Hey!

Thank you to all the SoFA members who helped out at the conference, by giving a talk, leading an activity, or hosting a zoom room. It all worked really well, and I loved the conference! It was also fun to celebrate SoFA’s 6th birthday!

Mission Circle has been doing sensing sessions for a while now, and the Mission Circle circle members felt the desire to spread sense-making into more circles than just Mission Circle. So Mission Circle made a plan: we pick a theme every few months and invite circles to reserve 15 minutes of meeting time to do a round of reactions and ideas. 

The first topic is our Theory of Change. GC has been working on that to clarify what really matters in our work towards our mission and vision.

• If you have time, watch the video and comment in the forum thread on SoFA’s theory of change.
• If you are in a SoFA circle, reserve 15min of your agenda in a meeting on 1-2 rounds of reactions and thoughts on the Theory Of Change and your circle’s piece in it. Then also respond to the forum thread, SoFA’s theory of change, with a summary of your thoughts.
• If you want to read more, also see the Theory of Change (long version | short version) and add comments to the document.

We will then work your feedback into a new version of our. 

Enjoy! Let’s do this!

New members

• Inger Draeby (Denmark) Sacandinavia
• Alessandro Villella (Italia) SoPra Círculo de Permacultura
• Maddie Greenwood (Canada) NGO and Nonprofit
• Patricio Urtubia (Chile) SoPra Comunidad de Práctica
• Mercé Gomilla (Spain) SoPra Círculo de Permacultura

Velkommen • Benvenuto • Welcome • Bienvenida

Upcoming member events

• WED, May 4 — Community of Practice: Schools and Education
  A community of practice for mutual support for school sociocratic practitioners.
• MON, May 9 — @Work Community of Practice
  @Work Community of Practice is a mutual support group for people practicing sociocracy at work. This community of practice is a space for people to share experiences or potential situations […]
• MON, May 9 — Co-working & IT Support (Spanish & English)
  This is a time to work together on our SoFA work! Just come do your thing and let’s find focus together! Also, there will be an IT Circle support person […]
• WED, May 18 — Community of Practice: leaders of sociocratic circles
  A community of practice for mutual support for leaders of sociocratic circles. Meets monthly.
• TUE, May 24 — Community of Practice: facilitators of sociocratic circles
  A community of practice for people holding the role of facilitator in their organizations. Meets monthly.
• THU, May 26 — Sociocracy Implementation Peer Support (SIPS) Community of Practice
  A community of practice for mutual support for people implementing socicoracy in their organizations. Meets monthly on the fourth Thursday.
• FRI, May 27 — Breaking Cycles Community of Practice
  Breaking Cycles is a community of practice for members of sociocratic organizations that are interested in discussing harm reduction and unlearning & breaking cycles of the dominant oppressive culture within […]

Circle reports

Mission Circle

• This circle is considering how it might function as a help desk. They are considering promoting certain areas of conversation throughout SoFA for a period of time, and then reviewing those conversations and integrating them into the future direction of SoFA.

notes::mission circle

General Circle

• We selected Rhonda Baird to be our new delegate to Mission Circle! We’re excited about the perspective that she brings with respect to how SoFA connects with other organizations, and her roots in permaculture modeling promote thinking about the health of SoFA as a system and within larger systems.
• We are continuing to explore the impacts of the theory of change (as mentioned in the introduction of this issue above!) on our understanding of SoFA, and in our most recent meeting, this led us to think about how circles can operate as help desks and how we want to relate to ideas and values beyond governance (and thus beyond the scope of sociocracy).

notes::general circle

Content Circle

• Content Circle has continued its reorganization work by clarifying the domains of its various subcircles.
• The Grantwriting Helping Circle decided not to pursue the co-op grant, due to its complexity and uncertainty.

notes::content circle

Ecosystem Circle

• Several sector circles are planning conferences and other outreach, including developing Communities of Practice and establishing ambassadors.
• Ecosystem Circle is reviewing how new sector circles develop.

notes::ecosystem circle

Membership Circle

• Membership Circle is taking up a comprehensive view of the member orientation pathway, which provides steps for members to grow in skills for participating in SoFA’s existing structures and using the tools we have available.
• This circle is exploring how to collaborate with Content Circle to provide continuing education opportunities that can benefit both the general public as well as SoFA members.

notes::membership circle

Feedback survey:

How did you experience the Global Sociocracy Conference? 

New Webinar:

Open-Hearted Decision-Making NVC and Sociocracy with Children

Instructors: Hope Wilder and Gina Simm

Date: Saturday, May 14, 2022

Time: 16:00-17:30 UTC

Job posting:

Gaia Education is hiring a part-time projects and partnerships coordinator!

SoMBu feedback:

[email protected]

Additional notices from role holders or circles are welcome. Submissions are due on the day when General Circle meets: May 03 | May 17 | May 31 — all Tuesdays.