Return to Black Wall Street Co-op Incubator Course

The roots of modern cooperatives stretch back more than 150 years, but it wasn't until 1995 that the International Co-operative Alliance adopted seven core values around which all cooperatives should operate. When the United Nations declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives, these principles renewed an important conversation about what it means to be a credit union, specifically why they exist and how they are different by design. But these principles are more than just a collection of feel-good notions, they offer credit unions a way to compete against and differentiate from for-profit financial services providers.

Although the International Year of Cooperatives served as a catalyst for celebrating and feeling renewed pride in those shared values, it's important to pause and ask ourselves if we've effectively communicated them to the broader marketplace? Would members be able to name all seven principles? Would they be able to name any of them?

Read the full article on CreditUnions.com

Home care cooperatives in urban areas can now apply for grants to support training and technical assistance thanks to support from the CDF Development Fund. The grant program is intended to provide support to cooperatives ineligible for help through CDF's USDA Rural Cooperative Development and Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grants. The development and growth of worker-owned home care cooperatives is the focus of the CDF supported National Home Care Cooperative Initiative.

Grants in the amount of $1,000 to $5000 may be used for technical assistance and training. Cooperatives may apply for the grant online. Applications will be reviewed and awarded on a rolling basis. The program will end when designated funds are expended.

Read the rest at Cooperative Development Foundation

Has raising up more black millionaires been a successful economic development strategy for our communities?  Evidently not. What's the alternative to gentrification, to stadiums, to ruthless exploitation? It's the solidarity economy. It's cooperation. It's democratically owned, worker-run cooperatives for child care, retail, auto repair, factories, health care, you name it. It's already rising in Jackson Mississippi, and soon, near you.

Read the full article at Black Agenda Report

Open in a new tab