Come on in – to the new Ethical Move.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent kind words and good wishes our way. You spurred us on while we were busy exchanging (digital) keys with Alice and Jeffrey.

And now we’re ready to open the doors to the new home of The Ethical Move!

Read on to find out what’s changed.

And, perhaps more importantly: How much we’re still the same.

The Ethical Move as you know it is here to stay

Yep, we had our Cinderella moment … things got quiet for a while.
But the heart of the movement is beating strong.

The pledge lives on. (And on. And on.)

Everything we do still centres around the pledge: refining it, implementing it, re-imagining marketing and sales with it.

We’re planning to release it under a Creative Commons Licence soon. So it keeps developing – and it’s easier to share it around the world.

That also includes internationalisation: Using GitHub, we’ll collect versions of the pledge in different languages. If English is not the language of your business, you’ll soon have access to a plug-and-play translation that does justice to the intent behind the pledge.

It’s your move. It’s always been yours.

When Alice started The Ethical Move as a grassroots movement, the goal was always to reach as many people and businesses as possible. To effect tangible change. And leave a lasting legacy.

None of that is possible without you, ethical movers!

The power of the pledge is in your hands. The future of TEM is in your hands.

It’s always been this way.

Just consider this a little reminder 😊

… but some things are changing, too

The Ethical Move is now a non-profit association based in Sweden.

This move has some important advantages for you as a pledgee or subscriber:

• Have a say.
  Join TEM as a member and get involved: start a project, run a workstream, vote in our General Meetings – it’s up to you! Membership is free and open to all who commit to the Pledge and our new Code of Conduct.
• Democratic, transparent structures.
  As an association, we are required to publish our Statutes and Fee Schedule. We elected a Board that will carry the movement through the next 12 months: Maria, Sabine, Holger and Marcel. (Hi! Check out more info about the Board on the updated TEM website.)
  But, it’s not about us. Our ultimate goal: Sharing accountability with many more of you in 12 months’ time (when a new Board will be elected).
• More connection.
  An association is nothing without members. So we’ve launched a new space on Discord where we can all hang out.
  It’s free and casual: Show up as much as you can. Help each other out. Let’s have a good time and grow this movement together.

Soon we’ll be able to accept donations.

In the past, many of you have asked us how you can contribute financially without buying into the community. As soon as we’ve got our new bank account set up, you’ll be able to donate to the cause – and get a receipt from us too.

Last but not least:

We’re moving platforms.

Privacy and accessibility have always been important to us. With our new legal structure, we have new options: As a non-profit, we can access free and reduced-price software plans.

Right now, we’re double-checking all platforms to make sure they align with our values:

• Privacy-first design
• Accessibility as a core principle (not an afterthought)
• Open-source or small/cooperative businesses preferred
• For-profit companies in the EU preferred (strong consumer rights regulation)

This means you might receive emails that look a little different, for example.

Because we have limited time to volunteer, we’re also deprioritising our Instagram and Facebook accounts.

The new Discord server, LinkedIn and this email newsletter are our most important ways of staying in touch.

So, if you want to chat:

• Join us on Discord
• Follow us on LinkedIn
• … or hit reply and say hi 🙂

Your team at TEM:
Maria, Sabine, Marcel & Holger