2025-08-09 –, ELDORET (Clubhouse)
Language: English
This session will explore strategies to build welcoming environments that support beginners and foster long-term engagement across different age groups and experience levels. We will bring in the learnings from the Let’s Connect evaluation report where we will go over the needs/desires Let’s Connectors wish to see more of in the peer to peer learning space. Through success stories, mentorship opportunities, WikiLearn, and other interactive discussions, participants will gain practical tools, ideas and meaningful connections. The learnings from this session can be brought back to local communities, leading to a sustainable, diverse and thriving multigenerational Wikimedia ecosystem.
Target Audience: Newcomers and experienced editors
This learning clinic will be an interactive workshop with a circle discussion about newcomer experience, intermediate Wikimedian experience, and advanced Wikimedian experience. We will discuss the challenges, hear stories from each editor level: beginner editor, Affiliate, organizer, and/or staff member, while also being open to hear the biases about each editor level. We will break the circle into sub groups where we will give time for participants to meet each other and discuss the tools regularly used in peoples communities from their editor level and hear from newcomers who can teach long-time Wikimedians maybe different methods or approaches to editing/contributing to Wikimedia projects. At the end we will come back into a circle and discuss the commonalities everyone shares and share favorite resources to walk away with.
Aims:
Sustaining newcomer participation in Wikimedia is a key challenge for long-term community growth. Many new contributors join with enthusiasm but struggle to stay engaged due to barriers such as lack of mentorship, technical challenges, or difficulty finding a sense of belonging. This learning clinic will explore the common obstacles newcomers face, to the common obstacles long-time Wikimedians face. We will highlight successful strategies proposed by different editor levels that have helped retain and empower them. Through real-wiki examples, best practices, and interactive discussions, we will identify actionable steps to create a more welcoming and supportive Wikimedia environment that encourages long-term engagement.
Objectives:
Identify challenges - understand the key reasons why newcomers disengage, such as lack of mentorship, technical difficulties, or feeling disconnected from the community.
Showcase success stories - highlight regional and global initiatives that have successfully improved newcomer retention.
Strengthen support systems - explore mentorship programs or courses (Wikilearn), training resources, and digital tools that facilitate newcomer engagement.
Actionable solutions - establish concrete steps that Wikimedia communities can implement to sustain newcomer participation.
- What other themes or topics does your session fit into? Please choose from the list of tags below.
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Collaboration, Storytelling
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
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Some experience will be needed
- 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
- How does your session relate to the event theme: Wikimania@20: Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
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Let’s Connect is focused on hosting peer to peer learning spaces for all Wikimedians across the movement. Our session would give space to newcomers, Affiliates and organizers to hear different perspectives on what onboarding can look like across diverse languages, communities, and Wikimedia projects.
This session related to:
Inclusivity: means welcoming and supporting diverse newcomers to contribute meaningfully and feel valued. Experienced Wikimedians must be open minded to hear the retention barriers from a beginner voice for a truly inclusive movement.
Impact arises from engaging newcomers’ fresh perspectives and diverse knowledge, ensuring Wikimedia projects grow with high-quality, varied content.
Sustainability: a thriving Wikimedia community depends on continuous growth and contributor retention. This learning clinic explores long-term strategies, mentorship models, and community-building efforts that help sustain engagement, ensuring the Wikimedia projects remains a dynamic and evolving knowledge ecosystem.
- 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
Volunteer Wikimedian from a small affiliate “Odia Wikimedians User Group” from India,South Asia. WikiWomenCamp 2023 COT member and WikiWomen* Task Force member. An engineer by profession and Wikimedian by passion. I have been in the Wikimedia movement since 2016.
Bukola James is a certified librarian and passionate open knowledge advocate committed to promoting open access to information and empowering communities through digital literacy. As co‑founder of Africa Wiki Women, Sub‑Saharan Liaison for the Let’s Connect working group, and Community Coordinator for the African Wikipedian Alliance, she has played a key role in fostering collaboration across the Wikimedia community. In addition to serving as vice chair of the Wikipedia + Education User Group, Bukola leads the Learnovation Network Foundation as chairperson, where she champions innovation, fosters partnerships, and drives initiatives that strengthen digital literacy and collaboration within the open knowledge movement.
Hello! We are the Let’s Connect program, a collaborative effort led by eight members from the Let’s Connect working group, each representing one of the eight regions. Our initiative was founded by Jessica Stephenson, who believed that peer-to-peer learning is essential for the sustainability of the Wikimedia movement.
Each month, we host learning clinics where we work together with a diverse range of Wikimedians, including affiliates, new and experienced organizers, and recently, newcomers. Our primary aim is to create safe, relaxed learning environments that showcase what interactive, peer-to-peer learning can look like both online and in person.
We invite individuals from various communities to share their expertise on a wide variety of topics, enabling us to learn from their experiences and challenges. With speakers from within the community, Let’s Connect participants gain valuable insights from real-Wiki experiences and highlights of current projects, programs, and tools in action.
I have been a Ghanaian Wikipedian since February 2016, a Freelance Digital Strategist, and currently serve as the Board Chair of the Wikimedia Ghana User Group. I am also one of the Working Group Members of the Let's Connect program. I am an active advocate for mental health, the environment, and a freelance photographer.
I am Colombian, British and Brazilian and grew up moving around the world.
I studied politics and history and have a Master's in Development Studies. For the last 25 years I have worked in project design, management and evaluation in issues related to education, peace building, improving livelihoods, youth and gender equity. A main feature of my work has been empowering diverse communities through innovative movement strategies. This has ranged from working with indigenous women's movements in remote regions in Colombia to youth groups in Brazil.
I have been part of the Movement since April 2021 when I joined the Wikimedia Foundation. I currently work within the Community Devleopment team supporting hub initiatives and Let's Connect.