The Co-op Cafe: Looking Back at 2021 and What to Expect in 2022
For nearly a decade, the Columinate Co-op Cafe has been a way for workers, directors, consumer-owners, and leaders in the cooperative movement to gather, connect, learn, and tackle relevant issues. Although the Co-op Cafe looked a bit different in 2021, the event survived and, in some ways, even thrived in the face of adversity.
Co-op Cafe Philadelphia 2019
We had a great day of conversation focused on the theme Expand the Vision of “We” in Philadelphia, PA! 16 people including staff, managers and directors from 7 co-ops participated Thank you for contributing during the day – [...]
Co-op Cafe Greenfield 2019
We had a great day of conversation focused on the theme Expand the Vision of “We” in Greenfield, MA! 39 people including staff, managers and directors from 13 co-ops participated Thank you for contributing during the day – [...]
Co-op Cafe Madison 2019
We had a great day of conversation focused on the theme Expand the Vision of “We” in Madison! 12 people including staff, managers and directors from 7 co-ops participated Thank you for contributing during the day – adding your [...]
Co-op Cafe Portland 2019
We had a great day of conversation focused on the theme Expand the Vision of “We” in Portland, OR! 19 people including staff, managers and directors from 6 co-ops participated Thank you for contributing during the day – adding [...]
Welcoming Improvement
Creating a store that reflects the community it serves AND occupies is a difficult endeavor. At Durham Co-op Market they are committing to the hard work of being welcoming to every shopper, in a way that each shopper will feel welcomed.
Principles of ‘Openness’
Co-op Principle #1: Open & Voluntary Membership; in this installment filmed for the 2019 Cooperative Cafe series, LaDonna challenges us to deeply examine 'Openness' and 'Voluntary' at our own co-ops. Can we see ourselves in the Co-ops' story? Can our neighbors? Even when we struggle to compete to be seen or heard in the crowded marketplace, cooperative have a competitive advantage when it comes to being an inclusive, welcoming community gathering place.
Everyone Welcome – Delighting Customers and Building Community 2019
In this latest installment from Dave Olson, Development Director for National Co+op Grocers, he lays out the overarching mission for NCG for the next couple years. On the operations side Olson delves into the Customer Experience (CX) that co-ops offer, and how to really start thinking about all customers, not just member-owners, as the "heart of the co-op".
Community Connections, Co-op Opportunities!
Cindee Lolick, General Manager at First Alternative in Corvallis, OR shares several exciting tales of opportunities that First Alt has been given because of their deep and lasting involvement in the Corvallis community.
Partnerships: For Reflections & Expanding our Reach
Bonnie Hudspeth, in her role as Programs Manager for the Neighboring Food Co-ops Association, is here to bring you the tales of New England food co-ops SUCCESSFULLY working together to tackle the thorny issues of [...]
Customers, Community, and Cost: A Pathway to Success
Michael Faber, General Manager at the Monadnock Food Co-op in Keene, NH, shares his top 3 areas of improvement and growth for the success of his co-op. These are: Customer Experience (CX), Pricing, and Community [...]
Everyone Welcome – Delighting Customers and Building Community
In this latest installment from Dave Olson, Development Director for National Co+op Grocers, he lays out the overarching mission for NCG for the next couple years. On the operations side, Olson delves into the Customer Experience (CX) that co-ps offer, and how to really start thinking about all customers, not just member-owners, as the "heart of the co-op".
The Wisdom of “Everyone Welcome?”
Jade Barker, Governance Consultant with Columinate and co-author of "Everyone Welcome?", shares some of the wisdom that she gained in working on the "Everyone Welcome?" project. In this video Jade shares some of her personal experience as a person of color in the predominantly white food co-op sector and what it has been like on her 15 years journey so far with food co-ops.
The Power of an Association of People
Using the Cooperative Principles as her guideposts, Jamila Medley, Executive Director for the Philadelphia-Area Cooperative Alliance as well as a consultant with CDS Consulting Co-op, asks listeners "What are you doing?" Are we doing everything [...]
Social Justice as an End Statement
People's Food Co-op in Portland, OR has been doing the hard work of examining the implications of expanding into a more diverse, and rapidly-gentrifying, neighborhood. While fully acknowledging the difficulties and messiness of confronting racism, [...]
Unity: The New Co-op Mission
The founding vision for Outpost was to be a "safe-haven for people who felt like they weren't included" and Mehnert contends that that mission is truer today than ever. Drawing comparisons to the social rebellions [...]
Who Is Helping Who?
In his role as Executive Director of a Non-Profit Young Kim, Board President at Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee, WI explores implicit biases that we may bring with us while reaching out to "aid" communities [...]
Customers – The Heart of the Co-op
Essential viewing for any cooperator wanting to stay on top of the latest efforts being made by National Co+op Grocers (NCG) to drive the food co-op sector forward with strength and sustainability. Dave Olson, Co-op [...]
Inclusion: Starting from the Store
You can't have a conversation about inclusion without first expanding the circle and inviting everyone to the table. Prasanna Regmi, General Manager at Davis Food Co-op in Davis, CA talks about the work being done [...]
Co-op: Community Impact Amplifier
1 + 1 = 3 according to Dan Arnett, General Manager of Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. The co-op can, through its interrelationships with the community, amplify the missions of all involved.
Keeping the Co-op at the Table
Co-op donation and local giving programs is sometimes not enough. In order for the cooperative to remain a central and key player in the local community it can sometimes mean getting involved in local government, [...]
Committing to Anti-Racism
The board of directors at People's Food Co-op in Kalamazoo, MI have committed to developing their awareness around racial equity. Board President Hether Frayer tells the Kzoo board story about how they ensconced their social [...]
Cooperation Fosters Deep Roots
Change can be uncomfortable. By discussing what we may be afraid of losing it can be a valuable process to get to being excited about what we might better, or more of. Chris Maher, General [...]
What ‘Everyone Welcome’ Means
The closing of a nearby neighborhood grocer presented what could have been a great sales boost for Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth, MN. But the neighbors weren't beating down the doors of WFD. Sarah Hanningan, [...]
What ‘Everyone Welcome’ Means
The closing of a nearby neighborhood grocer presented what could have been a great sales boost for Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth, MN. But the neighbors weren't beating down the doors of WFD. Sarah Hanningan, [...]
Is Independence a Barrier to Cooperation?
As a result of the coalescing of the regional Co-op Grocers Associations into National Co+op Grocers GreenTree Co-op was able to undergo a transformational shift in their approach to operations and customer experience. Sarah Christensen, [...]
Telling the Co-op Impact Story
So much of the critical work of movement-building is getting the word out there to those who are looking for what we offer. As the Executive Director of Neighboring Food Co-ops Association, Erbin Crowell spend [...]
Food Co-ops Are on the Leading Edge
As director of Food Systems Initiatives for the Self-Help Credit Union, Steve Saltzman has a unique perspective on the work that is being done by food co-op sin communities throughout the region. And from where [...]
From Credit Union to Community: Stories of Impact
At the Local Government Federal Credit Union in Raleigh, NC Michael Spink has the enviable title of Innovation Strategist. In this brief video Michael shares a few stories of how the LGFCU is creating an [...]
Moving Forward Together
An historic proposal was floated among members of 3 Twin Cities food co-ops to merge their 3 distinct organizations into one co-op. Two of those co-ops chose to merge, in this video we get to [...]
The Participation Burger: All Staff Create Impact
Dan Arnett, Cooperator in Chief at Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, tells the story of how he's inviting all staff members to create participation and impact by way of building the best burger in town. Dan [...]
Participation: Systems & Structures
Systems & Structures within a cooperative are essential to creating and maintaining strong communication between co-op stakeholder groups. Rebecca Torpie shares some brief points about how these systems can better be leveraged to create and [...]
On Participation
In her work as a Participation & Engagement consultant for cooperatives, Rebecca Torpie gets to see many successful campaigns engendering authentic relationships between co-op stakeholders. From members, to staff, to community members, the connections between [...]
Courageous Leadership Today Stronger Co-ops Tomorrow – Fall 2016
Facing heightening competition and increased pressure from member-owners, what does it mean to lead with courage? Building off of his wildly popular talk from our last round of Cooperative Cafes, Dave Olson of National C0+op Grocers (NCG) [...]
Courageous Leadership Today Stronger Co-ops Tomorrow
As Director of Co-op Development for NCG, Dave Olson has a unique perspective on what it'll take for co-ops to survive and thrive in this 'New Normal' of increased competition and slowing sales growth. In [...]
The Hero’s Journey of Growth
Delene Porter, the General Manager at Daily Groceries in Athens, GA shares what she calls the Hero's Journey that is the path for the future of her co-op. Shedding parts of their past, acquiring skills [...]
Baking Bread, Building Bonds
Jon McDonald, Bread Baker and Board Member at Weaver Street Market in North Carolina shares his views on leadership and collaboration through the lenses of the several hats that he wears within his cooperative.
Focus, Alignment, and Vision Around Ends
Steve Breckheimer, Board Member at Hendersonville Community Co-op in Hendersonville, NC describes two different versions of what alignment can look like and why alignment is so critical to Ends accomplishment. Then he tells a story [...]
Scaling for Success
River Valley Co-op in Northampton, MA is a jewel among startups with over $25M in annual sales and robust growth. Rochelle Prunty, the GM at RVC takes us through the co-ops history, as well as [...]
Leadership Means Learning from Our Mis-Steps
At Onion River/City Market in Burlington, VT mistakes were made involving staff inclusion. Kyle Larson tells the story from his perspective and highlights the strengths in leadership through this harrowing experience that allowed City Market [...]
Be The Bamboo
John Tashiro shares with us some of the "wisdom of the Bamboo". Tashiro, the newly appointed General Manager at Onion River / City Market in Burlington, VT applies some of this wisdom to being courageous [...]