Any Enspiral member who has held their membership for more than one year can become a Foundation Steward.
Any Foundation Steward can request a formal share of the Enspiral Foundation.
The board is responsible for issuing shares to Foundation Stewards and will do so promptly unless doing so would cause legal or financial challenges for the foundation (e.g. more than 25% of shareholders being outside of New Zealand, or the number of shareholders growing so large we need expensive audits or legal advice).
If the board is unable to issue a share they will maintain a waitlist and issue shares on a first in, first out basis.
The intent is for each Foundation Steward to have an equal voice in shareholder resolutions, regardless of whether they own an actual share or not, and the shareholders are expected to vote in line with the wider Foundation Stewards group.
- actively participate in discussions about shareholder resolutions
- steward the foundation in the best interests of the Enspiral network as a whole
- promptly communicate with the ops team and the board as requested
- notify the ops team when their residency or tax situation changes
- relinquish their share if keeping it would cause legal or financial problems for the foundation
- vote in line with the wider foundation stewards group
- very promptly sign documents when requested by the ops team
The foundation stewards group are the ultimate power holder when it comes to determining the actions of the Enspiral Foundation. They have the power to rewrite the constitution, appoint the board of directors and control the Enspiral brand and money. It is important that this role is accessible to anyone who wants that responsibility and we have a wide and diverse group of stewards.
Also, the more formal shareholders we have then the more work there is for the ops team and the more unwieldy it becomes to manage. We have not placed any limits on the numbers of shareholders, or significant barriers in the way of people stepping in to this role and trust individuals to make the call on whether to request a share or not.
If you think the value of having your voice in this group is worth the administrative cost to the ops team of managing your share then step in. Likewise, if you feel like this group is working fine without your input, feel free to step out.