Cooperatives: Part 1, Building Shared Entrepreneurship

Event Details

“A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned enterprise”.

In this session we’ll cover the basics about worker-owned cooperative businesses; what they are, how they are different from other businesses, and how they can help reduce economic inequality. We’ll also touch upon how cooperative ownership can be part of the recovery from our current economic crisis.

Who Should Attend

Small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to learn the best way to start how and why to start a workers owned business.

Cost FREE Available only in English

Topics Covered:

What a worker-owned cooperative is and how to start one

An overview of cooperatives in the US and the world

Basics about the structures that define and govern a worker co-op

The benefits of starting / owning a worker coop

Instructor 

Ashley Ortiz is an entrepreneurial business support specialist with a passion for employee ownership and an equitable economy. She has extensive experience as a technical advisor, business owner, and educator in the cooperative, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors. Ashley was the Cooperative Developer & Technical Advisor at Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives, and was an advisor and educator for The L.A. Co-op Lab. Ashley has a BA in Psychology and an MA is Urban Sustainability from Antioch University. Ashley joins West from Boulder, CO, where she currently works at Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center as their Statewide Technical Assistance Specialist.