6 Leading with Values as an Education Charity: The Rebus Foundation

About the Rebus Foundation

“Rebus envisions a liberatory future where lifelong learning is valued as a public good and communities leverage education as a catalyst for positive change.”

— The Rebus Foundation Strategic Plan, 2024

The Rebus Foundation strives to make knowledge freely available in the pursuit of equity, understanding, and the common good. These objectives, which first manifested during the development of open-source software and technology projects that improved workflows for reading and publishing open educational resources (OER) and traditional scholarly materials, evolved into leading professional development practices in higher education. Founded in 2016 as a global non-profit, Rebus became a registered Canadian charity in 2019 to better serve individuals and organizations working across all levels of education. This change in status coincided with the immense growth of the Rebus Community, the Foundation’s professional development arm which offers guidance, community, and spaces for educators to collaborate on pedagogy and publishing. Rebus encourages educators to rediscover passion, purpose, and potential in their work so all learners can embrace the ripple effects of education. Guided by the organization’s values (Table 1), Rebus promotes a supportive culture and education system that centers on student experience and learning. A cornerstone of the Rebus Community is the Open Publishing Projects Certificate (OPC) – formerly the Textbook Success Program – an upskilling pathway for OER creators.

About the Open Publishing Projects Certificate

The Rebus Foundation’s Open Publishing Projects Certificate (OPC) is a cohort-based model for training educators to create OER. A facilitator guides project teams from institutions across North America through three phases of professional development over the course of a year. The program focuses on leadership development and community-building, while collaborating on the creation and publication of a large-scale open education project. Institutions assemble one to four team members – including faculty, librarians, administrators, students, instructional designers, and managers – who join a cohort of up to six project teams.

In Phase 1 of the OPC, the cohort meets remotely for eight weeks to deepen their knowledge around open publishing topics, including project scoping, storytelling, team management, accessibility, and more. Phase 2 extends over six monthly meetings that alternate between full cohort meetings and one-on-one meetings between the facilitator and each project team. This phase encourages individual exploration as project teams focus on putting their plans into action to author their resources. The cohort reconvenes for weekly meetings in Phase 3 to prepare review processes for their resources, plan, and promote their releases. See Figure 1 for an outline of the three phases.

Participant learning encompasses not only authoring, but also essential project management skills for leading a diverse team with confidence. Participants foster community by connecting with fellow educators and support staff, many of whom they might have never encountered, on their campuses in the creation of their projects. Participants also expand their networks externally by connecting with OER leaders across North America as they move through the program together.

Following graduation, Open Publishing Projects Certificate alumni may elect to become facilitators of the program, cultivating a robust set of skills in mentoring, facilitating, and guiding project management. The facilitator pathway involves not only preparing for and facilitating the course material provided by Rebus but also coordinating with project teams and coaching each team through their publication timeline. Learning objectives in the facilitator pathway program include supporting participants in the creation of efficient workflows, applying best practices to ensure smooth project progression, and creating meaningful connections and relationships to assist participants in OER capacity building at their institutions, both within and beyond the cohort. Benefits for facilitators include opportunities to refine their leadership skills, encouraging sharing knowledge across institutions/states, and securing the offer of tenure and promotion letters and other letters of support to further their career advancement.

Sustainability Model

Organizational Structure and Compliance

The Rebus Foundation is a registered Canadian charity, a category distinct from other non-profit organizations. While non-profits and charities are both entities working towards social welfare, civic improvement, or similar purposes without the goal of generating profit, the charity classification is assigned only to organizations that operate exclusively for charitable purposes. Based on the structure, source of funding, and mode of operation, registered charities are further designated into 3 types. Rebus’s designation is a “charitable organization,“ meaning that:

• it is established as a corporation, a trust, or under a constitution;
• it has exclusively charitable purposes;
• it primarily carries on its own charitable activities, but may also gift funds to other qualified données, (e.g., registered charities);
• more than 50% of its governing officials at arm’s length from each other;
• it generally receives its funding from a variety of arm’s length donors; and
• income cannot be used for the personal benefit of any of its members, shareholders, or governing officials (Government of Canada).

The application process is intensive, and charities must meet several requirements beyond operating on a non-profit basis, to maintain their status every year. Requirements include maintaining an active Board of Directors who maintain fiduciary oversight of the organization, completing an annual audit and an annual information return and more (Checklist for charities, Government of Canada).

One key impetus for Rebus to pursue registered charity status over the easier-to-maintain non-profit status, was the necessity to maintain eligibility for grant applications that could advance the organization’s mission. The charitable designation, which may be the equivalent of the 501(c)(3) designation in the United States, is often a make-or-break requirement for obtaining significant grants from other philanthropic organizations or donors. However, charitable status alone does not guarantee success with each application. Some organizations may decide that the obligations to maintain legal status outweigh the benefits of the status itself. Given the global communities Rebus serves, primarily with educators across the border in the United States, the organization must also stay abreast of evolving policies in all states, provinces, and territories.

Governance and Strategy

As a registered Canadian charity, Rebus’s strategic priorities are set by its Board of Directors and enacted by a team led by the Executive Director. Rebus’s values determine its course as an organization:

Rebus’s Board is composed of leaders who share these values and show active engagement in work that complements the Foundation’s mission. Rebus has sought to create a diverse and representative Board that can offer counsel on organizational issues ranging from programmatic direction to legal status. Each board member brings a unique point of view informed by their lived experience, geography, and expertise in topics like publishing, pedagogy, organizational management, accounting, technology, and law. The organization is stronger for each of their contributions. Unlike other charities, Rebus’s Board members are not encouraged or required to make personal (fiscal) contributions to the organization; this can often pose a barrier to leaders who wish to offer this kind of service to a charity like Rebus. Rebus hopes to cycle Board members at regular intervals, filling in any advisory gaps and ensuring that fresh perspectives continue to support the evolving organization to meet new demands as they arise in the education sector.

In addition to the core staff who work on programs (Director of Programs and Program Operations Manager), marketing (Marketing and Communications Manager), and fundraising (Executive Director), Rebus also employs several independent contractors ranging from facilitators, accountants, tech support, and legal counsel. Open Publishing Projects Certificate facilitators earn a stipend for their time and mentorship to program participants. Additionally, consultants at Marigold Strategy and edBridge have also made indispensable contributions to improving Rebus’s programs through strategic planning and evaluation, pushing the organization forward.

Revenue Model

Rebus’s operations are sustained by a mixed-revenue model comprising a combination of grants from philanthropic foundations and program participation fees. Rebus offers its programs, such as the Open Publishing Projects Certificate and the OER Webinar Series, for modest fees designed to recover costs related to running the programs. Clients pay for guidance, timely expertise, and care, as well as, in the case of the Open Publishing Projects Certificate, the opportunity to join a community and a framework that will hold them accountable for achieving their project goals. Rebus also extends scholarships to select participants in the OPC, enabling them to join a cohort free of charge and enjoy the many professional development opportunities the program affords. All earned revenue is poured back into the organization, and Rebus is always attentive to meeting community needs while diversifying program offerings. Despite the fact that these efforts offset a portion of the organization’s overhead, Rebus continues to rely on donations and grants. Two major donors, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, have previously furnished restricted grants to Rebus, to further support programmatic efforts and organizational effectiveness. As they lower the initial risk of development, these grants have encouraged more innovation and experimentation with new initiatives. But they have also introduced challenges related to sustaining activities beyond the grant term. Unrestricted grants for general operating support have been rarer, but incredibly critical to the ability to hire more staff to execute the work, cover operational expenses, and alleviate financial burdens.

Sharing Agreements

While the Open Publishing Projects Certificate is a paid professional development program, Rebus stands by its principles and embodies openness and sharing with The Rebus Guide to Publishing Open Textbooks (So Far), which is licensed with a Creative Commons attribution (CC BY) license and available in multiple formats. All other Open Publishing Projects Certificate materials are also licensed CC BY and freely available in the program’s curriculum hub, which is housed in Google Drive. Open Publishing Projects Certificate participants are equally encouraged to apply Creative Commons licenses to their resources and are provided with instruction to help them choose the appropriate licenses for their projects.

Community Engagement

The civic-service mindset that underlies Rebus’s operations as a charity means that the organization views the general public as part of the broader community it serves. The ripple effects of education are experienced across the board. However, it can be difficult to operate an organization that supports everyone. Since Rebus is part of a growing movement toward open education, the Foundation’s primary community comprises individuals and organizations working in the post-secondary education sector. Like-minded individuals in the primary and secondary education sectors, related non-profit organizations, and education advocacy spaces form Rebus’s extended demographic. The organization has cultivated relationships with both demographics by participating in conferences, events, communities of practice, and direct collaborations that have highlighted the thought leadership of Rebus staff, board members, facilitators, and program participants, such as: The Open Education Conference; Open Education Global; Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA); OpenCon Ohio; and more. Rebus’s success is built on this foundation of community outreach that sparks genuine interest in the Foundation’s programming and attracts new participants by word-of-mouth.

The Open Publishing Projects Certificate is designed to facilitate community engagement and collaboration across different roles at an institution. Participants are encouraged to use the Rebus Forum to engage with their cohorts, heralding their project milestones, sharing and seeking resources, and leaning on mutual support as they take on new challenges. Program facilitators are equally encouraged to take advantage of their peer network, coming together in monthly meetings with the Rebus programs team to exchange tools, knowledge, and achievements.

Reflections and Learning

Challenges

Internal Challenges

Rebus is a modest but ambitious organization consisting in its current iteration of a small team of full-time staff members guided by a Board of Directors. Despite its size, Rebus remains consistent in delivering transformative programming and modelling good organizational practices to a wide array of stakeholders. For this accomplishment, staff owe gratitude to the Board of Directors, program facilitators, and the wider open community for generously offering their time, guidance, and expertise.

Sector Challenges

Funding for higher education in Canada and the United States has been notoriously unstable in recent years. In Canada, a cap on study permits for international students has shrunk enrollments to the extent that these institutions are cutting entire academic programs, such as at Centennial College in Ontario, where 49 programs are on hold (Sarah Petz, CBC News). Institutions in the United States are suffering a similar enrollment crisis, with net tuition revenue at American public colleges and universities having declined 3.3 percent in 2023, the steepest decrease on record since 1980 (Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed). This poses a challenge for Rebus’s revenue, given that the majority of the organization’s clients are Canadian and American institutions of higher education or higher education library consortia. Funding from donors offers some stability to Rebus to continue to offer impactful programs, but the current precarity in the education sector is nonetheless troubling, especially considering the limited resources that were originally available to institutions for open education initiatives.

Making the case for professional development can also be a challenge in this sector. Some educators do not see the value of upskilling in OER creation because they perceive OER only as a movement toward lowering textbook costs, which may not speak to their principles. Others may not believe they have any skills to learn or develop when it comes to creating resources. Then there are some educators who do see the value of upskilling in this area but cannot commit the time and effort required for professional development.

Successes

“Unlike other groups, Rebus has purity about their role… They are community-driven and that’s their silver bullet.”

— Rebus Interviewee

Recommendations

Practice Deep Listening

As a service-oriented organization, Rebus seeks to identify and address the most essential dilemmas faced by students and educators. By being attuned to the needs of these communities, the Rebus team has tailored the organization’s programming to cater to the dual necessities of affordable learning materials and career development opportunities in OER. Rather than forcing their way into a niche, Rebus staff have gently carved one out. This success can be attributed to listening to the response to their programming in the OER community and responding with expanded offerings that represent an authentic effort to lend help wherever it is needed.

Elevate Community

It is by the grace of the OER community that Rebus has enjoyed such success as a leader in the education sector. Cultivating a vast and diverse network has broadened the scope of Rebus’s capabilities, such as in its partnerships with OEN (on Office Hours), the Hewlett Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation. By emphasizing authentic connections, Rebus is proud to see many program participants repeatedly engaging with the organization, whether that is taking advantage of the Rebus Forum, participating in or facilitating the OPC, attending webinars, or enjoying the foundation’s openly licensed materials.

Lead with Values

Every action of the Rebus team is tied to an intention, championing reciprocity, agency, authenticity, curiosity, and celebrating joy. Rebus is privileged to lead with these values owing to the foundation’s charitable status and the leadership modeled by the Board and team. With a mandate to maximize community impact rather than maximizing profits, Rebus is empowered to offer programs and resources at low-to-no costs. Rebus enjoys the greatest possible reach by attracting like-minded program participants and partner organizations who can engage with us regardless of their size or access to funds.