Platform One is a long-standing governance and systems-thinking think tank, developed over more than two decades of research, conceptual modelling, and community-based inquiry.

Its purpose is to develop and refine governance frameworks, ethical principles, and structural approaches that communities can use to organise and steward essential systems in values-led, independent, and non-extractive ways.

Platform One itself is not a service provider, operator, or project delivery body.

Platform One and the Charitable Trust

Platform One is not the charitable trust.

The Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust is one of the structural tools developed to support this body of work. It provides a legal, ethical, and fiduciary governance container that allows community-led initiatives informed by Platform One’s frameworks to exist safely in the real world.

The Trust’s role is limited to:

· holding governance boundaries,

· protecting kaupapa and values,

· ensuring independence and non-extraction,

· and providing long-term stewardship beyond individuals.

Platform One is the think tank. The Charitable Trust is one of the governance structures it uses, alongside Community Project Circles and other enabling mechanisms.

Where Platform One Came From

Platform One emerged from more than 20 years of applied governance development, community practice, and conceptual work. This included exploration of:

· values architecture and ethical frameworks

· consent-based governance methodologies

· anti-extraction and independence principles

· nested governance and circle-based design

· long-term stewardship logic

· community participation frameworks

· structural tools for bottom-up system design

Over time, this work matured into a coherent body of governance thinking. The Charitable Trust structure was established later as a protective governance mechanism, not to operate projects, but to ensure this work could be applied safely and ethically by communities.

What Platform One Exists to Do

Communities face increasingly complex challenges across energy, food, water, housing, transport, data governance, and resilience. Many existing systems struggle to protect community interest or long-term wellbeing.

Platform One exists to:

· safeguard community benefit

· protect values and kaupapa

· ensure governance remains independent and non-extractive

· provide continuity beyond individuals or political cycles

· offer governance frameworks communities can adopt and adapt

· create structures that keep decision-making and benefit local

Platform One enables governance clarity and protection, not project execution.

How Platform One Works

Platform One’s work is expressed through a nested governance architecture, developed through its think-tank research and instantiated through enabling structures:

Foundation Layer — Charitable Trust

Holds legal stewardship, fiduciary responsibilities, and public-benefit obligations.

Governance Circle

Applies consent-based governance processes, alignment checks, and transparency requirements.

Community Project Circles

Independent, self-managing community initiatives operating within agreed governance guardrails.

Operational activity lives only within Community Project Circles. The Trust does not operate or manage projects.

What Makes Platform One Different

Platform One integrates long-form governance research with practical, community-usable structures.

Its distinctiveness lies in combining:

· decades of governance and values innovation

· a Charitable Trust framework designed for protection, not control

· community-led participation pathways

· consent-based decision-making practices

· explicit safeguards against commercial or political capture

Together, these form a governance framework that communities can trust, adapt, and steward over time while retaining local ownership.

Platform One and WE Share

WE Share Community Power is a community-led initiative informed by Platform One’s governance frameworks.

Platform One’s role in relation to WE Share is limited to providing:

· a governance home through the Charitable Trust

· values and independence safeguards

· ethical and fiduciary oversight

· long-term stewardship continuity

WE Share itself provides:

· community-led design and participation

· on-the-ground experimentation

· a real-world example of governance principles in practice

WE Share operates independently within its Community Project Circle. Platform One does not direct or operate the initiative.