Mutual Aid Colorado
Mutual Aid Colorado is a statewide network that empowers frontline community efforts by connecting independent mutual aid groups and building shared logistical infrastructure like supply chains and print shops.
Values
Mutual Aid, Not Charity
We act in political solidarity rather than charity. We are building systems of community care and resilience, recognizing that our liberation is bound together.
“Change needs all of us.”
Food Not Bombs is not a charity. It is a project of solidarity. Charity is vertical. It moves from those who have to those who have not and maintains the hierarchy between them. Solidarity is horizontal. It moves between equals who recognize that our liberation is bound together. We do not help the poor. We share resources among community members because access to food is a human right rather than a privilege of wealth.
Local Autonomy
We fiercely protect the autonomy of individual local chapters. We exist to support and connect local work, not to dictate it, ensuring we do not transform into the very top-down bureaucracies we aim to subvert.
“Everyone contributes, no one controls.”
We operate without bosses or managers. This does not mean we are disorganized. It means we are self-organized. Authority in this chapter is temporary and task-specific rather than permanent or personal. We believe the people doing the work should make the decisions about that work. By distributing responsibility we prevent burnout and ensure the movement survives beyond any single leader.
Action Over Bureaucracy
We prioritize moving physical goods and supporting local groups efficiently over unnecessary administration. We use our explicit agreements to prevent operational bottlenecks and keep the work moving.
“Relationships over algorithms.”
We use digital tools to coordinate but we build power in the physical world. An algorithm cannot cook a meal and a group chat cannot look someone in the eye. We prioritize face-to-face interaction and physical presence at distributions. We resist the temptation to let digital metrics replace tangible impact.
Durable Commons
We explicitly document our resource sharing protocols and logistical agreements. This ensures that knowledge regarding supply routes and shared assets is accessible to any participating group, functioning as a true commons rather than being hoarded by a few central organizers.
“Rescued food doesn't add carbon.”
Our logistics are an ecological intervention. Food waste is a major driver of climate change. By intercepting food that would otherwise be discarded and redirecting it to hungry neighbors we close the loop. We view food recovery as stewarding a resource that the industrial food system has abandoned. Every pound of food we rescue is a pound of carbon kept out of the atmosphere.
Decentralized Power
We are committed to building massive material power without centralizing authority. We engineer our structures to distribute responsibility and prevent the consolidation of control within the network.
“Collective giving builds collective power.”
Our budget is labor rather than capital. We rely on the time and care of our volunteers rather than large grants or corporate sponsorships. This independence gives us the political freedom to operate according to our values. When we pool our small individual capacities we create a collective power that money cannot buy.
Communication
Signal
Core Principle & Scope
All communication for Mutual Aid Colorado happens on Signal. Protecting our network and local chapters is vital.
Logistics, Admin & Norms
We maintain highly structured channels to keep our digital workspace organized. A designated Announcements channel serves as our persistent library for documenting explicit architecture, resource-sharing protocols, and agreements. Day-to-day management of regional supply chains (moving physical goods, coordinating print shop shifts, handling logistical emergencies) happens in specific, encrypted group chats or shared platforms.
Code of Conduct
Tactical channels must be kept absolutely clear of policy debates or social chatter. This ensures drivers and logistics volunteers can quickly access the real-time information they need to keep people safe and supplied.
Membership
Membership Agreement or Pledge
Eligibility & Philosophy
We are a small, experimental group building civic infrastructure to connect mutual aid groups across Colorado. Access to shared physical infrastructure (like the print shop and supply vehicles) comes with the responsibility of stewardship.
Joining Process
Participating groups and core organizers gain access by agreeing to follow the modular vocabulary of agreements we have designed.
Expectations & Removal
Members are expected to actively steward and maintain these shared assets. This ensures that the equipment remains in good working order for the next autonomous group that needs it.
Contribution Based
Eligibility & Philosophy
Roles are tiered between Volunteers and Core Members. Core Membership is not a status symbol, it grants access privileges (keys, door codes, independent pickups, internal Signal chats) required to facilitate logistics.
Joining Process
Local groups and regional hubs become part of the network by actively participating in the supply chains, contributing labor to the print shops, or sharing their logistical resources.
Expectations & Removal
Membership is inherently tied to active contribution. Maintaining standing requires continuous participation in the statewide infrastructure and shared operations.
Conflict Management
Peer Mediation
Core Principle
Conflict and miscommunication are inevitable when coordinating logistics across a large region. The goal is to manage behavior and communication so the supply chain flows smoothly and infrastructure remains functional, without requiring everyone to be close friends.
Applicable Scope
Day-to-day friction, miscommunications, or minor interpersonal disputes over operational tasks (e.g., scheduling conflicts, route overlaps, or minor workflow disagreements).
Process Protocol
We handle friction at the lowest possible level to prevent disrupting the supply chain.
Level 1: Direct Engagement between the organizers involved to clarify misunderstandings quickly.
Level 2: Supported Conversation with neutral witnesses acting purely to keep the conversation calm, clear, and focused on operational solutions.
Restoration & Fallbacks
If the friction cannot be resolved at these lower levels and begins to threaten operational continuity, it escalates to Level 3 (Formal Facilitation by a designated Conflict Management Working Group).
Conflict Resolution Council
Core Principle
The Conflict Management Working Group acts as facilitators rather than judges. They prioritize the integrity of the shared infrastructure and the sustainable capacity of the volunteer base.
Applicable Scope
Level 3 conflicts, severe organizer burnout, and the misuse of shared regional assets.
Process Protocol
If a conflict reaches Level 3, the working group investigates the behavioral facts and how they are impacting operations. They draft a boundary plan and present a factual, redacted summary to the rest of the core organizers for collective ratification.
Capacity & Burnout Clause: Operating statewide infrastructure can lead to severe exhaustion. The working group can mandate a temporary leave of absence for a core organizer as a mechanism of care to address burnout, preventing them from dropping the ball on critical logistics or becoming overwhelmed.
Restoration & Fallbacks
Misuse of shared statewide assets for personal gain, hoarding supplies, or intentional sabotage of the supply chain bypasses the escalation ladder entirely. These severe breaches of trust trigger an Immediate Precautionary Suspension, temporarily restricting the organizer's access to warehouses, vehicles, and coordination channels while a formal investigation takes place.
Decision-Making
Consensus Decision-Making
Core Principle
We make the big decisions together. For strategic changes, the core organizing team takes the time to have deep conversations and build genuine agreement. This ensures our infrastructure is guided by our collective values, rather than just being driven by whoever speaks the loudest.
Applicable Scope
Strategic decisions, shared network values, and organization-wide policy changes.
Consensus Level
100%
Step-by-Step Instructions
Core members openly discuss strategic issues and collaboratively shape proposals. Once a proposal is drafted, it is presented to the full core organizing team. We deliberate, address concerns, and refine the proposal together until every core member can consent to its adoption.
Objections & Deadlocks
If a core member objects to a proposal, the group must make a good faith effort to resolve their concerns and modify the plan. However, we do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If multiple good faith attempts to find consensus fail, and a decision must be made to keep the infrastructure functioning, we trigger a fallback mechanism: the proposal can be passed with a 75% supermajority vote of the core organizing team.
Delegated Do-ocracy
Core Principle
To manage a statewide logistics operation without bottlenecks, authority must be distributed. By formalizing structural relationships and empowering the volunteers running the shared infrastructure, we ensure the network can move quickly and resiliently.
Applicable Scope
Statewide logistics, specialized operational domains, and day-to-day physical infrastructure (e.g., operating the print shop, driving supply routes, managing the warehouse floor).
Step-by-Step Instructions
We explicitly map our arenas of operation so specialized working groups have full authority over their specific domains. Within these domains, individual volunteers are empowered to make immediate operational choices (like organizing inventory or adjusting a supply route) to keep goods moving efficiently, without waiting for a statewide assembly's approval.
Objections & Deadlocks
Authority has limits based on impact. If an individual's logistical experiment is irreversible, highly costly, or could permanently alter the shared infrastructure, they must pause and seek guidance from the relevant Working Group. If a Working Group's decision will have a material, network-wide impact or disrupt another team, they must coordinate with the affected groups or escalate to a broader coordination body.