What do we call the people who join? (member nouns)

Date: 2026-10-12. Who: Rufus, Sylvie. Issue tree: 2608. Applied rule: voice.md#what-we-call-people.

Question

"Seed-bearers" was the working member noun. Is it right, and what do we call the people who join, in public and inside the team?

Options considered

• Seed-bearers: the working term.
• Seeds: people as the seeds themselves.
• Gardeners: fits Gardens of Change.
• Plain "members" / "community": no special noun.
• Split by register: different words in public and internal.
• Catalyst and pioneer: stages of commitment.
• Doulas: midwives of what is being born.
• Explorer: the newcomer.

What was said

• People don't want to be put in a box while they are still discovering, so newcomers get no label. We invite instead: "come explore", "join a call", "take a course".
• Seed-bearers is too weak.
• Catalyst comes before pioneer: you start as a catalyst and become a pioneer. Examples: Petra hosts calls (catalyst); Petronella and Valerie are deeply committed (pioneers).
• Doulas could suit a deeper circle later, so hold it in reserve.
• Explorer is useful for the team's journey and funnel thinking, but should never be a public label.
• The internal stages matter less right now (journey/funnel, later CRM tags); not launch-blocking.

Decision

Two layers, kept separate.

Public words

• Discovery stage: no label. Invite, don't name.
• Committed stage: catalyst and pioneer, both usable publicly for the people actually planting the seeds (public documents, the manifesto).
• Seed-bearers: dropped.
• Doulas: held in reserve, not in public use.

Internal journey stages (rough groupings, team only)

• Explorer: newcomer; comes to a call or course. Never a public label.
• Catalyst: active participant, e.g. hosts or runs calls.
• Pioneer: deeply committed.

Manifesto change

Approved: "We are seed-bearers pioneering a world that works for everyone." becomes "We are pioneers seeding a world that works for everyone."

Note: Catalyst is also a programme name

Catalyst is already the name of a programme (calls and catalysts, repo 2r-catalysts). That fits: catalysts run calls.