Working together to accelerate student debt repayment is a new approach to the problem. Finances are important. Disclosure is an important part of building trust.

For these reasons and more, having written agreements is a necessary part of membership in the Debt Liberation Laboratory.

Four agreements are required for membership. Each agreement accomplishes something different:

• The Debt Liberator’s Pledge [Short. Less than 60 words.]. The Liberator's Pledge is the heart of the community's work. People work together out of respect and love. We remind ourselves regularly with the Pledge.
• Social Contract [Short. About 350 words.]. Lodges are a community. Social norms help communities function. Respect, equality, and togetherness are fundamental to the way we treat each other. We're dedicated to reducing each other's student debts. The Social Contract helps clarify the basic social norms that should always be present in Lodges.
• Information Sharing Agreement [Not so short. About 3,200 words.]. We can't reduce debt together if we don't share information. Yet we're taught to safeguard and keep private almost all financial information. The Information Sharing Agreement helps us be clear about what we need to share to succeed, with whom we'll share, how we'll respect what's shared, and how we all agree to safeguard the information we share.
• Membership Agreement [Short. Less than 150 words.] Membership is meaningful, and the Membership Agreement helps everyone understand the relationship they are forming with each other and the community created by the Grand Lodge.

Can lodges add to the basic social environment provided by these documents? Of course!

Lodges can adopt rites and rituals and social norms so long as they don't violate any of the existing agreements or ethical standards the Debt Liberation Laboratory upholds.

We refer to the process of adopting additional elements as local governance. See the Membership Handbook for more information about local governance.