Theme
Limicelia · Our Model
Fees from well-resourced organizations fund the full ecosystem: practitioner development, peer supervision, open-source tools, and access for organizations that can't pay. Surplus becomes access, not retained earnings.
01 / The flywheel
Every engagement follows commons logic — a shared fund that redistributes resources so well-resourced organizations fund full transformation work for those who cannot pay. This is not philanthropy — it is how the model works.
The four-step flywheel: Anchor client engages → surplus flows to commons pool → solidarity org transforms (real outcomes, real story) → story travels, referrals grow. Mission and revenue are not parallel streams. They are the same loop.
We are a post-growth organization — designed to reach sustainable scale and stay there. We defined enough before we started. When surplus exists, it becomes access and practitioner vitality — not retained earnings or expansion plans.
02 / The four tiers
The tier structure is not sliding scale as charity — it is structural redistribution. Well-resourced clients are participating in a commons logic that generates the field's capacity for equitable access.
Tier 1 · Anchor Clients
Market-rate engagement. A portion of surplus above base rate flows to the commons pool — directly funding solidarity-economy work. Your transformation funds regenerative work across the field.
Tier 2 · Mission-Aligned
Full-engagement work. Surplus contributes to the commons pool, extending access across the ecosystem. Your partnership extends the ecosystem.
Tier 3 · Core Mission
Accessible engagement shaped by capacity. Direct solidarity economy participants — their stories and capacity building strengthen the field. You're part of the commons, not just a client.
Tier 4 · Solidarity Economy
Full work funded through the commons pool. Well-resourced organizations make this possible. These organizations are the mission made visible. This is what redistribution looks like in practice.
03 / Our structure
Post-growth is a design choice to define "enough" before starting, not after success. These principles are operational, not aspirational — written into governance structures before revenue began.
01
Define enough first. Growth is a tool. When targets are met, surplus becomes access — not expansion.
02
Circular revenue. Clients become case studies. Money moves in circles, not one direction. Success creates access rather than scale.
03
Commons infrastructure. Frameworks and tools return to the soil — open-source for the field, not held as proprietary.
04
No exit. Ownership is stewardship. No payout event. No acquisition target.
05
Measure thriving. Practitioner vitality, not hours worked. Client restoration after we leave. Commons pool growth.
06
Resilience over efficiency. People doing sustained hard relational work need buffers, not optimization. Slack is capacity. Rest is infrastructure.
Limicelia is a project of Inquiring Systems Institute (ISI), a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. We are organized as a practitioner collective — co-stewarded by BK and CX — not a traditional firm. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.
We're transparent about tier placement and how your fees move through the commons.