Build up: A Case Study of a Global Digital Organization Enacting Workplace Justice

This case study presents an insider account of the organizational structure, policies, and practices of Build Up, a global non-profit organization that demonstrates how digitalization can be used to disrupt traditional organizational norms and redefine workplace participation, transparency, and equity. Build Up operates as a non-hierarchical, collectively-led non-governmental organization where financial and organizational ownership, risk, and decision-making are shared among all team members. The case study highlights how Build Up’s “money pile” financial model and consensus-based decision-making processes challenge entrenched notions of managerial control and international salary hierarchies standard in global non-profit structures. While Build Up’s model showcases how digitalization can foster decolonial practices and material changes within a distributed workforce, it also reveals the inherent challenges of sustaining these alternative structures. The case study explores how trust, flexibility, and mutual accountability are cultivated to maintain participation across dispersed, remote teams. Build Up’s experience offers valuable lessons for other organizations seeking to reimagine labor practices and financial equity in the global digital age.