You know what I love most about sociocracy? That I as leader can be gone, and things still move forward. I’m with a board retreat (of another organization) right now, and still so many wonderful things are happening.

That is also THANKS TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU who are contributing to SoFA as members in all the different circles, preparing resources, networking, helping people, solving all kinds of complex puzzles, and walking the talk together.

I want to thank all volunteers in SoFA for their work — about 400 hours per month alone! Thank you! Yay, you!

I also want to thank all paid folks for their contribution — about 1000 hours per month! This is difficult stuff, and we’re doing it! Yay, you! Thank you!

New SoFA Members

• Violeta Winograd (Argentina) SoPra
• Núria Prenafeta (Spain) SoPra
• Jesse Marshall (US) Training circle
• Aida Elías Calles Menchaca (Mexico) SoPra

Sociocracia Práctica (SoPra) is SoFA in Spanish. 

¡Bienvenidas! • Welcome!

Intentional Communities

Conference :: Creating a future that works for all today
Nov 19

Screening & Fundraiser

Film :: Power to the Children — Nov 20

Come watch the documentary “Power to the Children’ with us. This film offers a deep insight into the lives of children who are part of the Children’s Parliaments in India. The Children’s Parliaments are a huge and successful effort to help people solve serious problems in their communities – with 100,000s of children involved worldwide. Swarnalakshmi Ravi, the former national prime minister of India’s Children’s Parliament who is featured in the film, will join us for a Q&A. Additionally, two youth members of the Provisional World Children’s Parliament will attend and contribute to the Q&A from a youth perspective.

Member events 

• FRI Oct 28
  Writer’s Workshop
• FRI Oct 28 @ 11:00 – 13:00 EDT
  Community of Practice :: Breaking Cycles
• SAT Oct 29 @ 11:00 – 13:00 EDT
  Workshop :: Sociocracy with Children (second session)
• MON Oct 31 @ 13:00 – 14:00 EDT
  Free class :: Building horizontal organizations
• TUE Nov 1 @ 14:00 – 16:00 UTC
  Co-working — accountability, fun, and getting things done
• WED Nov 2 @ 11:00 – 12:30 EST
  Community of Practice :: Schools and Education
• MON Nov 7 @ 15:00 – 16:00 UTC
  Free introduction: What is sociocracy?
• TUE Nov 8 @ 14:00 – 15:00 EST
  Free event: Horizontal accountability
• TUE Nov 8 @ 14:00 – 16:00 UTC
  Co-working — accountability, fun, and getting things done
• MON Nov 14 @ 11:00 – 12:00 EST
  Webinar: Future of work – wishful thinking or reality? Interview with Aaron Dignan (free to members)

Circle reports

General Circle

• As the delegate from Content Circle and someone closely connected with the work, Alma presented their progress on redesigning the SoFA landing page. The members of this circle were very excited to see the new design and raised feedback about making sure it’s easy to find International Circle landing pages and around offering a good window into the diversity of people involved with SoFA.
• The circle members also took some time to review their overall understanding of how SoFA is organized. They learned about a permaculture principle around energy distribution that may help them think about our budget in the future, and they explored some areas of confusion in how some circles are connected and in how they understand their domains.

notes::general circle

Content Circle

• This department has a new helping circle working on general marketing alignment and SEO integration. The circle members are also considering how to incorporate the principles of the Language Equity Statement.
• The members of this department are developing a plan for end-of-the-year fundraising, they are working on strategies for social media engagement in many different directions, and they are developing a new landing page!

notes::content circle

Ecosystem Circle

• At their last meeting, the members of Ecosystem Circle looked carefully at their expenses in the budget. Also, they had a general conversation about understanding the implications of the Language Equity report and statement, which included some emphasis on the concern for the gap between Ecosystem Circle and parallel sector work in International Circle.
• The members of this circle also accepted the Partnership Coordinator Role description. However, there remained a bit of confusion about the scope for (and thus the amount of time allocated to) this role.

notes::ecosystem circle

Membership Circle

• Within this department, the various sub-circles holding the domain around finance and the budget are reorganizing into Financial Wellbeing Circle.

notes::membership circle

International Circle

• Many projects and changes are happening throughout this department. Language communities continue to work on translating key SoFA materials, and several new circles are forming or re-organizing.
• The German conference was completed successfully!

notes::international circle

SoMBu feedback

Additional notices from role holders or circles are welcome. Submissions are due on the day when General Circle meets: Tuesdays Nov 8, Nov 22, and Dec 6.

Contact: [email protected].

Andrew Grant, SoMBu broadcaster