Over 400 participants will converge on Ann Arbor, Michigan from November 11th through 13th, 2016 to share ideas, learn new skills, and look at issues affecting the cooperative movement worldwide.
Since 1977, NASCO's Cooperative Education & Training Institute has been widely recognized as one of the most important training and networking opportunities available to members, directors, staff and managers of group-equity cooperatives.
The annual NASCO Institute is always a one-of-a-kind opportunity to network with hundreds of cooperative leaders and employers, to caucus about pressing issues, and to work on building an inclusive and accessible cooperative movement.
For more information, visit: https://www.nasco.coop/institute
Are you a member of an ICC Ann Arbor co-op? Are you organized? Committed? Do you like visiting other co-ops?
NASCO is looking for 2 ICC members to help coordinate logistics for NASCO Institute. Both positions will start in September and go through November 16th.
Approximately 5-10 hours per week, with a $600 stipend for each position, or a $1,000 stipend if one person takes both positions. Both positions will visit Ann Arbor co-ops to arrange housing for visiting co-opers. The Events Organizer will also coordinate tours of the ICC, find childcare for participants, and help plan events. The Logistics Organizer will also find ad sponsors, update the restaurant guide, and reserve A/V equipment. For more information, check out the full position description here.
To apply: Send your cover letter and resume to Rek Kwawer at rek@nasco.coop. Applications are being considered on a rolling basis, so apply today!
The Inter Cooperative Council in Ann Arbor, MI, is hiring a part-time Finance Assistant. They are accepting applications through September 23, 2016. You can view their posting for complete job description and information about how to apply.
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 current NASCO board members selected three individuals to join the Hall of Fame:
Cindy Christiansen, former Director of Major Maintenance for the Inter-Cooperative Council, Ann Arbor, is being inducted for her leadership as a long-term co-op employee and her stewardship of ICC Ann Arbor’s physical properties.
Cindy oversaw more than $20 million in properties over 16 years with ICC Ann Arbor, helping to define the physical identity of buildings called home by hundreds of members. She was not shy about sharing her expertise with members and staff of other cooperatives, and her systems serve as an exemplary model for a thorough and proactive student housing cooperative maintenance program.
It is easy to speak about the work of members in crafting a cooperative’s identity, but it is also clear that Cindy’s personal vision for cooperative houses is at the heart of what makes ICC Ann Arbor a wonderful place to live.
Nominations are now open for NASCO's board of directors. This is an opportunity to be part of the governance of a bi-national cooperative organization. In order to run for the board, you must be nominated by either one Active Member cooperative, two Associate Member organizations, or five Individual Members of NASCO. Nominations must be received by November 1, 2016.
Nominees will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session at NASCO Institute to discuss their candidacy with members of other co-ops.
Active members can download the nomination packet and nomination form. (If you are an Associate Member, you can use this nomination packet and nomination form, and if you are an Individual Member, you can use this nomination packet and nomination form).
NASCO is hiring a Director of Community Engagement!
The Director of Community Engagement connects people to the cooperative movement. This position will inform, excite, and empower cooperative members and other stakeholders to connect their co-op experiences and ambitions to the larger mission of NASCO. They will connect NASCO and NASCO members to social justice and anti-oppression work both within and outside of the cooperative movement.
The Director of Community Engagement will manage public media platforms (website, email, social media, print) to connect with co-op members and movement partners. They will coordinate the Alumni Network of former NASCO co-op members. They will also plan and execute grassroots fundraising campaigns to build and maintain connections with individual supporters. The Director of Community Engagement is also responsible for coordinating member services and communications to NASCO’s members, including visits, elections, dues, and the NASCO Annual General Meeting and Annual Report.
The full job posting, including application deadline and hiring process, can be found here.
The NASCO office is moving as of September 1, 2016. Our new address will be:
1100 West Cermak Road, #514, Chicago, IL, 60608, USA
Please update your records to this new address (be sure to include our suite number, #514, so that mail will reach us).
If you have already sent something to us in the mail, rest assured that we have set up mail forwarding and it should still reach us.
You can, of course, still reach us by email at info@nasco.coop.
Kalamazoo Collective Housing is hiring a part-time Executive Director, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. You may read the job posting here, and the Kalamazoo Collective Housing 2016-2020 Strategic Plan here. Applications will be received until September 7th, 2016 at 5:00pm EST.
Questions? Email director@kalamazoo.coop.
The Center for Student Business at UMass Amherst is hiring a new full-time Director. This is an excellent opportunity to support an established power-house of student democratic businesses. Apply by 08/31 for priority consideration.
We're very pleased to announce that Ed Whitfield, Co-Managing Director of the Fund for Democratic Communities, will be joining us November 11-13th to keynote this year's Cooperative Education and Training Institute. Ed's speech, titled "Changing the World in a World that is Changing," will explore how we go about changing the world for the better, recognizing the motion and counter-motion all around us. In particular, Ed will talk about how access to tools and resources is the key to the power to direct change along the path we care about, toward a wholesome, equitable, sustainable and just world.
Ed's keynote speech will build on this year's overall conference theme, "Cooperative Resilience," focusing on the innovative and resilient nature of cooperatives, and how these qualities are essential to adapt in a changing world as we build the next economic systems. We're excited to explore this theme with you, investigating the role of cooperatives as a driving force for grassroots democracy and community stability.