MAN Up Summit

August 20-28, 2015

We hosted MAN Up Summit in Madison, WI. And it was amazing! See the blog for notes, and the Resources page as we distill our documentation into useful tidbits.

In-depth trainings and discussions on Sociocracy, restorative justice, Art of Hosting facilitation, project management, and more. Plus work sprints, code sprints (our software developers will be here from France), collaboration visioning sessions, our official public launch and launch party (August 24, with The Yes Men!), our first Main MAN general membership meeting, and more.

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more information on Presenters.

Materials for Summit and Main MAN General Membership Meeting

Schedule

Printable MANUpSummitSchedule

Summit tracks – for ease of decision-making (you don’t have to choose an entire track)

• CJ= Community Justice
• G = Governance
• TB = Tool Building
• SB = Skill Building

Thursday, Aug 20

 9:30am-3:30pm Social Good Summit — Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, 330 North Orchard Street

Entrepreneurship at its best incorporates the business of improving the world we live in — caring, sharing, building community, and unleashing new creative economies. Mutual Aid Networks will be represented on this panel, hosted as part of the Forward Technology Festival. Now offered free for MAN Up Summit participants! Use the MutualAid discount code here.

3:30-4pm Open for registration – Art In, 1444 E. Washington

4pm – 6pm Welcome, overview, offer and request skill shares, plan for week — Art In, 1444 E. Washington

This informal gathering will give us a chance to introduce ourselves, make our projects, skills and needs known to each other, and set the stage for the week to come. We will also begin the process of scheduling skill shares for later in the summit. Skill shares are sessions where participants teach a skill or share a project with other interested participants. Facilitation assistance can be provided by summit organizers at the time of the skill share session.

6pm-8pm Welcome reception – Light meal provided by Jennie Capellaro (owner of Green Owl Cafe) in her lovely backyard. With live music from Mary Bue on Jennie’s upright piano!  — 521 Christianson Ave

Friday, Aug 21

10am – 12pm Funders’ Circle — Center for Change, 612 W Main St, Ste 200 – available online TB

This is for people engaged in funding innovative projects. We will explore ways to fund the kind of system change we seek, and co-create new resource allocation processes that work better for both funders and fundees. If you’re interested in participating please email info@mutualaidnetwork.org.

1pm – 4:30pm Sociocracy training with James Priest from Thrive-In Community from the UK: Introduction to S3 – foundations and the Consent Decision Making process*  — Art In, 1444 E. Washington  G

Sociocracy is a deeply inclusive decision-making process and governance structure. We will learn about it in-depth and explore using pieces or all of it for processes within Mutual Aid Networks. We also expect this learning to guide us in organizing our complex work, in circles that communicate effectively and maintain mutual accountability. Learn more about Sociocracy here.

This workshop series consists of a number of sessions you can attend singly, and a few sessions that build on the others and should be attended by those participating in the whole series. The asterisks can guide you.

*Essential Content – recommended for everyone, or stand-alone

5pm – 7pm Community Justice meal and discussion, Burrows Park, 2102 Sherman Ave  CJ

Join activists from Madison, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago and beyond as we discuss the work we’re each doing for justice in our own communities, and begin our week-long exploration of how we can support each other and collaborate. Outdoors with good food provided by Cafe Costa Rica!

8pm outing – VO5 at Dane Dances, Monona Terrace Rooftop, 1 John Nolen Dr

Dane County TimeBank members and supporters and Madison’s favorite disco band VO5 are playing a free show outdoors, Dane Dances! Make a night of it

Saturday, Aug 22

10am – 6pm Rummage for Justice – Social Justice Center rummage sale benefit — Social Justice Center, 1202 Williamson

Home of Dane County TimeBank and likely MAN pilot site, the Social Justice Center (SJC) is hosting a rummage sale fundraiser all day. Check it out! Leftovers will help seed the swap we’ll create when we MAN Up the SJC.

NEWLY ADDED! 12-1pm – Sociocracy session 1 recap
For those who wish to begin their Sociocracy training today, come learn what you missed yesterday so you can be grounded for today.

1pm – 4pm Sociocracy training with James Priest from Thrive-In Community from the UK: Consent Decision Making – tools and practice* — Art In, 1444 E. Washington G

*Essential Content – recommended for everyone, or stand-alone

1pm-8pm Bar Camp Unplugged –  Forward Technology Festival – development and contextualization of Wezer (our project sharing and exchange tracking software) with Julien from Valeureux from France, identifying and developing connections and collaborations with other tools and developers. TB

4pm – 8pm Community Justice Storytelling/Harvest with Lina Cramer & Renee Jackson from Wisdom Exchange in Chicago — Art In, 1444 E. Washington  CJ SB

Sunday, Aug 23

9am-12pm Sociocracy open space with James Priest from Thrive-In Community from the UK: S3 Open Space – practice and integrating the learning so far* — Art In, 1444 E. Washington G

*Recommended to have attended 1 previous session

2pm – 6pm Art of Hosting: Allied Coop event – celebrating a year of the Allied Coop!  And Art of Hosting workshop with Allied Coop leaders plus Lina Cramer & Renee Jackson from Wisdom Exchange in Chicago. Also featuring 15 minutes of gentle chair yoga and stress reduction breath techniques with Mary Bue — Boys and Girls Club, 4619 Jenewein Dr.   SB

5pm – 6pm Yoga in the Park with Mary Bue Yahara Park, rain location at Art In, 1444 E. Washington

Monday, Aug 24

9am-12pm Sociocracy training with James Priest from Thrive-In Community from the UK: Relational Energetics – power, leadership and the principle of consent* — Art In, 1444 E. Washington G

*Stand-alone

1pm – 3pm Community justice collaborations discussion — Art In, 1444 E. Washington – available online CJ

3pm – 5pm Skill shares, MAN Up game prep — Art In, 1444 E. Washington, nearby locations  SB TB

Participants who want to do skill shares will break into smaller groups focused on specific projects or skills. People who want to help lead the MAN Up simulation game (fun! no experience necessary) will gather to prepare.

7pm – 12am – MAN Launch Party at High Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington

Featuring The Yes Men!  Plus Bayo Akomolafe of International Alliance for Localization, and introducing MAN pilot sites. Music by Wendy Schneider, Stephanie Rearick, and Shawn Neary (Cloud Cult). Plus the premier of the MAN Up simulation game!

Tuesday, Aug 25

9am-12pm Sociocracy training with James Priest from Thrive-In Community from the UK: Patterns and practice for effective governance and operational meetings* — Art In, 1444 E. Washington G

*Essential Content – recommended for everyone, or stand-alone

12pm – 3pm Community Savings/Investment workshop – featuring (via web) Stephen Hinton of Sweden’s JAK Bank, Phil Stevens of New Zealand Living Economies, Janelle Orsi from Sustainable Economies Law Center. — Art In, 1444 E. Washington – available online  SB TB

3:30-6pm Skill shares – Robust Budgeting, Work/Life Design, others by offer or request — Art In, 1444 E. Washington  – available online  SB TB

Wednesday, Aug 26

9am – 12pm Sociocracy training with James Priest from Thrive-In Community from the UK: Patterns for distributed leadership, grassroots emergence, multi-agency collaboration and network organisations* — Art In, 1444 E. Washington G

*Essential Content – recommended for everyone, or stand-alone

1pm – 5pm Software – building tools that work for us — Art In, 1444 E. Washington and nearby locations — with Bob Haugen, Lynn Foster, Matthew Slater, Julien Dussart, you? – available online  TB

4pm – 6pm  MAN Up simulation game redux – apply our learning from the week and from the brief MAN Up game played at the launch party  SB TB

5pm – Relevant event: We Are All Criminals — Madison Central Library 201 West Mifflin Street – free, with complimentary food provided  CJ

This is not organized by Mutual Aid Network organizers, we just think it’s a very cool and relevant event.

Thursday, Aug 27

9:30am -12:30pm MAN first general membership meeting – Madison Central Library, 201 W. Mifflin St. – available online

Join the Main MAN cooperative that links all the various MANs, pilot sites and their supporters. Learn what’s happening and what is planned for the future. Then formally adopt our bylaws and elect our first Board of Directors! G

1pm – 4pm Sociocracy training with James Priest from Thrive-In Community from the UK: S3 Open Space – practice and integrating the learning* — Art In, 1444 E. Washington G

*Recommended to have attended at least 2 of the previous sessions

4pm – 5:30pm Social Justice Center Board meeting – MAN Up proposal discussion — Social Justice Center, 1202 Williamson St.  G

Part of being a MAN pilot site is agreeing to be an open book, to give the world the opportunity to learn from your experience. We’ll embody this when we open up the Social Justice Center board meeting, where we’ll discuss our own proposal to create a Mutual Aid Network, to summit participants. Let’s learn together!

6pm – 9pm Celebration and connection – poster session of harvests from week, music, food and drink — Art In, 1444 E. Washington

Friday, Aug 28

9am – 12pm Coop law and how it relates with David Sparer from Herrick & Kasdorf, LLP and Anne Reynolds of UW Center for Cooperatives. — Art In, 1444 E. Washington – available online  TB

Throughout the week we will have identified common goals and some of the tools available to help us achieve those goals. Now we’ll dive into the ways cooperative law and structure can help support us in our work.

1pm – 3pm Open space process to determine next steps based on the harvest — Art In, 1444 E. Washington – available online

3pm – 3:15pm – Close — Art In, 1444 E. Washington

—–

Saturday, August 29

6pm -Post-summit related event: An Evening at Maria’s – Art In, 1444 E. Washington

Featuring music by Treemo and Asumaya, poetry by Lilada Gee, art by Lacey Smith, Dan Wang, Dale Kaminski and Derrick Buisch, and the Social Justice Center is the featured non-profit. And MAN!

Participants/Presenters:

Bayo Akomolafe (Nigeria and India)

Bayo Akomolafe, PhD is a clinical-psychologist, lecturer and author from Covenant University in Nigeria. He is an international speaker, poet and activist for a radical paradigm shift in consciousness. In a 2013 speech, he advocated for “the use of trans-local networks created via social media and other initiatives as one possible way to create a trans-local movement which can help to shift the paradigm.”

With Ej, his ‘life-force,’ Bayo is a co-founder of a growing network called Koru. They are currently on an enchanted journey to reclaim their lives and intimacy with the earth. He is writing his second book, And We Shall Dance with the Mountains. Ej and Bayo are ecstatic parents of a girl, Alethea. http://www.kosmosjournal.org/contributor/bayo-akomolafe/ read more..

James Priest (UK)

James Priest has been learning about and applying Sociocratic principles in his life and work since 2000. His predominant area of experience regarding Sociocracy is as a collaborative Community Development consultant and Sociocracy Trainer, working with community groups, co-housing/intentional communities and charitable sectors. He’s learnt predominantly with practice and more recently had the benefit of collaborating with others in seeking to raise the profile of Sociocracy within the UK and further throughout Europe – specifically the communities field. From http://sociocracyuk.ning.com/profile/JamesPriest

read more…

Lina Cramer and Renee Jackson (Chicago)

Lina Cramer and Renee Jackson are stewards of the Chicago-based Art of Hosting. The Art of Hosting is an approach to leadership that scales up from the personal to the systemic using personal practice, dialogue, facilitation and the co-creation of innovation to address complex challenges. Together they work to foster peace and understanding among youth, police, families and community members.  They share a deep commitment to building relationships and spaces that are safe and promote healing and wellness.

Phil Stevens (New Zealand)

Phil Stevens is a Living Economies trustee, who emigrated from the US to New Zealand in 2005 and lives in Ashhurst.. He brings his expertise in technology and a wide range of pursuits from hands-on sustainable practice to examining socioeconomic models and theories of effective governance. Projects Phil is active in RECAP and LOAVES, a transition community organisation and a local currency; Community Forge, an open-source platform for complementary currencies and exchange; researching and promoting low-input food, fuel and finance; and general awareness raising.
Living Economies is a New Zealand-based educational network promoting systems of exchange that foster community wellbeing. They aim to strengthen and help sustain regional economies by promoting interest-free means of exchange – currencies based on and respecting the living systems of our planet – to complement money in local communities. read more…

Stephen Hinton

Since 2002, Stephen has been working on developing ways for organisations to take the lead in sustainable development. Starting with addressing resource shortages as limits to growth, he went on to work with envisioning techniques to develop ideas for sustainability and then to practical implementation of a range of instruments, from city walking maps to flexible pollutant fees. Stephen was one of the founders of the Transition movement in Sweden, an original member of the Humanitarian Water and Food management team, and the co-founder of the Swedish Eco-village, Änggärdet.
Stephen believes we are in times of great change, as we let go of our industrial paradigms we can open to new opportunities for sustainable prosperity and a new era of human development.
Stephen is often engaged to speak on topics such as moving away from an industrial mindset, transitioning away from fossil fuels, aligning business to new paradigms, co-creation and new financial possibilities as well as the inner transition accompanying the move from consuming to co-producing.
Stephen is a fellow of the Institute of Swedish Safety and Security (ISSS.se) , and serves on the boards of JAK bank and the Swedish Sustainable Economy Foundation. read more…

Janelle Orsi (East Bay of California)

Janelle Orsi is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Sustainable Economies Law Center, located in Oakland, California. As an attorney, Janelle is SELC’s self-described “head Eagle,” continually developing ideas, visions, and strategies for stronger, more resilient economies. She provides guidance and support to each program circle, and leads the Legal Profession in the New Economy program. She is also the Cartoonist-in-Chief, and her works can be found all over the SELC website, their Youtube Channel, and in highly coveted copies of her book, Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy (ABA Books 2012). She is also the co-author with Emily Doskow of The Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community.

Janelle is an attorney specializing in helping people share resources and create sustainable communities. She works with cooperatives, social enterprises, non-profits, community gardens, cohousing communities, ecovillages, and anyone else doing innovative work to change the world. She lives in “casual cohousing,” shares garden space and regular meals with her neighbors, takes part in a grocery co-op, shares an office space, and is always looking for new ways to share in her life. Janelle can’t wait to see what the future looks like, when carsharing, mealsharing, community food gardens, cohousing, cooperatives, and tool lending libraries become part of everyone’s normal way of life.

In 2010, Janelle was profiled by the American Bar Association as a Legal Rebel, an attorney who is “remaking the legal profession through the power of innovation.” In 2012, Janelle was one of 100 people listed on The (En)Rich List, which names individuals “whose contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures.” read more…

Mary Bue

An accomplished recording artist and touring musician, Mary’s 6 studio albums manage to capture her electrifying stage presence. Mary’s last two albums were 100% fan-funded via Kickstarter. She has been awarded the “Escape to Create” Artist in Residence in Seaside, FL, and the Big Cypress Nature Preserve Artist in Residence in Ochopee, FL. Over many years, 44 states, hundreds of thousands of miles and countless venues from tiny coffee shops to large outdoor festivals, Mary has shared the stage with many talented musicians, including Erin McKeown, Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde), Emm Gryner, Kathleen Edwards, Alan Sparhawk from Low, Marissa Nadler, Rose Polenzani, Jess Klein, Sarah Borges, Mason Jennings, Haley Bonar, Jack Johnson, Vetiver, Cory Chisel, Nicole Atkins, Jeremy Messersmith, Anaïs Mitchell, Audra Kubat, Vandaveer, Chris Bathgate and too many more to list here.

Mary is Registered Yoga Teacher in the Viniyoga Tradition. She was trained at the 200 hour level at Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, WA by Tracy Weber. Mary received continuing education in Prenatal Yoga, Yoga for anxiety & depression and Pranayama (conscious breathwork). In 2010, Mary was a teacher assistant for Whole Life Yoga’s 200 hour teacher training.

To intertwine her two biggest passions of yoga & music, Mary has started to incorporate “Pop Up Yoga Classes” in the cities & venues where she tours.

Mary has taught at reputed yoga studios, wellness centers & workplaces such as New Seattle Wellness & Whole Life Yoga (Seattle), The Lotus Center, Yoga North, Evolve, Little Neetchers, Maurice’s, Larsmont Cottages, HDC, Center for Drug & Alcohol Treatment, University of Minnesota – Duluth & Duluth Courthouse.

Armed with nothing but quick wits and thrift store suits, the Yes Men impersonate big-time corporate criminals to draw attention to their crimes against humanity and the environment.

Their outrageous satirical interventions at business events, on the internet, television, and in the streets form the basis of two award-winning feature documentaries, The Yes Men and The Yes Men Fix the World, festival favorites in Toronto, Berlin, SXSW and others.

Their latest feature documentary, The Yes Men Are Revolting, adds to their hit list some of the biggest climate criminals, hilariously targeting such planet-plundering entities as Shell Oil, Gazprom Oil, and the US Chamber of Commerce.

Their work has been shown in the Whitney Biennial, the Venice Biennale, ARS Electronica, and many other art exhibitions.

They are the recipients of numerous awards, including Creative Time’s Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change, Grierson Documentary Award, Berlinale Panorama Audience Award, the United Nations Association Film Festival Grand Jury Award, Best Documentary Award at HBO Comedy Arts Festival, and the Audience Award at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.

They are the authors of several books, articles, and they lecture internationally on art and social change.

They are the founders of a nonprofit, the Yes Lab, and the Action Switchboard, an online platform for generating real-life direct actions in the service of social movements.

As a result of their two decades of work, the Yes Men have discovered that tackling hard-boiled issues with huge dollops of laughter is a powerful tool for change, and now they want everyone to get involved in the fight. (From http://eviltwinbooking.org/speakers/the-yes-men/) read more…