteer hours N/A N/A

21. Additional core quantitative metrics. These core metrics will not tell the whole story about your work, but they are important for measuring some Movement-wide changes. Please try to include these core metrics if they are relevant to your work. If they are not, please use the space provided to explain why they are not relevant or why you can not capture this data. Your explanation will help us review our core metrics and make sure we are using the best ones for the movement as a whole.

Core Metrics Summary
Core metrics Description Target
Number of participants Our events will be open to people of all backgrounds with a special focus on people of African descent. The number of participants in all activities will be 1000+. Out of that number at least 600 people will be new participants. 600
Number of editors Our events will be open to people of all backgrounds with a special focus on people of African descent. The number of editors in all activities will be 1000+. Out of that number at least 500 people will be new editors. 500
Number of organizers The number of organizers in the project is 50. Additionally, we will have 4 new organizers that will help to oversee, monitor and plan project activities such as edit-a-thons, online and offline meetings etc.) 50
Number of new content contributions per Wikimedia project
Wikimedia Project Description Target
Wikipedia Wikipedia

Wikipedia 1000 new articles edited related to topics on cultures and communities of Africa and the African diaspora and associated topics.

1000
Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons

We aim to have 350 images uploaded to Wikimedia commons.

350
N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A

21.1 If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation.

N/A

22. What tools would you use to measure each metric selected?

AfroCROWD will use ISA tool to allow the project participants to add “micro contributions" in the form of structured data to images on Wikimedia Commons and On-wiki project page to keep custom tracking by tools like Bots.

Financial Proposal

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23. & 23.1 What is the amount you are requesting from WMF? Please provide this amount in your local currency. If you are thinking about a multi-year fund, please provide the amount for the first year.

173489.33 USD

23.2 What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?

173489.33 USD

23.3 Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1unxJqjkdnAhvyVI2hqYtxVwJXkkq4BZbwtR1qeAZxwc/edit#gid=1489146031

Budget also attached as xls file.

23.4 Please include any additional observations or comments you would like to include about your budget.

Please see budget attached.

Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.

Other public document(s):

Final Message

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By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.

We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes


Feedback

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