Welcome to SuperBenefit's governance documentation. This repository serves as the central source of truth for understanding how SuperBenefit coordinates its work, how SuperBenefit facilitates decision-making, and how we maintain alignment with our shared purpose. Here you'll find the agreements that anchor our collaboration, the policies that guide our decision-making, and the historical record of our collective choices.
SuperBenefit operates as a purpose-aligned network of small, autonomous teams that facilitate collaborative work. It functions on principles of minimum viable coordination and composable governance frameworks. Rather than imposing rigid structures, we create flexible coordination mechanisms that enable diverse contributors to work effectively toward shared goals while maintaining appropriate autonomy in their domains. This governance repository reflects that philosophy by providing clear guidance without constraining innovation.
Understanding Our Governance Documentation
This governance repository functions as a living record of how the SuperBenefit community and SuperBenefit DAO coordinate and make decisions together. It contains the collective agreements that define how we operate, the policies that guide our work across different domains, and the historical context that illuminates our evolution.
As the SuperBenefit community grows and SuperBenefit DAO evolves, different contributors bring their perspectives and capabilities to our shared work. By maintaining governance documentation in this centralized, version-controlled repository, we ensure that all participants have equal access to accurate information while preserving our history of collective decisions.
This repository supports meaningful participation by making governance processes transparent and accessible. Clear documentation reduces barriers to engagement by helping people understand not just what decisions have been made, but how they can influence future directions and contribute to our governance evolution.
Repository Structure
Our governance documentation is organized into three interconnected sections that reflect different aspects of coordination:
Agreements
Agreements establish the foundational relationships between participants in the SuperBenefit community and contributors to SuperBenefit DAO. These documents define shared expectations and create pathways for different types of contributors to work together productively.
Our agreements are organized into community agreements that apply to all participants in the SuperBenefit ecosystem, and operational agreements that govern the formal structures and processes of SuperBenefit DAO. This distinction reflects our multi-stakeholder governance structure where different contexts require different frameworks while maintaining coherence across all activities.
Agreements differ from policies in their focus on relationships rather than operational processes. They create the social foundation that enables coordination by clarifying how participants relate to our shared purpose and to each other. Because they establish fundamental expectations for participation, agreements typically change less frequently than policies but have broader impact when they do evolve.
Policies
Policies translate our agreements into practical systems that enable coordination across different scales and domains. These frameworks create pathways for meaningful participation that respect the varying needs, capacities, and perspectives of different contributors.
Our policy structure reflects the principle of subsidiarity, delegating decision-making authority to those closest to the impact. Policy domains include metagovernance (how we make collective decisions), operations (how work gets coordinated), and platforms (how our digital infrastructure supports collaboration).
Rather than imposing uniform procedures, our policies establish flexible coordination mechanisms that allow different working groups to contribute in ways that honor their unique characteristics and expertise while remaining aligned with our shared purpose.
Proposal Archives
The proposal archives maintain our institutional memory of governance decisions and their outcomes. This documentation preserves not just decisions, but the deliberative processes that led to collective choices about how we organize our work.
Historical records create accountability by allowing participants to verify that approved decisions were implemented as intended. They enable learning from past experiences and help maintain continuity even as membership evolves. The archives ensure that institutional wisdom remains accessible throughout our development, supporting our commitment to transparent, accountable governance.
Navigating Participation
Different participants engage with our governance documentation based on their roles and interests. Understanding our multi-stakeholder governance structure helps orient effective participation:
Community Members
Those new to the SuperBenefit community should begin with our community agreements to understand our values and approach to collaboration. These foundational documents provide context about what participation means and what types of engagement are valued across all SuperBenefit activities.
After reviewing agreements, explore the metagovernance policies to learn about our decision-making processes and how you can participate actively in community governance. Understanding our approach to minimum viable coordination helps newcomers find meaningful ways to contribute.
SuperBenefit DAO Contributors
Contributors engaged in SuperBenefit DAO work should familiarize themselves with operational agreements and relevant policy domains to coordinate effectively with others. Understanding resource allocation, decision-making frameworks, and communication mechanisms enables productive collaboration within our organizational structure.
The proposal archives provide valuable context for current decisions by showing how we've addressed similar challenges previously. This institutional memory helps inform better decisions as we continue developing effective coordination practices.
General Circle Members
Those participating in SuperBenefit DAO's General Circle should understand both the agreements that establish their authority and the policies that guide their activities. Effective leadership requires understanding how the General Circle relates to broader community governance and how decisions flow through our composable governance framework.
General Circle members have particular responsibility for stewarding governance evolution while ensuring that our coordination mechanisms continue to serve both the community and the organization effectively.
Each section includes both user-friendly index pages and detailed readme files with technical guidance for contributors. The readme files provide workflows and implementation details for those actively maintaining or developing governance documentation.
Contributing to Governance
SuperBenefit's governance evolves through active participation from community members and DAO contributors. Our governance framework creates multiple pathways for participation, recognizing that different contributors have varying levels of capacity and interest in formal governance processes.
For those interested in contributing to governance documentation or participating in governance development, start with our contribution guidelines which explain our governance authority structure and direct you to specific workflows for different types of contributions.
Changes to governance documentation follow established processes that balance accessibility with accountability. Our governance framework explains how repository maintenance integrates with our multi-stakeholder governance structure, ensuring that all changes reflect legitimate collective decisions rather than individual preferences.
Getting Help and Staying Connected
The best way to find help, ask questions, or get involved with SuperBenefit is to join our Discord. Our community spaces provide opportunities to engage with ongoing discussions, participate in governance processes, and connect with other contributors.
For specific questions about governance procedures, repository contributions, or participation pathways, consult the relevant readme files linked throughout this documentation, then engage through established governance spaces where community members and contributors can provide guidance and support.
Repository Evolution
This governance repository grows alongside SuperBenefit's development, with new agreements, policies, and proposal records added as our community expands its capacity for effective coordination. The structure remains navigable through clear organization and descriptive documentation within each section.
SuperBenefit's governance succeeds when it becomes a transparent foundation that enables rather than constrains effective work. By maintaining this repository as a living record of our coordination commitments, we create the conditions for effective collaboration that honors both individual autonomy and collective purpose in service of systems that benefit all participants.