News

Notes from the Field

by Susan Grove In the conversations that swirl around being worker self-directed, here’s one of the most frequent questions that comes up, explicitly or implied: “Is your work slower?”  We’ve started looking at our time allocations. On average, we estimate that we collectively invest at least 20 hours per week in governance work. This is … Continued

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Wait, Who’s Driving this Bus?

Roles in a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit by Caitlin Doumashkin with Terri Hall Over the next few weeks, we will be posting specifically about roles in a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit. This is a tricky area and we have learned a lot over the past few months. Sometimes roles are specific: we define organizational stewards and place … Continued

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Coming Soon…

Thank you to everyone who has been following GWI’s blog series on our journey of transitioning to a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit. The response has been incredibly positive and thought-provoking.  We will be taking a brief hiatus from posting as we wrap up 2019 and prepare to put our 2020 plans in action. We’ve been having … Continued

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Notes from the Field

By Terri Hall A few springs ago, one of my friend’s daughters spent the night alone in the woods as part of a Wild Earth youth program aimed at building character, confidence, and self-reliance. Heather had been well-prepared by Wild Earth over the months prior to this wilderness-based rite of passage, learning practical skills like … Continued

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It Takes Time

by Micah, with Caitlin Dourmashkin Where to begin? This journey didn’t start with policies. Before we even knew what a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit was, we had started. I think GWI was already less hierarchical than most. There was already a lot of autonomy in our work. And we began asking ourselves, “How can we deeply … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Micah Last February, I was on a panel discussing the Race To Lead Survey at Non-Profit Talks here in Kingston. The survey detailed what many of us know, that within the well-intentioned world of nonprofits, leadership is disproportionately white. Only a couple of months prior, I suddenly had realized that in all my years … Continued

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The Learning Circle: Humbly Traveling Alongside

by Terri Hall, with Susan Grove The path we travel toward Just Transition is not well-worn. GWI is invested in playing our role to co-create this path with those whose efforts are making Just Transition possible. In humble recognition of the fact that we travel not ahead, but alongside the people, projects and organizations in … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Hélène Lesterlin I started at Good Work Institute seven weeks ago. It still feels unfamiliar, fresh, there’s still so much to learn and absorb and integrate into my own thinking. But I realize I can’t keep saying, “I just started!” because eventually I won’t be the neophyte anymore. So, as the first Worker Trustee … Continued

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Welcome Hélène

by Terri, Micah, Caitlin, Aja, and Susan We are thrilled to announce that Hélène Lesterlin has joined the staff of the Good Work Institute as a Worker Trustee and steward of our Development and Communications circles. A social entrepreneur, artist, and community builder, Hélène’s diverse background spans new economy and business practices, coworking and cooperatives, … Continued

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Transition + Expansion: Welcoming a New Worker into the Fold

by Caitlin Dourmashkin, with Susan Grove On May 1st of this year, GWI began the long and involved transition to becoming a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit. On May 2nd, we posted the listing for a Development Director position. From the very start, we have designed this system knowing that someone new would be joining our team … Continued

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