Become a Community Partner

Community Partners play a vital role in helping more people discover meaningful opportunities to learn, teach, and grow through CED (Capacity Exchange DAO). By introducing CED to your community, you help connect your members to a global learning ecosystem where people exchange skills, knowledge, and experience through live, one-on-one conversations.

Whether your community focuses on education, professional development, culture, social impact, or shared interests, we invite you to join us in making learning more accessible, human-centered, and community-driven.

This page explains what becoming a Community Partner involves, what your organization and members can gain, and how we work together throughout the partnership.

Who Can Become a Community Partner?

We welcome organizations and communities that bring people together around learning, professional growth, or community engagement, including:

• Universities and college student organizations
• Professional associations and industry networks
• NGOs, community centers, and grassroots initiatives
• Social impact and volunteering organizations
• Youth development programs
• Cultural and language communities
• Libraries, learning hubs, and lifelong-learning communities
• Educational organizations and after-school programs
• Hobby and interest groups (arts, crafts, chess, meditation, digital literacy, and more)

If your mission includes empowering people through learning, connection, or community building, we'd love to explore a partnership with you.

What Does a Community Partner Do?

At its core, partnership is simple.

We ask Community Partners to introduce CED to their members through the communication channels they already use. Everything beyond that is optional and depends on your organization's interests and capacity.

Community Partners may:

• Share current CED opportunities — including themed programs with free places for selected participants (detailed below) — with their community, using the partner referral link provided by CED.
• Encourage members to participate as Explorers (learners), Guides (knowledge sharers), or both.
• Help members who have questions during registration or their first learning sessions.
• Co-organize themed learning events or community exchange activities.
• Share feedback on community needs and platform improvements.
• Celebrate members who actively contribute as Guides.

No technical expertise is required — only a shared commitment to creating meaningful learning opportunities.

What Your Organization and Members Gain

Community partnerships should create value for both organizations and the people they serve.

During the current pilot, Community Partners give their members early access to CED's learning community, where participants can help shape the future of the platform while benefiting from personalized learning and paid Guide sessions. Partners are also among the first to hear about CED's themed programs, so their members can apply for free places.

For your members

CED offers two ways to participate, and members are welcome to join as both Explorers and Guides.

About free sessions. Free sessions are not offered by default. They come through CED's themed programs: a focused series of one-on-one sessions in one skill area, for a defined group of learners, funded by Theme Sponsors. Each program has its own selection criteria, so free places go to selected participants who fit the program rather than to everyone who registers. As a Community Partner, you help by sharing these opportunities with the people in your community who would benefit most.

In addition, members can:

• Learn from experienced Guides across different countries, cultures, and disciplines.
• Develop communication, facilitation, mentoring, and teaching skills.
• Build confidence by sharing their knowledge with others.
• Join an international community committed to lifelong learning and knowledge exchange.

For your organization

Community Partners can:

• Expand learning opportunities for members through a global learning network.
• Support members in developing both personal and professional skills.
• Offer community members an opportunity to become Guides and earn income through knowledge sharing.
• Give members access to free places in CED's themed programs, when they match a program's focus.
• Strengthen your organization's educational, professional, or social impact mission.
• Be recognized as part of the CED Collaboration Network.
• Help shape future learning categories and platform development through ongoing feedback.

How the Partnership Works

Our partnership process is designed to be simple, collaborative, and adaptable to different community initiatives.

Step 1 — Initial Conversation Meet with the CED team to learn about the platform, discuss your community's goals, and explore how a partnership can create meaningful learning opportunities.

Step 2 — Partner Onboarding Once the partnership is confirmed, your organization will receive:

• Partnership resources
• Communication materials
• A dedicated referral link
• Guidance on sharing CED opportunities with your community

Step 3 — Launch Community Opportunities As new CED initiatives become available, your organization can invite community members to participate using your dedicated referral link.

Every Community Partner receives a unique referral link. It helps CED understand how participants discover opportunities, recognize your organization's contribution, measure partnership impact, and provide participation insights throughout our collaboration.

We encourage partners to use their dedicated referral link whenever sharing CED initiatives with their community.

Current Opportunity: Themed Programs CED is moving to themed programs: focused series of one-on-one sessions in one skill area, where selected participants take part for free, funded by Theme Sponsors. The first is the Community Self-Governance Skills Program (DEP 3, mid-April to mid-August 2027), for leads of local communities who want their community to run itself — sharing ownership of the work, deciding together, and bringing new members in. If your community has leads like this, your referral link is the way in.

Step 4 — Registration & Onboarding Interested participants register through the appropriate CED application process; for a themed program, they also go through the program's selection. The CED team then supports onboarding, account setup, and preparation for their first learning experiences.

Step 5 — Community Participation Participants join CED as Explorers, Guides, or both, taking part in live one-on-one Sessions and becoming active members of the global learning community.

Step 6 — Review & Continuous Improvement Throughout the partnership, CED shares participation insights, gathers feedback from both partners and participants, and works together to improve future programs, community initiatives, and learning opportunities.

Ready to Join Our Community of Partners?

Whether you're ready to collaborate or simply exploring the opportunity, we'd love to hear from you.

Ready to discuss a partnership? Book a 30-minute introductory conversation with the CED team. → Partnership Discovery Meeting

Still exploring? Complete the Partnership Exploration Form. It takes only a few minutes, with no obligation, and helps us better understand your community before discussing how we can work together. → Partnership Exploration Form

Have a question? Email us anytime at [email protected].