The Founders'
Covenant
A covenant in spirit and in principle among the four founding stewards — agreed before the world believes, that the house we build may stand long after we are gone.
The Standard We Keep
Love your neighbor as yourself.
That is the whole of it. Every structure in this covenant — every office, every share, every rule of order — exists to serve that one standard among our people. Where the structure ever serves itself instead of the people, it has failed, and the four of us are bound to correct it.
“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired…”
This is an agreement in spirit and in principle. It is the handshake before the contracts — the shared understanding the four of us hold in our own hearts about why this house exists, who carries what, and how its ownership is ordered. It binds our conscience before it binds our names.
It is not yet the law. The formal instruments — the partnership agreement, the governance charter, the subscription documents — will be drawn by qualified counsel and will govern in matters of law. This covenant governs in matters of trust. Where the two ever differ, we return to this page.
The Order of the Four
We order ourselves after the pattern of the Mazzaroth and the tribes — not as a claim, but as a confession of how each of us is called to serve. The symbol shapes our character. The documents define our authority. We keep the two distinct.
We take this up in the way of Yahoshua — who taught that to love your neighbor as yourself is the whole of the law. To build a house that lifts our people is how we keep that command; so this is not merely an enterprise, but worship made visible in brick, capital, and care.
The Four Stewardships
Each of us carries a distinct lane, and together the four complete one another. Each is a General Partner. The offices below define our authority; our calling defines our spirit.
Guardian of the founding vision and values. Presides over the Partnership and protects the long-term integrity of the institution. Asks: are we remaining faithful to why we exist?
Chief architect and executive leader. Builds and scales the enterprise, forms capital, sets strategy, and is accountable for execution and results. Asks: how do we build it?
Runs the organization day to day — regional operations, the opening of each Commons, business incubation, and the member experience. Asks: how do we make it work every day?
Stewards the entire backbone — campuses, utilities, energy, broadband, and the digital infrastructure, architecture, and AI that let the network function and scale. Asks: what do we build it on?
Ownership, in Principle
The house — NIN Holdings — is divided into three portions. We agree to these proportions now, among the four of us, before any partner or any founder is invited, so that no one ever enters in confusion about how it was ordered.
The partnership is held in thirteen units across twelve partners. Each General Partner holds one unit; the Managing General Partner holds two — honoring the Scriptural principle of the double portion. For incoming partners, their unit is granted once they are chosen by the four of us. This was agreed by all four before signing.
The earliest believers. A fixed, permanent class — never reopened, never enlarged. Its full terms are set out in the article that follows.
A limited-partner share held within the house — recognized at the discretion of the Partnership, but primarily reserved for the Council of Elders whose service and counsel uphold the mission. It carries no vote in the General Partnership and creates no entitlement until granted.
Proportions are agreed in principle and will be fixed precisely in the partnership agreement drawn by counsel. They are not an offer of securities.
The 12 Chief Elders
The four of us are the first, not the whole. The General Partnership is built to be carried by twelve — the Chief Elders of the house — so that what we begin is never bound to four men alone. We open the circle; we do not close it.
The partnership is held in thirteen units across these twelve. Each Chief Elder holds one unit; the Managing General Partner holds two. An incoming Elder's unit is granted only once they are chosen — first by the four, and in time by the seated partnership.
The Chief Elders are the governing body of the house — its board. The four founders sit among them as equals in counsel, not above them.
A seat is earned by calling, capacity, and proven faithfulness to the people — never by capital alone. Office and ownership stay distinct.
One unit of the General Partnership and a vote in its governance — authority over mission, capital, and the major decisions of the house.
To lead as servants and to keep the house faithful to its one standard — the greater the seat, the greater the obligation to the people.
The number twelve is held as a ceiling of principle; the exact terms of admission and removal are fixed in the partnership agreement drawn by counsel.
The Founding 1000
These thousand believed before there was proof. We covenant to treat them not as a one-time gift of capital, but as a permanent founding class whose early faith the house remembers for as long as it stands. Their reward rests on two engines.
A fixed and equal share of the house — the 30% portion, divided among the thousand. It grows as the house grows.
A founder's place in every material platform the house later creates — so that each new thing we build remembers the people who made the first thing possible.
Every material capital platform created by the house shall reserve a Founder Allocation for the Founding 1000 — for the life of the institution.
The size of each allocation is set by the Partnership before that platform opens, so it can fit the economics of the thing being built. The percentage may change from platform to platform; the promise never changes. We bind the relationship, not a number.
Until the house is lawfully formed to receive investment, the Founding 1000 is funded by donation toward Phase 1. Conversion to ownership opens only when it can be done properly. Illustrative — not a forecast or an offer of securities.
The Council of 72 Elders
Around the twelve stands a wider circle — elders whose counsel, service, and witness uphold the mission without governing it. They are the conscience and the memory of the house. We honor them with a place in its ownership, but not with a hand on its helm.
- A body of counsel — advising the partnership on mission, conduct, and direction.
- A blessing and a witness — affirming that the house keeps its standard.
- A check on the four — free to call the founders back to why they began.
- It carries no vote in the General Partnership.
- It does not run operations or direct capital.
- Its place creates no entitlement until granted by the partnership.
The 10% limited-partner portion of the house is reserved primarily for the Council of Elders — recognition of service rather than purchase of control. It is a limited interest: it shares in the house it helps protect, yet leaves governance with the twelve. Each grant is made at the discretion of the partnership.
The composition and terms of the Council are set by the Partnership and fixed in the instruments drawn by counsel. It is not an offer of securities.
The Council of 72 Elders
The Council of Elders is patterned after the seventy nations of the earth named in Genesis 10 — the whole family of mankind that came out of Noah — together with two who preside: seventy and two, the 72 elders. Above the seventy stand the Elder for Israel, the people of the covenant, and the Elder for the Nations, the Gentiles brought near.
NATIONS
Seventy in number after the table of nations in Genesis 10. The names are held as a pattern of fullness, not a roster of seats; the actual Council is composed by the Partnership.
Our Covenant of Conduct
We separate calling, service, and capital. Holding an office grants no ownership; ownership is earned by investment under the same terms for all.
We lead as servants. The greatest authority carries the greatest obligation to the people, never the least.
We disclose our interests and recuse ourselves from decisions in which we are personally interested. The house is governed for the house.
We keep faith with the people first. Every gain of this house is measured by what it builds for Foundational Black America.
By this covenant we are assembling our people — the true children of Y'israel — to prepare for the return of our Melek Melekim and Adonai Adonim, Yahoshua Ha'Mashiach.
We four set our hands to this in spirit and in principle — agreeing together upon the order of the house, the lanes we each will keep, and the honor owed to those who believe first — and we commit to render it into lawful instruments by qualified counsel without departing from what is written here.
“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth…”