The Democracy at Work Institute has created a new fellowship program to support the current and next generation of mid-career worker cooperative development leaders and their organizations to engage with the question of scale. The Institute’s Fellowship Program creates the space and time for cooperative developers to step back and think about their work from this vantage point. For more information about the program, follow this link. Informational webinar and/or screening interview required prior to application. Completed applications are due on January 9th, 5:00 p.m. Pacific. more

A diverse coalition achieves unprecedented support for the worker cooperative movement from the New York City Council On Thursday, June 26th the New York City Council will vote to approve the city's annual budget, which contains a $1.2 million initiative to fund the development of worker cooperatives. This investment – the largest to date by a city government – represents an endorsement of worker cooperatives as a means of creating quality jobs and anchoring businesses in local communities. Melissa Hoover, the executive director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the Democracy at Work Institute stated, “This is a… more

Here's one way to celebrate turning 10 ... Get some coverage in the NY Times Magazine! USFWC and DAWI Executive Director, Melissa Hoover, and USFWC member, The Working World, are interviewed in this well-received article, "Who Needs a Boss?". "Support for full-fledged co-ops has inched into the mainstream as comm u niti es have grown weary of waiting for private investors to create good jobs — or sick of watching them take jobs away... "One perennial criticism of worker co-ops is that they can’t afford the high-flying talent that would help them innovate... “We’re not trying to create an Amazon… more

Interested in the potential for the conversion of conventionally owned businesses into worker cooperatives? The Democracy Collaborative has published an interview with Democracy At Work Institute Executive Director Melissa Hoover on the potential of cooperative conversions, their challenges and the Institute's support for them. Check out the whole interview here. more

On November 21st, 2013 the Democracy at Work Institute and the National Young Farmers Coalition hosted a webinar highlighting just a few of the successful cooperatives building local food systems and creating more sustainable livelihoods for young farmers. You can view the conference presentation and read more about the cooperatives here. Due to the popularity of the webinar the Institute and the NYFC will be hosting an encore presentation in December, 2013 or January, 2014. To be informed of this, and upcoming webinars sign up here. more

Join us November 1 for a webinar explaining our vision for the Institute, our current work and our plans. Space is limited. Please email info@institute.usworker.coop to RSVP. more