Leadership

“Co-ops are practical, not perfect” and as an entity, they can often get caught up with an expectation to be a utopian alternative to capitalist structures. Through a discussion of learned experiences, this session aims at providing an honest lens into managing collective work and lateral power, creating systems that empower cooperative workers in ways that make every individual feel heard, while keeping the expectations of what it means to be in a cooperative realistic, restorative, and hopeful.

This is a discussion guide on member engagement including some recommended ways to encourage member engagement, preventative practices, and engagement measurement ideas. This guide aims to stir up new ideas in your co-op to continue the discussion on member engagement.  

Co-ops are businesses designed to pool resources to serve a specific economic need of their current and future members. At the same time, co-ops hold a principle of Concern for the Community and often use those pooled resources contributed by individual members to serve as a social safety net for the membership collectively. This is a discussion guide that offers a few discussion prompts and some practices for balancing the tension between these goals.

Below, are the recordings for NASCO Institue 2020 sessions by room. Please share lessons learned with your cooperatives and communities. 

If you did not register for NASCO Institute and you'd like to support free and low-cost cooperative education, please consider contributing a donation amount that feels appropriate for you and/or your cooperative. Your donation makes it possible to offer cooperative education materials and resources free of charge. DONATE HERE.

Print out this meeting hand signals infographic to hang in your meeting space or to pass around before meetings to ensure that members are on fair footing when participating in group discussions.

This presentation and workbook are from a workshop titled U"npacking Violence: Liberation Within Chaos" presented by the D.O.P.E. Collective Savion Mingo, Jason Cathcart, and Caitlin Blue at NASCO Institute 2017.

An ally's guide to fostering anti-oppression in housing cooperatives, collectives, and democratic communities.

This document is layed out for double-sided Zine printing.

These materials orignated in a workshop at Institute 2011 presented by Erin Hancock and Kim Penna.

Action Camp: Lessons Learned

Table of Contents
Assumptions
Anti-Oppression: Key Words
Fabric of Oppression
Levels and Types of Oppression: Examples
Organizing and Facilitation Tools
Starting a Diversity Committee in Your Co-op
Activities/Discussion Starters
Further Resources
Websites and Collectives
Books, Readings, and Publications
Movies