Everything Co-op with Vernon Oakes

1-4-2024 Elizabeth Carolyn Allen Bailey pays tribute to Vernon Oakes, on the occasion of the announcement of his induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame. For much of her professional career, Liz held leadership positions with the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International, including Interim CEO, VP for Public Policy & Cooperative Development, and almost eight years as Execut...

2-15-2024 In honor of the 2024 Black History Month theme of African Americans and the Arts, Vernon interviews Ashley Walden, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unlock Creative. Vernon and Ashley will discuss the purpose and objective of In honor of the 2024 Black History Month theme of African Americans and the Arts, Vernon interviews Ashley Walden, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unloc...

February 8. 2024 Allen Kwabena Frimpong, Co-founder and principal cultural designer with ZEAL,, discusses Cooperative Economic Alternatives that Enable Artists and Creatives to Thrive. Allen Kwabena Frimpong is a cooperative entrepreneur, cultural designer, and conceptual artist. In addition to being a co-founder of Zeal, he is a founder of several powerful and influential social entrepreneurship...

February 1, 2024 In honor of the 2024 Black History Month theme of African Americans and the Arts, Vernon interviews Kali Akuno, co-founder and Director and Cooperation Jackson. Vernon and Kali discuss new initiatives of Cooperation Jackson, and how the organization has used "the Arts" to inform and promote co-ops. Kali Akuno is an organizer, educator, and writer for human rights and social justic...

January 25, 2024 Vernon interviews Devin Fuhrman, Chief Agriculture and Sponsor Relations Officer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Vernon and Devin discuss the evolution of Nationwide, from its beginning as a part of the Farm Bureau through its partnerships and innovation techniques it relies on today, to maintain its commitment to be a "Customer Protection Company." Devin Fuhrman serves as...

January 18, 2024 Doug O’Brien, President and CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) discusses his cooperative journey, and the 2024 initiatives for NCBA CLUSA. Doug O'Brien works with the cooperative community, both domestically and internationally, to deepen their impact and influence. NCBA CLUSA is the primary voice for cooperatives in the United St...

December 14, 2023 Everything Co-op continues to feature finalist from its Inaugural 2023 Holiday List, a thoughtfully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community. In this 3rd installment, Vernon will introduces his listeners to two of his picks for the "Body" & "Community". Nate Chittenden, Member/Owner at Cabot Creamery Cooperative, discusses the whole process of how the...

12.7.2023 Christina Jennings, Christina Clamp. Michael Peck & Kevin O'Brien Share Products & Services for the Mind from Everything Co-op's 2023 Co-op Holiday List. Everything Co-op continues its Inaugural 2023 Holiday List, a thoughtfully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community. In this 2nd installment Vernon introduces listeners to three of his picks for your "Mind" a...

LaKeisha Wolf, Executive Director of Ujamaa Collective discusses how Ujamaa has used the collective cooperative business model to address Community problems, and create generational wealth. This interview features selections from Everything Co-op's 2023 Holiday List, a thoughtfully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community. The intention is to put into practice the princ...

November 16, 2023 Everything Co-op continues its observance of National American Indian Heritage Month, with an interview of Josephine Foo, executive director of Indian Country Grassroots Support, and project attorney with the Diné Nihi Kéyah Project, and Raymond Deal traditional counselor with Diné Bá Álchíní Yił Ádaaní Navajo Family Voices. Vernon and his guests will discuss the role Lawyers and...

November 9, 2023 Everything Co-op's kicks off its observance of National American Indian Heritage Month, with an interview of Eva Seidelman, associate at Chestnut Law Offices, and Kevin J. Fort, Executive Director and CFO of Regenerative Business Institute (RBI). Vernon and his guests will discuss the role Lawyers and accountants play in representing tribal communities, governments, businesses and...

October 12, 2023 Vernon interviews Angela Marie Sayles, CEO of Little Africa Food Collaborative. Angela. Vernon will discuss her efforts to address land and food rights, and the topic of Rethinking Market Studies for Black Led Cooperatives. Angela holds the position of CEO for the Little Africa Food Cooperative. She advocates for local food systems and cooperatives, lobbying within the Ag Noire Co...

Everything Co-op features four Cooperative Leaders and Scholars who are participating in the 2023 IMPACT Conference. Vernon will discuss the co-op sectors they are involved with, and they will share their cooperative journey. Adrián Román is a Co-op Organizer at BCCO parallel to his work as a mediator and mindfulness instructor. His work as a co-op organizer focuses on creating and facilitating cu...

September 28, 2023 Sheldon C. Petersen retired governor and CEO of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), discusses his co-op journey, and projections about the future of the cooperative movement. Sheldon Petersen served as Governor/CEO of CFC for 26 years from 1995 until his retirement in 2021. He began his career in the rural electrification program in 1976 as staff...

September 21, 2023 Everything Co-op continues it's tribute to the 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductees, with an interview of Leslie Mead, retired Executive Director of the Cooperative Development Foundation. Leslie discusses her co-op journey, and projections about the future of the cooperative movement with Vernon. After growing up in Indiana and attending college in Iowa, Mead moved to Washin...

August 14, 2021 Everything Co-op continues its tribute in honor of the 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees, with an interview of co-op housing advocate, Linda Leaks. Linda and Vernon discuss her cooperative journey, and projections for the future. Linda Leaks, affectionately known as the "Godmother of Housing Co-ops," is a Co-founder of the Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community, and at least 20...

September 7, 2023 Everything Co-op has dedicated the Month of September to interview the 2023 Hall of Fame Inductees. Induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame is the highest honor that the U.S. cooperative community bestows on the extraordinary men and women who have made genuinely heroic contributions in support of the cooperative form of enterprise. The first interview to kick off this tribut...

August 24, 2023 Joanne Lechasseur, Co-founder, Program Director of the Global Innovation Cooperative Summit, and Zuraidah Hoffman, Communications Director for the Global Innovation Cooperative Summit, discuss the upcoming Global Innovation Cooperative Summit, which will occur in Montreal, September 27 – 29, 2023. Zuraidah Hoffman is an Independent International Cooperative Communications consultan...

August 10, 2023 Vernon interviews Deb Trocha, Executive Director at Indiana Cooperative Development Center (ICDC). Deb and Vernon discuss the Up & Coming Food Co-op Conference, "The River of Cooperation." The conference will be held at the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront hotel, September 14 - 16, 2023. For the first time ever, the Up & Coming Food Co-op Conference will be held in a city tha...

August 3, 2023 Vernon interviews Minnie McMahon, Coordinator of the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network. Vernon and Minnie discuss the role community land trusts play in retaining collective control, strengthening diverse neighborhoods, creating permanent affordability in housing, and the history of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI). Minnie McMahon is the Coordinator of the...

July 27, 2023 Vernon interviews Dr. Dawn Carpenter, director of the Solidarity Economy Workshop. Vernon and Dawn discuss the theological nature of work and the moral responsibilities of wealth. Dr. Dawn Carpenter is an ethicist and a leading authority on the theological nature of work and the moral responsibilities of wealth. She is the founding director of the Solidarity Economy Workshop and the...

July 20, 2023 Peter Dean leads National Co-op Community Services, the national division of UHAB, in New York City. UHAB has empowered New York City tenants to create over 1,300 limited equity housing cooperatives totaling over 30,000 homes during the past 50 years. NCCS is offering incubators around the country to share the lessons UHAB has learned so others can build permanently affordable housin...

July 13, 2023 Gary Hampton, Business Growth Consultant, and Vice Chair of the Association of Cooperative Educators' (ACE) Board of Directors, discusses the upcoming Climate, Cooperatives and Resilience conference, sponsored by ACE, on August 7-10, 2023, in San Juan Puerto Rico. Gary W. Hampton is an expert on organizational development, fundraising and community-based economic development. He advi...

June 22, 2023 Vernon Interviews Mark Goehring, Manager of Columinate and Common Good Management Services (Common Good); and Alejandra Chavez, Community Service Representative at Common Good. Our host, Vernon Oakes, is a member consultant of Columinate, and has been on the Common Good development team since its inception in Fall 2018. Vernon and his guests discuss the overarching goals and objectiv...

Vernon interviews Erika Allen, Co-Founder and CEO of Operations for Urban Growers Collective. Erika discusses the Urban Growers Collective's apprenticeship program, and how the cooperative business model can be used to address food insecurity in urban areas. Erika Allen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Operations for Urban Growers Collective, President of Green ERA Educational NFP and Co-Owner of Gree...