2025-08-07 –, KISUMU (🗣️ ar, es, fr, sw)
Language: English
🎥 Session recording: https://w.wiki/FBCb 🎥
This session hopes to be a listening space where organizers can share their experiences in introducing newcomers to or training newcomers with the Growth features - features that the WMF Growth team developed to support newcomers to overcome barriers in contributing and continue to contribute to Wikipedia (e.g., what are common questions organizers receive from newcomers with regard to Growth features usage). This session will end with a brainstorm conversation on our potential path forward: how we can join forces in fueling newcomers growth in our movement.
This session hopes to be a listening space where organizers can share their experiences in introducing newcomers to or training newcomers with the Growth features - features that the WMF Growth team developed to support newcomers to overcome barriers in contributing and continue to contribute to Wikipedia (e.g., what are common questions organizers receive from newcomers with regard to Growth features usage). Additionally, this session aims to provide a pause-and-reflect space for organizers to share their perspectives on engaging and retaining newcomers. For example, in this session, organizers can share their existing strategies or actions to retain newcomers. This session will end with a brainstorm conversation on our potential path forward: how we can join forces in fueling newcomers growth in our movement.
This session has threefold objectives:
(1). To reflect together with our organizers on the current approaches to support newcomers growth in our movement from organizers’ perspective and to understand the needs from Wikimedians who want to reach out and engage with newcomers;
(2). To learn our organizers' perspective in knowing and understanding our Growth features, to what extent organizers use these features in their engagement with newcomers, and what are some of common questions organizers receive from newcomers with regard to the Growth features usage; and
(3). To brainstorm together with our organizers on potential future strategies on how can we join forces to fuel newcomers' growth
This session will be co-facilitated by the WMF staff: Anbar (Senior Process Analyst, Community Organizing Experience), Kirsten (Senior Product Manager, Growth), and Ilana (Senior Product Manager, Campaigns).
The session is open to everyone, including:
(1) Organizers who have engaged newcomers via trainings, campaigns or any organizing activities;
(2) Wikimedians who want to engage newcomers in their activities or support newcomers in their growth journey;
(3) Wikimedians who are mentors to newcomers or new editors;
(4) Anyone from any region who is interested in supporting newcomers growth in their region.
- What other themes or topics does your session fit into? Please choose from the list of tags below.
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Capacity building, Collaboration
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
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Everyone can participate in this session
- How do you plan to deliver this session? You will be asked to confirm this closer to the date in case of changes to the format.
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Onsite in Nairobi
- Should your session be selected for the program, do you agree to release your session and supporting materials on-wiki and on the eventyay platform under CC BY-SA 4.0?
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I agree
- How does your session relate to the event theme: Wikimania@20: Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
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A part of the theme of Wikimania 2025 is about impact. Namely, Wikimania is a way to learn from each other about tools usage and organizing experiences, among others. This session is precisely about our organizers' impact and the roles that they play in supporting newcomers’ growth. This session is also about inclusivity. We hope to collaboratively brainstorm with the community and create a safe space for voicing diverse perspectives to help us support newcomers' further growth.
Anbar is a Senior Process Analyst, Community Organizing Experience at the Wikimedia Foundation.
An interdisciplinary learner from Indonesia, Anbar has a combined 10 years of experience in academia, technology policy (Trust & Safety), and community outreach. Anbar is currently based in New York, USA.
Ilana is the product manager for the Campaigns team at the Wikimedia Foundation, which focuses on building and improving tools for collaborative experiences on the wikis (such as campaigns, edit-a-thons, and WikiProjects).
I'm a Product Manager on the Wikimedia Foundation's Growth team, where I work on features that help newcomers start editing and feel confident contributing. I focus on the Newcomer Homepage, Mentorship, Structured Tasks, Community Configuration, and making mobile editing more engaging.
As a former librarian with a background in crowdsourced information platforms, I'm passionate about expanding access to knowledge and empowering people to take part in shaping it.