The USA Cooperative Youth Council (USACYC), has been working towards a more youthful and youth filled cooperative movement for the past few years, having been formally founded at the NCBA conference in 2012 as part of the International Year of the Co-op. Since then many conference calls, e-mails, and in person meetings at other coop/new economy conferences, have taken place. So this July it was a huge success to see a cohort of 26 youth and young adults brought together in Austin at the ACE Institute.
The cohort represented youth from organizations from the Federation of Southern Coops, Worcester Roots, NASCO, CoFED, Alchemy Collective Cafe, the Renaissance Community Coop, CoopJackson, Aynah, to regions as far as Alaska, as close as Alabama, and even some Canadians! This was such a widely varied and inspiring group of young people committed to building the new economies. During our time together in Austin, on Tonkawa and Comanche territories, we #hashtaggedtherevolution #likeaP6, and explored our common struggles as young people in the coop movement. Don’t worry, we didn’t stop there we also found ourselves brainstorming ways to make it easier for young people to learn about coops and enter into the movement, and even went on a few tours.
Coming out of the cohort we are excited to announce that we will be hosting a Minneapolis based convergence for youth and by youth in Minneapolis/St.Paul at the end of this September. We will have a combo of youth and non-youth speakers exploring the cooperative model and movement, but most of the workshop sessions will be led by young people. We may even have a cohort of elders! If you are interested in attending or presenting at the convergence please reach out to info@youth.coop
Alyzza May is a founding member of the USACYC, inspired by coops as a tool for racial and economic justice. She currently resides on unceeded Occaneechi and Cheraw territories, in Greensboro, NC.