Exploring the Role of Worker Co-ops in Economic Development

LEARNING AREA: Economic Development
MKI Training
Online

Instructor:

Emily Kawano, Wellspring Cooperative

Duration:

2 hours

Location

Online

Description

This is a 2 day online Zoom Training. The Zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the training.


The 2020 pandemic and the racial justice uprisings have pushed issues of racial and economic equity to the forefront in many communities, as well as in Community Development Corporations in MA. Worker-owned cooperatives provide a business model that can help BIPOC and underserved communities to build businesses and wealth by leveraging their collective social and economic assets. This TWO DAY workshop will introduce the co-op model, its strengths and challenges, and explore the role that CDCs in this state could play in strengthening worker ownership and economic democracy.  

Emily Kawano is a founder and co-director of Wellspring Cooperative, a CDC which is developing a network of worker-owned businesses in under-served communities in Springfield, MA. She is a founder and Board member of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network and served on the Board of RIPESS (International Solidarity Economy Network) for almost a decade. She earned a Ph.D in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she joined the Center for Popular Economics and served as director for nine years. She also taught economics at Smith College and was the National Economic Justice Representative for the American Friends Service Committee. 

Registration deadline

Registration fee

$50 Regular, $25 Student/AmeriCorps/Intern