We are thrilled to announce that we have hired Kristin Schwab in the new role of Co-op Organizer!

Kristin Schwab, Co-op Organizer

Kristin Schwab is a community educator, cook, and organizer who facilitates collaboration and communication across difference. A native to the Philadelphia area, Kristin has over ten years of experience developing programs, leading workshops, and organizing young people and adults for social change.

In her role as Co-op Organizer for PACA, Kristin will co-coordinate the 20 Book Clubs, 20 Cooperative Businesses program and is co-coordinating the May 14 CO-UP teach-in.

Kristin has been a working member of Mariposa Food Co-op since 2003 and is a member of The Energy Co-op and Freedom Credit Union.

Recently, Kristin has led trainings, facilitated meetings, and consulted for North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO), Youth Health Empowerment Project, Sunday Suppers, Philadelphia Museum of Art, W/N W/N Coffee Bar, and The Village of Arts and Humanities. Kristin holds a B.A. in Individualized Studies (with a concentration in popular education and solidarity economics) from Goddard College.

Kristin Schwab presents her senior study, which focused on food as a tool for social change, at Goddard College.

Here are Kristin’s own words about why she is joining PACA as a staff member:

“Whether working in restaurants or supporting young people as community cooks and food educators, I have witnessed all too often how the people who grow, prepare, and love our food cannot feed themselves and their families. I came to solidarity economics because I dreamt of another way of doing things. I can’t wait to sit at the table with the members of 20 Book Clubs, 20 Cooperative Businesses as we explore cooperation and shared ownership and start building a society where everyone can control their food and make the decisions that affect their lives.

“I am honored to join PACA, whose work builds from a lineage of visionaries, like Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Father José Maria Arizmendiarrieta, and W.E.B. DuBois, who did for themselves what the government was unable to do while providing the rest of us with proof that another world—based on the principles of cooperation, self-determination, and collective work and responsibility—is possible.

Kristin Schwab, left, cooks lasagna with families at Sunday Suppers.

“I am thrilled to join the PACA team and support their work, as part of the international cooperative movement, fostering community control and political power, supporting wealth democratization and movements for reparations, aggregating the power of those of us who on our own can do little, building trust and solidarity, and facilitating continuous education.

“I am grateful to be part of a project that honors and builds from the rich history of African American cooperative ownership and mutual aid as outlined in Jessica Gordon Nembhard’s inspirational book Collective Courage. I am looking forward to shining light on Philadelphia’s many existing examples of cooperation, mutual aid, and solidarity and supporting our newest wave of study groups and democratically-run businesses.“

Kristin Schwab, left, facilitating the June 2015 Solidarity Economy People’s Movement Assembly with Esteban Kelly.

Please join us in welcoming Kristin! You can reach her at kristin@philadelphia.coop.