Role 17Admin & Commerce

Governance & Planning

Recommended holders

3–5 rotating (12–18 month terms)

Load rating

Season

Year-round

About this role

Governance is the collective's operating system. When it works well, decisions get made, disputes get resolved, plans get executed, and members feel heard. When it fails — when decisions are arbitrary, processes are opaque, or power is concentrated — the we-conomy begins to fracture.

The rotating council model is the most resilient governance structure. Terms of 12–18 months prevent entrenchment; rotation ensures diverse perspectives; overlap between terms provides institutional memory.

Key processes

The collective charter

The charter is the foundational document: values, governance structure, membership rules, decision-making process, and dispute resolution protocol. Must be written and agreed before anyone moves onto the land.

Decision-making process

The rotating council makes operational decisions without requiring whole-community consensus. Major decisions (land acquisition, membership changes, significant capital expenditures) require whole-community consensus or supermajority. Common frameworks: consensus (everyone must agree), consent (no paramount objection), sociocracy (tiered circles with defined domains).

Weekly all-hands meeting

Every adult member attends. Agenda: role status reports, decisions needed, community announcements. Keep it under 90 minutes with a facilitator. Document decisions and post publicly.

Long-range planning

Quarterly: review current year against plan. Annually: set coming year's objectives. Every 3–5 years: revisit the charter and role framework.

Financial transparency

Governance and Finance (Role 20) produce monthly financial reports accessible to all adult members.

Critical warnings

Never concentrate financial and governance authority in the same person. Most reliable path to community fracture.

Governance by exhaustion is not consensus. Meetings that run until dissenters give up produce resentment, not agreement.

Rotating leadership requires intentional knowledge transfer. Document outgoing work; brief incoming council members.

Connects directly to

All rolesMediation & Counseling Finance & Accounting Member Onboarding & Exit Communications & IT

Good supplement pairings

Mediation & Counseling; Communications & IT; Finance & Accounting

Key insight

Rotating leadership (12–18 month terms) is the single most important structural choice for long-term governance health. Permanent leadership creates the conditions for resentment and eventual fracture.