The co-op economy centers people, not profit. | Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance

Panelists (L to R) Brad Forbes (LCA), Tyneisha Bowens (Mariposa Food Co-op), Sheila Quintana (Bonfire Media Collective), WIll Crosswell (Ardent Credit Union), & Morgan Pitts (The Energy Co-op) at PACA’s 2018 Co-op month event Sustaining cooperation: Promoting and practicing principle six in Philly area co-ops

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As social, political, and economic inequities continue to rise, more and more folks are turning to co-ops as a solution. Our people-powered cooperative economy based on mutual assistance, democracy, equity, and shared ownership has sustained us throughout human history! This is what we do to meet our needs – we cooperate.

As we move foward into 2019, please donate to PACA so that we can

continue training new co-op developers from low-income and communities of color
support immigrant communities we work with by creating an immigrant co-op development initiative
continue lifting up the intersections of food, land, racial, and economic justices through work with our food co-ops and urban farm members
and provide more cooperative economics education in poor communities and communities of color.

In 2018, PACA monitored and/or supported 30+ new co-ops in development including 13 potential start-ups, 5 early stage co-ops, 11 advanced/recently opened start-ups, 4 potential conversions, and 1 active conversion. Our staff provided direct technical support to 19 co-ops. In 2019, to do more of this work to build our region’s co-op economy, we need your economic participation.

PACA’s efforts to improve the lives of people in the Philadelphia region by growing the co-op economy has been going on since 2012, but our region’s co-op economy has old and deep roots. We have been iterating and sustaining a cooperative economy in Philadelphia for hundreds of years!

And today, PACA continues that legacy, particularly in order to build an equitable and cooperative economy that aims to repair the impact of hundreds of years of racial and economic injustice in this country. We believe deeply in the power of the cooperative economy to build racial justice, wealth equity, and community control.

PACA is able to support the efforts of recently launched co-ops like Bonfire Media Collective and start-ups such as South Philly Food Co-op through the economic participation of key stakeholders – our member co-ops, foundation and partner organization funders, and individual donors.

As a co-op of co-ops, we represent over 20,000 cooperators in our region. Foundations and partner organizations support programmatic work like PACA’s Cooperative Leadership Institute, the 20 Book Clubs, 20 Cooperative Businesses project, co-op education to the public, and direct technical assistance to co-ops. Our monthly donor sustainers who participate in the Principle Six Club give us a stream of income we can depend on month after month.

As we end the year, we thank the many cooperators and co-op supporters in our region and beyond for bringing our co-op movement so far. We ask that you donate to PACA to help us make 2019 another strong year for co-op development in the Philadelphia region.