Posted by:
Steve Dubb
Statewide event to take place Aug. 15-16
A group of California cooperative organizations have come together to hold an event that is billed as the state’s “first annual” co-op conference. Organized by the California Center for Cooperative Development, the conference aims to teach co-op skills, foster connection among co-ops across the state, and build a statewide cooperative economy. The California Center for Cooperative Development is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that promotes and supports the myriad of cooperatives in California (housing, childcare, agricultural, arts and crafts, agriculture and energy) with start-up, management, and other technical assistance. Although the Center was founded in 2008, many staff and board members were previously employed or associated with the University of California at Davis Center for Cooperatives, an extension program that closed in 2004 due to budget cuts. The conference will take place at the Women’s Building in San Francisco (located in the Mission District at 3543 18th St) on August 15-16. General registration for the two-day event is $225-255 on a sliding scale. People who register after August 1st must pay a $20 late fee.
The first day of the conference will focus on co-op governance and development and have sessions on:
• Steps to Forming a Co-op
• Building Effective Policies
• Strategic Planning
• Roles & Responsibilities for Governing Bodies
• Facilitation Basics
• Communication & Conflict Transformation
• Cooperatives in California & American History
• Fun Games for Cooperative Communication A day addressing specific needs in each co-op sector
and across sectors.
The second day of the conference will focus on addressing specific needs in each co-op sector
and across sectors, with courses in four subject areas:
Law
• Bylaws 101
• Legal & Policy Issues for Housing Co-ops
• Intro to Worker Co-ops & their Legal Structures
Leadership
• Rewards & Challenges of a Co-op Conversion
• Food Co-ops: Helping Each Other Grow
Finance
• Reading & Understanding Financial Statements
• Budget Development
• Going Solar: Resources & Rebates
Community
• Developing & Passing on Skills in Your Co-op
• Building Co-op Coalitions
• Marketing, Sales, & Community Outreach
• Grassroots Fundraising & Creative Financing Speakers
State and local co-op sponsors include: Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives, a group that provides technical assistance with start-ups of worker cooperatives; the Berkeley Student Co-op, the nation’s largest nonprofit student housing cooperative, comprised of over 1250 student members living in twenty student housing cooperatives around the UC Berkeley campus; the California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools, a statewide association of nursery school cooperatives; the Mission Asset Fund, an asset building group focused on helping low-income families in San Francisco’s Mission District; and the Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives.
National sponsors include the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, the North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO), the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and the US Dept. of Agriculture Rural Development program.
Speakers include:
Tim Huet of Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives;
Jennifer Kassan of Katovich Law Group;
Rick Lewis and James Spector of the San Francisco Community Land Trust;
E. Kim Coontz and Andrew McLeod of the California Center for Cooperative Development;
Karen Tiedemann of Goldfarb & Lipman;
John Curl of Heartwood Cooperative Workshop; and
consultants Kaki Rusmore (Capacity Building), Kate Sassoon (Sassy Facilitation) and Tara Zagofsky (Multicultural Facilitation)