This week, we've got two co-op conversion stories. The first is from a group of tenants in Washington DC who are raising money to convert their apartment building to a housing cooperative, using DC's Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act.
Then, the founder of Resources for Learning talks about why she decided to convert her consulting business into a worker co-op and the process she and her employees went through to create a healthy, democratic business.
DC Tenants Need $11,000 to Convert their Apartment to a Housing Co-op
by Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo
The Park East tenants and DC housing activist-author Amanda Huron organized a tour of a few of the affordable cooperatives in the Adams Morgan neighborhood to raise money to pay for Park East’s upcoming inspection required by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. If all goes as planned in setting up the limited equity co-op, HUD will insure the low-interest loan that will cover 97% of the building purchase cost.Â
Resources For Learning's Transition to a Worker Co-op
How the Owner Retired, Got a Fair Value & Benefited Employees
by Zolidar
Linda Wurzbach recently retired from a successful 12-person education consultancy using an employee ownership model. Resources for Learning’s path to a worker co-op showcases a successful transition and the win-win for Linda and her employees.Â
REI board blocks labor-backed candidates from ballot
Cascade PBS — Unionized REI employees are calling on members of the outdoor retail co-op to vote no in this year’s board of director elections after the company excluded two union-backed candidates from the ballot...At a press conference and rally outside the Seattle REI store on Monday, union members and labor organizers said the election process has grown undemocratic, and that the restrictive board rules are reflective of REI’s shift away from its co-op roots...
Women in Co-op Leadership
Co-operatives First — For this special podcast episode we spoke to the out-going board president of Federated Co-operatives Limited, Sharon Alford. With International Women’s Day coming up we want to get her perspective as the first woman to lead this iconic institution. Sharon shares useful insights for women who are heading their own co-ops and anyone who serves on a co-op board. This conversation highlights the depth of her integrity and why she’s been a trusted and effective leader for the past five years...
ICA Statement on International Women's Day
International Cooperative Alliance — International Women’s Day during the International Year of Cooperatives is a unique opportunity to reflect on the progress made in the fight for gender equality for women members of cooperatives. It is also timely to acknowledge the great contribution made to the cooperative sector in terms of gender equality and women’s empowerment, especially as the development of cooperatives have, since they were created, relied on the contribution of women...
Indonesia to form village cooperatives to absorb farm goods
Antara News — The Indonesian government plans to establish cooperatives in every village to absorb local agricultural products and shorten the distribution chain to consumers. Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan said the budget for the so-called Red and White cooperatives will come from the existing village funds of Rp1 billion (nearly US$61,000) allocated to each village annually...
Is there an average tech cooperative worker?
Diginomica — "We used to rely on those defecting from IT organizations elsewhere who were fed up with traditional employment models. But we’re now increasingly taking on young people who we identify as having the right skills, who believe in a growth mindset, and can adapt their brains to the challenges. We often find younger workers are more enthusiastic and better at collaboration than those joining at a later stage in their career path."...
Indigenous Food Reciprocity as a Model for Mutual Aid
Civil Eats — “In a traditional Anishinaabe economy, the land is the source of all goods and services, which are distributed in a kind of gift exchange: One life is given in support of another,” Potawatomi botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer writes in her newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. “The focus is on supporting the good of the people, not only an individual. Receiving a gift from the land is coupled to attached responsibilities of sharing, respect, reciprocity, and gratitude.”...
New on our YouTube Channel
Cooperative Month in Review | GEO Live #23
Like what you find on GEO?
Make a Donation Today!
Your tax-deductible contribution ensures that GEO can continue to provide independent grassroots content about the cooperative and solidarity economy movements.
Got something to say?
Let us know. Send your comments, suggestions, rants and article submissions to editors@geo.coop.
Follow us on Social Media
Mastodon: social.coop/@GEO_Collective
FB: facebook.com/GEOCollective
Twitter: twitter.com/@GEO_Collective
Instagram: instagram.com/grassrootsecon
Â
Our mailing address is:
Grassroots Economic Organizing
P.O. Box 115
Riverdale MD 20738-0115
