Subvert x Mondragon Team Academy (Proposing a network of global delegates)

As an organization with an expanding global membership (in 84 countries) - we are facing some of the "good" kinds of growing pains.

The Challenge

Subvert is international by nature, but we have a tiny core team. As we approach our platform launch, the demand for our presence is surging. We continue to be invited to conferences, panels, and industry events like ESNS in the Netherlands, the Platform Cooperativism Conference, CTM Festival in Berlin, and SXSW London.

Currently, these are mostly inbound opportunities, and the primary spokesperson has been Austin, based in NYC. Logistically, one person cannot be everywhere. More importantly, as a cooperative, we believe it is vital that our public face reflects our collective identity. We want to leverage our talented, motivated members to expand our reach beyond the time and travel capacity of a small core team.

We are asking ourselves:

• How can we maintain a presence in areas where our membership is already strong (UK, EU, Canada)?
• How do we build an intentional, authentic presence in regions where we are currently underrepresented, such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia?
• How do we balance a global vision with local, boots-on-the-ground representation?

Collaboration: Working with Mondragon Team Academy

To tackle this, we partnered with undergraduate entrepreneurship students from Mondragon University’s Team Academy (MTA). They joined us in New York to immerse themselves in the specific challenges of platform cooperativism within music.

We challenged them to design a Global Delegate Program. The goal: create a formal role within Subvert where members can apply to represent us within a specific region or language group. These delegates will scout local opportunities and represent Subvert at press and industry events.The Student Proposal

As part of a 48-hour challenge, the students at Mondragon University came up with a plan.

Read more:

What this proposal gives us:

A framework

This is a head start for how we can think about a framework for a program like this. Starting small with a trial and then expanding.

Needed materials

To have members speak for and represent Subvert at events and with press, we will need to have some materials for media training, internal FAQ documentation, and a way to keep delegates up to date on day-to-day decisions.

Process

This proposal gives us a way to think about how to choose applicants, cadence for meeting, peer evaluations, and compensation - the small details that will make a program like this work well.

A place to start

We can start small, and then grow our global delegate efforts as our systems and processes mature, and as we measure the success of this initiative.

Here is the video the students made outlining how Subvert can communicate this program.

More to come on this - and we want to extend our gratitude to the hard work and interest of the entrepreneurship students visiting from Mondragon Unibertsitatea. Gracias 🌐