Start one in
your community
Most communities already hold what they need. The work is naming it, mapping it, and setting it moving. We supply the engine, the onboarding, and a steward who has done this before — you supply the relationships.
What you need
to start
These are not requirements we invented. They are what every network that stuck turned out to have from the start.
A community
Twenty-five people who already know each other is enough. A mailing list of two thousand strangers is not.
Two stewards
People with standing in that community who will hold the network — approve members, set the rules, answer questions.
A real surplus
Something that already circulates informally: food, tools, gear, skills, hours, transport, teaching.
A place
Somewhere to meet. Exchange is finished in person; the app just makes the match and keeps the record.
How it goes
Conversation
We talk through what your community already circulates and whether an exchange network is genuinely the right tool. Sometimes it is not, and we will say so.
Mapping
Together we map the abundance, the needs, and the boundaries — what counts as inside the network, and what your categories should be called in your own language.
Node setup
Your network is created on the engine. Stewards are configured, categories and limits are set, and the network appears in the app.
Founding circle
Your first members join, post, and complete real exchanges with a steward walking alongside. The goal is thirty logged exchanges, not thirty signups.
Hoʻomau
Quarterly steward calls, access to the wider network of stewards, and the option to open corridors to other nodes when both sides are ready.
Get in touch
A real person reads every one of these. Expect a reply within a week.
Prefer email? Write to aloha@exchangeave.com with the same information.
For nations and
larger organisations
If your nation or organisation has its own identity infrastructure, land records, or member registry, you may want a federated peer node rather than a network hosted by us.
That means implementing the Exchange Engine contracts against your own stack, keeping every record inside your jurisdiction, and opening corridors to other nodes on terms you set. This is paid implementation work, scoped case by case.