Back in 2007 when we created the first plan for what was becoming the Community-Driven Institute, one of the goals of that plan was this:

• Use demonstration projects to prove that visionary change is both possible and practical.

During the term of that plan, we kept an eye out for demonstration projects that could provide evidence of the results that happen when work is rooted in The Pollyanna Principles. The more we sought such projects, though, the more it became clear that most logical first demonstration project would be the development of the Institute itself.

As the Institute becomes its own entity, its leadership will be doing the kinds of things every organization does in the beginning – building a board, applying for tax exempt status, building sustainability (financial and otherwise), and all the rest of what it takes to run the day-to-day of a community benefit organization.

The Demonstration Project will therefore ask:

If every bit of that work is done in alignment with The Pollyanna Principles, what would that look like? If we are to walk the talk of our values, and those values include trusting the wisdom of those affected by all our decisions, what would it look like to ask everyone affected by our work for their wisdom in all these start-up matters?

The answer is rooted in transparent engagement - modeling what it looks like to be as inclusive as possible in all the decisions that most people make behind closed doors.

What does it mean to build open, transparent, engaged governance? To recruit transparently? To build bylaws by engaging the wisdom of others? To make choices and operate by engaging transparently? To develop resources and form collaborations transparently?

How do we ensure our vision and values are infused in every action and decision, large and small, this new organization will make?

Over the next several years, we will be exploring all our organizational infrastructure choices and actions openly, on the blog and in social media and wherever else makes sense to do so.

Being our own demonstration project infuses every action we take, no matter how seemingly “internal” or “non-mission” with the knowledge that those actions indeed have consequences for our mission. In reality, that is already true for each and every organization in each and every community. We are just vowing to engage beyond our “4 walls” as transparently as possible about how our vision and values influence that seemingly “non-mission” work.

If our being a case study helps model for others how they, too, can aim every bit of their work at the difference they want to make in the world, it will be well worth the effort.

	The Thinking Behind Transparent Engagement  Read the 3-Part post
	Our efforts at operating transparently  Follow Along!