Submission Note:
Hi Suzanne,
It’s a pleasure to submit the following essay into your competition on how we saved the world – Thank you for your leadership! I’ve also enjoyed following your substack and watching your movie on crop circles – we live in such a fascinating time! Kind regards, Shane
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2050: A World of Unity
As we stand in 2050, we inhabit a world that’s a stark departure from the one we knew only three decades ago. Earth isn’t just surviving; it’s thriving, a testament to humanity’s resilience and our profound capacity for transformation. This era of remarkable unity and ecological balance didn’t arise by chance. It was forged from a deliberate shift in our collective consciousness and a revolutionary approach to distributed Self-governance and collective wealth.
This transformation, locally and globally, was made possible by the development of Community Enterprises which used the power of corporations and money to develop a society where individuals express their unique potential within circular political and economic systems that are in reciprocal balance with our living world.
The Catalyst for Change
This monumental shift can be traced back to the early 2020’s, when in the matter of a few years, the general trust of the prevailing systems was eroded through an awareness that the capitalistic system had created corporate behemoths positioned to control every aspect of our lives. Further fueled by racial and identity tensions, environmental pressures, cost of living crisis, growing censorship, and widening gaps between left and right political parties — it was clear for those with the capacity to see that we needed a new and transformative vision for society.
But how? Traditional activism and ‘fighting the system’ only furthered divides, and while decolonial / DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) approaches were quick to shame and blame, their proposed changes often centered on putting people of color into positions of power, and/or, forcefully taking the ‘land back,’ — both repeating the same patterns of top-down power that were at the core of our challenges.
In a sense we were paralyzed. We couldn’t go back, however, the path forward was unclear. As a society we were similar to a caterpillar that had gorged itself with food, then inverted itself and spun a cocoon — paralyzed as its old systems broke down.
Community is Our Business
Within the cocoon of our transforming society, I was one of the early ones to remember that community is our business, and that together we can build Self-governing political and economic systems where we collectively own the energy, food, transportation, housing, lands, and technologies of resilient communities. Initially I was terrified by the seemingly daunting task, and while it was a lonely path to start, soon other visionaries with complementary skills and resources joined the movement.
As powerful private corporations were positioned to buy-up and further concentrate ownership into the hands of the few, we were filled by a deep sense of purpose, and a seemingly magnetic draw to relearning how to Self-Govern with decentralized power. We began integrating all the incredible developments of the capitalistic system into Community Enterprises for rebuilding community wealth, while simultaneously supporting privately owned businesses.
Once the pilot Community Enterprise was sufficiently ready, we turned our focus to developing community-owned renewable energy, from which more resources flowed and awareness grew. The Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada, where the first Community Enterprise arose, was soon the center of much discussion and was gaining world attention for how we developed holistic community systems.
Hold on. I’m getting ahead of myself. It wasn’t until 2025, when we released our book – ‘Community is Our Business’ – which provided a detailed guide of the transition. So it’s important to remember that many of these concepts were generally unknown at the time.
‘Community is Our Business,’ in many ways, was a synthesis of my background in mechanical engineering, venture capital business, and graduate studies in Community Ecopsychology — along with my in-depth personal growth journey. The book was underpinned by the question: How do we Self-govern as a community? This in turn cultivated further questions – What is Self? What is Self-governance? What is Community? And what is Community Business?
What is Self?
Self, as explored within the context of psychological wholeness, represents the journey towards realizing one’s ecological Self. Drawing from Carl Jung’s foundational work and integrating soul-centric, ecological, and indigenous psychologies, this concept emphasizes the process of integrating our ego selfs and shadow—the aspects of ourselves we often reject or ignore—and integrating them to foster a mature ecological Self.
This ecological Self embodies each person’s unique potential and nurtures a profound connection and responsibility to community. It’s about holding the tension of ego anxiety, engaging in self-reflection, and navigating life’s complexities without resorting to defensive mechanisms like fight, flight, or freezing. This journey towards wholeness encourages critical thinking, fostering responsible voice, and the transcendence of societal norms. The Self, symbolically represented as a circle, signifies the universal pattern of wholeness found across cultures, encapsulating the essence of soul-centric interconnectedness and well-being.
What is Self-governance?
Self-governance is an approach to organizational and community leadership based on circles with clear roles, accountabilities, and decentralized authority. It is characterized by a mutual respect for the autonomy of each member while maintaining a cohesive and unified direction towards the common purpose. It uses consent decision-making to dynamically optimize the organizational structure. Consent is different from consensus, where everyone needs to agree — here consent occurs when there are no reasonable objections (with processes to ensure iterative progress).
Self-governance transcends traditional hierarchical structures, fostering cultures where the collective intelligence of the circle is harnessed through sensing and responding in real-time.
This model emphasizes transparency, encourages the exploration and integration of the organizational shadow, and utilizes evidence-based decision-making processes. Self-governance practices, such as Sociocracy & Holacracy, have been proven successful in organizations large and small, affirming their viability for broader societal application.
What is Community?
Self-governing community, in the ecological sense, integrates self-organizing systems where political, economic, and social elements are intertwined, moving beyond the traditional siloed structures of for-profit, non-profit, and governmental sectors. Ecological community holds space for individuals to develop their ecological Self, while contributing to and thriving within this interconnected web. This transformation towards ecological community fosters a culture of deep mutual respect and collective responsibility, underpinned by the practice of gathering in circles—councils or wisdom circles—as equals.
These circles provide a foundational structure for individuals to be seen and heard, facilitating a genuine dialogue and exchange of perspectives. Within this context, community begins to transcend divides, and begins to embody a living, breathing organism that evolves through shared experiences, challenges, and successes. It’s a dynamic embodiment of unity in diversity, where the growth of each individual contributes to the well-being of the whole, and conflict is approached as an opportunity for constructive evolution, guided by principles like those found in Non-Violent Communication. In Self-governing community, people learn to hold tension, hold differing perspectives, and dialogue across differences.
What is Community Business?
Community Business represents a transformative approach to economic development that is informed by various movements, including Community Wealth Building which prioritizes democratic community ownership, often through cooperatives, land trusts, and other legal vehicles. ‘Exit to Community’ is another movement where privately owned businesses are transitioned into community ownership with the aim of building unity and power at local levels.
However, these initiatives often encounter obstacles due to rigid cooperative legal frameworks that can limit scalability and stifle innovation. For community business to realize its full potential, we need a new framework that is adaptable to meet the needs of Self-governing community.
How do we Self-Govern as Community?
In 2020, guided by an ecological understanding of Self, Self-governance, Community, and Community Business, I was drawn to develop a community design lab with the intention of integrating these into a tangible and scalable business solution.
In partnership with coLab, an inclusive entrepreneurial center, we invited a diverse group of community leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, academics, and practitioners of self-governance into circle to learn, tend systemic shadow, and to ultimately co-design around the question: “What would we do if we had $5 million to create a working model of a resilient community and regenerative economy that could scale to meet the needs of all community members?”
It was from this design lab, and in consultation with a social enterprise lawyer, that we developed the seeds of the Okanagan Circular Society (OCS) Community Enterprise. The OCS Community Enterprise, intricately wove together Self-governance, community ownership, and finance — and resulted in a framework composed of an overarching Not-For-Profit Corporation with a For-Profit Holding corporation and then subsidiary for-profit ventures.
Additionally, OCS Community Enterprise integrated Sociocratic Self-governing bylaws, marking a significant departure from conventional hierarchical governance models. By embracing distributed authority and decision-making, each entity within the Community Enterprise operates both semi-autonomously and as part of an interconnected whole. This innovative integration enables scalable community ownership and wealth-building potential, transcending the limitations of traditional cooperative models.
The following two core aspects are co-located in the Not-For-Profit Corporation and animate community and business harmoniously:
coLab Town Square:
coLab, the origin of the OCS Community Enterprise, transformed into the central Not-For-Profit corporation, serving as a modern town square. This evolution leveraged its legacy as an inclusive entrepreneurial hub, while now expanding its role to convening experts and community members to envision a Self-governing society. coLab is a space committed to nurturing meaningful dialogue, where diverse voices and perspectives are not just welcomed but essential for co-creating our collective future of work, play, and celebration.
Community Venture Builder:
This entity acts as a centralized platform for fostering and transitioning businesses into community ownership models. It leverages the best practices developed in the private sector to accelerate transformative community initiatives. Offering centralized services that benefit from economies of scale, the Community Venture Builder supports other community ventures and businesses, facilitating their growth and integration into the wider OCS Community Enterprise ecosystem.
The Great Recircling
With the foundation of the OCS Community Enterprise established, over the next few years we attracted business experts to help build out the framework. In early 2024 we began developing a venture for community-owned renewable energy. This was a pivotal phase of evolution from our grassroots beginnings to attracting wide-ranging attention and funding, sparking a transformative wave across communities, which became known as ‘The Great Recircling.’
In the heart of the coLab Town Square, we launched an ambitious educational mission aimed at equipping community members with the essential knowledge and tools for Self-governance. This educational endeavor proved to be instrumental in showcasing the collaborative potential of communities to rise above the divisions and limitations of conventional groupthink by adopting a “Yes, And” philosophy that harnesses the power of both individual and collective strengths. This approach not only fostered a resilient vision for the future but also inspired organizations to adopt Self-governance models like Sociocracy and Holacracy, further enhancing our capacity to govern ourselves collectively.
The Community Venture Builder became a center of community innovation, where our community renewable energy initiative drew together a diverse array of stakeholders—energy experts, business leaders, lawyers, accountants, indigenous leaders, philanthropists, and academics. This collective initiative birthed a comprehensive financing approach that merged philanthropic contributions, government funding, and traditional investment pathways to enable the channeling of substantial capital into building our essential sustainable energy infrastructure.
The ripple effect of the renewable energy initiative inspired the replication of other Community Enterprises throughout Canada and beyond, magnifying our collective transformative power. Empowered by this expanding Self-governing network, we embarked on collaborative efforts to address broader systemic challenges in housing, food security, transportation, and land management.
A critical aspect of this journey was the transition of businesses poised for ‘exit’ into community ownership under the Community Enterprise model. This move was not merely about changing ownership but about integrating these businesses into the larger fabric of community systems. By doing so, these businesses often became the foundation from which we developed large-scale systems solutions to our toughest societal challenges.
Moreover, rapid advancements of Artificial Intelligence and robotics were integrated into the fabric of Community Enterprise ventures, bolstering corporate resilience and offering unprecedented insights and transparency. This integration, along with the collective development of our ecological Self’s, further enhanced the symbiotic relationship between humans, technology, and natural ecosystems.
As Community Enterprises flourished, the circle of wealth flowed back into the community fabric, reducing the dependency on the traditional non-profit sector which had been stretched thin within the old top-down systems. This ushered in a new paradigm of self-reliance and community interdependence.
United by a shared commitment to Self-governing communities, Community Enterprises demonstrated the transformative potential of collaborative system-building efforts. Our collective political and economic power soon facilitated larger systemic transformations, offering a tangible model for municipal, provincial, and federal governments transitioning towards Self-governance. Moreover, as individuals developed their ecological Self’s and felt increasingly seen and heard, the drive for consumerism waned, easing many of the ecological pressures.
The Great Recircling, which began with visionary and humble grassroots action on the OCS Community Enterprise, culminated in our world of 2050 where each of us contributes to earth community in our own unique way, and where together our many voices contribute to the collective song of our collaborative thriving!
Invitation to Co-Create
In 2024, as we stand on the brink of a new era, by taking the approach that Community is Our Business we can harness the power of the corporation and redirect the flow of money to build resilient Self-governing communities. This is a journey that invites our collective effort, wisdom, and passion.
The generous award of $4,000 for the essay competition, and the potential of an additional $50,000 project funding would be pivotal for our small and dedicated team, who have mostly self-funded the research and development of the OCS Community Enterprise. If selected (and even if we’re not), we warmly welcome your co-creative input and further connection into your network.
We have recently received a grant from a local economic development agency to fund the first stage of the Community Energy Initiative, which we’re using to pay our engineers, lawyers, and a small amount to myself. A key member of our team, who is an accountant and past CFO, is donating her time — and while this is great, it’s unsustainable. Additionally, the Community Energy Initiative holds much larger potential, and we recently submitted a grant Expression of Interest to the Government of Canada, and while we are well positioned, funding is not being awarded until early 2025.
If we are selected to receive your funding, this would provide us crucial momentum in building out the Self-governing community training, along with further development on the OCS Community Enterprise framework and the Community Energy Initiative.
To learn more about our initiative, here is an overview of the OCS Community Enterprise. Additionally, here are some other foundational resources on Self-governance, organizational evolution, and ecological community:
This invitation marks a beginning—a call to action to other visionaries, change-makers, and community leaders to unite in shaping a future that honors our collective well-being, embraces our interconnectedness, and celebrates the diversity of our potential.
Please join myself and the OCS Community Enterprise team in co-creating a world where community truly is our business, where every voice is heard, and where every individual has the opportunity to thrive in ecological harmony with our world.
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About the Author
Hi, my name is Shane Lapp, and being a catalyst of the OCS Community Enterprise was not something I wanted. It more so has demanded to be expressed into the world through me, even when at times it’s seemed impossible, and with no guarantee of success.
Looking back, I see how my professional career and inner journey positioned me for this unique task. My training as a mechanical engineer led me to designing green buildings and large-scale renewable energy systems. Then I transitioned into business where I was trained by a venture capitalist as we grew a $100M+ alternative energy power development company. It was there I saw the power of the corporation and also its dark side, ie. shadow, of maximizing shareholder profits at any cost.
Personally, my internal journey was propelled by the tragic loss of my father by suicide when I was 13 years old. That fuelled a deep desire for psychological growth that started with personal development workshops, which were helpful, but never fully relieved my inner anxiety. Then I was introduced to Peruvian Shamanism, more specifically the Vegetalismo practice which utilizes a powerful psychedelic brew called ayahuasca.
It was within these ayahuasca ceremonies that I had three profound visions. The first was of people sitting in small circles for as far as the eye could see. The second was being a leader of a peaceful ecological community (leadership from a different sense), but then an invading army conquering us – burning my wife at the stake while myself and my children were forced to watch – and then the leader of the army telling me that they were enslaving the community and that within a few generations the people would forget they had been free. The final vision was more of a call to action – it directed me to integrate what I was learning there with business and that I would need more education and training.
Upon the return from my last trip to the Amazon in 2015 I began working with a skilled Jungian eco-psychotherapist who guided me to begin decentering my ego while simultaneously opening me up to the larger adventure that was unfolding. Shortly thereafter, I was enrolled for graduate school in Community Ecopsychology, at Pacifica Graduate Institute, to study holistic systems of individual and collective wellbeing.
Little did I know, the Community Ecopsychology program was being taught from a radical decolonial / anti-racist framework, where, as a Caucasian male in business, I became a lightning rod for their projections as they fought against the ‘evils’ of colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy. This provided me vital first-hand experience to see how the decolonial approach was lost in ego battle; while also providing insight into the transformative potential of soul-centric system changes that are embodied in the Community Enterprise.
In 2021, I off-ramped from my PhD, to focus on research and development of the Community Enterprise framework. This brought me into dialogue with national and global leaders at the forefront of systems change. This exposure highlighted that, while many individuals and groups were working on these pressing challenges, the Community Enterprise is a unique approach to rebuilding holistic community systems.
As part of this endeavor, I’m contemplating returning to complete my PhD, however, I’m equally as compelled to focus on the book, Community is Our Business, as a guide for how we can create Self-governing communities. Perhaps a skilled co-author will emerge to help with this endeavor, so for now, I remain open to the path ahead 🙂
Thank you for your time and energy in reading this essay, and for contemplating a potential partnership.
Kind regards,
Shane Lapp