Wondering who will be reviewing your application? Let us introduce our jury

What is the role of the UNLOCK jury?

UNLOCK is open to applications from highly engaged teams across Europe, all looking to make a real impact and fighting the lack of trust in technology and information. In looking through all of your great proposals for much-needed solutions, we – the UNLOCK team – need help. This is why we have put together an international jury with no less than 14 members. 

This jury acts as an advisory board, lending their diverse expertise, experience and knowledge to the process and supporting us in properly assessing your project ideas. The jury reviews the submissions based on a predefined assessment framework.

Who is part of the UNLOCK jury?

The members of the jury are a combination of international Wikimedia staff members, external experts and all seven coaches mentoring the program. We are excited to have all of them join us, as together, they create a colorful mix of personalities, expertise, and perspectives that will help us make a balanced decision.

Our members of the jury bring insights and many years of expertise in a broad spectrum of topics to the table, as well as experience across borders. They share the UNLOCK mentality and are driven by a personal and professional attachment to the cause. Many have mastered similar selection procedures such as ours, having served on boards and as jury members before. All are highly knowledgeable in their field of action and versed in taking on a critical stance, asking the right questions and arguing for the greater good. 

And here they are:

• Franziska Heine, Head of Software & Development at Wikimedia Deutschland
• Nicole Ebber, Director of International Relations at Wikimedia Deutschland
• Gonçalo Themudo, President at Wikimedia Portugal
• Ivana Madžarević, Project Manager & Community Support at Wikimedia Serbia
• Abir Ghattas, Associate Director of Information Security at Human Rights Watch
• Adriana Groh, Director of Prototype Fund
• Lieke Ploeger, Community Director & Administration Officer at Disruption Network Lab
• Eileen Wagner, UNLOCK Coach & Program Director at Simply Secure
• Elio Qoshi, UNLOCK Coach & User Experience Designer at Ubuntu
• Fabian Gampp, UNLOCK Coach & Innovation Program Lead at ImpactHub Berlin
• Florian Strenge, UNLOCK Coach & Urban Designer, Service Designer
• Klara Lindner, UNLOCK Coach & Service Designer
• Mana Taheri, UNLOCK Coach & Learning Experience Designer, Illustrator
• Viktoria Petrova, UNLOCK Coach & Design Researcher at launchlabs Sofia

[Eager to understand more about the role of our coaches and what tailored coaching means to us? We have an entire blog post dedicated to the topic.]

What criteria do we use to evaluate your application?

We mentioned above that we have a predefined assessment framework in place that forms the basis of our decision on which teams will be invited to participate in the UNLOCK program.

For us, the perfect teams must fulfill the following three criteria: Program Fit, Idea Fit, and Team Fit.

Here’s what that means:

• While many outstanding project ideas exist, not all of them might fit into our program scope and focus. The criteria “program fit” aims at figuring out whether UNLOCK is the right program for the project in question, considering the status of the project and the fulfilment of our basic requirements for participation.
• The criteria “idea fit” aims at finding projects and initiatives that make a valuable contribution to the thematic focus of the program: (Re)building trust in the digital age. We are looking for fresh ideas and new concepts – technical and non-technical alike – that are not only feasible, but also have great potential for impact, demonstrate awareness and differentiation from other, similar projects, and properly meet the needs of the selected target groups.
• While we see it as our mission to pass on certain values and mindsets on to the teams during the program, the criteria “team fit” indicates what the ideal team should bring along right from the start. While participants should combine all important skills that are necessary for the development of their idea, we are also looking for drive, a collaborative mindset and social spirit. If you need a reminder on our core requirements for participation, head on over to our blog post on the matter and figure out whether UNLOCK is the right program for you.

You haven’t handed in your application yet?

Well it is about time! Hit the apply button below and tell us about your idea. Our jury can hardly wait to be inspired! So don’t miss the deadline, May 31!