fbpx

Category: Uncategorized

Making Equal Exchange a More Democratic and Participatory Workplace

Posted on by

BEHIND-THE-PROJECT

Our Behind the Project series will give you the scoop about TESA’s work. We want to show you what we do and how we do it. We’re proud of our work, inspired by the work our partners do, and we’re committed to transparency as an organization. You’ll get an inside look at what we do and the kinds of projects we can do with you.

Here, we cover our work introducing Equal Exchange worker-owners to the principles of democratic and participatory education and help them develop everyday practices to implement in their West Bridgewater, MA factory and offices.

Inspired? Get in touch—we’d love to work with you, too!

[…]

Go Behind the Scenes of the Green Worker Cooperatives Co-op Academy

Posted on by

BEHIND-THE-PROJECT

Our Behind the Project series will give you the scoop about our work. We want to show you what we do and how we do it. We’re proud of our work, inspired by the work our partners do, and we’re committed to transparency as an organization. You’ll get an inside look at what we do and the kinds of projects we can do with you.

Here, we focus on our work with the Bronx-based Green Worker Cooperatives (GWC). As one of the country’s premiere co-op developers, GWC has launched many new cooperatives. They turned to us to create a popular education curriculum for their worker co-op academy.

Inspired? Get in touch—we’d love to work with you, too!

[…]

Discover the Co-op Movement with our Equal Exchange Cooperative Education Scholarship

Posted on by

equal_exchangeWe are thrilled to announce that, with the financial support of Equal Exchange TESA is launching a Cooperative Education Scholarship for our TESA Academy. The scholarship will allow us to offer a minimum of one free seat for our the cooperative track of our Academy. Currently, this scholarship will apply to Introduction to Cooperatives, Worker-Coops 101, and Creating a Cooperative Food Economy. As the year progresses, we plan on expanding the offerings in our cooperative track, and in turn, this scholarship will extend to any new classes we produce that focus on cooperatives.

[…]

How We Helped Launch 8 Co-ops (and Built an International Education Platform) with the Cooperative Development Institute

Posted on by

BEHIND-THE-PROJECT

Remember VH1’s Behind the Music series? We didn’t realize, but it’s still on the air. The channel gives you an all-access pass to the celebrity artists of the day. You can hear how Ludacris used to be an intern, or about Carrie Underwood’s search for love.

We’ve been inspired to riff off that idea and so we’re launching a new series here about the whys, hows, and whats behind the work we do.

We won’t get personal—no love life stories, don’t worry—but our Behind the Project series will give you the scoop about TESA’s work. We want to show you what we do and how we do it. We’re proud of our work, inspired by the work our partners do, and we’re committed to transparency as an organization. You’ll get an inside look at what we do and the kinds of projects we can do with you.

Inspired? Get in touch—we’d love to work with you, too!

[…]

Co-opoly Tournament with UMassFive and UMass Students

Posted on by
Student_Co-opoly_Tournament

We got together with UMassFive College Federal Credit Union and the Board of Student Businesses at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to facilitate the first-ever Co-opoly tournament February 20.

We held the event UMass, with delicious food, courtesy Greeno SubShop, and great prizes, thanks to UMassFive.

New hires from each student-run collective were invited by the collaborative student-run board to play. Our goal was to help foster an immersive team-building board experience for the students, giving those new to the collectives a chance to learn what democratic workplaces are all about in a fun, low-key way.

[…]

What the New Economy Means to Valley Green Feast

Posted on by

valley_green_feast_logoWe asked Valley Green Feast Collective to share their thoughts on the new economy and how it intersects with their work. Valley Green Feast is a local foods delivery service based in Western Massachusetts.

Here’s what they had to say.

By Ally Sterling

Valley Green Feast Collective is a worker-owned cooperative and we are committed to being apart of the new economy. To us building the new economy means creating and engaging with a system that is environmentally, socially, and economically just.

We recognize that capitalism is not the best option because it does not acknowledge the ecological challenges we are facing, and it favors profit and exploitation over people and our planet. We are in dire need of a system that addresses these issues and that fosters growth, learning, equality, adaptation and cooperation.

[…]

Credit Unions in the Co-op Movement

Posted on by

UMassFiveLogoOur friends at UMassFive College Credit Union make a huge difference in our local economy, and they are terrific supporters of co-ops like ours. Below Manager of Member Outreach Sean Capaloff-Jones shares a few thoughts on co-op identity and credit unions.

By Sean Capaloff-Jones

As many of my generation can attest, coming of age in the turn of the century has been tough. There has been an increase in many people’s sense of insecurity since September 11, 2001. And the Great Recession was a traumatic experience for anyone who, like me, was expected to enter one of the worst job markets the United States has ever experienced.

[…]

What the New Economy Means to Democracy Collaborative

Posted on by

democracy_collaborative_logoWe asked The Democracy Collaborative to share their thoughts on the new economy and how it intersects with their work. The Collaborative is a national leader in the field of community development through their Community Wealth Building Initiative that sustains a wide range of projects involving research, training, policy development, and community-focused work.

Here’s what they had to say.

By John Duda

[…]