Outside the U.S.

Fonde du solidarité FTQ (Solidarity Fund)

http://www.fondsftq.com/en/accueil.aspx

The Solidarity Fund QFL is a labor-backed development capital fund that helps create and maintain jobs in Québec by investing in small and medium-sized businesses in that province. Since its inception in June 1983, the Fund, whose assets stood at $7.3 billion as of May 31, 2008, has become a hub of knowledge, resources and contacts for Québec companies and a key player in the Québec economy. Read more about Fonde du solidarité FTQ (Solidarity Fund)...

Desjardins

http://www.desjardins.com/en

As the largest cooperative financial group in Canada and the largest private employer in Quebec, Desjardins represents a vast network of financial services cooperatives in Quebec and Ontario with approximately 20 subsidiaries across the country. With more than 40,000 employees and some 6,500 elected caisse officers, Desjardins focuses on improving the human capital of its employees, partnering and working within the community, and sustainable development policy that strikes a balance between the economy, society and the environment. Read more about Desjardins...

CoopZone

http://www.coopzone.coop/en/home

This site, organized by the Canadian Co-operative Association, is focused on providing two things: a national Canadian network of cooperative developers, and an on-line clearinghouse of information, tools and resources. Information available on this site includes links to federal and provincial cooperative legislation, a considerable amount of resources on worker cooperatives, information on business logistics, and links to co-op consultants in each province of the country. Read more about CoopZone...

The Co-operative Group

http://www.co-op.co.uk

The world's largest single consumer cooperative, the Co-operative Group has over three million individual consumer members and 144 corporate consumer members, which in turn represent millions of consumer members nationwide. The Co-operative Group operates over 1,700 grocery stores, over 3,000 retail outlets, and 29 department stores, and employs over 75,000 workers. Read more about The Co-operative Group...

Co-op Kobe (Note that this site is in Japanese only)

http://www.kobe.coop.or.jp

Established in 1921, Co-op Kobe has grown to become Japan's largest cooperative, with over 1.45 million members in 2002. Read more about Co-op Kobe (Note that this site is in Japanese only)...

Co-op Atlantic

http://www.co-opsonline.com

Co-op Atlantic is the wholesaler for the network of consumer cooperatives in Atlantic Canada, and functions as a second-tier cooperative, providing expertise and services to its member co-ops. Canada's second largest regional cooperative wholesaler, Co-op Atlantic serves 171 member cooperatives and 219,000 member-families in Canada's eastern provinces. Read more about Co-op Atlantic...

Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee

http://www.brac.net

Founded in 1972, BRAC has become one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations, registering a membership of four million women. BRAC works in 65,000 of the country's 68,000 villages, covers a population of 78 million, has organized nearly 120,000 village organizations, and operates with an annual budget of US$196 million as of the end of 2003. BRAC has expanded most rapidly since 1989, when it worked in only 4,000 villages and had a budget of $20 million. Read more about Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee...

Alberta Heritage Fund

http://www.finance.gov.ab.ca/business/ahstf/index.html

Established in 1976 to ensure that oil revenues accrue to the benefit of Albertans, the fund since then has provided $27.6 billion, which has been used for Albertans' priorities including capital projects, health care, education, roads and tax reductions. The Heritage Fund earned approximately $1.1 billion from its investments during the 2004-05 fiscal year. Read more about Alberta Heritage Fund...

UK Worker Co-operatives Blog (Manchester, UK)

UK Worker Co-operatives is a blog by Co-operatives UK aimed at promoting and uniting co-operative enterprises. This blog for worker co-operative issues and activities in the UK was started in 2008. The blog provides resources to start a co-operative, while highlighting interesting co-ops and their projects.

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Social and Enterprise Development Innovations

Based in Toronto, Canada and founded in 1986 with a mission to promote self-employment as a pathway out of poverty, Social and Enterprise Development Innovations has grown to become a leading research and policy advocacy organization in the asset building field in Canada.

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Power Cube

Seeking to provide a better understanding of power relations in organizations and wider social and political spaces, Powercube.net presents practical and conceptual materials on power relations in efforts to bring about social change.  A collective effort, Powercube.net offers practical guides for workshops and resources for how to turn strategies into action, and encourages individuals to contribute and share content.

 
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New Economics Foundation

The new economics foundation (nef) is a London-based “think-and-do tank” that promotes economic well-being by innovating the intersection of economic, environmental, and social issues. Founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) to promote issues like green taxes, alternative economic indicators, ethical investment, and social auditing, nef conducts original research and provides consulting and training services. Key projects include The Happy Planet Index and alternative measurement tools like Social Return on Investment.

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Microfinance Gateway

Managed by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the Microfinance Gateway is a public forum for the microfinance industry at large that includes resource centers on specific topics in microfinance, a searchable library of electronic documents, a consultant database, a jobs listing service, a news bulletin board, and specialized discussion groups. The Gateway features more than 3,000 online documents and over 900 listings of microfinance institutions.

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International Society for Third Sector Research

Founded in 1992, the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) promotes research and education in the fields of civil society, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector. The organization publishes a number of working papers that are available on this web site, as are abstracts of articles published in the organization's official journal, Voluntas.

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International Co-operative Information Centre

This site contains links to reports, documents, and studies of international cooperative organizations and case studies of cooperatives and cooperative sectors in many individual countries.

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Institute of Development Studies

The Institute of Development Studies, based at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, conducts research, teaching and communications on international development. Founded in 1966, in addition to its considerable alumni base, the Institute is home to approximately 100 researchers, 70 knowledge services staff, 65 support staff and about 200 students at any one time.

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Global Development Research Center

GDRC aims to consolidate disparate issues, themes and topics into one umbrella to highlight their interconnectedness and interdisciplinary nature. It started as a 'homepage' focusing on just one issue - Informal Credit Markets (ICM) - in April 1995. Since then many more sections have been added, and the Informal Credit Markets section itself has been greatly expanded, including many country links and case studies.

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Enterprise Web, “Microfinance and Microcredit”

ENTERWeb is an annotated meta-index and information clearinghouse on enterprise development, business, finance, international trade and the economy. The main focus is on micro, small and medium scale enterprises, cooperatives, and community economic development, both in developed and developing countries. ENTERWeb lists and rates Internet resources in these areas, and complements search engines by providing shortcuts in identifying important sources of information.

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Coady International institute

Established by St. Francis Xavier University in 1959, the Coady International Institute is world-renowned as a center of excellence in community-based development. The Institute was named in honor of Rev. Dr. Moses Coady, a prominent founder of the Antigonish Movement—a people's movement for economic and social justice that began in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 1920s.

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