Announcing the “Outstanding Professional Advancing Open Access to Cultural Heritage” Award, in Memory of Effie Kapsalis – Diff

"Today, members of the Wikimedia community are pleased to announce the “Outstanding Professional advancing Open Access to Cultural Heritage” Wikimania Scholarship, in memory of Effie Kapsalis. 

This award has the goal to recognize outstanding cultural heritage professionals and activists that are tightly working with the Wikimedia communities to make more cultural heritage available online as open access. The award, with the support of the Wikimedia Foundation, will cover a full scholarship to Wikimania 2024 for a cultural heritage professional working on open access. This year, following the momentum of GLAM Wiki Conference in Uruguay, the award will be given to a professional from Latin America. 

The award serves as a way to honor Wikimedia’s movement friend Effie Kapsalis. Effie’s legacy to the world includes spearheading the Smithsonian Open Access initiative (launched four years ago, in February 25, 2020), which released millions of images from the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex into the public domain. Effie put equity and care at the forefront of her concerns, being a champion for respecting the heritage of marginalized and oppressed communities...."