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
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)
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)
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
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)