DisCO Mothership Governance Model

Welcome to the DisCO Mothership Governance Model

Hello and welcome!

The DisCO MOTHERSHIP refers to the group of people currently working in DisCO.coop and carrying out the DisCO Project This is the governance model by which our organization functions as a living DisCO LAB. THIS MODEL IS CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED AMONG THE DisCO MOTHERSHIP TEAM. KEEP CHECKING THIS PAGE FOR ONGOING DEVELOPMENT

This DisCO MOTHERSHIP Governance Model is a substantial fork of Guerrilla Media Collective's version of the DisCO Governance Model. Guerrilla Media Collective (henceforth GMC) is the original DisCO LAB from which DisCO.coop arose. GMC's Governance Model is the base DisCO Governance Model for worker-owned coops , Social Solidarity Enterprises and SMEs.

This version of the DisCO Governance Model (3.5) is not aimed at working collectives offering goods and services in the marketplace, but non profits, such as the DisCO Foundation.

The DisCO MOTHERSHIP Governance Model is being further developed as part of the Distributed Cooperative Organization (DisCO) Governance/Economic Model V 4.0 for eventual inclusion in the DisCO BALL. Version 4.0 is a non DisCO specific version highlighting the main DisCO governance templates, of the DisCO Applications Program or DAP

Overview

Discussion and text in progress

Overview

This document describes a governance/economic model for self-sustaining, mission-oriented, distributed organizations.

It values pro-bono (love), care, and livelihood work with complementary metrics and dispenses rewards accordingly.

The purpose is to extract people from the capitalist marketplace so they can use their unique talents to do fulfilling, and socially and environmentally meaningful work. The document prototypes a governance model fit for digital labor. This model mixes theory with proven on-the ground practice: it originated in an existing organization: Guerrilla Media Collective or "GMC", also known through the P2P Translation collective Guerrilla Translation

As explained in the Introduction above, this version of the DisCO Governance Model (3.5), is a fork of the GMC model. The version you are currently reading serves three complementary purposes:

- It functions as the template governance model for DisCO Non-Profits (AKA DisCO NP - By using DisCO.coop to illustrate the DisCO NP Governance model this document is the de-facto governance model for DisCO.coop

MODEL CURRENTLY REVISED UNTIL HERE

The DisCO model is a substantially developed fork of the Better Means Open Enterprise Governance Model (OEGM). The adaptations have been made to:

1. Bypass the original model’s start-up/for-profit orientation
2. Address the needs and ideals of
   1. The Commons and P2P;
   2. Open Cooperativism;
   3. Open Value Networks; and
   4. Feminist Economics
3. Benefit commons-oriented market entities self sustain their social vision while addressing their specific requirements and allow for future modifications.
4. Shift the focus from technical, protocol-based solutions to relations, trust and care work.

What we offer here is an equipotential and opt-in engagement model. This means that anyone who participates in the collective as a member will have their work valued, and will be expected to participate in the decision making process. Decisions and control are shared, based on contributions and peer review. In the following sections we'll examine:

• Open Value Cooperativism and Distributed Cooperative Organizations: a brief introduction to these concepts.
• Roles and responsibilities within the organization and how decisions are made.
• Contribution and tracking: The ways that value is tracked and rewarded.
• Decision making processes: How stewardship is held by all who have demonstrated willingness and invested personal effort participating in the collective's goals.

These three areas are interdependent. Roles and Responsibilities reflect a member's investment in the coop and their level of participation. This investment is not monetary, but contribution based — the more a member puts into building the Open Value Coop, whether through pro-bono, agency or reproductive work, the more their investment is weighted in the coop's ownership and decision making mechanisms. This investment/stake is measured through Contribution Tracking and it also affects the Decision making process.

While we have presented the three sections sequentially, the document doesn't necessarily follow a linear narrative. Each section refers to the others and the document features many page-jump links to different relevant sections and related entries in the Guerrilla Media Collective Wiki. .

For now, we recommend reading it at a your own pace, taking notes and jumping from section to section until you have a clear picture. We plan to add graphics and other support materials to improve understanding and uptake.

To see how we envision the model in practice, Guerrilla Translation is used as a showcase example, but it’s important to note that the model is designed to be picked up and adapted by other Distributed Cooperative Organizations whether they’re part of Guerrilla Media Collective, or not. To ease the narrative, the terms "Guerrilla Translation", "the DisCO" and "the collective" are often used interchangeably.

Roles and Responsibilities

Discussion and text in progress

Contribution Tracking

Discussion and text in progress

Decision Making

Discussion and text in progress

TLDR and Conclusion

Discussion and text in progress

Links and Resources

Discussion and text in progress