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NASCO: North American Students of Cooperation

December 2015 Newsletter

Save the Date: NASCO Staff & Managers Conference

Landscape photograph of Boulder, Colorado

The NASCO Staff & Managers Conference will take place in Boulder, Colorado on April 27-28, 2016. A full event program and registration details will be posted on our website in early 2016.

This conference is a cooperative education and training program that is designed specifically to meet the needs of staff and managers of campus-based housing cooperatives. The conference serves as a collective learning forum that strives to empower campus co-op managers from across Canada and the United States. Conference participants share ideas through workshops, discussions, and informal networking. Please direct questions to: morgan@nasco.coop.

Vote for NASCO's Board of Directors!

NASCO has seven open seats on its board, and all Active Members and Individual Members are able to vote in the election to fill these seats. Ballots have been distributed to all members - if you did not receive yours, please contact rek@nasco.coop.

The candidate statements can be read here. Ballots must be cast by January 31, 2016.

Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard Inducted into US Cooperative Hall of Fame

Photograph of Dr. Jessica Gordon NembhardWe are thrilled to announce that Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, author of “Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice,” will be inducted into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame this May. Dr. Gordon Nembhard’s profound contributions to our movement, through her scholarship and activism, are deeply impactful and we extend her our congratulations on this recognition.

Read about this year’s inductees here.

Job Posting - Executive Director - Waterloo Co-operative Residence, Inc.

Waterloo Co-operative Residence, Inc. (WCRI), located in Waterloo, Ontario, is hiring the position of Executive Director. Applications are being reviewed on an ongoing basis. Questions should be directed to Magnus Mee, HR Committee Chair, at hrcom@wcri.coop. View the posting here.

Next System Teach-Ins

We're really excited to be partnering with the Next System Project on their Teach-In initiative - a call to action to students, faculty, and community members to organize teach-ins about systemic crisis and systemic alternatives on university campuses across the country this spring.  

We know that universities mostly exist to teach and reproduce the status quo economic and political system - and the history of student organizing shows us that when students demand and create spaces on their campuses to imagine what a real alternative could look like, the results can be extremely powerful.

Folks in NYC and Madison have been working over the fall to roll out two initial teach-ins in February and March that can serve as models for what will follow later in the Spring. For everyone else, we want to encourage people to visit teachins.thenextsystem.org and sign up to help organize or just attend a local teach-in.

18 Co-op Gift Ideas

Co-opoly Board GameThe holidays are a great time to catch up with friends, family, and loved ones. But gift giving can often feel overwhelming, and options can seem limited if you don’t want to support businesses that exploit people and the planet.

If you’re still looking to buy the perfect gift this while also supporting cooperative businesses this winter, check out this handy guide created by our friends at the Toolbox for Education and Social Action! (And feel free to use this guide year-round, as the gifts aren’t winter-specific!)

NASCO Receives $3,000 to Update Organizer's Handbook

 

NASCO has received a generous $3,000 grant from the Cooperative Foundation to update the content and structure of the NASCO Co-op Organizer’s Handbook, transferring this comprehensive 60 page manual to a much more accessible web-based format!

The Organizer's Handbook is a comprehensive guide to creating group-equity housing cooperatives, and is an essential resource for the student or community organizer focusing on housing issues.

See the full list of 2015 grants here.

Requests for Content from Five Cooperative Conferences

Is your inner-cooperative-educator looking for a creative outlet? Do you have an academic paper about co-ops that you’re hoping to share with the world? Check out these Requests for Proposals from various upcoming co-op conferences:

 

Support Our Annual Campaign

How can you promote affordable, community-oriented cooperatives and support the next generation of cooperative leaders? Donate to NASCO!

We depend on a broad community of people who see cooperatives as a critical part of our future to support our efforts to educate and organize cooperatives and their thousands of dedicated members.

Support our work!

Coming Up Soon!

We’re currently preparing to release new information about next summer’s Cooperative Internship Network, the Staff & Managers Conference in April, WestCo in California, and potentially a couple other regional co-op conferences.

We’ll also be announcing results from our board elections in February (vote!).

Keep your eyes on our newsletter, website, and social media channels for updates.

 

NASCO Institute Resources

Did you miss NASCO Institute this year? Maybe you lost your notes, or missed a workshop that sounded really exciting?

Whatever the reason, we’ve got you covered! We have uploaded course materials from forty-five different workshops from this year’s conference. Check them out here!

We’ll be posting videos from the event to our website soon, too. Enjoy!

Upcoming Events

100 Years of Cooperation (NCBA CLUSA)
01/13/2016

Cultivating Cooperative Roots Conference
02/05/2016-02/07/2016

Austin Co-op Summit
02/06/2016

Next System Teach-In - Madison
03/03/2016-03/06/2016

Up and Coming, Up and Running Food Co-op Conference
03/10/2016-03/12/2016

Next System Teach-In - NYC
03/10/2016-03/13/2016

North American Social Solidarity Economy Forum
04/08/2016-04/10/2016

NASCO Staff & Managers Conference
04/27/2016-04/28/2016

California Co-op Conference
04/29/2016-04/30/2016

Joint Conference: Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation and the Association of Cooperative Educators
06/01/2016-06/03/2016

CCMA: the National Conference for Food Co-ops
06/09/2016-06/11/2016

CommonBound
07/08/2016-07/10/2016

Global Social Economy Forum - GSEF2016
09/07/2016-09/09/2016

NASCO Cooperative Education & Training Institute
11/11/2016-11/13/2016

Submit Resources to our Library


One of the most valuable assets of the cooperative movement is our collective knowledge, and NASCO’s Shared Resource Library, a constantly growing collection of documents and files, is a tool for sharing that knowledge. Our library relies upon your contributions. Please follow this link to share your co-op’s governance documents, member education materials, and resources. 
Copyright 2015, North American Students of Cooperation, All rights reserved.

The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) Family of associations organizes and educates affordable group equity co-ops and their members for the purpose of promoting a community oriented cooperative movement.

Our mailing address is:
NASCO
P.O. Box 166140
Chicago, IL 60616
UNITED STATES


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