The cooperative board room does not share all the same purposes as investor-owned corporation or nonprofit boards. Co-ops are organized to benefit their owners, and that is more important than a financial return on investment. We have been asking ourselves if there should be a model of cooperative governance and if so, what would it need to look like to support and drive forward [...]
What sets co-ops apart from other companies is their ownership structure, cooperative values and democratic governance. That’s why co-op leadership that is focused specifically on those things that define cooperation is so critical. It’s the reason why food co-op leaders have continually been asking the question: How can co-op governance ensure the success of the cooperative as an association and a business? The Four [...]
By Marilyn Scholl, Joel Kopischke 171 March-April 2014 In the January/February 2014 issue of Cooperative Grocer magazine, we introduced the Four Pillars of Cooperative Governance as a model for the co-op sector to steer our cooperatively owned enterprises toward economic, social, and cultural success. It is the culmination of many years’ work with co-op boards of directors, seeking to answer this question: How can [...]
