Mothering is the infrastructure of care
This Mother's Day, we've been sitting with an important question:
What does it mean to mother?
100% mothers and their children
One of our teachers, Mohawk elder Tom Cook, says: "100% of the world is mothers and their children." Mara brought this to us, and it's become something we return to. There is so much in this simple statement of truth. Mara writes, "My favorite part is that there are men like Tom who see, acknowledge and say this as a first principle. It’s a lesson that many in tech, and especially men and those in power, would do well to consider. Tom wakes up each day thinking about seven generations into the future. He centers mothers and children as sources of strength and necessary for our survival and thriving. That shift alone, of care as our most basic, foundational technology, has the power to heal an immense amount of present-day suffering."
From Sara: "I identify as an auntie. That means being deeply invested in the lives of my nieces. It means being available to babysit in a pinch for my new neighbor, who I first met on the night she gave birth to her daughter. It means organizing an entire #auntietour trip home from living abroad to spend quality time with all of my new nibblings. It means bringing ginger ale and cold medicine to my friends when they are sick. It means means showing up with my massage therapist’s favorite granola after her shoulder surgery. It means contributing to a winter soup swaps with women I first at the farmer’s market who invited me to join them at a sheltered table when it began raining."
We are building (m)otherboard with the understanding that people are either in a place of needing care, or they are in a place of dreaming. That's Jenifer's guiding principle for our guaranteed basic income (GBI) program, and it's simply elegant. We recognize we have cycles of need and cycles of generative contribution. We expect both and are prepared to meet both with resources and mutual aid.
Mara writes, "If I could wish for one thing to be true about philanthropy right now, it’s to organize around these first principles and break the dam on the capital bottleneck from which layers of middlemen are currently profiting. Just build authentic relationships with the people you want to support, get rid of your complicated theory of change, and start with first principles of care and dream. You’re welcome."
Care begins with condolence
Our work together has held us through significant transition. Growing children, aging parents, moves, marriages, divorces, illnesses, threats to our passports and our identity. This is the reality of a life that exists alongside the systems change work.
We've learned to begin with condolence, understanding that we are all arriving with burdens, grief, and dust to shake off from the journey. The practice is informed by Haudenosaunee protocols of the peacekeepers, greeting visitors at the edge of the woods with recognition for their journey and their hardships. From a place of care — especially for our embodied, lived realities — we can meet each other more resourced for conversations that orient toward peace.
We start every (m)otherboard meeting asking, "how are you showing up today?" Red, yellow, green? Grellow? Sometimes it's hard to answer. Sometimes we're down so bad we are in the black. We don't push through. We trust there will be time when the time is right. We're deprogramming expectations of how meetings work and building structures for care first so the work is sustainable.
Mara, reflects, "I’ve never seen a group of more courageous, imaginative, and brilliant people design their own destiny while navigating insane caregiving and life transitions. Resources do not equal, and in fact can disincentivize, true agency, shared power, and resilience."
Mothering is the infrastructure of care
We've also learned that asking for help is itself a form of care. That became a new manifesto statement when one of our own admitted she needed support to keep the work going.
What we’ve created together and with our members is the aggregate wisdom of each of our unique experiences and genius, integrating the hard lessons learned. It’s a singular expression of operationalized collective good that is also joyful, caring and irresistibly intelligent, wise and curious. We feel like we've found long lost kin!
Mothering for (m)otherboard is about responsive mutual aid. Embodied knowledge. Governance designed for accountability.
Our moment is now. Matriarchy is trending. Analog resistance is trending. Dinner parties are trending.
We’ve been ready, always two steps ahead. We are Cassandras with visions for what comes after the fall.
Tech is the power structure. We’re remembering that social practices have always been technologies, too.
Happy Mother's Day. To seven generations of matrilineal wisdom. To the sandwich generation. To all the aunties, neighbors, chosen family, and givers of care.
Up next:
May 13th 6–9pm
Film Club: Ghost in the Machine Exclusive Screening (members only)
Ghost in the Machine, a feature documentary that premiered at Sundance 2026, approaches ubiquitous questions like “What is AI?”, “Who is building it?”, and “What will humans become?” by exploring how emerging technologies have historically reshaped identity, culture, and global power, while also exposing the current fronts of human exploitation without which AI would not function. We will be joined by the director, Valerie Veatch! RSVP (members only): https://luma.com/5y02hjjn
May 22, 2026 12–1:30PM ET
Poetry Club: Going Virtual with Hazel Henderson (members only)
We are working with the Hazel Henderson Center to celebrate the poetry of Hazel Henderson, a world-renowned futurist, evolutionary economist, journalist, and visionary who promoted ethical markets, a love-based economy, and Golden Rule societies. Hazel “went virtual” (in her own words) on May 22, 2022. We can’t wait to introduce a new generation to Hazel’s work, kicking off with her poetry, “Pecos River Meditation” and “Cyberspace is Sacredspace.” We’ll talk about life after death in the age of AI. RSVP (members only) https://luma.com/hatfbe9s
July Book Club (dates TBD)
American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence (members only) tells the origin story about our founding documents and more importantly, about the wisdom of Native American ways of living and how they can be applied as an alternative to our present political dilemmas. Contemporary Haudenosaunee leaders and scholars speak about the league of their Six Nations, about life in present-day reservations, and most importantly, about the Great Law of Peace, the unifying code of governance. And (m)otherboard member Baratunde Thurston authored the introduction! RSVP forthcoming
