From Volunteer to National Lead: Leading Wiki Science Competition India 2025

Have you ever started with a small contribution, without realizing it could redefine your role and responsibilities? My journey with Wikimedia began as a volunteer learning, contributing, and understanding how collaborative knowledge is built. Over time, consistent involvement and accountability naturally led me toward leadership.

I learned early on that leadership is not assigned by title; it is earned through initiative, reliability, and a genuine commitment to the community.

Stepping Into the Unknown

A defining moment in my Wikimedia journey came with the opportunity to lead Wiki Science Competition 2025, India’s first national edition of the competition. While I had always aspired to take on a national-level leadership role, the opportunity came with self-doubt.

I asked myself the obvious questions:
Am I ready for this? Can I handle this responsibility?

What helped me move forward was a simple realization: growth does not happen inside the comfort zone. Challenges are not obstacles; they are opportunities to learn. With that mindset, I applied prepared to approach problems with solutions rather than hesitation.

Representation, Responsibility, and Courage

As leadership discussions progressed, I realized I was the only female applicant from across India. The realization brought pride, uncertainty, and a strong sense of responsibility. Leadership representation especially for women remains limited in many community spaces.

I chose to step forward consciously, not just for personal growth, but to demonstrate that women can and should lead large, national-level community initiatives. Visibility matters, and leadership roles create pathways for others to follow.

Building a Team, Not Just a Project

Leadership is never a solo effort. As National Lead, I initiated collaboration with other interested leaders and community groups, focusing on shared ownership rather than centralized control. This approach helped transform individual interest into a coordinated national effort.

Clear goals combined with collaborative leadership allowed us to navigate challenges effectively. Obstacles did not disappear, but inclusive teamwork made them manageable.

Taking Initiative When It Matters

Since this was our first time organizing Wiki Science Competition India 2025 at a national scale, international guidance was essential. I reached out to the international coordinator, Evo, requesting a call but initially received no response.

Rather than waiting passively, I took initiative by respectfully following up on his Wikimedia Talk page. The positive response reinforced a key leadership lesson: thoughtful initiative builds trust and keeps momentum moving forward.

Turning Vision Into Execution

Once I formally stepped into the National Lead role, execution became the priority. I designed structured workflows defining timelines, milestones, and regular coordination calls. I took responsibility for:

• Leading and managing the core team
• Coordinating communication across teams and stakeholders
• Recruiting and mentoring campus ambassadors
• Designing outreach and engagement strategies

My vision was to ensure the competition reached every region of India, not just a limited academic or urban audience. Through focused planning, we onboarded campus ambassadors across the South, West, and North, enabling localized outreach and regional representation.

Alongside traditional outreach, I intentionally experimented with new engagement methods, including short Instagram video designed to introduce the competition and guide viewers toward becoming contributors. This helped bridge the gap between social media engagement and Wikimedia participation, especially among students and first-time contributors.

Inclusive and Diverse Leadership by Design

Inclusion was a deliberate leadership decision, not an afterthought. I prioritized newcomers, students, and women for leadership roles within the core team. As a result, the core team had more women, fostering a collaborative, empathetic, and resilient working environment.

Beyond team management, I oversaw outreach through South Asia community calls, maintained Meta pages, coordinated with advisors and international stakeholders, and ensured transparent communication. I also created instructional videos and conducted workshops covering competition guidelines, and the global history of Wiki Science Competition.

Balancing these responsibilities alongside professional commitments strengthened my time management, decision-making, and accountability.

Outcomes, Impact, and Learning

As I write this blog, the competition has entered its final phase, with juries reviewing submissions. The journey was not always smooth. Being the first national edition and working largely with newcomers made outreach difficult at times. There were moments of doubt and uncertainty.

Yet, the outcomes spoke for themselves:

• 474 participants
• 3,664+ images submitted
• Introduction of a mobile category to engage students across age groups

These results demonstrated that strategic planning, inclusive leadership, innovation, and persistence can create meaningful impact even in first-time initiatives.

Looking Beyond the Competition

This is not where my work ends. One pattern I have observed across many competitions especially those involving underrepresented groups is that once the competition concludes, momentum often fades. I wanted to ensure that this would not happen with Wiki Science Competition India 2025.

To address this, we are planning follow-up initiatives focused on long-term knowledge integration. While not all submitted images qualify as final winners, many hold strong educational value. We aim to work with contributors to integrate relevant images into appropriate Wikipedia articles, ensuring that participation leads to sustained knowledge enrichment rather than one-time engagement..

Closing Reflection

This journey from volunteer to national lead taught me that leadership is defined by responsibility, initiative, inclusivity, and long-term vision. I began with uncertainty, but I conclude this experience with confidence, clarity, and a deeper commitment to the Wikimedia movement.

Most importantly, this experience reaffirmed my belief that solution-oriented and inclusive leadership can transform challenges into lasting contributions for communities, for knowledge, and for future leaders..