Cape Town, South Africa – Wiki In Africa is pleased to announce the addition of three new members to its Board of Directors. The new board members are regionally and linguistically distributed, bringing years of experience in the Wikimedia and Open Education movements, as well as alternative, contextually-relevant perspectives.
Based in South Africa, Wiki In Africa is a non-profit organisation that is continental in operations and global in impact. Officially mandated in 2017, Wiki In Africa initiates projects across Africa (and beyond) that activate, train, and support a self-sustaining generation of new, dedicated, and proactive Wikipedian editors across the continent to generate new articles and subjects relevant to contemporary Africa. This expansion of the Board of Directors is in line with Wiki In Africa’s strategy to ensure wider, more diverse, and equitable perspectives and knowledge.
The new board members include:
- Dominique Eliane Yao – is a communication and public relations specialist from Côte d’Ivoire who is the first president of the Wikifranca Administrative Committee, and has previously been the Vice President of Wikimedia Usergroup Côte d’Ivoire,
- Gino Fransman – is the founder of the Education Influencers project at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, is the current Africa Hub Coordinator and Advisory Board member of UNESCO’s Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW), and is the 2021 winner of the Open Education Awards of Excellence: Emerging Leader.
- Tobechukwu Precious Friday – is the founder and operations coordinator of the language services company, Smarter Languages Hub, the co-founder and Program Coordinator, Igbo Wikimedians User Group, and a Wikimedian in Residence at the Moleskine Foundation.
“Wiki In Africa is honoured that these exceptional leaders in the Open movement have joined us,” said Florence Devouard, co-executive director of Wiki In Africa. “At the end of 2022, the continental impact of Wiki In Africa’s programs and its importance as a strategic partner in Africa was endorsed by a 3-year funding commitment from the Wikimedia Foundation. This expansion of the Wiki In Africa Board provides further contextual insights and innovative out-of-the-box thinking to support Wiki In Africa’s projects with world-class leadership, sound advice, and excellent guidance as our projects continue to expand and grow over the next 3 years.”
The three new members join existing board members Isla Haddow-Flood (Chair), Florence Devouard, Iolanda Pensa, Emma Kaye, and Rachel Zadok.