Multi-Organization Hierarchy

NHF's organizational structure with 1,400 local chapters is the most complex onboarding case for the platform, but the hierarchy problem is not unique to NHF - any federation-style organization will require parent-child relationships between organizational units. Without hierarchy support, aggregated reporting is impossible or must be done manually, which defeats the core value proposition of automated Bufdir reporting. The double-counting problem (where a user belonging to multiple local chapters could have their activities counted multiple times) is a compliance risk that could cause organizations to lose Bufdir funding. Solving hierarchy correctly also enables future growth: as Meander onboards more complex organizations, the data model scales without structural changes. The strict data isolation guarantee ensures that even within a hierarchy, sibling organizations cannot access each other's operational data.

The organizations table uses a self-referential parent_organization_id column to represent the hierarchy, with depth limited to three levels (national → regional → local) to keep query complexity manageable. Organization membership in the organization_memberships table links users to one or more organizational units, with a primary_organization_id for disambiguation. Aggregation queries for reporting use recursive CTEs in PostgreSQL to traverse the hierarchy upward, always anchored to the requesting admin's organizational scope to enforce isolation. The admin portal hierarchy management page renders the tree using a collapsible tree component with inline add/remove actions. Role-based access control enforces that admins at a given level can only manage their own level and below - a regional admin cannot modify a national-level organization. The mobile app resolves the user's primary organization at login and does not expose hierarchy management surfaces, keeping the coordinator and peer mentor experience simple.