Program Director
Democracy at Work Institute
Rebecca Bauen directs the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI)’s training and education program, which includes fellowships, workshops and our School for Democratic Management. She has long-standing experience in worker cooperative development and adult education. As Executive Director of WAGES in Oakland, California from 1999-2003, Rebecca directed the organization toward scaling green cleaning cooperatives. Prior to this, she supported the startup of an interpreting co-op and led a workplace conversion project of a union cabinet-making company in Washington State. Working for the Northwest Cooperative Federation, she organized the first four years of the annual Western Worker Cooperative Conference, and taught courses on worker cooperatives and popular education at UC Berkeley and The Evergreen State College.
Rebecca has published multiple articles and reports on community development and cooperatives for GEO, the ICA Group and Dollars & Sense. She is a member of the Cooperative Charitable Trust, participating in study trips of Argentine recuperated factories, Cuba, Emilia Romagna and Mondragon.
Rebecca holds a MPA with a focus on regional economic development and environmental sustainability. She is also a multi-media artist whose story-sculptures have been shown in exhibits throughout the west coast.