We Have Designed Ourselves as an Ecology

We have set ourselves up to function well in the world we want, not the world we currently live in. This is an intentional strategic decision, one that sometimes creates obstacles.

Yet all of these obstacles are worth the ability to live into our values in the here and now. They are also opportunities for our praxis to grow and become more resilient. We firmly believe that each obstacle we overcome expands the situations and context in which this system we are prototyping becomes applicable by others. 

In addition to organizations we created to live in alignment with our values financially, there are separate organizations who we have built alignment with over the years. These organizations have income sharing or memos of understanding that mean they support each other while remaining separate organizations with separate books and separate management.

These organizations include Everyday Feminism which was co-founded by our very own Sandra Kim who has given WildSeed Society stewardship over her share of the company. In addition, Unchained Visioning founded by our own Erika Totten has a MOU with the WildSeed Society. This allows Erika to continue her work supporting Black Women in Philanthropy while ensuring that the WildSeed Society does not become a philanthropy oriented community.  Lastly, Humanitea founded by our own Chany Singh is also now a part of the WildSeed Society Ecology through our contract and MOU. 

We have also invited the programs of different autonomous projects into our ecology. These autonomous projects are self-governing programs that are run both by members of the House of the Sacred and fellow travelers of WildSeed (folks we have met in our work who share core values) that have passion projects that they don’t want to incorporate but need administrative or strategic support to run.

These projects include #BiPolarDispatches ran by Reece Chenault, The Well Examined Life ran by Aaron Goggans, and the Nautical Liberation program ran by Peter Hardie. Most of these projects budgets are less than a hundred dollars a year though some are physically sponsored by groups outside of the WildSeed Society Ecology.

The reason that we talk about these groups as part of our ecology rather than “partner organizations” is twofold. On one hand, even though many of them are following their own missions, the work that House of the Sacred members do to support them often furthers WildSeed’s mission. 

The other reason is because building decentralized networks of aligned communities is an important part of Wildseed Societies collective calling, labor that would often be invisibilized if we didn’t use an ecological lens.

It's important for our supporters to know that by donating to WildSeed Society you are helping keep a vibrant ecology of movement sustaining work alive and thriving. The other, more important reason is our belief in the importance of intentional social ecology. 

Our relationship is less an alliance or partnership where we agree to share a strategy or project together, it is more that we do work that allows each other to better pursue their mission.

For instance, the WildSeed Society doesn’t have any say over what #bipolardispatches or Well Examined Life does. In fact, we sometimes disagree about what should be done or how to do it. Yet, we understand that we are all trying to build a better world and that world is better with all of us in it. We agree to look at disagreement as generative and an opportunity for transformation or experimentation.

We agree to share lessons from our experiments and be willing to be transformed by each other’s influences, which doesn’t always mean ending up on the same note together. It does, however, mean working to build a world in which all of our needs can be met with joy and dignity. 

We are currently dreaming up ways to take ecological praxis even further.