News

The Inclusive Enterprise: Giving Employees the Keys to the Business Entrepreneurship can be a powerful force for prosperity. Business ownership gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to earn more money and create jobs. But this pathway to self-made success is mostly an option for the wealthy and for white households with access to capital and connections. Latino or African American households are historically less likely to start a business than white households, contributing to a persistent racial wealth gap. The business asset gap has notable impacts for women—in fact, women of all ethnic backgrounds and races: women business owners have household incomes… more

The development of worker cooperative child care providers, from centers to in-home providers to nannies, should be included as part of a long-term strategy to address affordable childcare in New York City. This report, co-authored by DAWI and FPWA, spells out key recommendations that the Mayor’s office and City Council could implement to increase access to child care while increasing the quality of child care jobs. Quality child care is increasingly out of reach for most New Yorkers, with commercial rents rising, government support stagnating, and high child care worker turnover. Young families struggle to afford raising children in the… more

The Workers to Owners 2017 Annual Impact Report, produced by the Democracy at Work Institute, covers context and data from the collective effort of a team of business, cooperative, community development, finance, and nonprofit sectors to promote cooperative employee ownership. The report includes the context for the collaboration, data points tracking the worker cooperative sector over the last three years, and analysis of the group's progress. “The collaborative came together in 2016 to respond to a moment of generational opportunity. In the next 15 years, hundreds of thousands of businesses employing millions of people will be sold, consolidated or closed… more

The latest State of the Sector report by the Democracy at Work Institute and U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives covers research on worker-owned enterprises through 2015. Three years into surveying worker cooperatives on a national scale, we are positioned to analyze stability and change—demographically, and in terms of business performance, wages, and benefits. Download the report here more

Together, let’s show off the worker cooperative movement The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the Democracy at Work Institute invites you to participate in our annual census to study the economic and social benefits of worker cooperatives. This is an opportunity to contribute to a major, ongoing research that will not only help shape the future for worker cooperatives in the US, it will also help us to show off just the strong, meaningful, and rapid growth of our sector. When we know more about how our individual workplaces compare to each other and to traditional firms, it allows… more

The Democracy at Work Institute is happy to celebrate co-op month with the rest of the movement! As we continue to see the growth of worker-owned businesses and a widespread understanding of the model, we renew our commitment to training and equipping leaders in the sector and being the “think and do” tank that helps the worker cooperative movement to grow strategically. We are at a tipping point in awareness of the worker cooperative structure; as the legislation like the WORK Act and the Worker Owned Wealth Act are introduced, we are seeing people turning to economic alternatives to capitalism… more

The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the Democracy at Work Institute, affiliated organizations working together to grow a powerful grassroots movement for worker ownership in the United States, join forces in our support for the Movement for Black Lives. We sign on to the Vision for Black Lives, and we pledge our combined energy and resources to work toward community control and economic justice based on “ownership, not merely access” for Black communities. At this critical historical moment, we come together to fight for our cooperative principles in service of the “fierce, free, beautiful future” envisioned by the Movement… more

DAWI congratulates graduates of our 2015 Fellowship for Worker Cooperative Developers! The Fellowship supports the creation of larger, networked and impactful worker cooperatives in the United States by building the skills, leadership and strategic orientation of practitioners. DAWI’s learning cohorts create strong communities of practice among peers and across generations of developers. Here are the ten worker cooperative developers who completed DAWI’s year-long Fellowship: Amy Beres, Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union Deborah Craig, Northwest Cooperative Development Center Farzana Sarang, Co-Fed Joe Rinehart Maru Bautista, Center for Family Life Omar Freilla, Green Worker Cooperatives Ricardo Nuñez, Sustainable Economies Law Center Rob Brown… more

UPDATE: On 8/12 Governor Jerry Brown signed AB816, creating a worker cooperative statute in California. For a full press release, see this article from the Sustainable Economies Law Center. ------------------------------------- UPDATE: On 7/13, the California State Senate passed AB816 39-0. Three days later, the California State Assembly voted to pass the Senate's Amendments. The bill is now going to Governor Jerry Brown, and he will likely make a decision in the next two weeks. For more information on the bill's status, visit this link. ------------------------------------- On May 22, the California State Assembly passed AB816, a major step toward making California… more

The Democracy at Work Institute is Hiring! We are looking for experienced, self-directed, and collaborative staff to join our dynamic national organization supporting the field of worker cooperative development. We are hiring a Business Strategist and a L ocal Initiatives Organizer . Applications are due by August 11, 2015. Check out our Job Posting page for more information. more