Category: The Transition Narrative

We Are Not Human Resources

by Hélène Lesterlin, with Susan Grove We’re not human resources. In fact, we don’t even want to imagine ourselves as “resources” at all.  Generally, the term “human resources” evokes something to be used, or used up, rather than evoking somebody, a full spectrum human being. It is analogous to reducing the diversity and breadth of … Continued

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Our Accountability Process

by Caitlin Dourmashkin, with Aja Schmeltz & Susan Grove One of the most important aspects of our transition to a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit has been holding the intention to share our process as a set of tools for other organizations looking to incorporate shared leadership into their work. In the post below, you’ll see links … Continued

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Notes from the Field – Making the Implicit Explicit

by Micah Photo by Kent Meister Working as a part of a shared leadership team has impacted my life in more ways than I had expected. If you have read any of our previous articles on our transition process, you already know that it is a lot of deep work moving from a hierarchical model … Continued

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We All Shape the Shared Journey

by Susan Grove Shared leadership. Sharing power. Someone recently asked me what checks and balances the WSDNP model has to ensure that power is shared. I didn’t have a ready answer. Upon reflection, I can sense, not an answer, but clues emerging from some of the deeper, more subtle ways this model works in practice.  … Continued

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Our Internal Racial Justice Learning Journey

by Terri Hall, with Caitlin Dourmashkin Shortly after GWI began transitioning into becoming a worker self-directed nonprofit mid-2019, one of the processes we underwent was to examine the power dynamics that existed in our organization, something that we called a Dynamics Reset. While all six Worker Trustees valued the idea of “Good Work,” our engagement … Continued

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Notes from the Field: The Brunt of the Wind

by Hélène Lesterlin Photo credit: M. Horath “This is not normal!” I needed that. It released something. We were in an all-hands meeting, and the relatively benign topic on the table was how we wanted to use time tracking efforts towards understanding how our individual goals matched up with the time we allocated ourselves for … Continued

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Set Down Those Bags

by Aja Schmeltz, with Micah Dynamics: dy·nam·ics /dīˈnamiks/ noun 1. The branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of bodies under the action of forces. 2. The forces or properties which stimulate growth, development, or change within a system or process (Oxford Languages ) Transition does not happen without discomfort. As Good Work Institute (GWI) navigated … Continued

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Onward!

by Terri Hall 2021 is underway. Like you, we continue to forge our way forward through this pandemic landscape, doing our best to tend to our Good Work…on the job, at home, in our communities and the greater world “out there”, as well as within our own hearts. This month, we are resuming The Transition … Continued

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Notes from the Field: What is Home?

by Aja Schmeltz “ECO MEANS HOME: ‘eco’ comes from the greek word oikos, meaning ‘home’” – from Movement Generation’s JustTransition Zine Home. What does that mean to you? Is it a place? Is it an idea? Is it people? Perhaps it is a feeling? I happen to think that home is all four of those … Continued

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Notes from the Field

by Caitlin Dourmashkin. Photo by Decora A few months ago, our co-Worker Susan told us about Move Up, Move Up, a less ableist alternative to the Step Up, Step Back framework that encourages people who historically speak the most to step back and create space and for others to step up and share their voice. … Continued

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