WeStrive works to lead the world toward stronger, healthier and more sustainable community as well as more effective social action by supporting socially and spiritually striving individuals, initiatives and organizations with a platform for social networking, economic association, educational opportunities and connection to all who endeavor together in co-creating a better world.
An Introduction
By The WeStrive Leadership Council
Over the past four years, NetworkM blossomed from a simple idea into a global network and community. It now strives to meet the growing needs of its community and to fulfill its organizational promises; as an organization, we have taken a bold and new step leading us into the future recognizing and working with the communal and organizational structure of the system that we live and work in. The future and success of our movement is predicated on its ability to create sustainable modalities of operation and to effectively communicate and implement its mission.
Organizations, like humans, have specific developmental phases and steps they must go through. Just as a child must learn to crawl and then walk, say a word or two and eventually a sentence, so, too, must an organization eventually be able to stand on its own and carry its weight in the world. And so NetworkM has taken its next vital developmental step; welcome to WeStrive.org.
We invite you to participate in our next step and to utilize our services for individuals and organizations. Our tools will enable members to better connect and work together, to meet potential collaborators, to build new connections and to strengthen the bonds that already exist in our ever-striving community.
Here is a preview of what WeStrive will offer within the context of Social Threefolding:
Social Networking = Political/Rights Sphere
WeStrive is not only a community, but a platform which has been designed to support initiatives in the political/rights sphere. The early members of the community were drawn together by a shared desire to improve social issues. This early impulse grew into a network of socially and spiritually striving individuals frequently disconnected in their proximity, but who could find more distant strength and support using social networking software.
A three-prong strategy evolved as we grew. One focused on recognizing the value and reaping the benefits of online tools for networking and connecting. Through this we came to the conclusion that current software was inadequate for our needs. The other focused on reaching out to the world and publishing content about the people and initiatives we learned about. The final focus was on achieving local action; bringing the virtual community together in the same room to see what emerged.
WeStrive invested the time and effort into creating a new social networking platform with the express purpose of enabling people to better connect and support their initiatives. Traditional organizational structures can limit the ability of groups to dynamically form and work together. WeStrive's platform helps individuals publicize initiatives, harness enthusiasm and direct it toward action.
As the community grows the possibility of finding other locally striving individuals increases. Our ability to connect and support one another becomes easier and more rewarding. We continue to strive toward a diverse and unified community, spanning the world, rooted in local connection.
The Arts = Cultural Sphere
The arts have provided a broad array of mediums for personal use, expression and social commentary. In modern art, the meaning of art itself has been explored in numerous ways; in could be said that, to some extent, we have lost an ability to immerse ourselves in our artwork as in times past, when it were as if something were working through us. A question of our time might be: what is the role of art today?
Artists such as Joseph Beuys held in high regard the idea of a 'social artwork' - which related much less to objects made by people and more with the social interactions between people. Artistic processes and thinking developed by humanity can be used to delve into the realm of human social relationship. What if you were to think of the space between yourself and another, or even the greater community, as a living sculpture of warmth? How would you sculpt it? How do we work with the social realm in an artistic way in order to improve or simply become conscious of that which surrounds us?
WeStrive has continued to encourage discourse and learning by providing provocative and thoughtful stories and articles on a regular basis, and now through music, fiction, poetry and art of all forms. Through these we hope to spark a wider interest in, and action toward true equality of rights in the social sphere.
Finance = Economic Sphere
WeStrive.org is a non-profit organization that will provide multiple platforms for economic cooperation between its members. Promoting new economic forms is integral to the development of our community, both locally and throughout the entire global network.
To encourage this development, WeStrive will offer several inroads to economic connection. Though the cost of participating in WeStrive.org is free, individuals and organizations will have the option of purchasing specialized services, such as web hosting. Additionally, WeStrive.org will establish partners and sponsors to fund its operating costs, as well as seek donations through membership fundraisers and events.
For all members, WeStrive.org will include a member-driven ”E-bay”-style marketplace. This will initially be available mainly for the direct exchange of goods and services. However, there are plans to enable a feature whereby members may offer participation in their various initiatives via KIVA-style lending communities, as well as participation in co-ownership of social enterprises formed on Associative Economics principles (such as ”B” corporations). Westrive.org will also facilitate charitable giving within its member community and other forms of economic cooperation between members via electronic means.
Eventually, WeStrive.org hopes to generate its own ”community currency” called ”Karma Cash” or ”K¢”. This currency, which will automatically depreciate over time, will be generated primarily by members' contributions to the community through, for example, writing articles, responding in forums, or hosting Meet-Ups. It is hoped that business members of the WeStrive.org community will accept K¢ as payment locally as well as offer sponsorships deals, depending on how much K¢ a member has accumulated.
Matthew Cortez Temple is the founder of NetworkM/WeStrive and served as the Executive Director for the first three years of the organization. In February of 2009, NetworkM officially incorporated as a California non-profit and became WeStrive.org at which time, Matthew transitioned to his current roll as President of the Board. As President of the Board, he is charged with maintaining the vision of NetworkM/WeStrive, while facilitating positive growth.
Matthew is an actor, writer and filmmaker andlives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and three children.
Stefan Klocek is a researcher, designer and facilitator. As a creative and critical thinker he has applied his talents to designing interactive experiences which help humans achieve their goals. His ability to design and utilize technology is balanced with strong empathy and concern for humanity and his work reflects this, spanning the range of human experience, from business-to-business applications, to mens groups, and rites of passage activities. He has been involved with weStrive for over three years, helping design and guide the development of the organization and platform. His current leadership role bridges the design of the platform with developing partnerships and organizational development. He works for Cooper, an interaction design firm in San Francisco. Stefan also sits on the editorial advisory board for Anthroposophical Society in America's quarterly publication.
Mathias Bolt Lesniak was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1983, but he soon moved to the close-by rural peninsula of Nesodden. There he went to kindergarten and Waldorf School, before studying computers. Mathias has been involved in international youth work since 2001. He is taking care of YIP's public relations, advertising etc.
When not at YIP he works at the two-person web design company LiliO Design. He is currently still living at Nesodden with his fiancé from New Zealand.
Rachel Berk joined the Leadership Council in 2009, inspired by WeStrive's vision of enabling communication, collaboration, and action. After graduating from Bennington College, Rachel sought for an avenue to combine her thirst for genuine community with her experience in education, interest in sustainable business, passion for social renewal, and love for meetings. Her search lead her to the Camphill Movement, through which she was overjoyed to find a world-wide network of individuals with similiar visions and dreams. Because she finds budgeting and accounting thrilling, Rachel is the (pending) treasurer of WeStrive. She is also the director of Soltane Works, which supports adults with disabilities to find and maintain meaningful work. Rachel lives and works at Camphill Soltane in southeastern Pennsylvania, where she runs the community cafe and supports adults in an assisted living arrangement.
Leslie Loy is the executive director of WeStrive. She joined the Leadership team in 2006 with an interest in working closely with schools and students in continuing the individual's learning experience. Her interests evolved into sharing how organizations and individuals were transforming ideas into action and how they were taking their knowledge and contributing it to the world. Early in her career, Leslie became a vocal advocate for supporting others' works, recognizing that it took an entire community to create real change and collaborating for social renewal. A graduate of Reed College, and a certified Waldorf educator, Leslie embraces the culture of learning and she carries this passion for learning into her work. Leslie is inspired to understand how communities are formed and work and how they have the ability to transform the world, reinvigorating local communities and transforming the global community. Leslie works closely with network partners in order to maintain the original and evolving vision of WeStrive. She currently lives in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania, United States.
Adrian Bowden joined the Leadership Council in 2008. A trained lawyer and social therapist, Adrian is interested in threefolding and encouraging community building particularly via economic cooperation. Adrian is very much
inspired by his experience in the world wide Camphill community. Adrian's role in the leadership team is to facilitate the
establishment of structures for fund raising within the WeStrive Network, including Karma ¢, the WeStrive Market and corporate sponsorship. Born in Australia, Adrian is Norwegian and lives at Camphill Soltane, in south east Pennsylvania.
Seth Jordan graduated from Connecticut College in 2003 with a major in Philosophy. After meeting and studying with Nicanor Perlas in the summers of 2006 and 2007, Seth helped found Think OutWord, a peer-led training for young adults in societal threefolding and social entrepreneurship. He currently lives in Great Barrington, MA, and works as the Creative Director of Think OutWord as well as an associate at the Center for Social and Ecological Renewal.
Vassag Baghboudarian currently lives in Toronto, Canada. He studied music because of his love of poetry. His thought was that a single word holds concentrated in itself, an entire symphony. He discovered that a lifetime of dedication is needed to really penetrate into the mysteries of art. Such a commitment has led him indirectly to a quest around humanity (identity) and creativity (art), which continuously reveal a profound connection to social change, both as precursors and catalysts of it. Anthroposophy and integral philosophy have offered him inspiring pathways whereby he is exploring and developing both work and insights distilled from his steadfast questions around social innovation and how to access new impulses. Vassag wishes to serve the WeStrive team with his writing/editing capabilities, his communication, consultive and networking abilities, the capacities he is refining around social technologies like Theory U and his willingness to gain new skills.
WeStrive Team Roles
Vassag Baghboudarian (Copy Editor)
Vassag is the WeStrive eNews copy editor, ensuring that the content in the eNews and WeStrive materials are clean, beautifully-written and comprehensible. He also assists in providing meaningful content for both the website in forums and groups, and within the eNews, helping to develop the network by sharing information with the WeStrive community members and WeStrive with the world.
Rachel Berk (Treasurer/Secretary and Partnership Development Coordinator)
Rachel organizes and maintains the weStrive financial structure, including overseeing the monthly books, the annual budget and setting financial goals based on previous years' special collaborative projects. In addition Rachel works to develop partnerships between the Camphill and Youth Movement and the weStrive network.
Mathias Bolt Lesniak is an advising member of the WeStrive Tech Team and an advocate for initiative and organizational participation and investment in the WeStrive Development Project. He is also a leading strategist in the development of Karma Cash (K¢).
Adrian Bowden (Finance Team Chair and Associative Investment Coordinator)
Adrian facilitates the establishment of structures for fundraising within the WeStrive Network, including Karma ¢, the weStrive Market and corporate sponsorship.
Matthew Cortez Temple (Founder and Fundraising Coordinator)
Matthew organizes fundraising effortsand partnership development while holding the founding vision with which NetworkM, and subsequently the evolutionary weStrive, is meant to serve in the world. Matthew serves as a strong promotional and outreach voice, further sharing with organizations and individuals who would not only be of benefit to, but benefit from, the weStrive network.
Seth Jordan (Social Renewal Coordinator)
Seth provides the associations and skills necessary to bring innovative thinking strategies to the problems which weStrive encounters, both internally and externally. He tackles structural and fiscal questions and is involved in the development and implementation of the weStrive currency, Karma ¢.
Michael Harrington (Content Editor)
Michael organizes and provides the content for the weStrive eNews, as well as for various components of the weStrive website. His facilitation for forums and thematic discussions allows members to seek each other out as they investigate questions relating both to internal as well as external work and development.
Stefan Klocek (Partnership Development Coordinator)
Stefan facilitates the connection between weStrive and potential partners or organizations who would be interested in investing and collaborating in the network. Stefan works as a sounding board and works closely on the Community Development team to implement outreach materials, including design works and investment proposals.
Leslie Loy (Executive Director and Community Development Team Chair)
Leslie manages, organizes and facilitates the day-to-day operations of weStrive, as well as developing ongoing partnerships, affiliations and collaborative opportunities with organizations and individuals who are committed to an engaged social renewal movement. She oversees and holds the larger picture, and is available for consultation, facilitation and mediation, as is necessary both amongst the weStrive Leadership Council and the weStrive network.
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