2022:Submissions/Workshop: Community-Centered Implementation of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Human Rights Policy
- Language: English
- Status: Live
Speaker(s)[edit source]
- Ricky Gaines, Senior Human Rights Advocacy Manager, lead moderator
- Cameran Ashraf, Human RIghts Lead, co-moderator
- Rebecca MacKinnon, VP Global Advocacy
Abstract[edit source]
This workshop will first update the community on the progress the Foundation is making to implement the Human Rights Policy, then divide into breakout groups to brainstorm solutions to addressing specific human rights challenges facing our platforms, including harmful content, harassment, government surveillance and censorship, and challenges to knowledge equity. Wikimedia staff and volunteers will lead the groups with the objective of crowdsourcing ideas for how the movement can better mitigate these challenges and, in turn, protect Wikimedians’ human rights. The workshop will conclude with breakout groups sharing their ideas with the rest of the workshop and giving constructive feedback to other groups’ proposals.
Learning Outcomes[edit source]
- A better understanding of what the Foundation’s human rights commitments are, what is already being done to meet them and what needs to be done.
- An understanding by volunteers of how to get involved in making sure that everyone’s human rights are protected and respected across the projects.
- Foundation participants will have a better understanding of volunteer concerns and needs when it comes to safeguarding individuals’ human rights
Biography[edit source]
Ricky Gaines recently began as Senior Human Rights Advocacy Manager at the Wikimedia Foundation in October of 2021. In this role, Ricky works to develop and execute advocacy strategies to advance the Foundation's values and policy positions around crucial issues including freedom of expression, access to knowledge, privacy, and censorship online while defending knowledge as a human right. Prior to joining the Wikimedia Foundation, Ricky worked at the US Department of State leading a portfolio of foreign assistance programs and contributing to foreign policy initiatives seeking to advance democratic governance and human rights throughout Latin America. More recently, Ricky concluded a stint in the private sector where he managed international security programs for Delta Air Lines, including the company’s participation in the resettlement of Afghan evacuees in August 2021. Ricky holds a BS in International Affairs and Modern Language from the Georgia Institute of Technology (2011) and an MBA from the George Washington University (2017). Ricky speaks English and Spanish fluently and is primarily based in Atlanta, GA but can frequently be found in Mercersburg, PA.