Key Roles

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JustOrg Design is different from traditional nonprofit and philanthropic structures. It is intended to create frequent strategic spaces that are not led by a single person or positional leader. It purposefully convenes people across functions and levels of positional power so that everyone is proximate to strategy in a meaningful way all the time. For these kinds of conversations and experiences, we need capacities like:

• Meeting design

• Facilitation

• Deep listening

• Trust in people’s capacity to learn and interpret strategies

• Alignment and consensus-building

• A spirit of experimentation / willingness to “fail,” learn, and try again

• Embodiment of organizational values

Social change strategies are complex and ever-evolving. Our personal identities are intertwined in every conversation we have about them. To actually explore and advance such strategies as a group requires very intentional practices. We need people who are actively developing the capacities above and playing intentional facilitative and participatory roles to sustain this challenging and beautiful work over time.

To that end, there are four (4) roles that are specific to implementing JustOrg Design. It is not possible to fully implement JustOrg Design as intended without people stepping with energy and consistency into these roles. However, none of these roles is permanent. They can all rotate over time to adjust to people’s capacity and to give new people opportunities for leadership development. They are:

Table Participants:

Attend Table meetings; engage thoughtfully; hold power consciously; interpret strategy; learn; influence and be influenced; participate in decision-making.

Table Co-Conveners:

Co-design agendas; co-facilitate conversations; keep the JustOrg Design system current and relevant for their Table(s) Participants; stay in open dialogue with their Sponsor.

Table Sponsors:

Champion Table purpose and progress at the executive level; coach and support Co-Conveners in addressing strategies and Table dynamics effectively.

Organization Administrator (Org Admin):

Maintain the JustOrg Design system for the organization overall, including adding new staff and removing staff who have left. Attend to overall data hygiene.