NCBA CLUSA is pleased to announce that the latest issue of the Cooperative Business Journal is now available online in a new, easier to read and download format.
Featuring research and analysis from members of NCBA CLUSA’s Council of Cooperative Economists, this issue was available in October exclusively to attendees of the 2020 Cooperative IMPACT Conference. Missed IMPACT? The Fall 2020 issue of the Cooperative Business Journal is now available online.
The last of 2020, this issue explores how cooperatives have embraced diversity, equity and inclusion amid crisis. From a global pandemic to a groundswell of activism against systemic racism, this year has been unprecedented. Yet one thing isn’t a surprise: the resilience of cooperatives. They have pivoted, adapted and innovated, continuing to demonstrate why this business model is better.
For ChiFresh Kitchen, that meant launching a co-op during a pandemic. Their model holds critical lessons for how BIPOC communities can build power and wealth. For electric co-ops, it meant setting up free Wi-Fi hotspots, waiving late fees and renewing their commitment to bridge the digital divide.
We can attribute part of this response to good governance. As we learn in our opening article, cooperatives that rise to the occasion in crises do so because they are structured to reflect and respond to the society and economy in which they operate. A great example is the Independent Drivers Guild, which we also learn about in this issue. When power is shifted to the drivers, a new model for ride-share apps emerges.
At their core, cooperatives exist to serve the people who use the business; in turn, those people have the best interests of their communities in mind. The COVID-19 pandemic, as it has in so many other spaces, only magnified the distinction between co-ops and non-co-ops.