To receive announcements about Follett Foundation events and projects, fill out the form below, or send a note to info@follettfdn.org.
Follett Talks
Follett Talks are Zoom-based meetings featuring a guest speaker presentation, a Q&A opportunity, and an open discussion time. They are typically scheduled for Saturday (US time) and will be open to anyone to join. Talks with usually be recorded as well, and recordings will be available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Talks will be from 11 AM-1 PM EST / 4 PM-6 PM GMT.
Upcoming Talks
September 16 2026 / 11-12:30 AM Eastern, 3-4:30 PM GMT: Sociocracy. Presentation by Bernadette Wesley. Mary Parker Follett envisioned organizations as living systems in which people create power-with one another rather than exercising power-over others. She emphasized integrating diverse perspectives and responding collectively to the needs of the situation. This session will explore Sociocracy as a practical framework for bringing many of these ideas to life in contemporary organizations. Participants will learn how consent based decision making, distributed authority, clear domains, and continuous feedback enable organizations to draw on their collective intelligence while maintaining clarity, alignment, and accountability. We will also consider why new structures alone are not enough, and how the relational capacities to engage difference, share power, and learn together are essential to making collaborative governance work. The introduction will be followed by an open dialogue exploring the connections between Sociocracy, Follett’s work, and participants’ own experiences of organizational life.
If you’re interested in joining an upcoming Follett Talk, or if you would like to propose a Talk, please contact info@follettfdn.org for the invitation and link.
Past Follett Talks and Recordings
November 8, 2025: Democracy is a Verb, not a Noun. Matthew Shapiro, founding director, the Mary Parker Follett Foundation. The presentation includes a review of Follett’s essential insights for the promise of democracy and a description of the mission and program of the Mary Parker Follett Foundation. The presentation is available here. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: UxTcDS5&
November 22: Erika Clegg presented on Power With, not Power Over. The presentation shows how how Follett’s ideas find fresh life in modern organizations, building trust, resilience, and performance. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: 7k4Sw!7J
December 6: Jim Rough presented on the Wise Democracy Project. The presentation proposes that Wisdom Councils and the Wise Democracy project could help bring to realization Follett’s vision for democracy. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: v@aTN36#
January 10: Matthew Shapiro presented on Learning to Create Together: A Participatory Approach to Designing the Civics Education We Need. Learning to Create Together is about engaging communities in the participatory design of civics for their schools, resulting in a civics education experience that transcends the static and in direct civics learning for the community that undertakes the design journey. The presentation is available here.
January 24: Elisabeth Sechser presented The Power of Words – Mary Follett’s Words & Principles. This Follett Talk focused on Mary Parker Follett’s understanding of the power of word, particularly her use of key concepts such as power, control, authority, leadership, and management. Follett did not describe democratic principles in abstract terms — she built them directly into language. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: uQ68vQ!R
February 21: Graham Wright presented Persuasion, Integration, and Deliberative Democracy: The Will of the Whole. Full recording and passcode below:
Passcode: DK.3ph%&
March 14, 2026: Dale Smalley presented Self-Determination Theory and the Philosophy of Mary Parker Follett – a brief review of a robust theory of human development and well-being called Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan), and its potential relevance and relation to Follettian concepts. See presentation here. The presentation and discussion recording can be viewed here:
Passcode: Xaw97%an
March 28, 2026: Matthew Shapiro presented Who Cited Mary? A Preview of the Follett References Research Project. We took at the ever-growing references list from the time of Follett’s life through today, and the intended organization of this list. Some notable citations were highlighted as well. It is hoped that when completed (although in Follettian spirit, it will probably always be expanding), the comprehensive list will be useful to researchers and to those who would like to trace the impact of Follett’s thought. See presentation here. The presentation and discussion recording can be viewed here:
Passcode: 1BDFV#Ji
August 22, 2026: Designing Our Systems Together: The Participatory Design of Social Systems as an Advanced and Crucial Expression of Creative Democracy. was presented by Matthew Shapiro, Director, The Mary Parker Follett Foundation. How do we know if our systems and institutions are a good fit for our needs, aspirations, and knowledge? If we were to all sit down and design our education system, our justice system, or our health care systems “from scratch” based on what we really need and want, would our designs end up looking like what we have inherited from yesterday? Who has the right to design our social systems? These questions and are explored in this presentation on the participatory design of social and societal systems, inspired chiefly by the work of Bela H. Banathy.
The presentation is available here.
The Mary Parker Follett Conversation on Creative Democracy (Fall 2026)
See the Conference page for more information.