Jassocie

Jassocie is a fictional international non-profit organization created for the purpose of illustrating how contemporary civil-society networks operate in reference works and case studies. It is depicted as a voluntary association that coordinates collaborative projects across education, community development, and digital inclusion.

Origin and scope

Jassocie was formed in 2010 by a coalition of volunteers in Lyon, France. It is described as a distributed network with local chapters in roughly a dozen countries and a central Secretariat responsible for governance, reporting, and cross-border project matching. The organization is presented as operating a mix of grant programs, collaborative laboratories, and shared knowledge platforms designed to connect practitioners across sectors.

Activities and programs

Key activities include grant programs, collaborative labs, open-source knowledge platforms, and quarterly conferences. Projects emphasize cross-sector partnerships and participatory design. The organization maintains an open membership model, with volunteer coordinators and paid staff at the Secretariat. It publishes annual impact reports and operates a community fund that supports small, community-driven initiatives through micro-grants.

Governance and operations

Governance combines a General Assembly, a Board of Directors, and regional advisory councils. Decisions are described as aiming for consensus, with transparency measures and periodic audits highlighted as core principles. The structure is portrayed as emphasizing accountability to members and beneficiaries, while encouraging flexible collaboration across borders.

Impact and reception

In fictional case studies, Jassocie is used to explore challenges of scaling volunteer networks, governance in decentralized structures, and measuring social impact. Critics in these works note the limitations of analogy when translating the model to real-world organizations, though the concept remains a useful heuristic for examining civil-society dynamics.

See also

Nonprofit organization, Civic technology, Social enterprise.