The Future Is Collective - by Niloufar Khonsari (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Transform workplace structures and empower cultures of care--a practical guide for nonprofit leaders and social justice organizations

This book is a powerful call for nonprofits and movement organizations to rethink their internal systems and processes--and to bring workplace culture and management into alignment with their political values and liberatory missions.

Drawing on two decades of experience in community organizing and nonprofit leadership, Niloufar Khonsari guides us in transforming our workplaces by decentralizing power; implementing collective governance structures; and centering principles of transparency, equity, and mutual care.

Khonsari demystifies collective management for fellow activists, nonprofit workers, and community leaders. This book is not a one-size-fits-all plan; instead, readers are encouraged to draw from its rich collection of real-world examples, case studies, sample workplace policies, tools developed by activist collectives, and personal reflections of movement leaders to explore what works best for their organization at its current stage of growth and evolution.

Khonsari also address how to communicate workplace changes to funding bodies--and why this is an essential part of your movement work. Crucially, this book looks at how to handle challenging workplace dynamics, everyday conflicts, and job terminations using a compassionate justice-centered approach. Khonsari calls for nonprofit and movement leaders to embrace conflict resolution as a generative practice--one that builds and strengthens us, nurturing both individual autonomy and collective responsibility.

Inspiring and hopeful, The Future is Collective guides nonprofit workers, activists, and community leaders toward a workplace culture of care that truly models the relational systems we want to see in the world.

About the Author

Niloufar Khonsari is a movement lawyer committed to collective leadership in struggles for justice. They co-founded Pangea Legal Services, a worker-led migrant justice organization, the Immigrant Liberation Movement, and Migra Watch. Their articles have been published in Nonprofit Quarterly, Common Dreams, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other outlets. Nilou's community-centered leadership has been recognized through several awards, including the BIPOC Pioneers in Justice Award from Levi Strauss Foundation (2021), the Community Impact Award by the Iranian American Bar Association of Northern California (2022), the Community Impact Award by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (2022), the Bernstein Parker Activist Writer Fellowship by the Mesa Refuge (2023), and the Unsung Heroes Award from Resonance Philanthropies (2023). They graduated from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service and Georgetown Law and have two decades of training by activists, undocumented organizers, and community leaders in dismantling oppressive systems.