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Contributing to the Guild governance repository

This repository is a public proposal for how the Guild could be formed, governed, and operated. It is offered openly so prospective members, sponsors, counsel, and the broader cannabis-professional community can review, critique, and improve it before the Guild is formed. Once a Board is seated, this repo will transition from open proposal to historical record.

What lives here

  • blueprint/ — the strategic launch blueprint (the "why" and the "what")
  • formation/ — legal formation artifacts for Maine, Minnesota, and the IRS
  • governance/ — bylaws, policies, board onboarding, and minutes
  • membership/ — tier definitions and member agreement
  • programs/ — certification, events, and community programs
  • brand/ — boilerplate and brand reference
  • finance/ — sponsorship tiers, agreement templates, and finance notes
  • tech/ — systems and integration notes
  • template-library/ — reusable agreements, communications, and event docs
  • compliance/ — annual filings, renewals, and compliance calendar
  • decisions/ — Architecture/Action Decision Records (ADRs) for material choices

How to propose a change

  1. Open an Issue using the appropriate template (formation milestone, governance decision, or policy change).
  2. Open a Pull Request against main referencing the issue.
  3. Use the PR template's checklist, including who has authority to approve.
  4. For material decisions, add or update an ADR in decisions/.
  5. Once approved, merge and update the compliance calendar or minutes as needed.

Document conventions

  • Markdown for all narrative documents.
  • Each top-level folder has a README.md describing what belongs there.
  • File names are lowercase-with-hyphens.
  • Dates use ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD).
  • Cite source URLs inline when referencing law, IRS guidance, or state filings.

Authority

Nothing in this repository constitutes legal, tax, or accounting advice. Material legal and financial decisions must be reviewed by qualified counsel and ratified by the Board per the bylaws before they take effect.

Sensitive information

Do not commit: - Member PII (full names + contact info combined with payment data) - Signed agreements containing personal addresses or signatures - API keys, passwords, or secrets

Use a private, access-controlled storage system for those materials and link to them by reference where needed.