The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the Democracy at Work Institute, affiliated organizations working together to grow a powerful grassroots movement for worker ownership in the United States, join forces in our support for the Movement for Black Lives. We sign on to the Vision for Black Lives, and we pledge our combined energy and resources to work toward community control and economic justice based on “ownership, not merely access” for Black communities. At this critical historical moment, we come together to fight for our cooperative principles in service of the “fierce, free, beautiful future” envisioned by the Movement… more

DAWI congratulates graduates of our 2015 Fellowship for Worker Cooperative Developers! The Fellowship supports the creation of larger, networked and impactful worker cooperatives in the United States by building the skills, leadership and strategic orientation of practitioners. DAWI’s learning cohorts create strong communities of practice among peers and across generations of developers. Here are the ten worker cooperative developers who completed DAWI’s year-long Fellowship: Amy Beres, Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union Deborah Craig, Northwest Cooperative Development Center Farzana Sarang, Co-Fed Joe Rinehart Maru Bautista, Center for Family Life Omar Freilla, Green Worker Cooperatives Ricardo Nuñez, Sustainable Economies Law Center Rob Brown… more

UPDATE: On 8/12 Governor Jerry Brown signed AB816, creating a worker cooperative statute in California. For a full press release, see this article from the Sustainable Economies Law Center. ------------------------------------- UPDATE: On 7/13, the California State Senate passed AB816 39-0. Three days later, the California State Assembly voted to pass the Senate's Amendments. The bill is now going to Governor Jerry Brown, and he will likely make a decision in the next two weeks. For more information on the bill's status, visit this link. ------------------------------------- On May 22, the California State Assembly passed AB816, a major step toward making California… more

The Democracy at Work Institute is Hiring! We are looking for experienced, self-directed, and collaborative staff to join our dynamic national organization supporting the field of worker cooperative development. We are hiring a Business Strategist and a L ocal Initiatives Organizer . Applications are due by August 11, 2015. Check out our Job Posting page for more information. more

The Democracy at Work Institute has created a fellowship program to support the current and next generation of worker cooperative development leaders and their organizations to engage with the question of scale: what does scale mean, how can coop developers incorporate approaches to scale in their work, what tools and relationships are needed to build scale? As cities across the U.S. are looking to worker cooperatives as a form of job creation and wealth building, DAWI took our fellows on a study trip to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where worker cooperatives have been integrated into the larger ecosystem of community economic… more

As cities throughout the country explore innovative ways to invest in building economies that meet the needs of all residents in sustainable ways, New York City is leading the way by supporting the development of local, worker-owned businesses. On June 23, 2015, the City Council approved a second year of funding for the Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative, expanding its commitment to support cooperative businesses that are owned and controlled by residents of New York City. All of the wealth generated by these small businesses – from profits and wages to tax revenues stays grounded in the city, building a… more

On April 23, worker cooperative leaders from around the country will convene in Denver for Worker Cooperatives in Focus, a day of events co-hosted by the Democracy at Work Institute and the National Center for Employee Ownership. This exciting event will address a range of cooperative development topics centered on bringing the worker cooperative movement to scale, including cooperative ownership transitions, capital access, and the intersection of worker cooperatives and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). The morning sessions are part of the Employee Ownership Conference . Thursday registrants can attend the suggested sessions below or any of the concurrent sessions… more

On March 18, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio continued his public support of worker cooperatives as a tool to address economic inequality, signing into law the first ever piece of city legislation to require a city's economic development arm to track municipal support of worker cooperatives. This bill is another highlight in a campaign by the New York City Worker Cooperative Coalition to increase city support for worker ownership. It follows a $1.2 million dollar investment last summer to fund the development of worker cooperatives, the largest to date by a city government. The bill, Intro. 423, will require… more

Worker cooperatives have increasingly drawn attention from the media, policy makers and academics in recent years. Individual cooperatives across the country have been highlighted, and substantive studies have been conducted of the worker cooperative experience in other countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Canada and Argentina. But what do we know about worker cooperatives in the US as a whole? Given the limited data available, the Democracy at Work Institute conducted a national survey of worker cooperative firms to start to answer some basic questions and lay the groundwork for future longitudinal studies. To our knowledge, this is the first nationwide… more