I am presently seeking a group enterprise to join.

One way of marking my life in the past is by which significant project was receiving a lion’s share of attention at any given time. There’s usually been one group effort garnering high priority among other commitments. For example, starting a housing co-op (now in its 19th year), or founding a successful nonprofit. I currently feel ready for the next partnership calling me to lend my talents on a substantive basis.

On the two projects cited above, i* was in a founder (“source”) role. At this time, i am feeling drawn to a joiner role. It might be a newer enterprise, where i could potentially be an early joiner or “first follower” who supports someone’s idea to flourish and become real. It could be an organization already up and running that’s headed into a growth phase, where i can assist with creating or updating systems needed to scale expansion. Or it may be a well-established and respected organization, seeking to maintain and improve functionality into the future.

Much of my work thus far has been toward creating organizations that are effective, fulfilling, and sustainable. Some gifts and skills i enjoy sharing in this realm include:

• group facilitation and holding space
• leading trainings
• organizational culture development
• designing systems
• project management
• interpersonal communication skills and conflict resolution
• strategy and roadmapping
• appreciative visioning
• organizing: stuff, people, paper, events, etc.
• writing and editing
• stewarding feedback processes
• maintaining focus on both purpose and details
• following through until the goal is achieved

Aside from work supporting organizational well-being, i have done other things, such as: raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in private loans (for the housing co-op); bike toured many miles through the hinterlands of the beautiful Pacific northwest; been knocked down by lightning and lived to tell the tale; driven a car in New York City; and coded a website in basic HTML back in 1996. From this you may hopefully gather that i am happy to explore new domains and learn new skills.

Here are my criteria:

1. I’m looking to work primarily face-to-face with a team here in the Eugene/Springfield area, commutable by bike.
2. The core team i am working with is an extremely important selection factor. I am seeking people whose company i enjoy and have good chemistry with. I envision them as fun, competent, smart, principled, and trustworthy; i imagine they will have complementary and diverse skill sets compared with my own, so that we can accomplish something larger together. I am searching for leadership i respect and feel inspired by.
3. I’m looking for an organization with healthy culture and values i can align with. A place of work/life balance, preferably allowing flexible scheduling, more focused on results than hours. Ideally, an enterprise grounded in “liberated” workplace principles such as: transparency, distributed authority, flexibility (within clear structure), wholeness, shared power, sense and respond, and other “future of work” concepts. The organization doesn’t need to have it all figured out, however i will be best suited to a setting with an open attitude toward exploring this paradigm.
4. I want the purpose to be something i believe in, something basically good for the world. That could be something ambitious and 100% mission-driven, or simply a product or service that makes people’s lives a little better.

Beyond this list, there are many aspects i am flexible on. The organization could be a business, nonprofit, or some other form. If it’s a start-up, i am willing to consider initially donating some time or working for equity. While my ideal range is probably 15-25 hours/week, it could be more or less time than this.

If you have ideas, contacts, leads, or any other support to lend in my search, please get in touch! Thank you.