I'm looking to start a Mastodon co-op, in the form of a Mastodon instance. I want to eventually turn it into a solarpunk nonprofit. Most of my working life has been in the nonprofit sector, and I have a lot of leadership experience from it - from starting a Jack.org chapter in my city to being elected Co-Chair of the Expert Panel for a local CBYF chapter.

I want it to be a working cooperative, eventually hosting things like solarpunk publications, skill-share workshops, and so, so much more. I want it to be a digital space where solarpunks can gather, but in a way that actually makes a difference. The governance for the instance will be a council of 5-7 people, so it will be a sociocratic leadership where I am not the only one in charge, and all major changes must be discussed beforehand in a group of qualified individuals, to ensure that the coop represents everyone, not just the likes of any one person. (Council membership criteria includes activity within the community, never money, so that everyone has an equal chance, regardless of financial status. The only thing required is to be an active and upstanding member of the community.)

The planned launch is January 1st, 2027, so this is genuinely pre-launch.

The main purpose of this post is to ask: what would you want to see in a coop like this? What would draw you to it, and make it feel like a real community?

if you're interested, you can find this project on various platforms, though the final project will be a Mastodon instance: linksta.cc/@solarpunkgarden