Emerging Co-op Leaders
NASCO will not be organizing the Emerging Co-op Leaders Conference in 2011. For more opportunities in cooperative leadership and career development, please consider the Cooperative Internship Network and the opportunities below.
Cross-Sector Programs for Young Cooperators (U.S.)
Cooperative Leadership Forum for Emerging Leaders
Mid America Cooperative Council (MACC)
As participants in the Cooperative Leadership Forum your new employees, directors and volunteers will explore all aspects of the unique cooperative business model and advantages offered by a variety of co-op structures.
The conference is a dynamic hands-on learning experience that provides opportunities to interact with others who have similar interests and goals. Attendees working together will create their own cooperative, sell shares of stock, select a governance structure and develop a business plan for their cooperative. This group project will clarify the subtle differences and advantages of cooperatives when compared to private or investor owned companies.
Attendees experience day-to-day operations while visiting agricultural, food, credit union, housing and rural electric co-ops. These tours will add value to the overall learning experience, helping to create a more valuable and knowledgeable employee that excels in a broad based cooperative system. New and prospective directors will emerge much better prepared to make informed decisions and understand their fiduciary role to the members they represent. New employees will appreciate a clear understanding of their unique cooperative and how truly different their relationship is with the co-op's member-owner-customer.
The Cooperative Leadership Forum will equip your employee or director with a solid foundation of leadership skills and cooperative knowledge for these dynamic times. It's an investment in your people that you can't find anywhere else.
Program Offering:
- 10+ speakers on cooperatives from various sectors; each explaining their unique makeup
- Tours of Credit Unions, Ag Supply/Grain, Rural Electric, Food Cooperatives
- Leadership Programs and Co-op Business Plan Development
- A deeper understanding of your cooperative's governance and financial structure
- Networking across many different industry sectors will enrich the experience
To inquire about registering, contact knowledge@macc.coop
Cooperative Education and Movement Building (US & CA)
ACE Institute
Association of Cooperative Educators
ACE is a membership organization that brings together educators, researchers, cooperative members, and cooperative developers from across cooperative sectors and national borders. The resulting cross-pollination of ideas enhances cooperative development, strengthens cooperatives, promotes professionalism and improves public understanding.
The 2011 ACE Institute will be in Winnipeg, Canada, July 26-29. The theme is Opening New Doors, Exploring innovations and asking ‘what's possible' in co-operative research, education and development to lead social and economic change.
Cooperative Development
The Art & Science of Stating a New Cooperative Business
Cooperation Works!
The Art & Science of Starting a New Cooperative Business; Session One, Effective Cooperative Business Development for Practitioners
April 18-22, 2011
Madison, Wisconsin
The five-day intensive training session will address the key steps to start a new cooperative enterprise including initial organizing, feasibility analysis, business planning, co-op finance & legal documents, board governance and strengthening the capacity of the organizing/governing group. The program utilizes some of the most experienced cooperative business development practitioners in the country and includes interactive sessions, case studies of existing co-ops, lectures and tours to local co-ops to talk directly with co-op stakeholder about the development process.
The Art & Science of Starting a New Cooperative Business; Session Two, Practitioners as Facilitators for Emerging Cooperative Businesses
September 26-30, 2011
Madison, Wisconsin
This five-day intensive training session will address the key steps to start a new cooperative enterprise including initial organizing, feasibility analysis, business planning, co-op finance & legal documents, board governance and strengthening the capacity of the organizing/governing group. The program utilizes some of the most experienced cooperative business development practitioners in the country and includes interactive sessions, case studies of existing co-ops, lectures and tours to local co-ops to talk directly with co-op stakeholder about the development process.
For more information, please contact Audrey Malan at 307-655-9162 or cw@vcn.com
Other Opportunities
Community Internships
Ogallala Commons
Ogallala Commons is a nonprofit community development network, offering leadership and education to reinvigorate the commonwealth that forms the basis of all communities, both human and natural.
Our Community Internships are a unique work experience and hometown career exploration program that takes place in your local community, or a regional institution or business. Our program is a partnership between Ogallala Commons and communities that create opportunities for high school students, college students... or adults in a continuing education program or career change. OC Community Internships provide experiences that illustrate both the key assets and the serious challenges present in rural areas. Interns receive an hourly stipend for their work, and internship lengths, though flexible, normally range from 8-10 weeks or a semester (125 to 240 total hours). These internships enable rural communities to constructively utilize the skills of their youth and adults, and to inspire home-grown talent to return in the future--to live, work, play and raise their families.
Service Member
FoodCorps
The vision for FoodCorps is to recruit young adults for a yearlong term of public service in school food systems. Once stationed, FoodCorps members will build Farm to School supply chains, expand food system and nutrition education programs, and build and tend school food gardens. The program may have great opportunities for cooperators interested in working in healthy food systems.
The ultimate goal of the project is to increase the health and prosperity of vulnerable children, while investing in the next generation of farmers.
FoodCorps is seeking young men and women interested in food, agriculture, community organizing, education, health, and public service to serve in the first class of FoodCorps Members. FoodCorps' inaugural term of service starts on August 15, 2011 and ends August 14, 2012. FoodCorps has host sites in the following states: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Massachusettes, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oregon.
Funding Leadership Opportunities
If you are seeking support for programs through ACE, MACC, NFU, or Cooperation Works!, apply for a scholarship through the Ralph K. Morris Foundation. The foundation's Cooperative Leadership Fund provides financial support to help cover costs associated with training, professional development and educational programs for young leaders interested in the future of cooperatives and rural communities.