Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Recommendations/Gender and Inclusion Projects

These recommendations were prepared by the Wikimedia Foundation Gender and Inclusion team to help applicants and reviewers identify strong Gender and Inclusion proposals. They draw on lessons from communities working to close gender-related knowledge gaps, strengthen inclusive participation, and make movement spaces safer, more welcoming, and more representative.

The Wikimedia Community Fund – General Support Fund can support grant applications that include funding requests for gender and inclusion activities. This guidance is meant for proposals where gender equity, inclusive participation, representation, safety, leadership, or progression are a primary focus rather than an incidental outcome. It helps applicants explain the gap they are responding to, the communities involved, the actions they will take, and how they will know whether the work has made a difference.

Process: Same as usual. Applicants should follow the existing General Support Fund application process. In the application form, there is a question about the categories of planned programs or activities. Please select the relevant option(s) under Gender and diversity, for example: "Bringing in women and/or gender diverse participants and editors"; "Focusing on creating content about women and/or gender diverse groups, including biographies, intersectional topic areas and/or adding images"; "Building organizer skills in women and diversity groups"; "Promoting female leadership within the movement"; "Sensitize and educate for gender perspective among Wikimedia projects stewards and editors". Applicants will then complete a few additional questions. A Gender and Inclusion reviewer may support Program Officers in reviewing applications in this category. The reviewer will look at whether the activities are aligned with movement priorities on gender equity, inclusion, safety, the Universal Code of Conduct, and Friendly Space expectations. The reviewer may also follow up with the applicant to understand the planned work more clearly.

You must have clear answers to the following questions

1. Which dimension(s) of the gender and inclusion gap does your work address, and which communities is it for?

Please be as specific as possible. Name the relevant Wikimedia projects, languages, regions, and communities. Tell us whether the proposal is focused on:

the content gap, such as biographies, intersectional topics, images on Commons, or gender data on Wikidata;
the participation or contributor gap, such as recruiting, welcoming, and retaining women, non-binary, trans and LGBT+ editors, and other under-represented contributors;
the leadership and progression gap, such as supporting organizers, trainers, functionaries, committee members, board members, patrollers, mentors, or other trusted community roles; and/or
the inclusion, belonging, accessibility, and safety gap, such as friendly spaces, anti-harassment practices, accessible participation, and community conditions that help people stay.

If your work focuses on a specific community for example women in a particular language community, LGBT+ contributors in a particular region, or young women contributors who need support to progress into trusted roles please say so clearly.

2. What are the main methods and tactics you will use to address this gap, and how will you make participation safe, voluntary, and sustainable?

Please describe the practical activities and support you will use. Examples may include edit-a-thons, contests, recurring content campaigns, list-building, mentorship, skills-building for organizers, partnerships with feminist, LGBT+, GLAM or community organizations, leadership development, friendly space measures, accessibility support, anti-harassment practices, and sensitization or training for existing editors and admins. Please also explain how you will protect contributors’ privacy and self-identification, involve allies where appropriate, and continue the work beyond one off events.

3. Approximately how much of the requested budget will you dedicate to gender and inclusion work in local currency? Please also briefly describe the metrics or learning questions you will use to track outcomes.

These may include participants, retained editors, content created or improved, organizers supported, leadership or trusted role pathways, safety measures, belonging, accessibility, and other indicators. Any gender-related data should be self reported, voluntary, and collected with care.

Gender and inclusion work we wish to fund

Wikimedia’s gender gaps are visible in both content and communities. Women and gender diverse people remain under-represented among contributors, leaders, and subjects of knowledge. Representation, however, is only one part of the issue. People also need to feel safe, welcome, respected, and able to remain active. Gender and inclusion work therefore looks at who is represented, who participates, who feels safe to stay, and who can progress into leadership or trusted community roles. This is long term, structural work rather than a single activity, and it strengthens the whole movement.

Your planned gender and inclusion work should include some of the following:

A clear goal to close one or more of the movement’s gender gaps- content, participation, leadership, progression, safety, or belonging and/or to make community spaces more inclusive, safe, and welcoming.
An intersectional approach that considers gender alongside race, geography, language, indigeneity, disability, age, sexuality, class, and other forms of exclusion, rather than treating gender as one uniform experience.
Meaningful inclusion of women, non-binary and trans people, and LGBT+ contributors, with a thoughtful role for allies. Closing the gap should not be left only to the people most affected by exclusion.
Attention to safe and voluntary participation, including friendly spaces, anti-harassment practices, accessibility, and respect for contributors’ privacy and right to self-identify or not disclose their identity.
A path to sustainability: a sustained programme, learning pathway, leadership pipeline, partnership, or community strategy rather than an isolated activity.
Progression pathways into trusted or high-responsibility roles, including mentorship, peer support, and practice based learning that helps under-represented contributors move into wiki quality maintenance, moderation, training, governance, organizing, committee work, or other community leadership roles.

Avoid this common mistake: treating gender as a label rather than a design principle

Many applications mention women, diversity, or inclusion, but do not explain what barrier is being addressed or what will change. Gender and inclusion work should be central to the design of the proposal, not added at the end as a participant count or a general statement of good intentions.

The difference between gender and inclusion work and general diversity work

Gender and inclusion work specifically targets gender-based disparities and the inclusion, safety, belonging, leadership, and participation of women, non-binary and trans people, and LGBT+ contributors, including where gender intersects with other identities. The gender and inclusion dimension should be a primary focus of the proposal.

General diversity or knowledge-equity work is broader. It may focus on under-represented communities by geography, language, socioeconomic background, culture, or other factors. This work is valuable and may be fundable, but it is reviewed differently unless gender and inclusion are central to the proposal.

Scale also matters. Adding one article about a woman, inviting women to a single event, or counting the number of women who attended does not automatically make a proposal for gender and inclusion work. A one-off edit-a-thon, social-media activity, or list-building drive may be part of a strong proposal, but it should be connected to a larger effort to close a gender gap, improve safety, support retention, strengthen leadership, or change community practice.

Examples of what gender and inclusion work can look like

Content campaigns and list-building to close the content gap, such as Women in Red red-link lists, intersectional and LGBT+ biographies, Commons uploads, or improved gender data on Wikidata.
Edit-a-thons, contests, and recurring campaigns that are part of a sustained programme, such as Art+Feminism, Wiki Loves Women, WikiGap, or SheSaid.
Recruiting, onboarding, and retaining women, non-binary, trans and LGBT+ editors, with a plan to support continued participation beyond the first event.
Mentorship and leadership development for women and gender-diverse organizers, including pathways into functionary, committee, board, training, patrolling, or other trusted roles.
Practice-based learning pathways , especially where they help under-represented contributors build skills, confidence, and interest in advanced community functions.
Partnerships with feminist organizations, LGBT+ organizations, GLAM institutions, universities, community groups, and Global South or decolonial knowledge initiatives that centre marginalized voices.
Inclusion, safety, and accessibility work, including friendly spaces, administrator training on gender-related harassment, accessible event design, community care, and improvements to the editing environment.
Sensitization and training of existing editors, stewards, administrators, and functionaries on gender perspective, inclusive practices, and handling gender-related harassment.
Research, tools, dashboards, or learning processes that measure gender gaps, safety, belonging, retention, leadership, or progression and help communities act on the findings.

Examples of what we do not consider gender and inclusion work under this category

A one-off activity with no connection to a sustained effort to close a gender gap, improve safety, support retention, or build inclusion.
General diversity or knowledge equity work where gender and inclusion are not a primary focus. Such work may be reviewed under a different category.
Assigning or assuming a person’s gender without consent, or requiring contributors to disclose their gender identity. Gender related data should always be self reported and voluntary.
Work that relies on gender stereotypes, for example assuming that women should only edit “women’s topics,” or that adding women to a space will automatically make it safer or more civil.
Approaches that place the full burden of fixing sexism, harassment, or exclusion on the affected group, with no role for allies, community accountability, or structural change.
Training on , leadership, or other advanced roles without explaining which gender or inclusion barrier is being addressed, why the target group needs support, and how follow up mentorship or retention will be provided.

Examples of metrics you may want to monitor

Number of participants, disaggregated by gender only where this is self reported, voluntary, and safe to collect.
Number of new and retained editors who are women, non-binary, trans, LGBT+ or from other under represented groups. Retention should matter as much as recruitment.
Content created or improved about women, non-binary and trans subjects, LGBT+ topics, and intersectional knowledge areas, including articles, images, Wikidata items, and coverage changes.
Number of women and gender diverse organizers, mentors, trainers, functionaries, or leaders supported into roles of responsibility.
Number and percentage of participants who complete a learning pathway, mentorship process, or progression activity.
For training pathways: number of participants who complete training and remain active after a certain period of time.
Inclusion, safety, and accessibility measures implemented, such as friendly spaces, anti-harassment practices, accessible event design, community care support, or safer reporting pathways.
Participant feedback on confidence, belonging, safety, skills, and ability to continue contributing.
Number and quality of partnerships with gender-focused, LGBT+, disability, youth, Indigenous, feminist, GLAM, or community-based organizations.

Additional Resources

Gender gap - the movement hub on the gender gap, and Address the gender gap
Gender gap/Initiatives and Gender gap/Groups - existing programmes and user groups
Advancing Gender Equity / Gender equity report 2018 - Gender Diversity Mapping report
Research: Knowledge Gaps Index - Taxonomy and Measurement - how the movement defines and measures gaps
Universal Code of Conduct and Friendly space policies
Movement Strategy 2030 recommendation: Provide for Safety and Inclusion

Eligibility Requirements

In order for a proposal to be reviewed, applicants must meet the eligibility criteria and other requirements set out for all General Support Fund applicants. For further information, see the Wikimedia Foundation’s eligibility requirements by grantee type.

Contact

If you wish to brainstorm an idea, ask questions, or receive more guidance, please contact Bridgit Kurgat, Gender Lead, WMF: bridgitk-ctrwikimedia.org.