About the Foundation

A research foundation that measures relational value and builds cognitive sovereignty infrastructure.

Mission

The Economy of Wisdom Foundation exists to measure what economies actually produce in human terms. We publish working papers on relational value and AI alignment, conduct community-grounded fieldwork in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and build immutable-ledger infrastructure that protects authorship and economic standing for populations the existing systems erase.

The Work

• Two papers. Transmutarianism v13 (theoretical framework) and Whose Values Train AI? (empirical findings from 51 DTES interviews).
• One product family. Sigil.bot (live beta) and the Wisdom Wallet (in development), both built on cognitive sovereignty primitives that give people agency over their authorship and economic standing.
• One book in progress. Economy of Wisdom, by the Foundation's President, on AI as a technology of empowerment or dominance and how to choose.
• Three community partners. Lantern Lab Society, FediCollective, and Brew & Build, all hosted under the Foundation's generative Transmutarian event framework (see below).

Community Partners

The Foundation operates three community partnerships under a generative Transmutarian event framework: gatherings designed so that attending, contributing, and connecting is itself a transmutation of resources into shared fulfillment, where every person leaves with more energy and ideas than they arrived with.

• Lantern Lab Society. Vancouver-based community partner for ongoing DTES fieldwork. Conducts trauma-informed, community-based participatory research alongside the Foundation, with lived-outreach expertise that makes the fieldwork possible.
• FediCollective. A pro-healing third space for builders and creatives in Vancouver, founded by Crissy Bliss Addams. Hosts in-person coffee chats and quiet co-working within the Foundation framework, choosing kindness and presence so participation is safe.
• Brew & Build. A small, introvert-friendly Generative Event hosted by FediCollective inside the Foundation framework. Capped at nine people, structured around a Transmutarian opening ritual of gratitude, generative discussion, structured exchange, and a closing share, then open quiet co-working. Held at Tommy Douglas Burnaby Public Library on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

For host, sponsorship, or speaking inquiries on any of the three, write to sev@economyofwisdom.com.

Governance & Ethics

The Foundation is registered in British Columbia, Canada, and operates in partnership with Lantern Lab Society for community fieldwork. Research methodology follows community-based participatory research protocols, including informed verbal consent, optional pseudonymity, local secure storage of audio recordings, and tiered data release (codebooks and pipelines available upon request; restricted aggregate data; not-released raw transcripts).

Participant compensation is provided for time, and anonymization includes pseudonyms sharing the same first initial to prevent re-identification.

Team

• Sev Geraskin. President. Lead author of both working papers; technical lead on sigil.bot and Wisdom Wallet; author of Economy of Wisdom (in progress).
• April Ai. Community Lead, Lantern Lab Society. Co-author of Whose Values Train AI?; lived-outreach lead for DTES fieldwork.
• Past 5. Co-developer of sigil.bot infrastructure.
• Open for additional contributors as the work grows.

Funding & Transparency

The Foundation is currently self-funded and seeking institutional and private partners to support continued research, sigil.bot operations, the Wisdom Wallet build, and the events programme. Sigil.bot is co-developed with Past 5; ownership and operating responsibility are shared.

The Foundation declines funding from sources that would compromise the independence of the research or the operator-survivability of the infrastructure. Specific funding sources will be disclosed as partnerships are formalized.