We took this photo the day after the festival. Looking at it I realise how tight we are: Alberto, Noemi, Matthias, John and I. How strong and impenetrable we must seem to others. The irony being that we would love more people to share the benefits and struggles of going on this journey together. This post is a formalisation of our plans to make it easier for others to join us in building the future of Edgeryders.
The Edgeryders organisation is a not for profit company that develops the community, technology, events and projects like OpenCare or OpenVillage. The five directors (and currently the only company members) handle the day to day operations that bring in the money and keep it all running smoothly. Technical development and maintenance, community management, research, business development, projects delivery etc. The board accepts new members after a unanimous decision by the existing ones. Members are lifelong stewards of edgeryders - they do not interfere in day to day operations and only step in in extreme cases (e.g if directors do something illegal, unethical or in any other way put community or company in jeopardy).
Over the years the five members have built deep trust and respect as well as shared understanding of values which are not so obvious to others outside the team. Our sensitivity to each person’s idiosyncracies. Designing projects around one another’s aspirations, skillsets and needs. Giving each other freedom to go off, try new things, experiment because we trust that it is in service of the collective.
Now that the core is solid, it’s time to roll out a process by which people can formally join the Edgeryders organisation and take leadership positions in it as directors. We have these requirements:
It has to put no additional financial burden on the organisation. As is the case for the current directors, newcomers have no salary or budget to work with, other than what they bring in themselves through funding or revenue from different activities.
It has to be compatible with our ethics and philosophy of self-directed work, and attitude towards management of resources. The Edgeryders company is a Fraternitas Mercatorum with a social mission, not a democracy or cooperative.
It has to act as an onboarding mechanism to establish interpersonal alignment, understanding and trust. We are on an open-ended journey into the future together in which we are getting to know, cherish and take care of one another. John described what this means in practice during the festival (notes available here).
It has to work for a diverse range of people who are in different physical, psychosocial and professional places in their lives. No cookie-cutter formulas. We figure something out that works for both parties, put it down in writing and honour the agreement. Simple.
So what does this mean? How can you join the Edgeryders board of directors?
Think about which areas of work make sense for you: Online Community Management, Business Development, Project Management, Local Outreach & Engagement, Storytelling & Culture, Personal development & Training, House Management, Event Production. Think about what level of responsibility and commitment of time you would like to take on.
Get in touch with us for a chat to figure out a role that fits nicely with your interests and constraints. We will also agree on a personalised path to becoming part of the company which works for you. Fill in this form and write to community@edgeryders.eu once you are finished.
This was what really focused my attention for a long time when reading this post. I followed the link – fascinating article quoting Pirenne as calling fraternity “the most democratic system that ever existed in the Netherlands”.
And I can well imagine how Edgeryders core team feel like a “Fraternitas”. What interests me is what you, @nadia, see as the distinction (whether or not it is in Pirenne or in David de Ugarte who quotes Pirenne) between a Fraternitas and a democracy/community. It makes complete sense that when people have been working, and even living together for months or years, they develop the kind of knowledge, understanding (and as you indeed mention) trust and respect and sensitivity that is the basis for this “Fraternitas”. For the record, I’m not a great fan of “democracy” understood in current terms. For several years, and in several different contexts, I have enjoyed the kind of governance motivated by consensus, but not constrained or held back by technicalities of theoretical “consensus”.
What exercised me at the Festival, and what continues to engage me as a real challenge, are the ways in which we can start off down the path of developing trust, towards, if we choose, enlarging the Fraternitas. My struggles towards answering this are too large for a comment like this, so I’ll write separately. (Do feel free to suggest the best place!) I’d like to write focusing around the issue of care and well-being woven in with governance, not just of organisations like Edgeryders, but also of organising meetings or gatherings or conferences under whatever name.
@asimong a broader reflection, in the context of the Edgeryders platform, would probably live in its own topic. If you are unsure in what category to post it in, use Campfire. Don’t worry, it is easy to move topics around from one category to the next.
Also ping @patrick_andrews, who has been thinking deeply about these matters for several years now.
Yes, I am very interested in this subject! Like @asimong, I am sceptical about “democracy” in the sense it is often used today - of a majority imposing their (not very well thought through) will on a minority, of appointing “leaders” to make decisions who only get called to account every few years.
There is a really important question about how to scale a Fraternitas. We need more experiments in this space - something I am working on.
“It is this continuous and dramatic risk that strengthens the social cohesion of the group. Neither can survive without the other. They themselves are considered a phratry, a group of “brothers””
I really value how the Fraternitas aligns so much of Edgeryders’ unique principles, qualities, practices and social mission rather than conforming to existing institutional conventions, even those that are more progressive. I do still feel that I need to better understand how a Fraternitas actually operates in our context however, so looking forward to talking about that more with you @nadia@alberto and others. It reminds me of what @gehan said in the opening panel of OpenVillage Festival around the importance of “power literacy” rather than trying to create new infrastructures. I’m also curious as to how decolonial, anti-capitalist and post-feminist thinking enters into our referencing of the Fraternitas, if that’s even relevant?
In addition to techniques for building trust and respecting limits of care, I’d be very interested in talking more about the spectrum of decision making processes that are emerging in allied movements and where they fit with Edgeryders form and growth. For example, at Percolab, a cooperative where I also collaborate, they engage in generative decision making processes which are based on consent rather than consensus. I feel like this works for sure, but needs to be flexible and is not always appropriate. The research lab where I used to be based resisted any kind of decision making processes and chose “emergent responses” instead - as a consequence often decisions ended up being made almost autocratically, simply by those people that happened to be in the room with the Director - which clearly doesn’t work either. And I recently was responsible for developing a decision-making matrix for The School of Making Thinking which was a super interesting process but in the end isn’t actually overtly being applied. I’m curious as to what is the threshold between discerning and mobilsing around the organisation’s principles here. Also very curious to here more about your explorations on this @patrick_andrews…?!
@asimong Really appreciate your thoughts and their direction, please also tag me in your upcoming post with further reflections.
"The unity of feelings corresponded with economic equality. It constituted their spiritual guarantee… They were no longer content with their corporate competencies. They dared to assume public functions and, facing no opposition from the authorities, usurped their place. "
@Nadia is traveling, so I’m taking the liberty to jump in and say thanks to those of you who showed intention to join edgeryders by filling in the form: How you can be more involved with Edgeryders.
@nadia Thanks so much for sharing this. I’ve been reflecting on the Festival and my experience/emotions post-festival. Moreso I’ve been considering avenues in which I could collaborate or play a larger role within Edgeryders. So do keep me in mind and thank you for sharing as this guides my thinking a bit. I will reach out to @natalia_skoczylas in relation to the OpenFestival 2018.
@asimong Thanks for sharing. I’d be keen to read your broader reflections please (if it’ll be openly published). I see the value in this for my own work.
Hello @Nadia
I have submitted my application last year and I had some talks about the possibility of joining the company with @Alberto and @Noemi - I wonder when will it be clear who has a green light to join and what’s the process right now?
It would be great to have it clear soon
Yes. We would like to do a retreat to onboard new directors this spring, we have some options for places. How’s your schedule the week of 21st May? Will follow up on other channels for detail discussions and agreement… now checking dates to lock it in
Thanks Alessandro, well spotted! It’s easy to forget we have these nice posts here and there, and for what it’s worth, the offer still stands 3 years later!
Take your time and if you want to have a chat about it, you know where to find us!
Meanwhile, we became 6! @hugi joined us in 2018, but I’m struggling now to find the announcement or a blog post with the news? Bear with me…
I actually don’t think we ever did one in an open group. My process to the board was a little different than the path laid out in this post though. It was something like this:
Find a person among the current board of directors with whom you get along and find something to work on together. In my case it was @nadia and countering populism in the 2018 Swedish election.
Become familiar with the Edgeryders culture and methods through doing the work, reading the guides and manuals as it becomes necessary to do so.
Figure out what work you would like to lead and how it fits into Edgeryders as a whole. Preferably, be a part of writing a successful application for funding.
Once you’re part of running a project, ask to be on the board.
As for this part:
I literally think that I’ve done all of those by this point. Having my fingers in a a lot of cookie jars - from business development to software to facilitating meetings - was what made me comfortable enough in Edgeryders to ask to become a part of the board.
I guess managing facilities at which Edgeryders has a physical presence - like the Reef and Blivande? Or doing housekeeping on the platform. Either way - check and check.
