Our structure and governance
Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand, or WANZ, is an Incorporated Society and registered charity in New Zealand. We serve the user group of Wikimedians who are interested in organising and participating in outreach activities in New Zealand.
People / Committee
Photo Attribution Charlotte Hinton
- Victoria Leachman • President • president@wikimedia.nz
- Lisa Maule & Sophia Coghini • Vice-President • vice-president@wikimedia.nz
- Marshall Clark • Treasurer • treasurer@wikimedia.nz
- David Nind • Secretary • secretary@wikimedia.nz
- Axel Downard-Wilke • Committee Member
- Heather Knox • Committee Member
- Lucy Schrader • Committee Member
- Dianne Skelton • Executive Advisor • dianne@wikimedia.nz
History
There was an attempt to create a local chapter around 2006. One of the goals that drove the formation of this group was to renew a discussion about creating a chapter in the future. Before we can make a chapter, we need to have run a User Group with a range of well-documented activities for two years, so establishing this group was the first step.
From June 2018 to June 2019 Mike Dickison ran activities as the New Zealand Wikipedian at Large. Mike was keen to see a user group start, and created a mailing list of potential members.
A Wellington physical meetup was established which went online during the first New Zealand COVID lockdown. This resulted in more coordinated communication across New Zealand and an increase in participation in User Group activities. The user group was formally recognised by the Wikimedia Foundation on 17 December 2019.
We are currently recognised as an affiliate, and we are applying for chapter status.
ESEAP – East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Regional Cooperation
WANZ is part of the Wikimedia East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Regional Cooperation (ESEAP) regional hub. This is a regional collaborative composed of nationalities and Wikimedia affiliates of Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Membership also includes nationalities and informal communities of Brunei, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Timor Leste and Pacific island nations FS Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
ESEAP is a platform to encourage communities in the region to share experiences and ideas, and to find collaboration opportunities with other communities in the region. The ESEAP Hub will also encourage communities to publish news and reports from their communities to this platform.
Wikimedia Foundation (WMF)
The Wikimedia Foundation's mission is "to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally." In November 2023, WANZ applied for Chapter status within the Wikimedia Foundation.