Everything Co-op with Vernon Oakes

Cynthia Pinchback-Hines PhD, Racial Justice Educator & Co-op Developer, of Co-op Cincy, discusses the "Power in Numbers: Black Co-op U" and "Business Legacy Fund" Programs, and announced the Annual Union Co-op Symposium, which will be held on November 12 & 13, virtually and in-person. The 1st day of the conference will be virtual, and the 2nd day will be in-person in Cincinnati. Dr. Pinchback-Hine...

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...

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 coopera...

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 creat...

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 co...

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 wh...

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 is...

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 r...

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...

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 opportuni...

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...

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 cooperat...

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...

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 serve...

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 invo...

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...

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...

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 des...

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...

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 dom...

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...

Dr. Nina Banks is Associate Professor of Economics at Bucknell University and president of the National Economic Association (NEA). Her publications focus on social reproduction and migrant households, Black women and work, and the economics of the first Black economist in the U.S. - Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander. Professor Banks teaches courses on U.S. women's economic history, gender and migrat...

Sara Horowitz discusses her book "Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up." Sara Horowitz is the founder of the Freelancers Union and the Freelancers Insurance Company. Formerly chair of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Horowitz is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and has been featured on NPR and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlan...

Community Advocate Christie Gardner talks about her life of advocacy, and the Community Grocery Cooperative for East of the River, and other initiatives. Christie Gardner is advocate for community justice and equity – racial, social, economic, and health. Born in Kinston, NC, her family moved to Washington, DC when she was an infant. She attended Aiton Elementary, Kelly Miller Junior High School,...

Renee Hatcher, JD discusses the Solidarity Economy and Community Enterprise. As Director of the Community Enterprise and Solidarity Economy Institute, Renee Hatcher challenges listeners to reimagine institutions in a way that fulfills ones humanity. Renee Hatcher is a human rights and community development lawyer. She is an Assistant Professor of Law, and the Director of the Community Enterprise &...