History of the FEC

The Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC) was founded in December 1976
when the first assembly was held at East Wind Community in Missouri. The
organization was originally inspired by the networks of mutual support observed
among Israeli kibbutzim by Kat Kinkade of Twin Oaks. Early ideas for cooperation ranged from
loans and labor exchange to sharing community-building skills with low-income
people, and eventually settled upon outreach as the core activity.

There are 16 groups who have been full members of the FEC since from 1976
through 2002. In most cases the groups that left disbanded, rather than losing
interest in the organization.

A "Communities-in-Dialogue" category was
added in 1980 for groups wishing to maintain a link with us who weren\'t ready
for full membership, and an additional 10 groups have used that status since
then.

The FEC is presently comprised of 6 full member groups and 7
communities-in-dialogue, for a total of 14 communities.