Everything Co-op with Vernon Oakes

January 19, 2023 Steve Dubb, Senior Editor of Economic Justice at NPQ. Steve and Vernon will discuss the upcoming webinar "Remaking the Economy: Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories" (nonprofitquarterly.org) focusing on the interconnections between food sovereignty, racial and economic justice, and community building, and other initiatives of NPQ. Steve and Vernon discuss Black food sovereign...

November 22, 2022 Vernon Oakes, host of Everything Co-op, shares information on the definition of a cooperatives, and the fundamentals of marketing. Vernon Oakes, is a consummate advocate for cooperatives. He is a Past President of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives, and he's served on several boards and committees to advance the interests of cooperatives. Recently, he served on the...

December 15, 2022 RL Condra and Vernon discuss how the Mid-term Election results might impact the cooperative landscape, and the importance of advocacy and how he became involved in the cooperative movement. As Senior VP of Government Affairs RL Condra is responsible for advocating for issues that directly impact NCB’s cooperative customer segments. Since joining NCB, he has advocated for cooperat...

September 22, 2022 John Zippert, former Director of Program Operations for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund discusses his career in advocacy from a student working with CORE and SNCC to his work with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. John Zippert served as the Director of Program Operations for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund at their...

September 29, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees. Vernon interviews Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph. D., Professor at John Jay College, and Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, Co Editor at Grassroots Economic Organizing. Both are also economic social justice advocates. Vernon and his guests will discuss the Unsung Cooperative Hero Award, and its first reci...

September 15, 2022 Sarah Kaplan is a Partner at Cutting Edge Counsel, a California-based firm that specializes in open public capital-raising strategies that allow community members to participate in supporting local businesses. During her interview, she shares examples of how Cutting Edge Counsel has provided legal services that has impacted and empowered social enterprises. Sarah is a corporate...

August 25, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with Dan Waddle, Senior VP of NRECA International. Dan discusses his Career in Cooperatives and shares the history of NRECA's electrification efforts in Rural areas throughout the world. For more than 40 years, Dan Waddle’s professional focus and personal passion has been to support rural comm...

September 8, 2022 Our host, Vernon Oakes interviews Malik Kenyatta Yakini, Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), and Trevor Claiborn, Sr. Co-founder of Black Soil: Our Better Nature. Vernon and his guests discuss the food sovereignty movement, and how cooperative food alliances, and the focus on Ag marketing and food distribution has impacted communities of color....

September 1, 2022 Everything Co-op posthumously honors Allan D. Gallant, leader in food cooperatives, and 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductee. Alan’s Son, Sam Gallant, and Stuart Reid, Executive Director of Food Cooperative Initiative, pay tribute to Mr. Gallant, recall major milestones in his life, and discuss how he influenced initiatives that addressed food insecurities in the World. Allan G...

July 21, 2022 Vernon Oakes, host of Everything Co-op, and producer, Pat Thornton, will discuss what You need to know about the 2022 elections, and the importance of the Midterm Gubernatorial Elections. "The 2022 United States Gubernatorial Elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in...

August 18, 2022 Laura Vogel, Senior Advisor for NRECA Political Affairs discusses Co-ops Vote, and National Voter Registration Day. Laura Vogel is the Senior Advisor for NRECA Political Affairs. As a member of the Political Affairs team, she is responsible for developing programs to encourage Co-op member and staff engagement in political issues that matter to the Co-op family and is the program m...

July 28, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with Margaret Lund, Margaret is a community development specialist, who was instrumental in establishing the Unsung Cooperative Hero Award with a team of co-op leaders. Margaret shares the evolution of the Award, and gives an introduction to its first recipient, Ms. Ella Jo Baker. Margaret Lund...

August 11, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees, with Gary Oakland, former Executive Director of BECU. Vernon and Gary discuss his 32-year career at BECU, and how he helped grow BECU to become the 4th largest Credit Union in the Country. After earning a degree in economics from Washington State University in 1975, Gary started his cooperati...

August 8, 2022: Esteban Kelly, Executive Director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives discusses the upcoming National Worker Co-op Conference, Worker Cooperative State of the Sector Report, and recently passed legislation. Esteban Kelly is the Executive Director at the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. He is also an important leader and creative force in solidarity economy and co-op mo...

July 14, 2022 Everything Co-op kicks-off its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with Paul Hazen, executive director of the Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC). Vernon and Paul discuss his experiences in the cooperative movement throughout his career, and the role he feels cooperatives have played in helping cities to rebound from the economic collapses of the pa...

June 30, 2022 Chris Tilly, Professor of Urban Planning and Sociology at UCLA, with several of his graduate students: Geoff Gusoff, Eliza Jane Franklin, and Ernest Johnson, discuss their Co-op Community Development Capstone Project, in Crenshaw, South Central, LA. Chris Tilly holds a joint Ph. D. in Economics and Urban Studies and Planning from MIT. For over thirty years, Tilly has conducted resear...

On June 23, 2022, Vernon interviewed Emily Nail, Executive Director for the Cooperative Council of North Carolina (CCNC), along with two returning students: MaKayla Chaplin and Kylie Chandler, and one new student, Hampton Scott. Vernon and his guests discuss the Cooperative Camp experience, and how it can be used for the overall development of its participants. As Executive Director for the CCNC,...

On June 9, Zen Trenholm, Director of Employee Ownership Cities and Policy at Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI), discusses the metrics of using employee ownership to build equitable economies though employee ownership. Zen Trenholm builds capacity, partnerships, and resources to scale democratic employee ownership across the country. He currently leads the Shared Equity in Economic Development Fel...

Ted Rau, Co-founder of Sociocracy For All, and John McNamara, Ph. D., Sr Cooperative Development Specialist at Northwest Cooperative Development Center NCDC, discuss the Sociocracy in Cooperatives Conference, being held on June 23rd. Ted Rau is an Operational leader at SoFA. Ted spends most of his time training and consulting in sociocracy and leading SoFA as an organization. Ted is co-author of t...

6.2.2022 Gina Schaefer is founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores appeared on Everything Co-op June 2, 2022. Gina shared the strategy of how she and her husband Mark, have used their hardware stores to build and serve communities throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area. Gina Schaefer is founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores. Gina's big passion is for developing urban markets, sup...

Ajoke Williams, is a Program Manager for Guilded, a Freelance Co-op. She and Vernon discuss how Guilded leverages the power of pooled benefits, collective purchasing, and collective advocacy; to build agency, decision-making and economic power of freelance and gig economy workers. Guilded, is an initiative of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Ajoke joins the Federation's team that provides...

May 19, 2022 Marjaana Saarikoski, Director, Cooperative Affairs at SOK Corporation discusses her extensive experience with cooperatives, and how the country of Finland is impacted by having more than 90% of its households as members of cooperatives. Marjanna Saarikoski has spent a major part of her career with consumer cooperative S Group. Since 1983 she has held various leadership positions in sa...

May 12, 2022 Vernon interviews Pamela Madzima, Alabama State Coordinator for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF. Ms. Madzima discusses the Alabama Cooperative Ecosystem, and her experiences at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF. Based at the Rural Training and Research Center in Epes, Alabama, Pamela Madzima has worked with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance...

On May 5, 2022, Vernon interviewed Stuart Reid, Executive Director of the Food Co-op Initiative (FCI). Vernon and Stuart discussed his experiences and accomplishments at FCI, along with his projections and initiatives for the future. Stuart Reid began his career in grocery as a carry-out and stock clerk for the Windom, Minnesota Hy-Vee store back in 1972, never believing for a minute that he would...

Ann Fedorchak and Mary Alex Blanton, of National Cooperative Bank (NCB); and Alison Powers, of Capital Impact Partners discuss the history, purpose and impact of the Cooperative Innovation Award. National Cooperative Bank in partnership with Capital Impact Partners, launched the 2022 Co-op Innovation Award to empower organizations to increase economic opportunity for the communities they serve, an...