What is the role and structure of Non Profits that serve a self organizing world.

Who attended: Convener (Teresa), Dale, Henri, Peggy, Deanna, Tenneson, Keith, Robert. We were representing various organizations. OSInstitute, Plexus, Berkana, Dynamic Facilitation, Center for Ethical Leadership. We shared some common challenges: What needs to be in the “center” for the web to flourish. How do you fundraise or market or illuminate on behalf of the web (or not) and how do you build capacity in response to opportunity and scale with the opportunity. At the center was some DNA, not the expert in the center, recognize that the expertise and change agents are in the community. All recognize that events were not a viable way to generate revenue for an institute. Needs to be more than that. We also discussed how products fit into the mix of economy. From an energy perspective two types of organizations or energies were at play. YIN – enabling members to be more successful – coalition or YANG – Line up to move in the same direction. Peggy described the following roles: 1. CENTER: Illumination and communication: here is what is happening in the world – here’s what we are learning. 2. Center is one of the STEWARDS of PURPOSE in serice to the organization. 3. Teaching and Consulting 4. Tending to the relational field. We spoke about working with the imagination and materials at hand and to move out as fast as we can with feedback into the center. OS Institute is run by all volunteers – it is a community of practice with a volunteer board that meets once a month. Lives the principles of OS, sale of products and donations is very small. Organizes around an annual gathering and the list serve. Berkana is moving to a “Self Organizing” model with some shared services at the core and leadership councils and circles helping to steward learning and purpose and make some few decisions at the center. With Plexus they are seeing most everything being outside of the institute within the consultants affiliated and one internal senior staff. Later on as we move forward through the days I discovered: Ali and Asher and Shiloh working from a very different sense of organization – they are reading “here comes everyone: organizing without organization” and planning as they begin for the birth and death of their organizations and seeing them as working in a lifecycle as they are of service. Ginger Group (Diana Smith) has built a collaborative learning and consulting organization. Great model for Berkana to consider.

Have fun creating - Teresa Posakony Berkana Institute