Press:Wikimedia DC announces Wikimedia Diversity Conference

May 21, 2016—Wikimedia DC is pleased to announce that the second Wikimedia Diversity Conference will take place on June 17–18, 2016 at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The conference is co-hosted by Wikimedia DC and the National Archives and Records Administration, which reflects the two organizations' shared commitment to embracing diversity in the global knowledge movement.

The Wikimedia Diversity Conference is open to everyone in the Wikimedia community and the broader global knowledge and free culture movements. We welcome everyone wishing to engage in a meaningful conversation about diversity in the Wikimedia movement, and will bring people from different language communities, genders, and backgrounds together to collaborate.

The Wikimedia Diversity Conference will include workshops, panels, and presentations that outline the case for diversity in the Wikimedia movement and consider ways to address the movement’s key diversity challenges. The conference will serve as a forum to discuss specific changes that will increase the number and diversity of contributors within the movement, and participants at the conference will gain an understanding of diversity that will enable them to leverage differences to achieve measureable outcomes, identify best practices with regard to movement diversity, and devise a roadmap for their implementation. During these discussions, conference attendees will learn about resources — including subject matter experts, data, and tools — which will help them to address diversity and better equip them to liaise on diversity issues after the conference.

To register for the conference, visit wikidiversity.org.

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Submit a Session:

Anyone can get involved by submitting proposals for sessions at the Wikimedia Diversity Conference! Find out more at http://wikidiversity.org wikidiversity.org.

Apply for a Scholarship:

Wikimedia DC will be providing a limited number of travel scholarships for those in need of financial assistance. Scholarships will help to defray the cost of attendees’ travel to in Washington, DC. Find out more at wikidiversity.org.

Get Involved:

To volunteer or contribute to the planning of the conference, contact info@wikimediadc.org.

Press Inquiries:

Please direct all press inquiries to press@wikimediadc.org.

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About Wikimedia District of Columbia:

Wikimedia District of Columbia is the regional Wikimedia chapter serving Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to the advancement of general knowledge and the collection, development, and dissemination of educational content under a free license or in the public domain, Wikimedia DC support the goals of the Wikimedia Foundation, including the work of volunteers on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects as well as numerous other free knowledge initiatives. To learn more, visit [wikimediadc.org].

About the National Archives and Records Administration:

The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent federal agency that serves American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, so people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. The National Archives ensures continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. From the Declaration of Independence to accounts of ordinary Americans, the holdings of the National Archives directly touch the lives of millions of people. The agency supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our national experience. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and on the Internet at [archives.gov].

About Wikipedia:

Wikipedia is the world’s free knowledge resource. It is a collaborative creation that has been added to and edited by millions of people from around the globe since it was created in 2001: anyone can edit it, at any time. Wikipedia is offered in 288 languages containing a total of more than 34 million articles, and visited by nearly half a billion people every month. It is the largest collection of free knowledge in human history, and today its content is contributed and edited by the community of more than 75,000 volunteer editors each month.