From Experiment to Endurance: WWF-Brazil’s Five Years of Pandacracy
WWF-Brazil has always stood at the intersection of ecological urgency and social responsibility. Since its founding in 1996, it has worked across Brazil’s biomes to safeguard biodiversity and promote sustainable development. By 2019, it recognized that its own structure had to reflect the same values of adaptability and resilience it was advocating for in society. That recognition gave birth to a new way of organizing, which staff affectionately call Pandacracy. What began as an experiment in a handful of circles has now become the backbone of the organization.
This blog post is part of 80+ case studies of progressive organizations we created for the ZeroDX awards 2025. These organizations embody the principles of RenDanHeYi in their work structures:
Zero Distance to customer: Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace
Autonomy: Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution
Shared Rewards: Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success.
The first small-scale pilots emerged just before the pandemic. In 2020, as COVID reshaped the global context, WWF-Brazil made the bold decision to extend Pandacracy across the whole institution. Circles were established in place of departments, roles became fluid, and decision-making authority was distributed. Employees no longer waited for approval from above to act. They shaped initiatives directly with partners on the ground, whether reallocating funds when drought disrupted reforestation plansor creating new structures in response to wildfires in the Amazon. In moments of crisis, the new system demonstrated its value through speed and clarity, strengthening what RenDanHeYi describes as zero distance to the user.
Over the past five years, Pandacracy has continued to evolve. Performance systems are revised annually, promotions and merit are under constant refinement, and all of this must be reconciled with Brazilian labor laws that still reflecthierarchical assumptions. Salary adjustments cannot be reversed, which complicates role transitions, and onboarding remains a steep challenge in a country where almost no other organizations operate with similar principles. Yet WWF-Brazil has persisted in shaping rules that both respect the law and honor the spirit of self-management. In doing so, it has shown the RenDanHeYi principle of continuous learning in practice.
Cynthia Bezerra Coutinho, who leads the HR area, has seen first-hand how the greatest cultural shift is not structural but mental. The role of lead link, often confused with being a boss, is meant to be a facilitator of collective action. When that distinction is not understood, circles slip back into old patterns of control. Some teams thrive with high autonomy and psychological safety, while others remain hesitant, weighed down by hierarchical habits. Rather thanreturning to the past, WWF-Brazil chooses to rotate lead links, allowing them to keep their other roles while giving others the chance to guide. Leadership accountability has come to mean enabling others rather than commanding them.
Autonomy has been welcomed differently across the workforce. For many, the ability to make decisions without a boss has been liberating. For others, it has been daunting. Some find responsibility heavy, especially when conflict arises, and must learn new ways of addressing tension. Yet the rise in open disagreements has been less a sign of division and more an indicator of greater authenticity. People are now more willing to voice concerns and resolve them through non-violent communication, something unthinkable in the older, more hierarchical system. This new dynamic reflectshow autonomy in the RenDanHeYi sense is inseparable from responsibility for results.
The model has also revealed talents that were previously invisible. Conservation specialists now contribute to diversity initiatives, and colleagues once siloed in technical domains can take roles in cultural or organizational development. This cross-pollination has enriched the organization, bringing a stronger sense of connection between daily tasks and WWF’s broader mission. What used to be hidden capacity has become visible and deployable across circles, enhancing both effectiveness and job satisfaction. Transparency has become a cornerstone, making it easier to identify where skills can be applied and where individuals can stretch into new contributions.
The effects on purpose have been profound. Employees have always been motivated by a desire to protect nature, but Pandacracy has amplified that sense of alignment. The mission is no longer distant or abstract; it is woven into each circle’s agenda and into individual choices. For some, this closeness to purpose has blurred boundaries betweenprofessional and personal life, leading to risks of burnout. Extra hours are common, not from pressure but from conviction. The organization is learning to manage this intensity by finding ways to support balance while honoring commitment. What has emerged is a stronger form of engagement, a willingness to see the mission as a shared responsibility rather than the directive of a few.
The results on the ground are striking. WWF-Brazil has supported the restoration of more than 42,000 hectares, mobilized over 35,000 families in restoration, socio-bioeconomy, and humanitarian projects, and carried out nearly 200 emergency actions. It has helped commercialize 34,500 tons of products from small-scale and family farming andpartnered with 87 companies to implement deforestation-free supply chains. More than 2,500 people have participated in training programs, and R$84 million has been leveraged to strengthen local businesses, optimize value chains, and consolidate protected areas. Behind these figures lies the ability of self-managed circles to act quickly, guided by purpose rather than hierarchy.
Financially, the organization has become more resilient, with increased revenues and greater agility to navigate changing political climates. Circles can be created and dissolved quickly, allowing WWF-Brazil to adapt to shiftingnational priorities. The path has not been uniform, and contradictions remain between empowerment and overwhelm, autonomy and the need for guidance. Yet these very tensions are where the strength of the model resides. By engaging communities, businesses, and governments as part of a broader ecosystem, WWF-Brazil demonstrates how co-creation can unlock solutions no single actor could design alone.
Five years after its launch, Pandacracy is no longer seen as a temporary experiment. It has become part of the organization’s identity, a living system that continues to adapt and refine itself. Employees share leadership, act withgreater speed, and connect their work more clearly to the collective mission. In a country where environmental challenges are urgent and political conditions uncertain, this is not just an internal achievement but a survival strategy.
WWF-Brazil’s journey shows that self-management in the non-profit sector is possible, durable, and deeply impactful. By trusting people to lead, by making information transparent, and by linking authority to purpose, the organization hasgiven new life to its mission. Pandacracy, once an experiment, has become a model of endurance, proving that when courage, autonomy, and collaboration align, even the most complex challenges can be met with creativity and strength.
