Community
Open Heart + Mind (OHM) is a growing network of artists, researchers, organisers, and systems thinkers working to co-create a more caring, collaborative world. We host events, build tools, and steward experiments in participatory governance — all grounded in the belief that everyone has something valuable to contribute.
Why We Gather
In the wake of COVID, and amid rising social fragmentation, it’s become clear that we need spaces for people to connect in real life — to share ideas across difference, exchange experiences without judgement, and reweave the social fabric.
OHM Gatherings are inclusive, gift-based events where people come together to share art, knowledge, wisdom, goods, and services with the community. Every contribution — from DJ sets to conflict mediation — is invited, recorded, and peer-reviewed using our own open-source tool, Wisdom.
These gatherings aren’t just events — they’re living experiments. Each one helps us learn how communities can coordinate, recognise, and reward contributions in transparent, participatory ways.
The Bigger Vision
Our long-term goal is to create transparent contribution templates and peer-led evaluation tools that others can use to replicate OHM-style gatherings — in decentralised, autonomous, and culturally grounded ways.
Through this process, we’re building a global network of communities aligned by shared values and interoperable tools — each free to self-organise, yet able to collaborate through shared protocols.
How We Work
Rather than focusing on content or consumption, we build from the ground up: contribution over consumption, process over product, care over control.
We value generosity, integrity, transparency, and deep listening — not just as ideals, but as practices embedded in our systems and relationships.
At the heart of our ecosystem is Wisdom, a free, open-source system that helps communities recognise and reward meaningful contributions. Whether you’re cooking meals, resolving conflict, sharing knowledge, or holding space — your effort is seen and valued.
Who’s Involved
OHM has no fixed hierarchy or central leadership. It grows through waves of participation from people who step in, offer what they can, and help shape the community.
Hundreds of contributors — artists, developers, facilitators, researchers, healers, and elders — have helped build what OHM is today.
We honour this collective effort through open documentation, shared decision-making, and transparent recognition via the Wisdom system.
Ways to Participate
We welcome anyone aligned with our values and curious to contribute. You might:
- Join an organising team for a gathering or Council session
- Prototype Wisdom in your own community or collective
- Contribute to our open-source research, design, or development
- Share stories, skills, or care that help the movement grow
Get Involved
🌱 Subscribe to our newsletter for updates, experiments, and event invites
💬 Join our Telegram to meet others and start collaborating
✨ Or contact us if you have something specific in mind
We believe collective transformation begins with showing up — as you are, with what you can offer.
Projects
Rising Hearts
Rising Hearts is a gift-based Women’s Art and Crèche Circle founded on a philosophy of holistic well-being, authenticity, and care. We believe that gathering together to partake in art creation allows
OHM Gathering
The inaugural OHM Gathering was hosted over 3 days in the lead up to the Winter Solstice 2023, at a magical site in Numinbah Valley, Gold Coast, Australia. There were
hOHM Base
hOHM Base is a co-living space for core contributors to the OHM community and charity. Founded by Angela Sierra and Cooper Smout in March 2023, it has played host to
Tiny OHM #1
Tiny OHM #1 was our first official gathering since the charity merger and served as an opportunity to test our new WISDOM review model. It was co-created on 25th June
Heart + Mind Gathering
Our pilot gathering Heart + Mind Gathering was our initial foray into the world of gift-based gatherings, creating a safe space for diverse perspectives in the wake of the COVID pandemic.