Content:

🌱 About This Training

The goal of governance is simple: improve our connection and our clarity.

Who decides what? How do we share power? What do we do when we don’t agree?

Sociocracy (also called Dynamic Governance) offers a practical, proven set of tools that distribute decision-making so that everyone becomes a decision-maker. It provides a clear, inclusive process for consent-based governance—where every voice matters from beginning to end.

This training is a repeat and evolution of the widely attended virtual session originally facilitated by Ted Rau of Sociocracy for All—now facilitated locally by Mike Tekh Strode as the first 6-hour public-facing, in-person Sociocracy training of its kind in Chicago.

If you are part of a worker cooperative, grassroots collective, nonprofit board, mutual aid network, or community initiative seeking a more equitable and effective governance model—this training is for you.

🧭 What You’ll Learn

Over six participatory hours, we will explore:

Part 1 – Foundations of Sociocracy

How to decentralize and distribute power in your organization
The principles of consent-based decision-making
The role of circles, double-linking, and clearly defined domains
Practical facilitation tools for inclusive meetings

Part 2 – Practice & Application

Running a real consent decision-making process
What to do when someone objects
Clarifying roles (facilitator, delegate, operations lead, etc.)
Mapping sociocracy onto your current organizational structure
First steps for implementation

You will leave with concrete tools you can apply immediately—not just theory.

👥 Who Should Attend

Worker cooperative members and founders
Collective leaders and circle facilitators
Nonprofit staff and board members
Mutual aid organizers
Network weavers and movement builders
Anyone tired of “consensus confusion” and looking for a clearer way

Whether you are brand new to sociocracy or have experimented with it before, this training will ground you in shared language and lived practice.

🛠 Training Format

This is a highly participatory workshop. Expect movement, small group work, practice rounds, and real-time facilitation exercises.

We will:

Sit in circles
Practice real decision-making
Experience rounds and consent
Design example circle structures

Lunch break included (bring your own or explore local options).

🎤 About the Facilitator

Mike Tekh Strode is a Chicago-based cooperative developer, governance designer, and facilitator working across worker-owned cooperatives, solidarity economy networks, and community-based organizations.

Through the Kola Nut Collaborative, he advances timebanking, cooperative development, and decentralized governance in Chicago’s frontline neighborhoods. He is active within the VOLTS ecosystem and has supported numerous organizations in transitioning toward sociocratic and consent-based models.

This offering builds on training lineage from Sociocracy for All while rooting the work in Chicago’s cooperative and solidarity economy context.

🤝 About the Host and Sponsor Orgs

Kola Nut Collaborative supports solidarity economy infrastructure through timebanking, cooperative development, and community resilience practices.

VOLTS (Village of Leaders Thriving in Solidarity) is a cooperative ecosystem cultivating shared leadership, mutual accountability, and democratic governance across member organizations.

🎟 Tickets

Sliding scale options available. Please reach out if the ticket options offered still present a barrier.

🌍 Why Now?

Chicago’s cooperative ecosystem has grown. More collectives are experimenting with horizontal leadership. And many groups are discovering that traditional consensus processes can stall momentum.

Sociocracy offers a structured yet flexible way to:

Share power without chaos
Make decisions without burnout
Build clarity without hierarchy

Join us and help strengthen Chicago’s infrastructure for collective self-governance.