Everything Co-op with Vernon Oakes

June 25, 2026 In this segment, Vernon explore the connection between cooperatives and men's health, highlighting how cooperative principles can help address the social isolation, economic challenges, and lack of support systems that often affect men's physical and mental well-being. He also discusses health disparities between men of color as compared to those who are not of color. June is Men's H...

June 18, 2026 This episode features an interview with Nathan Schneider, professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Vernon and Nathan discuss the current progress and prospects for cooperatives in Artificial Intelligence, and explores ways in which cooperatives can navigate the rise of AI without losing control of their intellectual property. Nathan Schneider is a professor o...

June 4, 2026 In this special edition of Everything Co-op, host Vernon Oakes presents an in-depth overview of the cooperative business model, explaining how cooperatives are owned and governed by the people they serve and how they create economic opportunities while strengthening communities. Drawing on decades of experience in the cooperative movement, Vernon examines the history, principles, and...

May 14, 2026 This episode of Everything Co-op features Part II of the Social Economy Road Show to NYC & Boston, with guests Michael A. Peck, Iñigo Albizuri, Ibon Zugasti and Kaisu Tuominiemi. Vernon and his guests explore the vision behind the initiative and highlight what participants can look forward to during the Road Show. The initiative will include a series of events that will focus on conne...

May 7, 2026 This episode of Everything Co-op features Part I of the Social Economy Road Show to NYC & Boston, with guests Christina Clamp, and Rodrigo Ricxu Bacus. Vernon and his guests explore the vision behind the initiative and highlight what participants can look forward to during the Road Show. Sponsored by ASBN and introducing the Arizmendiarrieta Social Economy Think Tank in collaboration w...

April 9, 2026 Everything Co-op continues its observance of the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 (IYWF 2026) with distinguished guest, Karen Washington, farmer, food justice activist, and co-owner of Rise & Root Farm in Chester, New York. Vernon and Karen discuss her journey as a farmer and food justice activists, the vital role women play in agriculture, and how initiatives like Black U...

April 2, 2026 Everything Co-op kicks off its observance of the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026) with a distinguished guest, Noémi Giszpenc, Executive Director of The Keystone Development Center (KDC). A nationally respected leader in cooperative development, Noémi Giszpenc brings more than two decades of experience advancing democratic ownership and community-based economic model...

January 15, 2022 - This episode features Caroline Shenaz Hossein. Dr. Hossein is a leading global scholar on solidarity economies, cooperative finance, and the economic contributions of racialized communities. She and Vernon will discuss her new book, The Banker Ladies, along with the benefits—and obstacles—of being at the forefront of building and sustaining solidarity economies. Caroline Shenaz...

October 30, 2026 Vernon speaks with Alison Powers of Capital Impact Partners and Mary Alex Blanton of the National Cooperative Bank (NCB). Together, they will discuss the partnership between their organizations to present the 2025 Co-op Innovation Awards, which recognize creative cooperative models that expand economic opportunities nationwide. Alison Powers is the Director of Economic Opportuniti...

January 22, 2026 - During the first segment Vernon interviews Stacey Sutton, PhD., Associate Professor of Urban Planning & Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr Sutton and Vernon will discuss how cooperatives and solidarity economies can transform cities and advance racial and economic justice. In the second segment Vernon will discuss the relationship between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr....

September 11, 2025 - This episode continues our celebration of the 2025 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with a special conversation featuring honoree Lori Capouch, former Rural Development Director for the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC). Lori reflects on her career and shares lessons from her work in strengthening rural communities—ranging from sustaining groce...

November 6, 2025 In this episode of Everything Co-op, Vernon speaks with George G. C. Parker, Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Together, they examine the “Kum Ba Yah” spirit of cooperative economics, the yin and yang of cooperative and capitalist models, and how the side-by-side coexistence of these two systems can strengthen an...

November 20, 2025 Everything Co-op launches its spotlight on the 2025 Innovation Award recipients with Michael Parker and Lindsey Lusher Shute, co-founders of Farm Generations Cooperative. In this interview, Michael and Lindsey discuss how Farm Generations empowers its members through GrownBy, their farmer-owned software platform, and how the Innovation Award will help advance their mission. Linds...

September 18, 2025 - This episode of Everything Co-op continues our tribute to the 2025 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with a special conversation featuring Tom Webb. Tom shares insights from his lifelong work advancing cooperative education and global leadership and explores the enduring value and unique advantages of the cooperative business model. Tom Webb’s career spans cooperative sectors...

September 4, 2025 Randy Lee, former CFO of Puget Consumer Co-op (PCC Community Markets). Randy reflects on his career, share insights from his nearly 50 years in the food co-op sector, and offers his thoughts on the future of food cooperatives. Randy’s journey with PCC began in 1970, when the co-op had just one storefront, 650 members, and $66,000 in revenue. Rising quickly from store manager to C...

September 25, 2025 - This episode features a tribute to the 2025 Coop Hall of Fame Unsung Hero Estelle Whitherspoon. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Ph. D., Margaret Lund, and Alice Paris honor her legacy and tell the story of her cooperative journey. Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (2014) and 2016 inductee into the U.S. Cooperative Ha...

May 8 2025 This episode features C.E. Pugh, Chief Executive Officer of National Co+op Grocers (NCG). Vernon and C.E. Pugh discuss how NCG supports the growth of the cooperative grocery sector, and his cooperative journey. C.E. Pugh is the CEO of National Co+op Grocers, a cooperative serving 166 retail grocery co-ops with over 240 storefronts across 39 states and $2.8 billion in annual sales. He jo...

August 7, 2025 Interview with John Holdsclaw IV, President & CEO of Rochdale Capital On this episode of Everything Co-op, John Holdsclaw IV, President and CEO of Rochdale Capital, explores the challenges and opportunities facing financial institutions and shares exciting new initiatives at Rochdale Capital. Rochdale Capital is a national non-profit community development loan fund advancing coopera...

Vernon Oakes interviews Ginger Rumph, Executive Director of the Douglass Community Land Trust (Douglass CLT), and Silvia Inéz Salazar, Co-president of the 1417 N Street, NW Cooperative. Together, they explore the collaboration between their organizations and share insights into their ongoing initiatives. Ginger Rumph is the founding Executive Director of the Douglass CLT, a nonprofit dedicated to...

July 3, 2025 Dr. Andre M. Perry, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and director of the Center for Community Uplift, shares his insights on how community-led approaches can drive investment into historically underfunded neighborhoods. Dr. Andre M. Perry is a nationally known and respected commentator on race, structural inequality, and education. Perry is the author of the book “Black Powe...

June 26, 2025 - Michael Peck and Dr. Christina Clamp to discuss the 2nd Volume of "Humanity@Work&life-Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience.” Michael Peck co-founded 1worker1vote in 2014, alongside ten advisory board members, to build on the 2009 United Steelworkers/Mondragon Collaboration MOU and the 2012 Union-Coop Model. He currently serves as the organization's Exe...

March 27, 2025 Everything Co-op continues its Women’s History Month series centering on the theme “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations,” set by the National Women’s History Alliance. This episode features Renee Hatcher, Professor and Director of the Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic at UIC Law. Vernon and Renee discuss the vital role of solidarity econom...

March 20, 2025 Everything Co-op continues its Women’s History Month series, that follows the theme “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations” set by the National Women’s History Alliance. This episode features E. Kim Coontz, Executive Director for the California Center for Cooperative (CCCD). Vernon and Kim discuss how her work continues to educate and inspire future genera...

March 13. 2025 - Everything Co-op continues its Women’s History Month series with the theme “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations,” set by the National Women’s History Alliance. This episode features cooperative advocates Stacey Sutton Ph. D., Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, and Assata Richards, founding director of the Sankofa Research Instit...

February 27, 2025 - This episode marks the conclusion of Everything Co-op's Black History Month series, focusing on the 2025 theme set by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH): "African Americans and Labor." This theme examines how different forms of labor—free and unfree, skilled and unskilled, vocational and voluntary—have shaped Black experiences throughout...