image: File:WUGN Staff portraits 31.jpg <https://w.wiki/RnEP> by MediaMOF, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Behind every successful Wikimedia project is a community of people, ideas and, often vitally, the funding to turn ideas into reality. 

As Wiki In Africa continues to strengthen support for communities across the continent, one of the people who has helped make that happen is Ashioma Medi, our Grants Pathway Coordinator for the 2025/2026 cycle. Working closely with community organisers and project leaders, Ashioma helped guide applicants through the grants process, making it easier for African communities to access the resources they need to bring impactful initiatives to life.

While the judges deliberate over the thousands of submissions to the 2026 Wiki Loves Africa competition, another important part of the campaign has also drawn to a close: the Wiki In Africa funnel added to the WMF’s Rapid Grants programme that helped communities across Africa organise local activities around this year’s Rites & Rituals theme.

With the publication of his closing Diff post “Rites, Rituals, and Rapid Grants: What We Learned Running Wiki Loves Africa’s New Grants Pathway”, which reflects on the Funding Pathway’s outcomes and key learnings, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to thank and recognise Ashioma.

We asked Ashioma a few questions about his Wikimedia journey, what brought him to Wiki In Africa, and what he had hoped to achieve in his role.

Q: What role has the Open Movement or Wikipedia played in your journey?Q: What role has the Open Movement or Wikipedia played in your journey?

“The Open Movement and Wikipedia have been transformative cornerstones in my professional and personal growth.”

Ashioma’s Wikimedia journey began as many do—with a search for information during his university years in Nigeria. Initially using Wikipedia to settle debates with friends, he later discovered that anyone could contribute to building the world’s largest free knowledge resource.

That realisation changed everything.

What began as editing articles about underrepresented African people and institutions soon grew into organising edit-a-thons and supporting Wikimedia communities across Nigeria. The movement’s commitment to freely accessible knowledge strongly aligned with his belief that information should never be limited by privilege or geography.

“The Open Movement’s ethos of free knowledge resonated deeply with my belief that information should not be gated by privilege or geography. It empowered me to bridge gaps in Nigerian representation on Wikimedia platforms, turning me from a passive user into an active builder.”

Q: What did working with the Wiki In Africa team mean to you?

For Ashioma, joining Wiki In Africa represented an opportunity to expand the impact he’d already been making within Nigerian Wikimedia communities to a continental scale.

“Joining Wiki In Africa as the Grants Pathway Coordinator feels like coming full circle—a homecoming to the heart of African Wikimedia innovation.”

He sees grants coordination as much more than an administrative role. By helping emerging communities understand funding opportunities and navigate the application process, he hopes to remove barriers that prevent good ideas from becoming successful projects.

“Guiding emerging grantees through funding mazes isn’t just administrative—it’s mentorship, empowerment, and a chance to dismantle barriers that keep African contributors sidelined.”

Q What do you feel you have achieved in this position?

Throughout his time with Wiki In Africa, Ashioma’s vision was to help build a grants ecosystem that is more inclusive, accessible and sustainable for African Wikimedia communities. Working with Wiki In Africa to achieve this helped the team and the Wikimedia Community find ways to simplify the grants application process through practical resources, workshops and peer support networks that will give first-time applicants greater confidence.

In the longer-term, the learnings from the pilot grants pathway will help those disbursing the funding and the communities applying for that funding develop programmes that will not only succeed in their applications, but will also add greater value to the open knowledge ecosystem. In the future, this may lead to support for more multi-year initiatives, improve how impact is measured, and encourage partnerships with African funding organisations.

Ultimately, Ashioma’s goal has always been to see more African-led knowledge shared across Wikimedia platforms, from articles in indigenous languages to richer collections documenting the continent’s cultural heritage. His work as Wiki In Africa’s Grants Pathway Coordinator has brought him a step closer to achieving this goal. 

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

Ashioma believes that every community has valuable stories to tell—and that the right support can help those stories reach the world.

“I believe every community has stories worth telling and projects worth supporting. I’m excited to be in a role where I can help unlock those possibilities. This isn’t just about grants—it’s about investing in people, in knowledge, and in the future of Africa’s presence in the open space.”

The Wiki In Africa team cannot thank Ashioma enough for helping us support communities across the continent. His work on the Grants Pathway has helped ensure that promising ideas don’t stop at inspiration. By making funding more accessible and building the skills needed to use it effectively, his work and the lessons learned during his time as Grants Pathway Coordinator will help more African communities tell their stories and shape the future of free knowledge.

We wish you well on your continued journey in the Open Movement.