Materializing

We want to bring Erefugia to life through a thoughtful, multi-stage process that ensures our vision, values, structure, governance, and strategy are well developed before any binding decisions are made or substantial money is spent. Each stage will build on the last, dreaming about what’s possible, exploring what’s realistic, asking good and sometimes hard questions, refining ideas, weighing feasibility, and preparing the cooperative for incorporation. While we want to move with care and intention, we also want to build momentum through small, early successes. So, we’re setting a fast pace for ourselves ---

This first stage is all about curiosity and possibility. Anyone interested in helping create this cooperative, or even just exploring the idea of a cooperative like it, is wholeheartedly invited to join. The purpose is to investigate feasibility of the cooperative, the DAO, and the social network, considering legal, financial, and operational realities, exploring governance models, reviewing technical options, and imagining how we might fit into broader federations. This group will gather information, identify risks and opportunities, and develop preliminary recommendations. We’ll also reach out to potential allies and contributors for the next phase. Whether or not you join long-term, we hope if you join in this conversation, you’ll look back with pride knowing you were there at the beginning.

Meetings | 🗓️ Asynchronous In BlueSky

🗓️ Work to be complete by October 23rd, 2025

In this phase, we’ll synthesize what we learned in exploration and share it with a wider circle for reflection and feedback. The Advisory & Reflection Group helps us see what we might have missed, highlight blind spots, and bring in outside perspectives before decisions are made. Like the first group, this one is consultative, its role is to hold up a mirror and ensure our direction aligns with our values and also seems realistic. Early members and worker-members will hopefully come from this circle of friends and advisors!

Meetings | 🗓️ October 24th, 2025 via Zoom | 🗓️ Asynchronous In BlueSky | 🗓️ November 6th, 2025 via Zoom

🗓️ Work to be complete by November 6th, 2025

Drawing from all previous work, a Steering & Charter Group will be elected by people in the first two groups who remain engaged. This group will weave together recommendations, resolve open questions, and finalize the cooperative’s legal and governance foundation, including the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, core policies, membership and service rate frameworks. They’ll also coordinate the practical setup (PO box, phone number, bank account, etc.) We hope that some future Board members and Executive Team leaders might emerge from this group!

Meetings | 🗓️ November 7th, 2025 via Zoom | 🗓️ November 12th, 2025 via Zoom | 🗓️ November 19th, 2025 via Zoom | 🗓️ November 20th, 2025 via Zoom 

🗓️ Work to be complete by November 20th, 2025

The Steering & Charter Group will make the final determination regarding which state we incorporate in, designate the registered agent and principal office, and pick the official incorporators. The names and contact information of those people will be included in the Articles of Incorporation, which we will submit to the state we are to incorporate within, along with any required supporting documentation and filing fees. Upon submission and acceptance of these materials, the Materialization process is complete, Erefugia becomes an officially incorporated cooperative, and we are ready to begin the work and start doing cool things together!