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Christopher Michael is completing a JD/PhD (Politics) at the City University of New York with a focus on cooperative financial structures, community economic development, and labor law. He is currently co-editing a companion volume to “Ours to Master and to Own: Workers’ Control from the Commune to the Present,” for which he wrote a chapter comparing unionized worker cooperatives in the U.S., Italy, Argentina, and Canada. Chris is also a founding director of NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives.

William Cerf received his Master of Arts in Business Communication (MABC) from Jones International University in November 2011 and began doctoral studies in January 2012 at Union Institute & University with a Concentration in Ethical and Creative Leadership and a Specialization in Martin Luther King, Jr. Studies. Additionally he is an active participant in the Poverty Scholars Program of the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and an advocate for empowerment of low-income people through involvement in Community Voices Heard (CVH). He is passionate about the development of worker-owned cooperatives and is a member of the NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives (NYC NoWC).

Law Department, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (Brazil);
Università degli Studi di Camerino (Italy)

Euclides André Mance is a leading theorist and practitioner of solidarity economy. Based in Brazil, he is involved in projects across Latin America and in Italy. His many books include A Revolução das Redes (1999), Como Organizar Redes Solidárias (2003), Filosofia da Libertação (2022), and the seven volume Economia da Libertação, the first volume of which was published in 2023. Most have been translated into Spanish and Italian, but remain unavailable in English.

Independent scholar, Italy.

Department of Economics, Roma Tre University
Via Silvio D’Amico 77
Rome 00145, Italy

We are a nongovernmental organization recognized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAECI) and the Italian Cooperation Agency (AICS). We work on food sovereignty and security, agro-ecology and agriculture.

We believe in people and personal empowerment for the improvement of everyone's living conditions.

We support local organizations, making sure that every person in every place can live off their own resources and skills. We support local people and civil society to implement sustainable development solutions in the social, environmental, cultural and economic spheres. We cooperate in Africa, Latin America and the Balkans. We work in Italy with local associations, civil society, institutions and universities on issues and challenges related to development and processes of global interdependence. We are for a world that is more equitable, more just and closer to women.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Rozanna Travis is a writer based in Turin, Italy. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona, US.

Research Institute of the Italian Co-operative Federation Lega Nazionale delle Coperative e Mutue
Via Antonio Guattani 9, Rome 0164, Italy

Dr Silvia Emili is a researcher and consultant with a background in strategic design for sustainability, sustainable business model innovation, energy access, and with experience in several African countries.

Silvia holds a PhD from Brunel University London which focused on developing capabilities of companies and practitioners for designing sustainable energy solutions in low-income and developing contexts. She developed a strategic design toolkit (Sustainable Energy for All Design Toolkit, www.se4alldesigntoolkit.com) that includes tools for mapping, classifying and designing business models for energy access. These tools have been used with over 80 companies, practitioners and experts across several African countries. Her PhD research collects over 50 case studies of companies operating in emerging markets, as well as an extensive catalogue of critical factors and successful examples to support ventures entering in this field.

In parallel to her PhD, Silvia worked on EU-funded and EPSRC-funded projects in collaboration with European and African partners. She has extensive experience in carrying out workshops and training activities with companies and non-profits in Kenya, Botswana, Ghana and South Africa. With a strong background in design for sustainability, her previous work includes research on sustainable mobility for disadvantaged communities in Cape Town. She holds a Masters degree from Politecnico di Milano, Italy.