School of Women Leaders

One of the problems we still need to solve is the lack of diversity within the movement, particularly the low participation of women in editing Wikipedia and its sister projects, as well as the absence of Wikimedia communities in several Latin American countries.

Latin American women are underrepresented in the Wikimedia movement. Members of the user group Muj(lh)eres Latinoamericanas en Wikimedia—an officially recognized user group by the Wikimedia Foundation’s Affiliations Committee since 2018, but active since 2015—believe that the more diverse the participants are, the more plural and neutral the knowledge we build becomes. For this reason, our goal is to recruit women to contribute to the different projects. We need more female role models, as women users across all projects in Spasnish represent less than 10% of editors. Some Latin American countries are not even part of the movement. There are localities and countries with no female participation at all.

The women who currently edit, organize activities, or facilitate spaces within the Wikimedia movement in Latin America have learned on their own—through trial and error. Searching for answers across scattered pages, navigating complex rules without guidance, and, in many cases, without nearby role models who could show us that this space could also belong to us.

The School of Women Leaders, promoted by the user group Muj(lh)eres latinoamericanas en Wikimedia, arises precisely from this shared experience. From the conviction that training new women editors and organizers should not be a solitary or exclusionary process, and that the movement needs more women prepared to participate, stay, and, if they wish, lead.

The central impact we envisioned when we created the school to counter gender inequality in Wikimedia projects in the region was to train women who could create or improve high-quality content related to topics relevant to their local contexts and to the gender gap; who would be aware of and know how to address the structural biases generated by an androcentric perspective; and who would commit to their local communities in the long term.

The Escuela de Lideresas is a training program designed by and for women in the region who want to edit Wikimedia projects and understand how the movement functions as a whole. We sought to create locally relevant and underrepresented knowledge in order to ensure a diverse and equitable representation of the Global South in Wikimedia projects, and to foster an environment in which all participants could contribute their own ideas and perspectives and channel them strategically toward the goals of the Wikimedia community. Our aim was to transfer our knowledge as experienced women Wikimedians—editors, administrators, and movement organizers—as well as our experience in addressing structural biases, such as the androcentric perspective that deepens the gender gap.

At the School of Women Leaders, participants learn how to edit, work with reliable sources, understand community workflows, and become familiar with key policies. We believe these women should gain a thorough understanding of how the projects function, including editing on Wikipedia, using various tools for Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, learning about conflict management, how to organize edit-a-thons, editatonas and activities, the movement’s 2030 strategy, the Universal Code of Conduct, and how the movement operates overall in order to collaborate positively and avoid frustration. It took us a very long time to learn all of this—through trial and error—and we wish we had had female role models who could have guided us through these topics.

The training goes beyond technical skills. One of the program’s greatest strengths is personalized support. Through mentorship and exchange spaces, participants can ask questions, make mistakes, and learn in a supportive environment, reducing the barriers to entry that so often drive newcomers away from the movement.

The school is committed to creating local female role models. Women from different countries and age groups who have already gone through this path now share what we have learned. Having close, relatable role models makes it visible that active participation in Wikimedia is both possible and valuable.

Over the past ten years, the group has carried out numerous activities to bring more women into the movement, with participants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Training new women editors and organizers helps build community, knowledge, and future. Some participants become regular editors, others organize activities in their communities, and others support new editors. Each of these paths strengthens the movement and helps reduce systemic biases in content.

Initiatives such as the School of Women Leaders demonstrate that when investment is made in training, support, and trust, more women find a place to actively participate in Wikimedia. This expands the community and strengthens the future of the Wikimedia movement in Latin America. The challenge now is to continue expanding these spaces, share learnings, and build support so that more women in Latin America can edit, teach, and lead within the movement.