Last updated: Jan 28, 2021
Housing cooperatives and our members are in a unique position during the COVID-19 outbreak to utilize the values and skillsets we've prioritized as a movement: concern for community, responsibility, mutual aid, solidarity, and organization.
NASCO is working to continue our mission to provide resources and encouragement to housing cooperatives across North America during this global crisis. We are shifting our programming to meet the situation, providing space for cooperatives to build and share action plans, and connecting co-ops to resources as needed.
NASCO is taking proactive steps to support our members and the communities that they are embedded within during the pandemic. We are continuously evaluating the situation and adjusting as needed.
See below for resources on:
- Cooperative Living
- Co-op Economic Resources & Funding
- Mutual Aid, Advocacy & Social Justice Wisdom
- Students
- Remote Work
The NASCO Board is opening applications to fill three open board seats.
Appointments are for one year terms from April 2020 to March 2021.
The board will prioritize voting on candidates who meet the skills gaps identified by our External Affairs Committee, including:
- Current members of Active Member cooperatives
- Current staff of Active Member cooperatives
- Financial experience
- Canadian cooperative members/staff
- Governance skills
- Fundraising experience
- Secretarial skills
- People from marginalized backgrounds, including but not limited to, POC, Black people, folks with disabilities, working class folks, LGBTQIA+ folks, non citizens or undocumented folks, single parents, and women
- Firm commitment to antiracism and anti-oppression
Why run for the board?
- Play a key role in a bi-national organization that develops new cooperatives, manages common equity houses, and reaches thousands of cooperators in the U.S. and Canada with cooperative education
- Network with cooperators across North America
- Share your skills with a mission-driven organization
With roots in the women's movement of the late 1800s, group equity co-ops have continued against the odds for almost 150 years, finding ways to create both affordable housing and community across North America.
Group equity co-ops are solidly rooted in the Chicago area, first rising as a practical solution to the very real needs of nineteenth-century single women. But this self-help approach eventually became an important option for anyone with financial need.
"We'll do it ourselves" became a particularly strong rallying cry during the Great Depression, when out of desperate necessity, students and others found ways to independently meet their housing and dining needs through group action. With grit and sheer determination, co-ops found ways to purchase and even build houses, harnessing both entrepreneurial skills and idealistic beliefs to begin expansion-oriented, scattered site systems from California and British Columbia to Halifax and Florida.
On Saturday, November 9, 2019 at NASCO Institute in Austin, TX, three individual cooperators and one group of cooperators were honored as inductees in the NASCO Hall of Fame. The NASCO Hall of Fame, created in 1989, provides broader recognition to individuals who have made a truly significant impact within the cooperative movement. The 2019 Inductees are:
Hello! We're a couple of long-time co-opers who decided that it would be fun to develop a board game about cooperative living. And it's finally finished! INTRODUCING: "Co-op"!
This project's inception dates to an animated and shamefully nerdy conversation, that took place while carpooling back from the NASCO meeting in Ann Arbor a few years ago. It turned out that a weekend of non-stop dialogue about cooperatives wasn't enough, and someone had to ask the dangerous question "what if there was a board game about co-ops?" in a crowded vehicle. It's been a blast to actually make the game and to playtest it with our friends.
Are you excited about the cooperative movement and eager to participate in the world of cooperatives beyond your home cooperative?
Do you have experience with board governance, grassroots fundraising, meeting facilitation, co-op management, or committee leadership?
Do you want to be part of a bi-national organization that develops new cooperatives, manages common equity houses, and reaches thousands of cooperators in the U.S. and Canada with cooperative education?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider running for the NASCO Board of Directors!
Learn more about the requirements, nominations timeline, and application.
We are searching for a cooperative artist to create the art for NASCO Institute 2019. This year's theme is Cooperate Locally.
The chosen artist's work will be featured on posters, shirts, the program, banner and more. We’re expecting the artist we choose to work through concepts and designs with the NASCO team and deliver on a specific timeline. The chosen artist will be provided a $300 stipend.
If you are interested, send some info about yourself and examples of your previous work (links to your portfolio, etc.) to bronwyn@nasco.coop by July 1, 2019.
Check out the artwork from previous NASCO Institute's here to get inspired!
The 2019 NASCO Board of Director election results are in! We thank you, our membership, the board, and our nominees for participating in one of the most important aspects of being a part of the North American Students of Cooperation – electing leadership that will drive our organization and our movement forward. As pictured from left to right…
Laird is a nationally recognized facilitator, group process consultant, teacher, and author. Since 1987, he’s been assisting cooperative groups all over North America. During 1997-2015 he was also a regular part of the teaching faculty for NASCO Institute.
Laird will be in Austin November 16-18, giving a series of three (3) two-hour presentations on various aspects of group dynamics and how cooperative groups can function more effectively:
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Friday, Nov 16 @ Sasona Coop (sasona.org) • 8:30-10:30 pm
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Saturday Nov 17 @ Sasona • 2-4 pm
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Sunday 11/18 @ La Reunion Coop (lareunioncoop.org) • 2-4 pm
We invite you and your cooperative group to attend one or more of these sessions and get answers to your vexing questions! Donations will be requested at the door.
NOTE: Laird will also be available to meet with members of your group at other times over the weekend, by special arrangement. Email or call Samuel Bean (samuelhenrybean@gmail.com or 512-412-1367) to RSVP for one or more of Laird’s presentations, or to reserve one-on-one time with Laird.
The NASCO Cooperative Hall of Fame, created in 1989, honors the best of our movement. We use the Hall of Fame as a means for NASCO member co-ops to provide broader recognition to individuals who have made a truly significant impact. This year, a committee of former Hall of Fame inductees and NASCO board members selected three individuals to join the Hall of Fame:Sheella Mierson, Educator