Shared Capital is proud to be owned and governed by our members. We once again held a competitive ballot with seven highly qualified candidates running for five open seats and the results are in.
Welcome new Board members Me’Lea Connelly and Julie Ristau!
And congratulations to reelected incumbents Thomas Beckett, Jaqueline Hannah and Jaime Villalaz.
Thomas, Jacqueline, Jaime and Me’Lea were elected to seats with 3-year terms and Julie was elected to a one-year term seat. Sincere thanks to everyone who ran and voted for our board. This year for the first time we used electronic voting, which we hope will make participation by our members even easier.
2018 Annual Member Meeting and Cooperative Forum Thanks to all our sponsors, members, guests and supporters for making a successful Annual Member Meeting and Cooperative Forum!
2018 Cooperative Forum
Working Better Together: Cooperatives Stabilizing Work in a Disruptive Economy
The 2018 Cooperative Forum featured leaders from three Shared Capital member co-ops that have formed to address challenges in the current economy. On a panel moderated by Shared Capital’s Christina Jennings, Peter Ibik of MontCo Union Taxi Co-op spoke of how a union organizing drive among Greater DC Metro led him to organize a union taxi co-op. Lucha Silva of eQuality HomeCare Co-op in Texas shared how coming to work in a worker co-op in Texas was transformative after working in the homecare field for many years as a single mother. Patrick Martin shared stories of the path to employee ownership that he and his co-workers followed as they bought their employer A-1 Builders & Adaptations Design Studio in Bellingham, Washington, and converted it to a worker co-op. A very special thank-you to Peter, Lucha and Patrick for coming to the Twin Cities to share their stories and to our sponsors for making the Cooperative Forum possible.
Shared Capital Executive Director, Christina Jennings, and Board officers Alex Betzenheimer, Dana Curtis and Thomas Becket, led a brief annual business meeting for members. They reported on the financial performance, outcomes and impact of Shared Capital’s work. In 2017, Shared Capital:
Made $3 million in loans;
Supported 7 start-ups, 1 conversion and 7 expansions;
Borrowers created and maintained 723 jobs; and
Provided 95% of their financing to co-ops by and for low income communities, women and people of color.
Special thanks to Ann Fedorchak of National Cooperative Bank who spoke about our partnership in providing capital to co-ops nationwide.
Natasha Mwonga will be working as a paid intern with Shared Capital this summer. Natasha is a double major in Economics and Environmental Studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN.
Natasha will be researching the economic and environmental impact of Shared Capital Cooperative as well as that of its membership. Join us in welcoming her to Shared Capital! If you have input for her research, email intern@sharedcapital.coop.
2018 International Day of Cooperatives
The 2018 International Day of Cooperatives (IDC) theme is “Sustainable consumption and production”, creating an opportunity for cooperatives to show how they run successful businesses while respecting our natural environment and the resources it offers.
What is your co-op doing to show its sustainable consumption and production on July 7?
