Cooperative Development Foundation

12/13/2022

Are you looking for funding opportunities for 2023? CDF offers small grants for co-op education and development. Learn more about funding availability at cdf.coop/post/2023-funding-opportunities-available.

12/09/2022

We are now accepting applications for next year's Cooperative Leaders & Scholars (CLS) cohort! Previously a one-week program in Washington, DC, CLS has been expanded into an 8 month program designed to deepen and broaden knowledge of cooperatives and the role of the cooperative model in meeting the economic and social needs of communities. Apply by February 10 at cdf.coop/cls.

12/05/2022

Five outstanding cooperative leaders will receive the cooperative community’s most prestigious honor on October 5, 2023, when they are inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

The inductees are: Linda Leaks, Co-Founder, Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative; Leslie Mead, Retired Executive Director, Cooperative Development Foundation; Sheldon Petersen, Retired Governor & CEO, National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC); Maurice Smith, CEO, Local Government Federal Credit Union; and Halena Wilson, Unsung Hero, Past President, Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

“This year’s inductees represent the breadth and inclusiveness of the cooperative sector in addressing the needs of communities,” said Rich Larochelle, Chair of the Cooperative Development Foundation board. "The inductees have helped people gain access to financial services and financing, to affordable housing, to energy resources and home care services - all through member-owned cooperatives. They also represent well Principle Six - cooperation among cooperatives, through providing financial support and philanthropy across sectors and cooperatives."

Read the full announcement at https://www.cdf.coop/post/announcing-2023-hall-of-fame-inductees.

Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative
Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC)
Local Government Federal Credit Union

11/30/2022

From the development of an educational manual for rideshare drivers to curriculum aimed at engaging returning citizens, the Cooperative Education Fund has funded a number of education projects this fall. Congratulations, fall grantees!

Keystone Development Center
Collective Remake
Indiana Cooperative Development Center
Nexus Community Partners
Montana Cooperative Development Center
Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center
UHAB

11/09/2022

We’re delighted to continue our partnership with the Native American Agriculture Fund to build a community of Native American co-op developers along with our partners at Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance - MNIBA, Coady Institute, and Co-operatives First.

ICYMI, we partnered with NAAF and National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International last year to develop a series of webinars on enhancing Native American food economies through cooperatives. Check it out at https://www.cdf.coop/native-american-food-economies-reso.

The Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) and the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) are proud to announce the selection of Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Of Chippewa Indians citizen, David Lockhart, as a member of their newest cohort.

The cohort will work to develop community-building tools and methods to launch cooperatives and collectives that meet the needs of present-day Native families, communities, and Nations. The project is funded through the generous contributions of the NAAF and CDF, with project management provided by collaborators, the Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance - MNIBA, Co-operatives First, and the Coady Institute.

Check out our website at www.saulttribethrive.com/2022/11/07/highlight-lockhart-naaf-cdf/to get the full to story.

To learn more about cooperative development contact David Lockhart at [email protected] or 906.259.3118.

10/19/2022

October is Co-op Month // NFCA News October 2022 – Neighboring Food Co-op Association

October is Co-op Month // NFCA News October 2022 – Neighboring Food Co-op Association

October is Co-op Month // NFCA News October 2022 Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Subscribe here to keep up to date on NFCA News! In this edition: Co-op Month!Cabot Creamery Co-opCo-op Education SeriesConnecting Food Co-op Staff Co-op Month, Co-op Survey!October Cave to Co-op SpecialNew England...

10/17/2022

CDF is hiring for a program manager that will be responsible for a portfolio of projects involving public and private funding focused on empowering historically underserved and/or low-income areas and their residents. Apply today at https://bit.ly/3yOvu3g.

10/13/2022

Co+op has pledged a 100% match for all donations up to $100,000 made by the food co-op retail system. Your donation today can help CDF provide co-ops and members impacted by hurricanes with immediate and ongoing aid through CDF's Disaster Recovery Fund. Donate today at https://bit.ly/3Rqeo28.

10/11/2022

Amid the continuing crisis in Ukraine, Illia Gorokhovskyi, chair of the Board of COOP Ukraine and colleagues visited the U.S. to meet with cooperators and U.S. government officials last week. At National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International's IMPACT Conference, he shared with the hundreds of cooperators present in person and virtually how difficult it was for him and COOP Ukraine, thriving prior to the invasion, to ask for help. He expressed deep gratitude for Principle 6 and the generous support from the U.S. cooperative sector that will go to help rebuild the co-op infrastructure.

CoBank Frontier Co-op HomeWorks Tri-County Co+op

10/10/2022

We were honored to host 23 emerging cooperative leaders and scholars in Washington, DC last week. The week was filled with networking events, a course from the International Centre for Co-operative Management, National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International's Co-op IMPACT Conference, and CDF's Cooperative Hall of Fame. Special thanks to Amethyst Carey from Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, Juan Fernandez from the Credit Union Association of New Mexico, Bernardo Penaherrera from NCBA CLUSA, Dr. Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Jim Jones, Karen Zimbelman, Terry Lewis, Judy Ziewacz, and Mike Mercer for being guest speakers at our networking events.

10/09/2022

It was an honor to induct five outstanding individuals - Ella Baker, Allan Gallant, Gary Oakland, Paul Hazen, and Dan Waddle - for their decades of work in advancing cooperative businesses into the Cooperative Hall of Fame this past week.

📸: Sam Levitan Photography

BECU Food Co-op Initiative Blooming Prairie Foundation NRECA NRECA International U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council

10/09/2022

Photos from Cooperative Development Foundation's post

10/06/2022

Kicking off the festivities with a panel from our inductees!

10/05/2022

Thanks and for hosting the Cooperative Leaders and Scholars group yesterday!

10/04/2022

Cooperative Leaders & Scholars launched last night with guest speakers from National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International, Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, and Credit Union Association of New Mexico. It was a great evening of cross sector collaboration! The group is off to National Cooperative Bank this morning to take a course from the International Centre for Co-operative Management.

10/03/2022

Cooperatives and their members are facing losses from some of the worst hurricanes in recorded history. Committed to Principle Six, cooperation among cooperatives, the Cooperative Development Foundation is partnering with cooperatives to help meet the needs of our neighbors in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Florida.

National Co+op Grocers (NCG) has pledged a 100% match for all donations up to $100,000 made by the food co-op retail system. Donate today at https://bit.ly/3CskICj.

Your donation today can help CDF provide co-ops and members impacted by hurricanes with immediate and ongoing aid through CDF's Disaster Recovery Fund.

10/03/2022

We're excited to have four of our CLS participants on Everything Co-op this week. Tune in on Thursday! National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International

10/03/2022

We can't think of a better way to kick off than meeting with representatives from COOP Ukraine. Because of the generosity of hundreds of donors, CDF's Disaster Recovery Fund was able to provide nearly $275,000 in aid to Ukrainian cooperatives. On behalf of Ukrainians, Дякую! Thank you!

09/30/2022

Ella Jo Baker believed power came from the people and she worked to harness that power.

“You didn’t see me on television, you didn’t see news articles about me,” said Ms. Baker in a quote from the book Women of the Civil Rights Movement. "The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don’t need strong leaders.”

For her roughly 45 years of active cooperative organizing, and the unique work that it spawned in the Civil Rights Movement, Ella Jo Baker will be honored with induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame on October 6 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

Photo: Photograph of Ella Baker, 1964, Danny Lyon, Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement 12, dektol.wordpress.com

09/28/2022

Ella Jo Baker mentored and inspired a generation of Black cooperators throughout her life. Her legacy of cooperation and activism continues to stir the cooperative spirit of today.

“Her passion for consumer cooperation, a focus on education, a vision for more and more co-ops, an academy, and even a factory,” said Ajowa Ifateyo, co-founder of the Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative. “Her footprints from her work can also be seen in her transition to the civil rights movement. She did a lot of great work for the co-operative movement, and she inspired me as well.”

Photo: Baker working with young people in NYC June 1960

Photo credit: Photographer unknown/image from Highlander Research and Education Center

09/26/2022

Are you doing research on cooperatives, developing educational materials and programs, or hosting a regional or national event? Apply for a Cooperative Education Fund grant by October 1!

09/26/2022

Are you in the Mid-Atlantic area looking to start a co-op? Apply for KDC's Co-op Academy!

There’s still time to submit your application for KDC’s 2022 Co-op Academy! This 4-month introductory course will guide a cohort through the steps of forming their new cooperative. You’ll be supported by one of KDC’s cooperative developers as well as KDC’s robust network of new and established cooperatives. Apply today and mark your calendar for the info session on September 28, when you can learn more about the program.

Apply today at www.kdc.coop/application.

09/23/2022

Ella Jo Baker inspired thousands of young people who considered her the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.

Ms. Baker saw the potential of the young activists participating in the student sit-ins challenging segregation in 1960. She took many of the lessons in cooperative organizing to her work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the early 1960s, which she helped to found at her alma mater Shaw University.

“Ella Baker was one of the smartest, one of the most gifted women of the American Civil Rights Movement,” said the late Representative John Lewis. “The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee became her child, and she was in a sense a mother… even with her age, she was so progressive, so radical, so militant, and demanded action. If it weren’t for Ella Baker, many of the young people that got involved with the movement wouldn’t have been involved.”

Photo: William Porter, Ralph Featherstone, Ella Baker, and Cynthia Washington at a SNCC meeting in Waveland, MS, November 1964, crmvet.org

09/21/2022

Ella Jo Baker’s cooperative experience was the blueprint for her work as a civil rights organizer.

“Baker’s early years at the YNCL contributed greatly to her later efforts and successes at developing and promoting an alternative civil rights leadership and organizing strategy emphasizing Black leadership and amplifying the voices of the most marginalized and vulnerable,” said 2016 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductee Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D. “Baker was a pioneer of grassroots, community-based social activism, organizing, and resident leadership development, as well as women’s and youth leadership. I argue that she achieved this in great part because of her training and experience with economic democracy and member participation in the co-op movement – because of her co-op roots. Baker took the lessons that she learned from her cooperative organizing during the Depression and applied them to her lifelong organizing work, becoming a world-renowned civil rights organizer.”

Photo description: Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker address a crowd at a rally for the MFDP to be seated at the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1964.

Photo credit: © 1976 George Ballis/Takestockphotos.com

09/19/2022

Ella Baker used her knowledge to organize cooperatives even while she did the larger work of responding to attacks on the civil rights of African Americans.

In 1956, while attending an NAACP conference in San Francisco, Baker learned about 40 Black farmers who were trying to form an agricultural cooperative. Always the educator, Baker emphasized the importance of understanding the scope and history of the cooperative movement, so she arranged for a representative of the group, Orsey Malone, to do what she had done some 25 years earlier -- attend a Cooperative Institute (this one was held at Bard College in New York).

Photo credit: Rapid News Photo (New York, N.Y.), photographer

Photo description: Photograph shows NAACP board members standing in front of seated conference attendees.

09/15/2022

Ella Jo Baker was the first African American to receive a scholarship award from the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA).

CLUSA leadership saw her potential and made a visionary investment in her in 1931 by awarding her a scholarship to attend the Cooperative Institute of CLUSA at Brookwood Labor College. The CLUSA scholarship provided Ms. Baker with the opportunity to attend co-op school.

Photo: Brookwood Labor College, Katonah, NY

Published in Labor Age [NY], vol. 19, no. 10 (October 1930), pg. 20.

09/13/2022

On October 31, 1931, Ms. Baker gave a talk titled “What Consumers’ Co-operation Means to Negro Women” during the first conference of the Young Negroes Co-operative League (YNCL). The conference had an attendance of 600 Black cooperators and official YNCL chapter delegates from New York City, Buffalo, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and cities in Ohio and South Carolina.

Ms. Baker was unanimously elected as YNCL’s first national director. She successfully challenged YNCL members to adopt a resolution to make YNCL more inclusive towards women. This effort was a precursor to her campaign to ensure Black and female representation at the 1964 National Democratic Party convention.

Photo description: Civil rights activist Ella Baker (standing third from right) with a group of young and teenage girls at a fair sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, circa 1950s

Photo credit: © The Estate of Austin Hansen.

09/10/2022

Exemplifying Cooperative Principle 5 – Education, Training and Information - Ms. Baker was committed to educating members of the Young Negroes Co-operative League (YNCL) and others about cooperatives. Understanding the need for well-educated and informed co-op leaders, Ms. Baker issued newsletters and reports during the first two years of YNCL. For example, the report “On Promoting Consumers’ Clubs” was a step-by-step guide on how to start a buying club.

Ms. Baker also traveled to member organizations and groups where she taught about cooperative economics and spread the cooperative vision of YNCL. Promoting buying clubs and cooperatives were also a way to organize community members and spread cooperative values to help empower people to collectively meet their needs.

Photo credit: GRANGER Historical Picture Archive (Granger.com)

09/08/2022

Ella Jo Baker and George Schuyler founded the Young Negroes Co-operative League (YNCL) in 1930. By 1932, YNCL had local councils in 22 communities from New York to California, and a membership of 400.

In the wake of the depression, fundraising for this new and growing co-op league was a challenge. Ms. Baker’s grassroots organizing skills and commitment to educating about co-ops were apparent in her early fundraising strategy, called the “Penny-a-Day Plan.” The goal was to find between 5,000 to 10,000 people in 20 cities who would raise or contribute a dollar over a three-month period to finance “the promotion of Consumers’ Cooperation among Negroes” and develop permanent consumer programs in schools, colleges, churches, and civic organizations.



Photo credit disclaimer: CDF does not own this photo. All rights and credit go to the owner of this photo.

09/07/2022

CDF grantee exemplifies Cooperative Principle 7 – Concern for Community - NCBA CLUSA

CDF’s Cooperative Education Fund supported Worcester Youth Cooperatives's (WYC) Youth Cooperative Academy, a youth-led learning space that helps youth create cooperative solutions to social issues they care about.

Applications for the 2022 Fall grant cycle of the
Cooperative Education Fund are due October 1.

https://ncbaclusa.coop/blog/cdf-grantee-exemplifies-cooperative-principle-7-concern-for-community/

CDF’s Cooperative Education Fund supported Worcester Youth Cooperatives’(WYC) Youth Cooperative Academy, a youth-led learning space that helps youth create cooperative […]

09/06/2022

In 1927, Ms. Baker graduated as valedictorian with a Bachelor of Arts from Shaw Academy and University in Raleigh, NC, the first Black institution to open its doors to women. While in school, Ms. Baker became an activist, protesting strict social rules, such as those prohibiting couples from walking together across campus.

Ms. Baker moved to New York at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, where she relished its intellectual, political and social milieu.

Photo description: Ella Baker in 1941, when she was working as an NAACP representative.
Photo credit: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images

09/04/2022

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Littleton, North Carolina, Ella Josephine Baker grew up assertive and adventurous in a close-knit rural African American community. The community taught her about pooling resources necessary to survive in the aftermath of slavery, a lesson that drew her to cooperatives. Ella’s grandparents, formerly enslaved individuals, even mortgaged the land they owned to support neighbors in need.

It was from her grandfather, a preacher, and her mother, a teacher and a member of the National Black Women’s Club movement, that Ella learned the oratory and advocacy skills that would serve her lifetime of work promoting cooperatives and advancing civil rights.

Photo description: Photograph of Ella Baker speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, August 1964, crmvet.org

Photo credit: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture