Cooperation New Orleans is a movement organization with a mission to strengthen the solidarity economy movement in New Orleans, centering Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. We use storytelling and popular education to ground cooperative economics in the legacy of Black and Indigenous communities organizing to meet their own needs. Some of our programs include base-building and outreaching efforts, educational programs, decolonized research uplifting Black and Indigenous economies, and providing direct technical assistance and non-extractive lending to worker-owned businesses. As a movement organization, Cooperation New Orleans moves similarly to member-based and coalition organizations, thriving off of an ecosystemic relationship amongst workers, producers, small businesses and local marketplaces, organizations, mutual aid groups, community leaders and educators, donors and resourced allies, regional/national coalition partners, and other solidarity economy practitioners.
Intern will support the organizing and archiving of existing documentation collected by Cooperation Gumbo, a cultural organizing project of Cooperation New Orleans. Since 2021, the Gumbo team has been hosting storycircles, walking tours, and interviews while conducting community-driven research into the cooperative histories of the city and region.
Position duties include:
- Reviewing existing research documentation (photo, video, audio, transcripts)
- Working with archive developer to categorize and tag existing documentation
- Pursue leads on follow up research identified from existing documentation
- Participate in working group meetings
- Support team members as needed
Intern should be a curious self-starter, interested in Black, Brown and Indigenous cooperative histories and practices in the US South. Position will be expected to work independently and in cooperation with the Cooperation Gumbo team. Cooperation Gumbo is a working group of Cooperation New Orleans, anchored by four CNO core staff (all part-time), two contractors, and one volunteer. The working group meets once a month, with smaller group meetings happening in between. This position would NOT be a good fit for someone who is looking for a high degree of oversight or structure, but rather someone who is self-motivated, is able to ask questions and name requests for support.
Dates are flexible.
Intern will be supported by all six members of the Cooperation Gumbo team, with their work primarily overseen by CNO's Education and Outreach Coordinator and Gumbo Archive Developer. There will be a series of orientation meetings to the project, tools, and systems. If needed, the intern will also be trained in using the New Orleans Historic Collection and Tulane library where the Federation of Southern Cooperatives archives are stored.
Decolonized research practices
Cooperative Histories
Archival database development