19 The Agency (19) is a worker-owned branding and marketing cooperative helping organizations within the solidarity economy communicate their value with clarity, confidence and consistency. 19 provides branding, website design, communications strategy and related creative support to worker cooperatives, cooperative developers, nonprofits and community-rooted businesses. Their work helps organizations clarify who they are, explain why their work matters, and communicate in ways that strengthen trust with the people and communities they serve.
Based in Northeast Pennsylvania, 19 was founded in 2017 by Zaakir Abdus-Salaam and Rashidah Amatullah Mendez. From the beginning, 19’s purpose was to make thoughtful, high-level branding and design accessible to small local businesses and organizations doing meaningful work in their communities. Their portfolio showcases brand identity and website development for Corbin Hill Food Project, Dignity in Schools Campaign and Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children.
19 first encountered the worker cooperative model between 2019 and 2020 through efforts to connect with organizations doing community development work, which led to collaborations with Detroit Community Wealth Fund, Southeast Center for Cooperative Development and Phat Daddy’s, a worker-cooperative startup restaurant in Charleston, West Virginia. Through these collaborations, the team began to see how closely the cooperative model aligned with the values that had already shaped the agency: shared responsibility, collective decision-making, community accountability and using business as a vehicle for something larger than individual gain. In December 2025, 19 formally converted into a worker cooperative; today, it has three worker-owners: Zaakir Abdus-Salaam, Rashidah Amatullah Mendez and Aseeya Baye-Ellison.
“For us, becoming a worker cooperative was about bringing the structure of the agency into closer alignment with the values that had guided our work from the beginning,” worker-owner Rashidah Amatullah Mendez said.
“For us, becoming a worker cooperative was about bringing the structure of the agency into closer alignment with the values that had guided our work from the beginning.” – Worker-Owner Rashidah Amatullah Mendez
Along with becoming worker-owned, 19 made the intentional decision to focus its work exclusively on cooperatives, solidarity-economy organizations, nonprofits and other mission-driven institutions. The cooperative model gives each member a meaningful voice in decisions that affect the business and creates a structure through which the value generated by the agency can be shared more equitably. 19 lives out Principle 6—cooperation among cooperatives—by building relationships within the cooperative ecosystem, learning from other cooperators and using its branding and marketing expertise to strengthen organizations working toward a more democratic economy.
As a new NCBA member, 19 plans to participate in the Marketing Volunteer Council and contribute its experience as both a branding agency and a newly converted worker cooperative.
“We believe cooperatives and solidarity-economy organizations are doing some of the most important work in our communities. Our role is to help them communicate that work in a way that people can understand, connect with and support,” worker-owner Zaakir Abdus-Salaam said. “We joined NCBA because we want to be in meaningful relationship with the broader cooperative community, and see membership as an opportunity to learn from other cooperatives, contribute our own expertise and help strengthen the ecosystem together.”
19 continues to build relationships with organizations across the national cooperative ecosystem and is looking for opportunities to collaborate on education, capacity-building and communications initiatives. They are preparing to deliver a workshop this fall in partnership with the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance. The workshop is part of 19’s broader effort to make branding and communications knowledge more accessible to cooperatives and the organizations that support them. By directing its expertise toward the solidarity economy, 19 hopes to help fellow cooperatives and aligned organizations grow while also strengthening public awareness and understanding of the cooperative business model.