The topics in our cooperative education and development workshops include: Intro to cooperatives, worker-ownership, cooperative principles and values: democracy, equality, equity, self-reliance, and solidarity; “A Just Transition” moving from extractive economy to a caring economy (Movement Generation) ; practicing democracy; business modeling; business planning; legal aspects of starting a cooperative; finances for start-ups; & time banking.
We work with dozens of community partners who support our work and/or help to implement the cooperative education workshops including: Antioch University, Los Angeles; Arroyo S.E.C.O Network of Time Banks; Black Equity Initiative/JIB Fund; LA Coop LAB; Los Angeles Union Cooperative Initiative (LUCI); Brett Heeger, Attorney at Law; LA Eco Village; Niki Okuk, MBA; RideON! bike shop; Solidarity Research Center; Mariana Mendoza, MA Urban Sustainability; Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI); LA County Health Department; Timelist; Southern California Library; Five Points Youth Foundation; R. Jackson Bradford, Change Consultant, Social Innovator; RESIST Foundation; and more.
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Collective REMAKE’s goal is to build cooperatives from the ground up. Our strategy is based on successful models that prioritize cooperative education and development programming. Research on cooperative history demonstrates that ongoing cooperative education is the key to the success of democratic businesses and cooperatives enterprises. We are following the tradition of multiple cooperative leaders: Father Arizmendiarreti, founder of the Mondragon cooperatives in Spain; Fr. A. J. McKnight and Carol Prejean Zippert, founders of the Southern Consumers Cooperative, now the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (FSC/LAF); and Tim Huet, founder of the Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives. These are some of the most successful examples of contemporary cooperative movements built from the ground up. In each case, they started with the educational programming. McKnight created adult education classes in Lafayette Louisiana. The FSC/LAF now has a cooperative academy and development center that supports the expansion of cooperatives in multiple states. Arizmendiarreta opened a school that still exists today and is attended by people from around the world. Huet and partners built consistent education programs in the association for all members. Ongoing education on cooperative history, the practice of democracy, business structure, and the economy is a priority to create sustainable practices. |