United States

After thirteen years in operation, Float On will be embarking on its next great adventure: converting into a Worker Owned Cooperative, entirely managed and owned by their current staff. Graham and Ashkahn will explain what makes co-ops special, why it can be a meaningful option for transitioning out of your business, and what it takes to pull a crazy plan like this off.

While there are many people who contributed to the founding of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, I would like to provide reflections on the role played by the Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) Newsletter Collective.

GEO is kicking off a special collection in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

Yuill Herbert, a co-founder and long-time worker member at Sustainability Solutions Group, joins us to talk about life in an expanding co-op, and the 100-acre land trust he also helped start.

Cathy Statz, Education Director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU), discusses its origins and history. She also discusses the many programs and initiatives of WFU.

In early 2024, the Post Growth Institute ran an Offers and Needs Market (OANM) facilitator training program with predominantly rural Native American families from the Southern Oregon Education School District (SOESD) Indian Education program. This article is inspired by my experience as the lead program designer and facilitator.

A survey for cooperators, reflecting on the worker cooperative movement on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

Jay Geils talks about the multi-faceted Flora Cooperative and the co-op network Cooperation Milwaukee.

Rachel Battles and Jason Belden, working owners of Happy Earth (a worker cooperative), discuss the reasons behind converting Happy Earth from a LLC to a worker cooperative.

Bayard Rustin, who was one of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s key advisors, as well as a planner of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a leader in social movements for peace, civil rights, non-violence, and LGBTQ+ rights, is famous today for organizing the 1963 March on Washington. In those days, owing to him being gay, Rustin’s name and accomplishments were hidden from public view. It led him to be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2013.