The Pathfinder Guild

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 Pathfinder Guild
Strategic Outline

What 

A "guild-like" organizational platform that gives young people the opportunity to create projects and cooperative businesses and non-profits to address climate change and growing socioeconomic inequality. Allowing them to not only be informed about solutions, but to take direct action in their own communities.

How 

A multi-stage, cohort based education and training program.

Stages

  1. Introductory Phase (Age 12-26) - We meet young people where they are - their schools, clubs etc. Through casual by structured workshops we introduce them to Project Drawdown and solutions they can implement in their backyards. (see Oregon Strategy in BWC Explainer pdf) We provide them with the opportunity to become members of the guild if they want to take direct action. 
  2. Apprentice Phase (Age 16+) - This is the phase where young people learn and explore. They gain access to learning modules, research material, educational videos etc. They gain points by making their way through modules. They connect with other young folks that have the same kinds of commitments and values. They explore and figure out the direction they want to take and where they want to contribute. They narrow their interests and purpose. Because this is cohort based, they are supported by a Journeyman who has been through this phase already, plus .
  3. Journeyman Phase (Age N/A) - When a young Apprentice had decided on a direction for study and training, and once they have earned enough points through completing general education modules, they are eligible to move to the next (Journeyman) phase. Here they switch to specialized training based on their interests. They are supported by other Journeyman and a Master, and in turn they advocate for multiple Apprentices. 
  4. Master Phase - When a Journeyman has received enough training, they create a Master Piece. They write up a plan for a lasting community project, a worker-cooperative business, a non-profit cooperative, a beneficial business etc. This plan goes through a confirmation process. The Journeyman is supported in refining the plan for their Masterpiece. When the plan is approved, they move to our Well-Being Economy Incubator (?) and are assigned a 1 to 1 pairing with a Master. 
  5. The Well-Being Economy Incubator - Similar to Y Combinator https://www.ycombinator.com/ (this is an entirely new, BIG project) This is an incubator that we use to nurture, fund, and help build all of these new "projects" and Masterpieces. Every new project gets us a little closer to our goal of building a better world. 

Why

Most of us want to leave a better world for our kids and future generations…

·       A clean, environmentally sustainable planet

·       A society that is socially and economically fair

·       A legacy we can be proud of

But with the increasing impacts of things like climate change and economic inequality, we have to admit that the prospect of a better world seems less and less likely every year.

It’s not that we don’t care. It’s that these problems are so big and so complex that no one person has any hope of fixing them, and most people don’t even know where to start.

Young people in particular, are feeling the effects of this uncertain future.

59% of young people (aged 16-25) say that they are “very” or “extremely” worried about climate change.

62% feel anxious and 67% feel sad and afraid.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext

I don’t think this is unrelated to the fact that depression rates in the US are the highest they have been since we began tracking them, and suicide rates have peaked again in 2023.

But what if these problems are not insurmountable?

What if there are solutions, and we’ve just been focusing our attention on the wrong things? And what could be possible if we actually made the choice to work together to implement those solutions today?


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