Author Archives: John McNamara

About John McNamara

John spent 26 years with Union Cab of Madison Cooperative and currently helps develop co-ops in the Pacific Northwest. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Masters in Management: Co-operatives and Credit Unions from Saint Mary's University.

Help Support Co-op Development

On May 5-6, the Give Big WA event will happen. This is an annual event similar to #GivingTuesday that highlights Washington non-profits and helps them raise funds to continue their mission I am engaging in a peer-to-peer campaign as well … Continue reading

Posted in Movement | Tagged | Leave a comment

Becoming Human Through Cooperation

“Work is, before anything else, both as a service to the community and as a path towards personal development.”-José María Arizmendiarrieta (reflection 263 from Pensamientos) As a member of a worker cooperative and as a co-op developer, there are few … Continue reading

Posted in Human Relations, Pensimientos | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Resilience Doctrine

My good friend, Dr. Zoltán Grossman, just posted these videos from his contribution the “Pandemic Academy”. If you share, please give him credit. . . The Resilience Doctrine: Disaster Cooperativism in the Climate & Pandemic Crises (Part I: Individualism & … Continue reading

Posted in Human Relations, Movement | Tagged | Leave a comment

Get Ready for the Recovery

“The old temptation of Esau, who sold his birthright for a plate of beans, is something that is something that is constantly being offered to people. Workers, with their hope and right to a new order, have the same temptation … Continue reading

Posted in Co-op Blueprint, Conversion, Movement, Pensimientos | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Human Dignity

“We should begin by considering all humans as citizens of equal dignity and destiny.” “The destiny of each one of us is linked to that of others” –Don José María Arizmendiarrieta No man is an island entire of itself; every … Continue reading

Posted in Human Relations, Pensimientos, worker co-ops | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Unnamed Co-op Value: Gritty

Calvin Coolidge, the US President that symbolized the 1920s, has been credited with this statement: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; … Continue reading

Posted in American Dream, worker co-ops | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Adding a Pop-Up :(

This is news about the site. I added a pop-up today. It will be used sparingly. I mainly wanted to highlight several co-ops that I am working with that need your support. I got the idea of a pop-up from … Continue reading

Posted in Site News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Are We Not Owners? We Are Workers!

Last Winter, Fifty by Fifty ran a series of blog posts about the sale of the ESOP New Belgium Brewery to Kirin. It was a great series of posts of which I was honored to participate. This was and is … Continue reading

Posted in Education, worker co-ops | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Co-ops in the Time of Corona

A Special Message to My Readers: I don’t get a lot of comments on this site these days. That is likely my fault in my attempt to keep the bots at bay. However, I really want you to comment. I … Continue reading

Posted in Movement | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tech Co-op’s Are on the Rise. . .

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the desires to create co-op version of “Uber”. One respondent on a different forum noted that I was in “violent agreement” with the platform co-op community. I was glad to hear that! … Continue reading

Posted in Movement, Platform Coops | Tagged , , | Leave a comment