Wikimania Scholarships and Event Coordinator

Summary The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia and our other free knowledge projects. We want to make it easier for everyone to share what they know. To do this, we keep Wikipedia and Wikimedia sites fast, reliable, and available to all. We protect the values and policies that allow free knowledge to thrive. We build new features and tools to make it easy to read, edit, and share from the Wikimedia sites. Above all, we support the communities of volunteers around the world who edit, improve, and add knowledge across Wikimedia projects. Wikimania is the Wikimedia movement 's annual conference, organized by volunteers and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation . Since 2011, the winner of the Wikimedian of the Year award (known as the "Wikipedian of the Year" until 2017) has been announced at Wikimania. Wikimania attracts Wikimedia project participants and volunteers from around the world, including writers, editors, programmers, and photographers; Wikimedia Foundation staff and trustees. Many researchers also attend and present. Attendance has ranged from 380 to 2,000 people (around 750 in person and 1250 online), with representation from more than 80 countries. The conference is typically held on a different continent each year and is organized by local volunteer teams, with support from international volunteers and the Wikimedia Foundation. The conference program consists of presentations and workshops from community members, speakers from related projects, and wiki researchers, as well as social activities and informal discussions. Some formal research is presented, in addition to "best practice" knowledge sharing and presentations of ongoing work. Wikimania also features formal reports from Wikimedia Foundation board members and staff, renowned keynote speakers, and opportunities to interact with dedicated Wikimedia contributors from all around the world. This year the event will take place in Santiago and will be hosted by the Latin American (LATAM) community. We will be offering funded places at the event to people we call ‘scholars’. Their travel and accommodation costs will be paid for by the Wikimedia Foundation and this role will be helping to support, communicate with and coordinate with this group of people, from all over the world. This role will also support the Lead project manager and others in the Core organising team on event planning and logistics, helping to provide local knowledge and expertise. The role will also work with the Communications team on communications to our scholars, self funded attendees and general audiences through a range of communication channels. Please note: This is an 8-month contractor position starting in December 2026 or January 2027 for candidates based in Chile (Santiago preferred), requiring a baseline of 35 hours per week that scales up to 40 hours per week during the 2–3 peak months leading up to the event. The Contractor will be responsible for: • Supporting the Wikimania 2027 Core Organizing Team with the facilitation and coordination of scholarships awarded to individuals for attending Wikimania 2027 in Santiago. • Meeting with the Project manager and lead volunteer on a bi weekly or weekly basis to check progress • Supporting communication with successful scholars on requirements needed for travel, visas and accommodation • Communication and coordination with scholars on volunteer role opportunities at Wikimania. Previous experience working with volunteers is expected. • Attending Scholarship coordinating weekly call and the the weekly Core organizing team call • Building the FAQ for guidance of answering potential inquiries • Answering any ad hoc questions with guidance from the Senior manager and the Core Organizing Team • Collaborating