Our approach

We tailor every engagement to the context and needs of the people and organizations involved, but we follow fundamental general practices in all our work.

Extreme close up of bee in flight against a background of yellow flowers and greenery in soft focus.
Bee Flying” by Ronnie Khan, here slightly cropped, is licensed via CC BY 2.0.

Put people at the center

Help people build identities, literacies, skills, and communities to increase their own agency and contribute to their work.

Connect knowledge practices

Engage people when they are acquiring, generating, and spreading knowledge.

Build simply, on existing work

Identify, connect, and amplify existing activities that align with common goals and strategies instead of building or buying new/large/complex systems.

Focus on default infrastructure and services

Offer persistent, common infrastructure and services to all participants to augment and enable local activities, provide continuity, and aggregate results.

Follow core values and principles

See the values and principles that guide our work.

Communication is community

Anchor communications in community — large or small, densely knit or diffuse, nascent or mature.