On May 13th, 2025, Philly co-ops and supporters came together to urge the Philadelphia City Council to include a $1.3 million grant and a pro bono technical assistance co-op-specific fund in its FY26 Budget. This funding would make a huge impact on stimulating and stabilizing the Philadelphia cooperative economy. $1 million would be used for direct need grants to co-ops, and $300,000 would be used to support pro bono technical assistance. 

We were also there as part of Alliance for a Just Philly. This across-organization alliance fights for many things, including a People’s Budget to fund public services (and advocates for taxing the rich to fund them) such as the L&I expansion, Built to Last home repair program for low-income homeowners and clean energy initiatives, the Office of Worker Protections, public spaces like CCP, Septa, the library, etc., and increasing funding for immigrant community programs. We are honored to work with them towards a just Philadelphia. Our city, our budget!

Numerous members of the Philly co-ops community gave public testimony at the City Council meeting. They spoke about the importance of city investment in sustaining and growing co-ops and how investing in co-ops builds strong and just local economies. We are immensely grateful to everyone who came out and supported us in fighting for the future of Philly co-ops. 

The first of the public testimonies was from Chantelle of Black.Bird.Rising, an apothecary, healing, artistry, and retreat co-op in Germantown, specifically centering the needs and flourishing of Black, Queer/LGBTQIA2S+, and Trans identifying people and those who love and support them. Chantelle spoke about the importance of supporting small cooperative businesses like theirs (and gave a message to tax the rich!). 

Full video of Chantelle’s testimony.

Corey, PACA’s Co-op Development Director, spoke on why cooperatives build stronger and more equitable local economies. 

“In order to really expand and stabilize this better way, this cooperative way, we need city investment. And it is the Year of the Cooperative– thank you, City Council, for declaring it so. Philly was the first city to back the UN’s resolution, and others have followed. The resolution says the City of Philadelphia will do everything it can to grow the cooperative economy. We look forward to this being true.”

Full video of Corey’s testimony.

Lina, a worker-owner of COMPA: Philly Language Justice Cooperative, gave public testimony about her co-op and why being in a cooperative is meaningful. She also shared about the kind of support that’s valuable for them, as well as the necessity of language justice, particularly in a city as diverse and interdependent as Philadelphia. 

Learn more about COMPA’s incredible interpretation and translation work on their website. COMPA has been working together for a long time as a collective of interpreters. They officially incorporated as a co-op this year, and we are beyond thrilled to officially have their worker-ownership in the ecosystem.

Full video of Lina’s testimony.

Alex from the worker-owned media cooperative, Bonfire Media, spoke about the media work they have run, which has strengthened our city and its democracy. Their work includes running the first electoral media campaign for Minority Leader, Kendra Brooks!

Alex talked about why worker-owned cooperatives are essential in a world where so few workers have a voice in their workplaces, and at a time when our overarching democracy is being threatened. Given these factors, we must build more direct democratic spaces for ourselves. 

Full video of Alex’s testimony.

Craig Borowiak, a Haverford College political science professor and co-author of Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation, spoke next. His book discusses cooperative networks in three American cities, including Philadelphia. It highlights these networks’ “commitment to cooperation, democracy, and inclusion, and demonstrates the desire—and the pressing need—to establish alternative foundations for social and economic justice.”

Craig spoke to City Council about his study of Philly’s cooperative economy and why it is so vital to invest in its growth since Cooperatives (and the solidarity economy at large) serve as “ bulwarks against gentrification, exploitation, and economic exclusion “. 

Full video of Craig’s testimony.

Brad, the PACA Board President, spoke about how cooperatives are the answer to many of our economic issues. Co-ops are avenues of self-determination for people to come together and solve their economic problems themselves, in their communities and across industries. He called on the City of Philadelphia to invest in and stimulate the cooperative economy as a way of making the city’s economy more sustainable. He said that Philly can once again be a leader in independence—economic independence–for its people. 

Full video of Brad’s testimony.

Our final public testimony came from Mo, one of PACA’s founders and the current Policy Director at the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Mo shared the reasons why we are asking the City of Philadelphia for this investment in the cooperative economy. 

Mo has experience doing this kind of work across the country and knows firsthand how critical it is to have governments at the national, state, and local levels invest in co-ops and help stimulate their growth. As Mo discusses, there is still a lack of education on cooperative structures, which often means that cooperative businesses are excluded from accessing the resources needed to launch and sustain themselves. Some of our longest-running Philly co-ops, Childspace — an incredible worker-owned childcare center started in the late 1980s – and Home Care Associates – the largest worker-cooperative in the city, started in the early 1990s — are owned and democratically managed by some of the most commonly exploited workers: domestic/care workers. However, by owning their business together as a co-op, there is no boss to exploit them. This city needs more co-ops like Childspace and Home Care Associates. City investment will be crucial to helping existing co-ops continue the amazing work they have been doing, as well as getting new co-ops established and added to the city’s cooperative economy. 

Full video of Mo’s testimony.