Join the Good Work Institute and Co-op Hudson Valley as we explore the tools, policies, practices, culture, frameworks, and models of shared leadership and democratic decision making.

About this course:

In this workshop series, we get into the nuts and bolts of tools, policies and practices that support democratic decision making, and discuss the kinds of relational shifts that facilitate a culture of shared leadership. We explore the broader context of shared leadership, including motivations, frameworks and models applicable to different types of organizations, both businesses and nonprofits. 

In 2019, the Good Work Institute team made the collective decision to move from a hierarchical organization to a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit. Together, we built a system of shared governance that serves the needs of our organization while honoring our unique individual contributions. Since 2021, Co-op Hudson Valley has been supporting worker-owned cooperative businesses to start and grow. This series draws on the direct experience of these two organizations that have coached, facilitated and supported workers in a wide variety of contexts to navigate the challenges and experience the benefits of bringing democratic values into the way they work and building deeper connections to impact, purpose, and each other. 

Here’s what a couple of participants from our most recent series had to say about the workshops:

These workshops have been a wonderful team-learning experience and a very timely response to our ongoing questions/inquiries into moving into a worker-directed collective. The resources, technical tools, frameworks, and approaches are truly invaluable and an incredible value-add. Through these workshops, our team has been introduced to and challenged to build shared language around power, leadership, structure, and decision-making. SOOOOOO good!  – Shawn W.

I came into this process totally green to the idea of democratized work, but now feel I have a good grasp of the potential for our company, as well as great practical tools and resources, and clear next steps for how to approach these changes. – Lauren M. 

Rather than provide a specific template approach, this series is designed to support participating organizations to see opportunities to evolve their own structure and processes. Together, we explore:

• Frameworks and Models of Shared Leadership
• GWI Case Study: Policies, Practices and Culture of a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit
• Tools that Support Democratic Ways of Working and Making Decisions Together

We request that participating organizations send a minimum of two workers, and that participants attend all three workshops. Shared leadership is a collaborative practice, and we believe that the more workers present, the easier it will be for an organization to engage with this work. Our recommended best practice is to send a delegation of workers that represent different professional backgrounds and different levels of authority within the organization.