Resource Pages from our Partners

Democracy at Work Institute Info on Worker Coops

Democracy at Work Institute Resources Page

Toolbox for Education Study Guide to the Cooperative Movement

NASCO Resources

Using the Free Library of Philadelphia

The Free Library of Philadelphia offers books and other materials on co-ops, opportunities to access other books through interlibrary loan, and one-on-one meetings with librarians who have training in business development.

Find out about resources and upcoming events at freelibrary.org/business.

Books

Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice

By Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard
Published in 2014, 311 pages.

Companies we keep: employee ownership and the business of community and place

by John Abrams
Published in 2008, 333 pages.

Building co-operative power : stories and strategies from the worker-cooperatives in the Connecticut River Valley

by Janelle Cornwell; Michael Johnson; Adam Trott
Published in 2013, 278 pages.

For all the people: uncovering the hidden history of cooperation, cooperative movements, and communalism in America

By John Curl
Published in 2012, 576 pages.

Humanizing the economy: co-operatives in the age of capital

by John Restakis
Published in 2010, 295 pages.

The cooperative solution: how the United States can tame recessions, reduce inequality, and protect the environment

By E.G. Nadeau
Published in 2012, 123 pages.

Building powerful community organizations: a personal guide to creating groups that can solve problems and change the world

By Michael Jacoby Brown
Published in 2006, 394 pages

Wired Differently

By Vern Dosch
Published in 2015, 240 pages
More information here.

Short Articles

What is a Worker Co-op? (US Federation of Worker Cooperatives)

Steps to Starting a New Cooperative (California Center for Cooperative Development)

Black Cooperatives Article from 1968

How Worker Co-ops Decide to Share Profits (Cooperative Development Institute)

A Technology Freelancer’s Guide to Starting a Worker Co-op (Network of American Tech Worker Cooperatives)

Kwanzaa’s Ujima and Ujamaa (GEO)

Choosing a Business Entity: Guide for Worker Coops (Democracy At Work Institute)

Housing co-ops and other shared housing models (Cooperative Development Institute)

 

Reports/Guides

Resilience of the Cooperative Business Model in Times of Crisis (International Labour Organization)

How to Start a Food Co-op (Food Co-op Initiative)

Housing Toolbox (NCDF)

Cooperative Farming: Frameworks for Farming Together (Greenhorns)

Affording OURLAND: Greenhorns Guide to Financial Literacy (Greenhorns)

Immigrant Worker Owned Cooperatives: A User’s Manual

Films and Videos

Capitalish

Philadelphia has a rich landscape of businesses that are challenging dominant logic about the way that they ought to relate to workers, consumers, industries, and other businesses. Capitalish highlights this landscape by exploring four worker cooperatives – a child care company, a homecare agency, a bar/coffee shop, and a taxi dispatch.

By Anna Bullard, Nick Gandolfo-Lucia, Sarah Moses, and David Roza
Published in 2016, 16 minutes long.
Available free online here

Shift Change: Putting Democracy to Work

A documentary film about worker-owned and cooperative businesses in the United States and Mondragon, Spain.

By Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young
Published in 2012, 69 minutes long.

Food for Change: the Story of Cooperatives in America

Food For Change is a documentary film focusing on food co-ops as a force for dynamic social and economic change in American culture.

By Steve Alves
Published in 2014, 82 minutes long.

Renaissance Community Co-op Video Series

Video series about a community-run, Black-led food co-op in Greensboro

Working with the City of Greensboro, Self-Help Ventures Fund, Fund for Democratic Communities, Uplift Solutions, Lakeshore Food Advisors, Cooperative Development Services,Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, Cone Health Foundation, Shared Capital Cooperative, The Working World,Regenerative Finance, and the Northeast Greensboro community, the Renaissance Community Coop (RCC) is on track to open a 10,530 square foot full-service grocery store in the Renaissance Shops at Phillips Avenue Plaza in 2016.

Dr. Monica White: Black Farmers, Food Security and Justice

Reclamation, Reconnection, & Resistance: Black Farmers, Food Security and Justice. Public talk and Q&A with Dr. Monica White, UW-Madison Professor of Environmental Justice .

Jackson Rising: Creating the Mondragon of the South

Webinars

DAWN Monthly Free Worker Cooperative Startup Webinar

Cooperative Development Frameworks webinar

Podcasts

Everything Co-op with Vernon Oakes

By Vernon Oakes

Host Vernon Oakes interview co-op advocates, analyzes news, and offers opinions on this DC-based radio show. Lots of great interviews, including Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, Esteban Kelly, Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Kali Akuno, and more.

Episodes available online here.

A Migration Reversed (Gravy Podcast Episode 13)

By Tina Antolini

Explores the Great Migration and the importance of black ownership of land, especially for farming, in the South.

Published in 2015, 24 minutes long.

Available free online here.

Online Courses

Introduction to Worker Cooperatives

By academy.coop

If you’re interested in worker-owned cooperatives, but you’re not sure what readings and videos to choose, check out this free online course. Sections include: Worker Cooperatives in the Media, The Rationale for Worker Cooperatives, How Worker Cooperatives Work, and Examples of U.S. Worker Cooperatives. The materials in this course could be explored over 3-5 weeks.

News sources for co-ops

Grassroots Economic Organizing

Shareable

Cooperative News

Further Resources

 Funding

The Working World, www.theworkingworld.org

Cooperative Fund of New England, www.coopfund.coop

Local Enterprise Assistance Fund, www.leaffund.org

National Cooperative Bank, www.ncb.coop

Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), www.acenetworks.org

Shared Capital Cooperative, sharedcapital.coop

Capital Impact Partners, www.capitalimpact.org

Legal

Co-op Law Center, www.co-oplaw.org

Sustainable Economies Law Center, www.theselc.org/cooperatives-resources

PA Cooperative Corporation Law of 1988 (pdf)

Starting a Co-op

Co-op 101: A Guide to Starting a Cooperative, www.cdi.coop/CDIcompletestart-uppkt2010.pdf

Keystone Development Center’s May 2013 Mid-Atlantic Guide to Cooperative Development Resources,
http://www.kdc.coop/fileadmin/resources/Mid_Atlantic_Guide_05.01.13.pdf

Vital Steps: A Cooperative Feasibility Study Guide, www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/sr58.pdf

Worker Co-ops

American Worker Cooperative, www.american.coop

Academy.coop, http://www.academy.coop/

Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI), www.institute.coop

ICA Group, www.ica-group.org

US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, www.usworker.coop

Understanding Worker-Owned Cooperatives: A Strategic Guide for Organizers, http://www.communitychange.org/uploads/files/worker-ownedcoops11_30.pdf

Prospera, prosperacoops.org

Food Co-ops

Food Co-op Initiative, www.foodcoopinitiative.coop

Mid Atlantic Food Co-op Alliance, www.mafca.coop

Cooperative Grocer Network, www.cooperativegrocer.coop

National Co-op Grocers, www.ncg.coop

Housing Co-ops

National Association of Housing Cooperatives, coophousing.org

North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) https://www.nasco.coop/resources

Credit Unions

Report of the CUNA Cooperative Alliances Committee (pdf)