About Us We advance the understanding and practice of democracy as a creative experience and promote the literary and intellectual legacy of Mary Parker Follett. This rendition has been compiled from publicly available information published by the Mary Parker Follett Foundation. The Foundation was established in 2025 as a not-for-profit organization organized for educational, scientific, and charitable purposes. ^^ The source material is not presented by the Foundation as a formal strategic plan. Its stated mission, program areas, programs, projects, and related information have been structured here as intended results for StratML purposes. Where such structuring requires interpretation, it should not be understood as language formally adopted by the Foundation. ^^ Vision and Values Note: The Foundation does not appear to publish formally designated Vision and Values statements. The Vision and Values rendered below have therefore been inferred from principles, aspirations, and commitments expressed in the Foundation's published materials, including its descriptions of creative democracy, interdependence, integrated diversity, participation, collaboration, and continuous learning. They should not be construed as formally adopted statements of the Foundation's Vision or Values. ^^ Submitter's Note: This StratML rendition has been compiled from the source by ChatGPT and reviewed in the form at https://stratml.us/forms/Claude/Part1.html The Mary Parker Follett Foundation, Inc. _9b4e83a7-4b58-48cb-a2c8-8e0c39e27632 A not-for-profit organization organized for educational, scientific, and charitable purposes. Board of Directors Directors responsible for the governance and development of the Mary Parker Follett Foundation. Scholars Scholars studying Mary Parker Follett, democracy, human relations, management, leadership, conflict, and related fields. Practitioners Practitioners applying Follett-related and complementary ideas in organizations, communities, institutions, and public life. Educators Educators developing opportunities to learn and practice democracy as a way of life. Communities Communities in which people can learn and practice democracy through shared experience and collaborative action. Matthew Shapiro Board member, former public school educator, renewable-energy executive, and longtime advocate for participatory democracy and Mary Parker Follett's work. Lark Corbeil Board member, journalist, founder of Media in the Public Interest, and founder and publisher emeritus of the Public News Service. Margaret Major Board member, legal editor and analyst with experience in patient-unit management and quality improvement. Suzanne Stigler Martin Board member whose work includes strategy formation, organizational culture, communication, conflict integration, coaching, and research concerning Mary Parker Follett. A society in which people creatively exercise democracy as a way of life through interdependence, participation, and collaborative action. _94b0df78-e31e-4a19-b20f-f5cf38ef949c To advance the understanding and practice of democracy as a creative experience and to support and promote the literary and intellectual legacy of Mary Parker Follett. _cebbd214-f73a-4f9d-95b2-41dd758ae70a Creative Democracy Treat democracy as a creative experience and way of life through which people work together to address situations, develop goals and visions, create solutions, and release personal and social potential. Interdependence Recognize that people need one another and can create greater strength and opportunity through their relationships and mutual dependence. Integrated Diversity Treat difference and diversity as sources of strength that can be integrated to generate new understanding, opportunities, and solutions. Participation Engage people directly in shaping the decisions, institutions, systems, and communities that affect their lives. Collaboration Work with others through dialogue, shared inquiry, and creative interaction to develop understanding and possibilities that cannot be produced individually. Continuous Learning Adapt relationships, understanding, ideas, strategies, and institutions continuously in response to experience and changing situations. Democracy Increase the understanding, capacity, and opportunities needed for people to experience and practice democracy as a creative way of life. _4df68af8-eefd-48f1-96ef-9ad42f875af3 1 Citizens People developing and exercising the capacities needed to participate creatively in democratic life. Communities Communities serving as settings in which people can learn, practice, and develop democracy as a way of life. Educators Educators helping learners develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and experience needed for active democratic participation. Institutional Participants People affected by social systems and institutions who may participate in their design and continuing development. Creative Democracy ~ Advancing the Practice of Democracy as a Creative Experience ~ This Goal corresponds to the Foundation's first published program area. Its programs approach democracy not merely as governmental structure, elections, or knowledge of civic institutions but as an ongoing experience of people working together creatively in everyday settings. The Foundation states that its programs and activities will continue to evolve in response to experience, resources, emerging needs, opportunities, and initiative. Understanding Increase understanding of democracy as a creative experience and way of life informed by Follett's philosophy and complementary ideas. _08ac68e2-c416-41d4-b8db-a064a63ed075 1.1 Scholars Scholars contributing research, theory, and inquiry concerning democracy, Follett's philosophy, and related ideas. Practitioners Practitioners contributing experience and ideas concerning the practice of creative democracy. Democratic Understanding ~ The Foundation identifies philosophy, theory, and collaboration as components of this program area. Follett Talks provide online presentations and discussions concerning Follett-related and Follett-inspired ideas, research, and initiatives. The Mary Parker Follett Conversation on Creative Democracy uses inquiry and dialogue to generate new insights, fresh initiatives, and impetus for action. ^^ Potential Support: AI-assisted transcription, summarization, semantic analysis, and visualization can help preserve and synthesize insights generated through dialogue while making relationships among ideas, participants, questions, and proposed actions more explicit. Structured outputs can also make such knowledge more readily discoverable and reusable in subsequent conversations and initiatives. Civics Increase opportunities for learners to develop democratic skills and dispositions through direct experience working with others to address situations, create solutions, and develop shared goals and visions. _d3efcf89-21a5-47ac-92ba-5f09599e202c 1.2 Students Learners developing the skills and dispositions needed for active and engaged citizenship. Educators Educators developing and providing experiential approaches to civics education. Schools Schools providing settings in which democracy can be learned through practice as well as through study. Living Civics ~ From Static Civics to Living Civics challenges approaches to civics education that emphasize knowledge of government, the Constitution, rights, and principles without corresponding experience in doing democracy. The Foundation proposes greater emphasis on hands-on and minds-on civics education and dissemination of historical and contemporary examples of such practice. Interdependence Increase recognition and practice of interdependence as a basis for constructive relationships, creative democracy, and collective problem solving. _77c49f5d-ec60-46a7-a7a9-60d44f4cc876 1.3 Citizens People whose recognition of mutual dependence can strengthen their capacity to work constructively with others. Communities Communities in which people can use their differences and relationships as resources for addressing shared situations. Declaration of Interdependence ~ The Foundation proposes development of a Declaration of Interdependence reflecting the understanding that people need one another and that difference can be a source of strength rather than merely a source of division. The project is intended to stimulate discussion, learning, and action concerning interdependence and its implications for democratic life. Participation Increase meaningful opportunities for people to participate in democratic life beyond political parties and periodic elections. _458c066f-5e60-4c20-b0d8-53e30c15dd09 1.4 Citizens People seeking meaningful opportunities to participate in democratic life and contribute to matters affecting them. Community Organizations Organizations providing opportunities for people to participate, deliberate, collaborate, and act on matters of common concern. Democratic Participation ~ Beyond Parties, Between Elections ~ The Foundation distinguishes democracy from the narrower mechanisms of partisan politics and elections. This initiative explores how people can exercise democratic agency between elections and outside political parties by participating directly in the situations, organizations, and communities affecting their lives. ^^ Potential Implication: By locating democratic participation in the situations, organizations, and communities affecting people's lives, this approach broadens the practice of democracy beyond governmental decision making. It creates opportunities for voluntary, purpose-oriented collaboration in which people can organize around shared objectives without necessarily depending upon political parties, elections, or governmental institutions as intermediaries. Design Increase participation by affected people in designing and improving the institutions and systems that shape their lives. _bbd34df9-06a2-4884-9467-95542b723497 1.5 System Participants People whose lives are directly affected by the institutions and systems being designed or improved. Institutional Leaders Leaders responsible for institutions and systems whose design may benefit from participation by the people they affect. Designers People facilitating the collaborative design and improvement of institutions, services, and systems. Participatory Design ~ The Foundation asks how education, health care, justice, government, economic, and other systems might be redesigned if the people affected by them participated in their design. Its approach combines the needs and aspirations of affected people with the best available collective knowledge rather than treating institutional design solely as the responsibility of experts or authorities. ^^ Potential Support: Machine-readable plans can help participants make their intentions explicit before and during participatory design processes. StratML provides a standardized structure for expressing values, goals, objectives, and stakeholder relationships, enabling differing or shared intentions to be compared without requiring participants to agree in advance. AI services may assist participants in identifying common objectives, differences, gaps, relationships, and potential opportunities for integration while leaving substantive decisions to the participants themselves. Follett's Legacy Increase awareness, accessibility, understanding, and continuing influence of Mary Parker Follett's literary and intellectual legacy. _78396e41-4a8f-4d86-91e5-d768645d903b 2 Scholars Scholars researching Mary Parker Follett's writings, ideas, influence, and intellectual legacy. Practitioners Practitioners exploring and applying Follett's ideas in contemporary fields and situations. Educators Educators introducing Follett's writings, ideas, and legacy to learners and wider audiences. Readers People seeking access to Follett's writings and information about her ideas and influence. The Legacy of Mary Parker Follett ~ This Goal corresponds to the Foundation's second published program area. The Foundation identifies extending access to Follett's literary and intellectual legacy as its currently stated program emphasis in this area and indicates that additional activities will be announced as they are developed and implemented. Writings Increase access to Mary Parker Follett's writings and the ideas expressed in them. _aaf079f0-c5f0-48c5-b865-7388ed6f09a9 2.1 Readers People seeking access to Mary Parker Follett's books, articles, papers, speeches, and related writings. Researchers Researchers using Follett's writings as primary sources for scholarship and inquiry. Extending Access to Follett's Literary and Intellectual Legacy ~ The Foundation provides information about and, where available, access to Follett's books, articles, papers, and speeches. Works identified include The Speaker of the House of Representatives, The New State, Creative Experience, Dynamic Administration, and Freedom and Coordination, together with articles and addresses. The Foundation indicates that its listing of Follett's writings will continue to be updated. Influence Increase knowledge and understanding of Follett's influence across fields, thinkers, organizations, and contemporary practices. _d9275eb7-c8c8-4b0a-8625-a2f0bc635fd8 2.2 Researchers Researchers tracing Follett's intellectual influence and the development and application of her ideas. Practitioners Practitioners interested in the relationships between Follett's ideas and contemporary approaches in their fields. References to Follett ~ The Foundation is continually compiling references to Follett across diverse fields and describes the resulting collection as an effort to develop the most comprehensive set of references to her work. The collection currently contains more than 830 references and is made available in a searchable and sortable spreadsheet to assist researchers and others in tracing the influence of Follett's thought. ^^ Potential Support: Semantic technologies, knowledge graphs, and AI-assisted analysis could extend the references collection beyond bibliographic discovery by identifying and visualizing relationships among Follett's concepts, writings, scholars, fields, organizations, applications, and later intellectual developments. Such capabilities could help reveal patterns of influence and connection that may be difficult to recognize in a conventional bibliography or spreadsheet. Recognition Increase recognition of Mary Parker Follett and the continuing relevance of her ideas to contemporary human relations, organizations, management, governance, and social life. _df19fb14-653b-4c97-9f38-9ac96a97b321 2.3 Scholars Scholars contributing to recognition and understanding of Follett's intellectual legacy. Professional Communities Professional communities recognizing, studying, and applying Follett's contributions in their respective fields. The Foundation characterizes Follett as a visionary in human relations, democratic organization, and management and notes the continuing relevance of ideas associated with her work, including win-win solutions, community-based governance, strength in human diversity, situational leadership, and attention to process. Nevertheless, the Foundation observes that too few people are familiar with Follett and her insights. ^^ Recognition of Follett's continuing intellectual legacy is also reflected in awards and honors bearing her name in political science, conflict resolution, management and accountability, and organization and administration sciences. 2026-09-10 https://follettfdn.org/ Owen Ambur Owen.Ambur@verizon.net