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Profile picture of Jon Schull

Jon Schull ·

[Isabella Kaplan](mention:15b2e2bf-c886-4030-9d8e-dfcaf19e277e "/u/ikaplan/") , [Jeremy Simon](mention:fdee1b60-53e9-43bf-9915-dd82e48c1776 "/u/jesimon/") [Ben Rubin](mention:317a51e6-0441-4a71-b9dd-bc0325773a5c "/u/be-nable/") Here is a fresh summary of our current governance.\ \ e-NABLE is an open a do-ocracy, not an organization. Governance is kept to a minimum. We have no official vision or mission statements.\[1\] Volunteers become leaders by contributing to the community. There are no elected officials, no official representatives. Long-time contributors may boast titles like "co-Founder," but that confers no formal authority. Instead, our governance strategy relies on opt-in systems that facilitate, encourage and celebrate the behaviors we wish to encourage (see EnableWebCentral, Hub.e-NABLE.org, map.e-NABLE.org, badges.e-NABLE.org, and our Loomio group \[2\]. Administrators of those systems accrue some authority but we all consider ourselves "servant-leaders" serving the will of the community. The "will of the community" emerges through several mechanisms: the Strategic Planning Committee, a Loomio voting platform, and several financial mechanisms. * Our Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) meets every Friday online (11:00AM Eastern), is open to all, and with video and notes published weekly on the Hub. Chaired by Jeremy Simon, the agenda is flexible but typically involves review of ongoing events, activities, initatives, and policy issues. * An e-NABLE sub-community (open to all) on the Loomio voting platform makes policies and propositions official. The 2-step process, and the requirement that passage of a resolution requires at least 80% agreement, pushes the community toward consensus. 1. First, someone introduces a possible proposal for a week’s discussion. 2. Second, a votable proposal, shaped by the discussion, is put forward. 3. Voting and discussion goes on for at least a week, during which the proposal can be revised as need to win support, and votes can be changed. \ \ At the end of the voting period the resolution is Approved if it meets the 80% criterion, and has garnered at least 20 votes. That’s how we have enacted the official few policies we do have (including the 2-step process, and the SPC's authority to intervene if someone tries to game the system, and ), established the EnableFund (see below), and authorized it's grant, and recently established other, lighter-weight, funding processes. Which brings us to funding. Financial transactions bring legal obligations. In order to accept tax-deductible donations, and to make minigrants that support the community, e-NABLE co-Founder Jon Schulll created a 501(c)3 nonprofit called Rochester Enable Limited whose mission includes adminstration of the e-NABLE fund as authorized by the voting process described above.\[3\]. Funding mechanisms for the community include (1) EnableFund grants authorized by individual Loomio votes, (2) SPC discretionary mini-grants and (3) The Wishbone project for peer-support of Chapter initiatives. That’s how our do-ocracy works. 1. We tend to describe ourselvs as "a global volunteer network making free open-source 3D-printed prosthetics for underserved populations", but during the covid crisis, we also make personal protective equipment, and for years we've talked about how we see ourselves as a model for something much broader than 3D-printed prosthetics. 2. we should have loomio.e-NABLE.org 3. There are other non-profits in the e-NABLE network. e-NABLE Alliance is another non-profit in the community; its President, Maria Esquela organizes the annual EnableCon, and runs an e-NABLE camp in Baltimore. And some chapters have their own non-profits. To my knowledge Rochester Enable Limited is the only non-profit that is formally accountable to the will of the community as outlined above.

Profile picture of Isabella Kaplan

Isabella Kaplan ·

Thanks [Jon Schull](mention:4d37d703-babf-407a-b5c0-582da39e22c2 "/u/jschull/") this will be in put in the governance page

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