Growing a Worker Cooperative Peer Technical Assistance Program From the Ground Up Melissa Hoover, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives

Evolution & Growth 1970s 1990s 2000s

Barefoot weirdoes on the coasts?  Yes, we bring a perspective: strong democratic principles & practice  But this isn’t your father’s utopian cooperative movement  Major growth in worker cooperatives has been well-distributed throughout the country  Worker cooperatives and social mission: asset-building and community economic development  Appeal of the model far outstrips size of current movement  Increasing connections to larger cooperative world  Growing movement of young, smart, curious cooperators  Educational opportunities  CW! Institute  Masters Programs: St. Mary’s and SNHU

New generation InfrastructureDemand The Pieces

Pulling Them Together. New generation DemandInfrastructure Democracy at Work Institute: Worker Coop Peer Technical Assistance Network

Our organic structure Sapling Seedling Staff

WHY BOOTSTRAPPING...?  1 member organization: USFWC  1 nonprofit educational organization-to-be: Democracy at Work Institute  4 years old  60 member workplaces  $30,000 budget  1 part-time staff member  3 successful projects, building on one another  150 calls/year for information and training  Enthusiastic support from overworked veterans...BECAUSE WE HAVE TO!

SOME HAPPY SIDE EFFECTS  Increases connections to existing resources  Training collaborations with CW!  Potential training collaborations with master’s programs  Potential service delivery collaborations with existing developers  Builds leadership in seedling group  Connects saplings to seedlings  Allows participants to keep their coop jobs while giving structure to provide PTA  Doesn’t duplicate existing programs and resources  Keeps development accountable to worker coop movement  Ensures sensible staging  Scales the project to available resources...BECAUSE WE WANT TO!

Principle #1: We Build From Within The Network aims to cultivate technical assistance providers from within the pool of experienced worker cooperators. We believe that this approach itself strengthens existing worker cooperatives by: - increasing the expertise and engagement of current worker cooperators - helping us retain talented and dedicated workers in the movement - supplementing and reducing reliance on outside providers - ensuring that this new initiative is sustainable and scalable to the resources available.

Principle #2 : We Value Experience  We believe that one of the most important and effective areas of expertise a consultant can bring to worker cooperative development and support is experience actually working in a democratic workplace. All other areas of knowledge, expertise and experience are informed by this fundamental grounding in democratic principles and practice.

Principle #3: We Take a Broad Approach  The needs of each organization, community, cooperative and workplace are shaped by its workers, its industry, its location and a variety of other factors. Peer consultants, though equipped with standards and best practices, will not approach projects with a one- size-fits-all model, rather they will bring a breadth of models and experience to inform their clients’ decisions.  Additionally, we value simplicity above complexity in designing systems, structures and processes.

Principle #4: We Work Locally  We believe that technical assistance and worker cooperative development support are most effective when provided at a local level by people familiar with local markets, laws, practices, and cultural norms. We will therefore give priority to local providers and will make every effort to coordinate the network through local and regional organizations.

Principle #5: Our Approach is Critically Inclusive  We believe that cooperative development work is social change work and that the process of democratic self-governance is fundamentally transformative. We understand that effective cooperation demands not just a respect for all voices but a critical awareness of power and the dynamics that keep some voices unheard. We therefore bring the power analysis developed by anti-racist trainers to the work of cooperative development.

Principle #6: We Train the Trainers  We believe that every worker cooperator, every recipient of peer technical assistance, is a potential source of support and technical assistance for others in their cooperative and beyond. Therefore our training approach treats the trainee as a potential trainer, assumes that the training will be passed along to others down the line, and gives the tools to do so.

Principle #7: We Are Open Source  We are committed to sharing information. The documents and processes that we produce within the Peer Technical Assistance project are not proprietary, instead they become part of free information and free culture.

Principle #8: Create, then Evaluate  We understand that ongoing evaluation of ourselves, our capacity and our working relationships is critical. We model this self-reflexivity as a group, and we emphasize it to others when we provide support.

Principle #9: We Share the Seven Cooperative Principles  As experienced worker cooperators, we have a practical lived (and worked) experience of the Seven Cooperative Principles, and we bring this understanding and commitment to our advising work. These principles, along with cooperative values and ethics, inform our technical assistance; we will share them with those unfamiliar with them, explain and discuss them, and refer to them as our guide. We are also guided by the Ten Mondragon Principles and the Madison professional standards for cooperative developers.

Principle #10: We Have Fun  We are committed to lightening up a little! We embrace humor, joy, and the delightful notion that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing with a smile and a light heart.

Some Highlights So Far  100% Response Rate to Sapling Invitations  Madison Meeting: June 2009  Structure  Services and Gaps  Training and Certification  Ongoing small group work  Thank you, technology  Focused dialogue  CooperationWorks! Training  September All-Group Meeting  On schedule for 2010 rollout

Next Steps  Develop curriculum  Increase linkages with developers  Develop professional TA resources

How are we doing? Our larger goals  Develop leadership and investment  Support current worker cooperative development initiatives with experience  Document our practices for dissemination  Increase connection to cooperative movement