Michael Johnson

For over 40 years my main occupation has been managing a community
through a collective face-to-face process. This has involved ongoing
experiential learning about personal development and culture building.
My secondary occupation for the past 20 years has been reflecting on
how to apply that rich learning to developing democracy on larger
scales. The Growing Democracy Project is the outcome. It is not an
answer. Rather, it is a solid starting point.
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This work began in 1980 with co-founding a small experiential research
project on the North shore of Staten Island New York. Our purpose was
to learn how people can make creative use of face-to-face conflict in
the process of managing joint projects. We worked on this intensely
24/7 for 20 years.
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In the process we built an intentional community--Ganas--of more than
80 people, 8 houses, five commercial properties, and three retail stores.
We shifted gears into a less intense life around 2000, and became
somewhat smaller in the process. Throughout these four decades we
have been practicing face-to-face communication and collective
management of the community.

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