#UjimaWednesdays | Starting a Co-Op and Sustaining the Cooperative Journey | 07.23

Month Description:

Transition, expansion (or contraction), and restructuring are all often necessary steps on collective journeys toward co-determination; tests of conflict or hardship forge cooperative practices by fire, kindling responsiveness and shaking up hierarchies. Join us this July for Re/Structure: Transformation Through Cooperation, to learn how we can challenge hierarchies, organize effectively and responsively, and redefine  progress in the solidarity economy. We must practice re-granting legitimacy, for us and by us, to economic practices that are rooted in materiality and accountability, in ingenuity and resilience. Our understanding of collective work and responsibility compels us to support community-led re-structuring in building up the solidarity economy. 

Event Description:

The BCCO partners with individuals, grassroots membership organizations, and municipalities to transform co-op ideas from vision to reality – No matter what stage of development you are in! Creating cooperative enterprises is an exciting and inspiring (but challenging) process, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Becoming a business owner always carries risks, even in a cooperative.

In this workshop, Learn how the BCCO provides technical assistance to the Ujima Good Business Alliance and more about building pathways to worker ownership. While it’s certainly possible to start a new co-op on your own, the process will be smoother and easier with some guidance from those who have been there before and know the nuts and bolts. At BCCO, co-op organizers live in the communities we serve, and have extensive practical experience in cooperative and small business management.

Facilitator Bio:

Sadie Modi (she/her) is a Co-op Organizer for the Boston Center of Community Ownership; she graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Business Administration, and has a passion for community building and social entrepreneurship. She has worked as a financial consultant for the Center of Student Businesses by helping student-run coops on the UMass campus, and also served as a Community Director for a cancer prevention organization called Protect Our Breasts. Sadie is a first generation American raised in Lynn, MA with family from Sierra Leone and South Sudan.