Everything Co-op With Vernon Oakes

Clark R. Arrington, General Counsel of The Working World, Inc., a cooperative that builds cooperative businesses in low-income communities; and Senior Fellow at Seed Commons, a community wealth cooperative. He’s an experienced attorney and educator who specializes in worker ownership cooperatives and socially responsible business practices. Prior to joining The Working World Inc., and Seed Commons, he spent most of his professional life teaching courses related to cooperatives, business law, and community economic development at more than half a dozen institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Beginning with a teaching job immediately after college in Chicago, he went on to The University of Southern New Hampshire, The Open University of Tanzania; and Kampala International University-Dar es Salaam College. Throughout his career, Clark has used his legal acumen to address capital formation issues for worker cooperatives, and has played a critical role in leveraging millions of dollars of new investment for social

Camille Kerr, Founder & principal of Upside Down Consulting, discusses ChiFresh, and how social justice is integrated into her business. through Upside Down Consulting Camille is working to build a democratic economy in service to U.S. social justice movements including organizations advancing Black liberation, immigrant rights, food justice, and the U.S. labor movement. She specializes in cooperative startup development, managing complex worker-centered initiatives, supporting existing businesses to become worker-owned, as well as policy advocacy and drafting. In partnership with Chicago organizers, Camille helped found ChiFresh Kitchen, a worker cooperative food service contracting business owned and determined primarily by formerly incarcerated folks living in the south and west sides of Chicago. She is currently a nonvoting shareholder and management consultant for ChiFresh. Before starting Upside Down Consulting, Camille served as the Associate Director of The ICA Group, the Director of Field Building

2021 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductee Andrew Reicher, Executive Director of Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB], discusses his career in creating communities through cooperative housing in New York City. Andrew Reicher has devoted his entire career to improving the lives of people struggling to rise from poverty through access to stable, affordable housing. Andy’s efforts have helped create programs within the New York City government crucial to fostering the development of housing cooperatives for low-income New Yorkers. Through his leadership at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), Andy has brought homeownership to thousands of city residents, and is generous in sharing his expertise with others in the U.S. turning to the cooperative model as a source of homeownership for low-income residents. For nearly 40 years, New York City contracted with UHAB to provide technical assistance to income-restricted cooperatives going through the Tenant Interim Lease program. Under Andy’s leadership,

Attorneys Renee C. Hatcher, director of the Business Enterprise Law Clinic, and Assistant Professor of Law at UIC John Marshall Law School, and Dorcas R. Gilmore, a principal of Gilmore Khandhar, LLC, and teacher at The George Washington University Law School, discuss the many facets of fostering sustainable economic justice through community development law. Renee Hatcher is a human rights and community development lawyer. who is also an Assistant Professor of Law, and Director of the Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic at UIC John Marshall Law School (JMLS). The legal clinic provides free legal support to cooperatives, community-based institutions, and other types of solidarity economy initiatives and projects. As director of the Clinic and Assistant Professor of Law at JMLS, Renee is redefining what it means to bring about sustainable economic justice through community development law. Hatcher currently serves as a board member for the New Economy Coalition, a member of Resist, Reimagine and

Dãnia Davy, director of Land Retention and Advocacy at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, discusses land retention; the Federation's 54th Annual Meeting; and the upcoming Heir Property Conference. Dãnia serves as Director of Land Retention and Advocacy at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund. The Federation is the largest and oldest cooperatively-owned organization whose membership includes black farmers, landowners and cooperatives. Dãnia began her legal career as a Skadden Fellow at the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project ​implementing a project she designed ​which provided community education and estate planning services to improve Black farmers' access to legal services in the rural South. ​She developed the documentary - "Our Land, Our Lives: The North Carolina Black Farmers' Experience" and served on the inaugural North Carolina Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council.

Michael Johnson, co-founder of The Growing Democracy Project and community advocate for transformative community development, discusses his most recent book, "The Growing Democracy Project: A Cultural Strategy for Taking Our Love, Power, and Democracy to New Levels." Michael and Vernon also illustrate the role culture plays in in shaping how we live, and how democracy can be used to address the issues of polarization that the Country is struggling with. Michael Johnson has been immersed in cooperative/solidarity economic movements since 2007. His involvement began with the Valley Alliance of Worker Co-operatives (New England), Grassroots Economic Organizing Collective (GEO), and SolidarityNYC. In 1980 he Co-founded the Ganas Community in Staten Island, New York. The Ganas Community is in part a place to live and work together, and an experiential research center in democratic culture. For 20 years Michael participated in this transformative community of practice. Throughout his professional career Michael

Harold Feld, Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge discusses The Digital Platform Act, and the role cooperatives can play in securing access to Broadband in Rural communities. Harold Feld is the Senior Vice President for Public Knowledge, one of the nation’s premier consumer advocacy organizations working at the intersection of copyright, telecommunications and the Internet. Feld is a highly regarded thought leader in the areas of telecommunications and digital consumer protection, and author of The Case for the Digital Platform Act: Breakups, Starfish Problems and Tech Regulation. He was previously Senior Vice President at the Media Access Project (MAP), a public interest law firm, where he advanced competition policies in media, telecommunications and technology. Prior to joining MAP, Feld was an associate at Covington & Burling, and clerked for the DC Court of Appeals.

Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D, Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development at John Jay College of the City University of New York discusses how Co-ops are being used to "Build Back Better," and democratize community development. Dr. Gordon Nembhard, is Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development at John Jay College, of the City University of New York; Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice, and a 2016 inductee into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame. She is an affiliate scholar at the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, where she is co-investigator for the Measuring the Impact of Credit Unions Community and University Research Partnerships (CURA) Project; and an affiliate scholar with the Economics Department’s Center on Race and Wealth at Howard University. Dr. Gordon Nembhard is a political economist specializing in community economics, Black Political Economy

July 1, 2021 Michael Alden Peck, executive director and co-founder of 1worker1vote and former Delegate for Mondragon Corporation, discusses projects, conferences and 1worker1vote Initiatives with host Vernon Oakes. In January 2014, Michael helped to launch 1worker1vote.org, a non-profit, dedicated to building a national network of unionized worker-owned cooperative businesses to overcome opportunity, mobility, and income inequality. In his work, Michael strives to overcome inequalities of wealth/income, opportunity, and social mobility by applying the sixty years of Mondragon experience and principles to form, transform, and transition worker co-ops, and union co-ops. From late 1999 until recently, Michael served as the North American delegate for Mondragon, the world's largest industrial worker cooperative. He is a dedicated advocate for the cooperative business model, and continues to use his experience with Mondragon to contribute to the cooperative movement on many platforms.

Melissa K. Scanlan is the Lynde B. Uihlein Endowed Chair in Water Policy, and director of the Center for Water Policy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences. She is also a Professor in the School of Freshwater Sciences and affiliated faculty at University of Wisconsin’s Law School. Vernon and Melissa discuss her book, Prosperity in the Fossil-Free Economy, and the role cooperatives can play in a post-COVID-19 society. Scanlan is the founder of a variety of enterprises in the social economy. She brings a deep understanding of starting and stewarding enterprises to her scholarly work. The U.S. State Department awarded her a Fulbright Senior Scholar position in Spain in 2019 to pursue research about Spanish co-ops that are sustainability leaders. Her book, Prosperity in the Fossil-Free Economy (Yale University Press 2021), compares Spanish and U.S. cooperatives to reveal insights about legal design for the triple bottom line. Professor Scanlan brings an interdisciplinary appr

Vernon discusses the impact of cooperation. From the race massacre 100 years ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to community efforts of Downtown Crenshaw to purchase the Crenshaw Mall today. In this monologue Vernon talks about the role of cooperation and co-ops in community development and community empowerment. He cites research that documents the impact of cooperatives, and shares examples of how cooperatives continue to be used to solve community problems.

Emily Nail, Executive Director for the Cooperative Council of NC discusses the Cooperative Leadership Summer Camp. As Executive Director for the CCNC Emily administers executive planning, administration, communications, education and marketing. Since assuming the position in 2015 she has worked to enhance the programs, membership and get the cooperative movement networking. Emily will also direct the Cooperative Leadership Camp for the summer program and the training for the Cooperative Dynamics Workshop, both hosted by CCNC. Emily possesses a Master's of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Eastern New Mexico University, and an undergraduate degree in Small Business Ownership with a Minor in Economics, from Illinois State University. Prior to her appointment at CCNC Emily served as training coordinator for High Plains Federal Credit Union, and was a branch VP for American Chartered Bank. The CCNC’s mission is to Educate, Promote and Connect Cooperatives across the state. Visit https://www.ccnc.coop/

Roger Green, Co-chair of the "Coalition to Transform Interfaith Medical Center" discusses community efforts to reform the Health Care Systems in Brooklyn, New York. Roger Green is the Founder of "Citizen Share Brooklyn," and the "Society for Effective Economic Democracy" (SEED). In 2014 Green assumed a co-chairmanship of the Coalition to Transform Interfaith Medical Center. Previously, Green served as an elected member of the New York State Assembly in Central Brooklyn, representing the 57 district from 1981 to 2006. He has also been a distinguished lecturer at Medgar Evers College, part of the CUNY (City University of New York) system, and is a strong supporter of economic democracy.

Dr. Lisabeth Ryder, founder of WORCS, Worker Ownership Resources and Cooperative Services, discusses the Merits of Worker Ownership Cooperatives. Dr. Lisabeth Ryder has been a mechanic, small business owner, university teacher and anthropologist, plus a database analyst and computer programmer. She has also been a life-long social justice, environmental and human rights activist, who has been involved in both community and political organizing. She has worked for organized labor over two decades, having worked for both SEIU and AFSCME. She has been involved in cooperatives since the early 1970’s. Dr. Ryder is co-founder and co-owner of LUCI LLC, a developer and incubator of worker cooperatives in Southern California, and co-chairs the Union Co-op Council for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Judith Hermanson, Director of the International Cooperative Research Group (ICRG) of the US Overseas Cooperative Development Council; Dr. Isaac K. Nyamongo; and Leah M. Lucas, international development professional, discuss the US Overseas Cooperative Development Council's four country study, "What Difference Do Cooperatives Make," and the International Evidence Summit. The summit will be held on May 26, 2021, 9:00 am - 11:00 am. For more info visit ocdc.coop. Dr. Judith Hermanson is a both a previously tenured professor of public administration at Northern Illinois University and leader in the international non-profit sector. At the ICRG she brings her expertise as an academic and scholar in combination with her deep knowledge of international development practice. Examples of her recent research include: PI on a recently completed multi-year, four country study, What Difference Do Cooperatives Make? She was a CO-I and recently published a peer reviewed article in Development Practice on Side Selling in

Dr. Lisabeth Ryder, founder of WORCS: Worker Ownership Resources and Cooperative Services appears on Everything Co-op. Vernon and Dr. Ryder discuss her live of advocacy, and the fundamentals of worker cooperatives. Dr. Lisabeth Ryder has been a mechanic and small business owner, a university teacher and anthropologist, plus a database analyst and computer programmer. She has also been a life-long social justice, environmental and human rights activist, and has been involved in both community and political organizing. She has worked for organized labor over two decades, having worked for both SEIU and AFSCME. She has been involved in cooperatives since the early 1970’s. She is a co-founder and co-owner of LUCI LLC, a developer and incubator of worker cooperatives in Southern California and co-chairs the Union Co-op Council for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Bahni Turpin, Co-founder of SoLA Food Co-op shares the journey taken in the development of SoLA, and how the organization plans to practice sustainability, fair trade, fair labor, and support local agriculture. Bahni Turpin is an accomplished actress of stage and screen, and an award winning narrator of audiobooks. The co-op bug bit quite unexpectedly when she found her self living in the food desert of South Los Angeles. Bahni jumped in, getting the ball rolling to create SoLA Food Co-op, because she truly believes that her community should take its food system into its own hands.

Dallas Robinson, Communications Director at CoFED, Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive discusses programs and grants administered by CoFED to expand the food justice and the culture of cooperation. Dallas is a Black farmer and land steward. Dallas is committed to healing Black life in the south through agriculture. As the Enchanter of Engagement, Dallas looks forward to connecting and building cooperative power amongst young BIPOC. Dallas was one of 2019's Racial Justice Fellows at CoFED. The fellowship project was a mix of oral history collection and on-farm workshops [at the Harriet Tubman Freedom Farm]. Dallas listened to and learned from the stories of farmers and rural elders, many of whom are the children of sharecroppers, to bring light to the rich history of the region as well as inform the context for growing in Eastern North Carolina.

E.G. Nadeau, author and founding Director of Cooperative Development Services, discusses his newly released book, "Strengthening the Cooperative Community," and the history of cooperative development. In 1985 Nadeau was the founding director of Cooperative Development Services, a pioneering co-op business-planning organization in the United States. During a period from 1985 to 2017, Nadeau did domestic and international co-op consulting work for the National Cooperative Business Association/CLUSA, Land O’Lakes International Development Division, the Overseas Cooperative Development Council, and other organizations. Through that time, he worked on over 50 co-op projects in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Nadeau has authored or co-authored five books and numerous articles on cooperatives and societal cooperation. He also taught more than 25 courses with cooperative themes, including as a faculty member at the International Centre for Co-operative Management at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova

Trevor Claiborn and John Henry Harris discuss 1 Million Black Shovels, a Community, Home, & School Garden Groundbreaking Event Celebrating Black Farmers, Growers and Producers. Vernon and his guests discuss the importance of the reclamation of Black-owned farm land, and the significance that agriculture plays in survival and life. Trevor Claiborn, Co-Founder of Black Soil: Our Better Nature is an author, musician, environmental educator, co-operative extension professional, youth program director, and public speaker. In 2017 Trevor and Ashley C. Smith co-founded Black Soil: Our Better Nature to help reconnect Black Kentuckians to their heritage and legacy in agriculture. Black Soil fosters the next generation of Kentucky Black farmers and chefs and leads efforts to address racialized disparities and barriers. John Henry Harris holds a degree in economics and is pursuing a degree in Agricultural Economics. He developed his affinity for farming while working with his grandfather on the family farm. As a way