It is a quiet week at the Workers’ Paradise. I am getting ready for the trip to San Francisco and Berkley for the 4th National Worker Cooperative Conference. It should be an exciting time. If you aren’t one of the hundreds of people attending, I will be attempting to blog about it here. Also, the folks at GEO will be blogging as well. We really want to bring the message home. In fact, it is my hope that next week our coops become infused with energy and good vibrations from visiting and networking with each other.
The following is the schedule. I am sure, if you are in the area, you can still attend the sessions for special day rates. For more information, visit the Federation.
9-10:30am – Workshop Session 1
Bringing Your Idea to Fruition Part 1: What is a Worker Coop?
Cooperating on Campus: Student-LedWorker Cooperativess
How to Read a Balance Sheet
Raising the floor for Working Women and Their Families: the WAGES model of worker cooperative development
Creating an Apprentice Program
Structured Discussion: The Deeper Meaning of Cooperation
10:40am
Welcome to the Bay Area: NoBAWC, USFWC
Hello, Cleveland! Evergreen’s Place-Based Strategy for Worker Cooperative Development
Speaker: Ted Howard, Evergreen Cooperatives
12pm: LUNCH
DISCUSSION: Worker Coops as an Asset-Building Tool – Ted Howard, Hilary Abell, Heather McCulloch
1:15-3:15pm: Workshop Session 2
Cooperativism, the Informal Economy, and Community Engagement: Worker Coop Solutions to Community Challenges
Bringing Your Idea to Fruition Part 2: Going into Depth with Your Plan
Getting the Coop Work Done: Structures and Models
Creating Spaces that Help Us Thrive: Preventing Burnout and Promoting Mental Health
Large Group Conflict Resolution: Fight the Good Fight, Better!
How to Talk to Your Lender
3:30pm
Youth Can Become Their Own Bosses! The Toxic Soil Busters Show You How
SPEAKERS: Janice Nyamekye, Patricia Feraud, Toxic Soil Busters Cooperative
4:30-6
Workshop Session 3
Economics from the Grassroots: social justice groups building worker democracy – successes and lessons learned
Worker Cooperatives and Unions: A Strategy to Create Jobs and Union Members
Accountability, Evaluations and Grievance Process
Run an Effective Meeting: Facilitation Training
Youth are the Leaders: Youth-Led Cooperatives in High Schools and Beyond
Structured Discussion: Community-Supported Cooperatives
6:30-8pm – Dinner and Awards Banquet
8-11pm – Party and Fundraiser at Clark Kerr Center
Sunday, August 8
8am – Breakfast
9am-11am: Workshop Session 4
Ask an Expert: Get Answers to Your Legal and Accounting Questions
Education, Engagement, Everyone: Models and Solutions for Fostering Education in Your Co-op
Developing Compassion, Self-Empowerment and Cooperation
Privilege, Oppression and Workplace Democracy: The People’s Food Coop story of fostering anti-oppression analysis within a workplace
Work Culture and Work Space: Sexual Harrassment and Assault in the Workplace
Structured Discussion: Anti-Capitalism, A Love Story
11:10am
A Vision for Education: Teachers Cooepratives
Speaker: Dee Thomas, EdVisions Cooperative and Minnesota New Country School
12:15pm: LUNCH
DISCUSSION TABLES (optional): CA Worker Coop Statute, Continuing Educational Opportunities, Regional organizing
1:25-2:55pm: Workshop Session 5
Ask an Expert: One on One Consultations
Healthcare and Retirement Benefits for Cooperative Members
Goodbye Wall St, Hello to coop equity financing with worker control: the Equal Exchange experience
Desarollo de cooperativas: Reclutamiento de membresía (en espanol)
Marketing the Coop Advantage
Cooperative-led and -funded Development: The Staff Project of VAWC
3:15-4:45pm: Workshop Session 6
Building Intergenerational Cooperatives
Introducing the Coop Index
Putting it Together: A Functional Organizational Model
Creative Financing for Your Worker Cooperative
How to Be a Peer Advisor