English subtitles for clip: File:WMF Board elections 2021 - Lorenzo Losa - statement.webm

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Hi!

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My name is Lorenzo Losa, and since 2004 I
am a volunteer on the Wikimedia projects.

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I am one of the administrators
of Italian Wikipedia,

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and, in addition to the online projects,

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I've been contributing in many other activities,
including as Wiki Loves Monuments organizer,

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in GLAM and educational partnerships,

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and in advocacy, to push for better
policies for free knowledge.

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I've served on the board of Wikimedia Italy
since 2011,

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and I was the president from 2016 to 2020.

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For two terms, from 2015 to 2019,
I have been elected by the community

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as a member of the Funds Dissemination
Committee of the Wikimedia Foundation.

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I am now running for the Board of Trustees
of the Wikimedia Foundation,

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and I bring with me my knowledge
of the wiki communities

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and the experience in organizational governance.

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I believe that both are critical to perform
well the Board's tasks.

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The next few years, I think, will be decisive
for the development of our movement.

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They will be key for the implementation of
the 2030 Movement Strategy,

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that has been worked on for five years now.

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It is a strategy that talks about decentralization,
equity in decision-making,

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empowering the community.

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Now we have to put words into action.

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We need to ensure that it will be implemented
in the right way, without repeating past mistakes,

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and ensuring that the process will not be
dominated by whoever has more power.

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We will have to establish the Global Council,

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and this will have repercussions on the
Board of Trustees too.

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So far, the Board of Trustees has often been
seen, in a way, as the "board of the movement";

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but it is not.

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It is just the board of a single organization,
the Wikimedia Foundation,

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that exists among other organizations,
national or international ones,

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that support the wiki projects and community.

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The Global Council should finally give us
a real global body,

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that can represent the whole community
and the whole movement.

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The Board of Trustees, and the
Wikimedia Foundation itself,

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will need to adapt to recognize this new role.

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Today I run for the Board, but knowing that
it is a Board that will witness changes, and

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will have, in a way, to surrender sovereignty,
and I will be glad to do it.

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It's high time something like this existed!

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Whatever the changes that are awaiting us,
certain things must always remain the same.

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These are the founding principles
and the values.

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Our commitment to free knowledge; the participatory
approach; the central role of the community.

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Especially this last one,
the central role of the community.

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On the Internet, we often read about "communities";
but the Wikimedia community is different.

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The community is the essence of the movement
itself, and has the power to take decisions

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that shape the structure and
the future of our movement.

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These principles and these values are
what enabled us to get so far,

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and they must be our compass for the future.