Be the change you want to see in Global Voices — join the Community Council!

Global Voices 2015 Summit in Cebu City, Philippines. Photo by Jer Clarke CC BY-SA 2.0

Dear friends, colleagues and family of the Global Voices community,

Global Voices has reached a crossroads as an organization. In recent years, we have navigated profound changes within our community, the world around us and the technologies we use.

As our community has grown and changed, and online voices have moved from long-form narratives on small blogging platforms to the quick-and-dirty world of shouts and likes on corporate-owned social media sites, we have remained committed to amplifying underreported stories and raising our voices in defense of human rights online.

It’s time to think big

We have often been at the forefront of recognizing and adapting to shifting technologies and practices in online expression, but we have also faced challenges in carrying out our mission. We've set ourselves some ambitious goals, but it hasn't always been easy to build the structures and support we need to achieve them.

In order to fund and support the activities that would help us realise our goals, we need to rethink how we approach our work. For Global Voices to reach its fullest potential, our editors and core team need more structural and financial support.

The Global Voices core team and board want to support the evolution of Global Voices as an organization so it can survive, thrive and have greater impact on the world. We know that there is enormous potential for us to chart a path forward collectively, but as a community we have become too large and diverse to rely on open, unstructured conversations as a way to decide our direction.

What we need instead is to build a deliberative body that can debate complex strategic questions and discuss issues that affect the whole community.

Presenting the Community Council

Today, we are announcing the formation of a Community Council, a group of Global Voices community members who will discuss and deliberate together the key questions we seek to answer in order to move forward. We will form this group at the end of August, and deliberate these questions from September until mid-November.

Infographic by Eddie Avila, with icons from The Noun Project.

Have you ever thought seriously about how GV might change its editorial priorities? Or how we could build new models of participation? Or develop new fundraising methods? If so, this is a great opportunity for you.

Consider joining the Council, and prepare to bring your ideas to the group for deliberation. The more ideas we share, the better the outcomes will be.

Learn all about the process, qualifications and timeline for the Council here.

If you want to join, fill out the Community Council application! EVERYONE who wants to participate must complete an application. Please complete your application by August 30!

If you're a Lingua contributor, and you'd like to help translate documents for the consultation process, contact Gohary.

During the month of August, we will be blogging about our ideas for the Council, how it will take shape, and what issues will be raised for consideration. We will also use this time to assemble a group of Lingua folks to translate guiding documents and facilitate discussions on the issues in different languages.

In September, the Council will be formed – and then the real work will begin!

Thank you as always for all the interest, attention, love and hard work you put into Global Voices!

Much #GVlove,

Eddie, Ellery, Georgia, Gohary, Ivan, Jer and Kat

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