A Fairer Society (AFS USA)

Founders:  Venn Wylder, Danny Burrow, Sarah McCauley, John Buck, Nathaniel Whitestone
Industry: We operate at the intersection of small-business acquisition & succession, shared services, and organizational development—building a cooperative network that helps businesses thrive with ethical ownership and participatory governance.
Website: https://afairersociety.us/

In one sentence, how would you describe your cooperative?
Our mission is to build a fairer society by replacing coercive workplace norms with lived experience of consent-based governance, healthy power, and real shared ownership. Our “big hairy audacious goal” is to become the world’s #1 employer on the metrics that matter to us – engagement, equity, community impact, and shared prosperity – starting in each local region where we operate. In the next 12–24 months, we’re focused on acquiring enough durable cashflow to sustainably pay workers and member-owners, honor commitments to former owners, and become self-sustaining as a growing cooperative family.

What is the mission of your cooperative and what do you hope to achieve?
Our mission is to cooperatively maintain artworks in perpetuity, ensuring their preservation and access across generations. We manage and grow the value of digital assets by leveraging decentralized storage and encryption. Backed by a network of care, our model offers a new approach to media art conservation, valuation, and data stewardship.

What are the types of member classes in your cooperative?
Our bylaws define four member classes: Worker Members, Firm Members, the Golden Member, and Class C Investor Members.

• • Worker Members are worker-owners who contribute labor/services to or through the cooperative and participate in governance.
  • Firm Members are member businesses that provide services to or through the cooperative and participate in governance/accountability.
  • The Golden Member is a mission-preserving steward role with special consent rights designed for mission preservation and anti-liquidation guardrails.
  • Class C Investor Members support the cooperative consistent with the governance structure above.
    

What are the benefits for individuals/businesses who become members of your coop?
Members join because they want to do what they’re already doing (or trying to do) in a way that’s deeply meaningful and pride-worthy—and because the cooperative structure makes that practical.

• • Worker Members gain a real voice in decisions, a pathway into shared ownership, and the ability to share in success on a cooperative basis.
  • Firm Members gain a collaborative cooperative network and shared capacity—participating in governance and being eligible to share in net margins in proportion to patronage (work/services).
  • Investor Members (where appropriate) benefit from the chance to support values-aligned work with governance designed to stay mission-true over time, including the Golden Member’s mission-preservation / anti-liquidation consent rights.

And across membership classes, our agreements are explicit that membership is an extension of relationship/work, and a balanced appreciation of what each participant contributes to our collective success—not a promise of capital appreciation or monetary returns.

How do you keep things fun and exciting for your members while still running a business?
We build joy and humanity into the way we work: we open meetings with connection and real-life context, use sociocratic consent decision-making for policies, and celebrate when we reach consented decisions. We also regularly make space to name what’s been causing trouble, what’s interesting, and what’s awesome – so we stay grounded, keep improving, and genuinely mark our wins.

What challenges have you faced in running your cooperative?
Two big challenges have shaped our first year.

• • First: the “outside world” doesn’t stay outside of work – life circumstances and community disruption affect capacity. We addressed this by adjusting our operating stance: we prioritize supporting staff around real-life needs so people can show up with more steadiness and consent.
  • Second: balancing diligence with speed in acquisition work. We’ve learned that going faster isn’t always better; careful pacing helps us make agreements we can stand behind. We respond with structured reflection, stakeholder check-ins, and disciplined due diligence so we can scale without drifting from purpose.

What makes your cooperative stand out in terms of services/products?
We stand out by combining business acquisition, shared services, and Sociocratic governance into one cooperative model – so we’re not just offering services; we’re redesigning how businesses are owned, managed, and sustained. For workers, that means stable jobs with a pathway to shared governance and shared success.

For founders, it means continuity-with-compensation and legacy stewardship. For member businesses, it means a cooperative network that can provide shared operational capacity to or through the co-op. And for the mission overall, it means a scalable alternative to extractive ownership—built on consent and accountability.

If your cooperative had a theme song, what would it be?
Among more recent releases, the “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” theme and the “Steven Universe” theme – because both capture our blend of courage + chosen-family solidarity: showing up for each other, holding the line against coercion, and building a world where people get to exist as themselves. For those of us who are fond of the classics, perhaps “Lean On Me,” by Bill Withers, for the reminder that shared success comes from mutual support and collective responsibility.

How is your coop helping to “Build a Better World?”
We build a better world by turning succession into shared stewardship: buying businesses so founders can exit with dignity, workers keep stability, and the next chapter is implemented and governed with the guidance and consent of the staff of our acquired businesses, proving that democracy and performance can reinforce each other, not compete.