The tech community Zebras Unite and the University of Colorado Boulder’s Media Enterprise Design Lab (MED Lab) launched a digital and physical zine yesterday that was co-authored by MSI Integrity’s Executive Director, Amelia Evans, and former Research Coordinator, Malene Alleyne. The zine, entitled “Exit to Community: A Community Primer,” is a guide to the Exit to Community (E2C) strategy, whereby a tech startup transitions to a community/worker-owned and governed model, rather than getting acquired by a competitor or going public in an IPO.
“We hope to study and examine different E2C examples to provide rich case studies that prove that democratic ownership and control is not a pipe dream, but a reality for a range of business models. Critically, we also hope to shape and influence the DNA of E2C legal models and values to provide positive human rights outcomes for workers and communities,” writes Alleyne and Evans in the zine.
Other authors of the zine include Nathan Schneider of MED Lab, Camille Canon of Purpose, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and researching steward-ownership, Yichen Feng of Lumos Capital, and Mara Zepeda, the Managing Director of Zebras Unite. You can download the digital zine or request a free physical copy here.