News and Updates

July 2, 2014
Hello, NASCO Members! My name is Rek Kwawer, and I'll be NASCO's new Director of Operations starting in July! I'll be transitioning in the first few weeks from my position as Madison Community Cooperative's (MCC) Member Services Coordinator. I've been on staff at MCC for almost three years, working with members on leasing, debt, education, and membership process. I've also been sitting on both the NASCO Development Services and NASCO Properties boards, so while I'll be new to staff, I'm not new to NASCO. My previous cooperative experience includes two years as a board member at Boston Community Cooperatives and working to establish and purchase the Seed Pod Co-op, and several semesters in the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association as a missed jobs coordinator and sexual offense policy.
July 2, 2014
As development continues to sweep through Dinkytown - the Minneapolis neighborhood surrounding the University of Minnesota - it is becoming more and more apparent that there are too few options for U of M students to buy fresh veggies in Dinkytown.
 
 
Luckily the Boards of Directors of both the Chateau and Marshall Student Housing Cooperatives, member coops of Riverton Community Housing, move efficiently and dynamically to address the needs of their members.
June 30, 2014
This month, NASCO staff hosted the 25th annual Co-op Staff and Managers Conference in Chicago, IL - staff were joined by 19 participants representing 10 organizations; a Request for Proposals for NASCO Institute was published - please submit workshop proposals by August 05, 2014; staff have been busy creating cooperative educational videos for NASCO's Shared Resource Library; and staff wrapped up the Director of Operations hiring process.
 
All three NASCO Family boards met simultaneously in Chicago, IL this month. By holding their meetings in the same city, the boards were able to hold a joint-planning session in order to strengthen cross-board relationships and collectively build a renewed vision for NASCO’s future.
June 16, 2014

The Inter-Cooperative Council (ICC) at the University of Michigan is hiring two full-time positions! Please see the hiring announcements linked below for more information.

These positions are filled as of Spring 2015. 

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The Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) in Berkeley, California is hiring! Please follow the links below for more information:

June 13, 2014

We are very pleased to welcome Rek Kwawer to the NASCO staff.  Rek will be serving as NASCO's Director of Operations, and will be working full time beginning the first week of July.  Rek brings experience in large and small coops, student and non-student coops, and coop development.  Rek previously served as the Member Services Coordinator for the Madison Community Cooperative. 

http://www.nasco.coop/about/staff/profiles

May 30, 2014

This month, NASCO staff provided on-site training support in Davis, CA to over 70 WestCo participants; began hiring a new Director of Operations; held their annual staff retreat in order to plan for the upcoming year’s events, programs, and member services; attended the annual Cooperative Hall of Fame to honor our heroes and dedicated leaders; continued preparing for the 2014 Staff and Managers Conference; continued preparing for NASCO Institute 2014; published a Request for Proposals to create a new housing co-op; and continued to assist the Lamont Street Collective in Washington D.C. in their development project. 

The NASCO Board is participating in an Anti-Oppression Audit of our organization, facilitated by members of the AORTA Collective, and is continuing to prepare for its June board meeting in Chicago, which will be concurrent with the other two NASCO Family Boards’ meetings.

May 30, 2014

This year’s Cooperative Education and Training Institute will be held November 7-9, 2014 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We’ll be sending out a request for workshop proposals in the coming weeks. For now, get excited by reading the conference theme statement below and watch our website for updates.

Co-ops for life: Owning our Future

How do you imagine yourself ten years from now? You could be living in a cooperative housing community, shopping at a cooperative grocery, banking with a credit union, volunteering as a board member of your local cooperative school, and working as co-owner of a cooperative business. You could be an integral part of a multifaceted, international push to return ownership to the hands of the people. The skills you’re building now can be the building blocks for a lifetime of cooperation.

What will your current cooperative look like in ten years? It could be growing and thriving, serving more members every year. Other co-ops could look to your co-op for best practices in education, governance, financial stewardship, employee management, and leadership development. What you do today to ensure the stability, democracy, and overall health of your co-op’s future will determine your co-op’s place in our movement’s history.

May 30, 2014

The Sixth Cooperative Principle states: "Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, regional, national, and international structures."

May 30, 2014

The USA Cooperative Youth Council, with support from the Ralph K. Morris Foundation Cooperative Leadership Fund, is providing scholarships for cooperative youth to attend the 2014 Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) Institute in Texas next month. Please see their announcement below and apply promptly.

Greetings USACYC Community & Supporters,

We are pleased to announce we are fully sponsoring a Cohort of 20 cooperative youth (under 30 years) to attend the Association of Cooperative Educators' Annual Institute in Austin, Texas this July! Please let others in your networks know. :) 

If selected to the cohort, folks will get the opportunity to connect with the rest of the group before, during, & after the Institute to learn from each other, as well as do some planning & brainstorming around youth involvement, cooperative education, & the role of coops in building the new economy. We encourage people with all levels of cooperative knowledge, from all sectors, & across all the regions of the country to apply. People of Color, Women, Trans* folks, & Working Class peoples are encouraged to apply. Applications will remain open until the Cohort is filled, though we recommend you apply during the month of May.

May 30, 2014

CoFED, the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, is hiring 4 new staff. Please see the announcement below:

Like many college students with the approach of summer, CoFED is also preparing to graduate! Through Strategic Planning, we are making the important transition to an organization that provides longer term job security to its workers, and more consistent support to the student teams that make up the CoFED network. At CoFED, we put a lot into this work, and want to be able to grow into an organization that can harvest the fruits of our labor more sustainably - from annuals to perennials.

If you are interested in applying for the new open positions, please see these exciting job descriptions posted on our website and apply by June 15th.

Field Organizer Positions: Will work directly with student teams to enact their dreams. Can work remotely, but will have frequent travel.