March 23. 2023 Everything Co-op closes its commemoration of Women's History Month with an interview of Stacey Sutton Ph.D., Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Sutton and Vernon discuss her new body of cooperative city research, "Real Black Utopias," where she examines the infrastructure and ideology of Black-led cooperatives and solidarity economy ecosystems in multiple cities. Stacey Sutton is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago in the Depart...
Mar 29, 2023•51 min
March 16, 2023 Everything Co-op continues its commemoration of Women's History Month, with an interview of Deb Trocha, Executive Director at Indiana Cooperative Development Center. Deb and Vernon will discuss the upcoming Housing Co-op Conference, and how the Co-op model can be used to address the current housing crisis. The hybrid conference is Free and will be held March 31, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. Visit ICDC.coop for more information. Deb Trocha joined the Indiana Cooperative Development Center (...
Mar 24, 2023•48 min
March 9, 2023 Everything Co-op continues its commemoration of Women's History Month, with an interview of Dina Omar, founder of the Palestinian Soap Cooperative. Vernon and Dina discuss the rich history and heritage associated with Nablus soap. Dina is currently completing her doctorate degree at Yale University in Anthropology with a joint certification in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, she completed her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley where she studied and taught with June Jordan’s...
Mar 16, 2023•44 min
March 2, 2023 Everything Co-op kicked off its commemoration of Women's History Month with an interview of Andria Barrett, founding member of The Banker Ladies Council. Vernon and Andria discuss the evolution, history and practical use of ROSCAs (Rotating Savings and Credit Associations, and how they can support entrepernuership. Andria Barrett is a founding member of The Banker Ladies Council and is in a Partner Bank. She is a community activist from Canada and the founder of The Diversity Agenc...
Mar 14, 2023•52 min
February 23, 2023 Everything Co-op continues its commemoration of Black History Month with an interview of Attorney Renee C. Hatcher. Vernon and Renee discuss how she has used law as a vehicle of resistance. Renee Hatcher is a solidarity economy lawyer. She is an Assistant Professor of Law and the Director of the Community Enterprise and Solidarity Economy Law Clinic at UIC Law, a legal clinic that provides free legal support to grassroot organizations, cooperatives, and other solidarity economy...
Mar 03, 2023•49 min
January 26, 2023 Floran Syler-Woods, Ph.D, Director of Finance at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (Federation), discusses the important role financial systems play in the success of organizations and businesses. She and Vernon also unravel the complexities of understanding the determinants of wealth. In the capacity of Director of Finance Dr. Syler-Woods serves as the direct supervisor of the corporate accounting staff and indirect supervisor of all field accountants...
Feb 26, 2023•46 min
February 16, 2023 Everything Co-op continues its commemoration of Black History Month with an interview of Pastor Keith Davis, President and CEO of the Camden Dream Center’s Technology Training School in Camden, New Jersey and Julian D. Miller, Esq., founding Executive Director of the Reuben V. Anderson Center for Justice, at Tougaloo College in Mississippi. Vernon and his guests will discuss Black Food Sovereignty. Reverend Keith Davis is a pastor and community leader, technologist, and thought...
Feb 19, 2023•49 min
February 9, 2023 Everything Co-op continues it's celebration of Black History Month with an interview of Jennie L. Stephens Ph.D., CEO at the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation. Vernon and Dr. Stephens discuss how the Center provides legal education and direct legal services to help families obtain clear title to family land and learn how to make the land work for them, instead of working for the land. Dr. Jennie L. Stephens has been the Executive Director of the Center for Heirs’ Property ...
Feb 16, 2023•51 min
February 2, 2023 This interview with Rev. Dr. Reginald Flynn, founder and President of North Flint Reinvestment Corporation, (NFRC) is the first installment of Everything Co-op's commemoration of Black History Month. The theme for Black History month 2023 is Black Resistance. The theme explores how “African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial profiling, and police killings.” Given the tumultuous times we are l...
Feb 10, 2023•52 min
January 19, 2023 Steve Dubb, Senior Editor of Economic Justice at NPQ. Steve and Vernon will discuss the upcoming webinar "Remaking the Economy: Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories" (nonprofitquarterly.org) focusing on the interconnections between food sovereignty, racial and economic justice, and community building, and other initiatives of NPQ. Steve and Vernon discuss Black food sovereignty, the Tulsa Massacre, and the webinar series and other programming provided by NPQ. Steve Dubb is ...
Feb 05, 2023•47 min
November 22, 2022 Vernon Oakes, host of Everything Co-op, shares information on the definition of a cooperatives, and the fundamentals of marketing. Vernon Oakes, is a consummate advocate for cooperatives. He is a Past President of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives, and he's served on several boards and committees to advance the interests of cooperatives. Recently, he served on the Limited Equity Cooperative Task Force, established by Anita Bonds, At-Large Member of the Council of...
Jan 29, 2023•47 min
December 15, 2022 RL Condra and Vernon discuss how the Mid-term Election results might impact the cooperative landscape, and the importance of advocacy and how he became involved in the cooperative movement. As Senior VP of Government Affairs RL Condra is responsible for advocating for issues that directly impact NCB’s cooperative customer segments. Since joining NCB, he has advocated for cooperatives to have access to SBA lending programs, risk retention changes for cooperative housing, and the...
Jan 11, 2023•51 min
September 22, 2022 John Zippert, former Director of Program Operations for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund discusses his career in advocacy from a student working with CORE and SNCC to his work with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. John Zippert served as the Director of Program Operations for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund at their Rural Training and Research Center in Epes, Alabama, for 49 years from 1971-2018. He retired in Dec...
Oct 28, 2022•50 min
September 29, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees. Vernon interviews Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., Professor at John Jay College, and Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, Co Editor at Grassroots Economic Organizing. Both are also economic social justice advocates. Vernon and his guests will discuss the Unsung Cooperative Hero Award, and its first recipient Ella Jo Baker. Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic...
Oct 04, 2022•49 min
September 15, 2022 Sarah Kaplan is a Partner at Cutting Edge Counsel, a California-based firm that specializes in open public capital-raising strategies that allow community members to participate in supporting local businesses. During her interview, she shares examples of how Cutting Edge Counsel has provided legal services that has impacted and empowered social enterprises. Sarah is a corporate and securities lawyer working to support economic community empowerment. Sarah has ten years of expe...
Sep 25, 2022•50 min
August 25, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with Dan Waddle, Senior VP of NRECA International. Dan discusses his Career in Cooperatives and shares the history of NRECA's electrification efforts in Rural areas throughout the world. For more than 40 years, Dan Waddle’s professional focus and personal passion has been to support rural communities to improve living conditions and stimulate income growth by supporting community-owned, affo...
Sep 22, 2022•49 min
September 8, 2022 Our host, Vernon Oakes interviews Malik Kenyatta Yakini, Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), and Trevor Claiborn, Sr. Co-founder of Black Soil: Our Better Nature. Vernon and his guests discuss the food sovereignty movement, and how cooperative food alliances, and the focus on Ag marketing and food distribution has impacted communities of color. Malik Kenyatta Yakini is an activist and educator who is committed to freedom and justice for Afric...
Sep 21, 2022•52 min
September 1, 2022 Everything Co-op posthumously honors Allan D. Gallant, leader in food cooperatives, and 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductee. Alan’s Son, Sam Gallant, and Stuart Reid, Executive Director of Food Cooperative Initiative, pay tribute to Mr. Gallant, recall major milestones in his life, and discuss how he influenced initiatives that addressed food insecurities in the World. Allan Gallant, former Blooming Prairie Foundation and Food Co-op Initiative Board Member was a galvanizing ...
Sep 16, 2022•47 min
July 21, 2022 Vernon Oakes, host of Everything Co-op, and producer, Pat Thornton, will discuss what You need to know about the 2022 elections, and the importance of the Midterm Gubernatorial Elections. "The 2022 United States Gubernatorial Elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. Thirty-nine state and territorial gubernatorial and numerous other st...
Sep 14, 2022•49 min
August 18, 2022 Laura Vogel, Senior Advisor for NRECA Political Affairs discusses Co-ops Vote, and National Voter Registration Day. Laura Vogel is the Senior Advisor for NRECA Political Affairs. As a member of the Political Affairs team, she is responsible for developing programs to encourage Co-op member and staff engagement in political issues that matter to the Co-op family and is the program manager for their voter initiative, Co-ops Vote. She is involved in NRECA’s political training progra...
Sep 14, 2022•49 min
July 28, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with Margaret Lund, Margaret is a community development specialist, who was instrumental in establishing the Unsung Cooperative Hero Award with a team of co-op leaders. Margaret shares the evolution of the Award, and gives an introduction to its first recipient, Ms. Ella Jo Baker. Margaret Lund is an independent consultant specializing in the areas of community development, finance and shared ...
Sep 12, 2022•50 min
August 11, 2022 Everything Co-op continues its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees, with Gary Oakland, former Executive Director of BECU. Vernon and Gary discuss his 32-year career at BECU, and how he helped grow BECU to become the 4th largest Credit Union in the Country. After earning a degree in economics from Washington State University in 1975, Gary started his cooperative journey as a teller at Seattle Telco Federal Credit Union. He went on to work for BECU in 1980 wh...
Sep 12, 2022•47 min
August 8, 2022: Esteban Kelly, Executive Director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives discusses the upcoming National Worker Co-op Conference, Worker Cooperative State of the Sector Report, and recently passed legislation. Esteban Kelly is the Executive Director at the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. He is also an important leader and creative force in solidarity economy and co-op movements. He has served on numerous boards including the USFWC, the US Solidarity Economy Network, th...
Sep 09, 2022•48 min
July 14, 2022 Everything Co-op kicks-off its recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with Paul Hazen, executive director of the Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC). Vernon and Paul discuss his experiences in the cooperative movement throughout his career, and the role he feels cooperatives have played in helping cities to rebound from the economic collapses of the past. Paul Hazen became executive director of the Overseas Cooperative Development Council in February...
Aug 19, 2022•50 min
June 30, 2022 Chris Tilly, Professor of Urban Planning and Sociology at UCLA, with several of his graduate students: Geoff Gusoff, Eliza Jane Franklin, and Ernest Johnson, discuss their Co-op Community Development Capstone Project, in Crenshaw, South Central, LA. Chris Tilly holds a joint Ph.D. in Economics and Urban Studies and Planning from MIT. For over thirty years, Tilly has conducted research on bad jobs and how to make them better. His current research includes ongoing examination of how ...
Jul 09, 2022•50 min
On June 23, 2022, Vernon interviewed Emily Nail, Executive Director for the Cooperative Council of North Carolina (CCNC), along with two returning students: MaKayla Chaplin and Kylie Chandler, and one new student, Hampton Scott. Vernon and his guests discuss the Cooperative Camp experience, and how it can be used for the overall development of its participants. As Executive Director for the CCNC, Emily administers executive planning, administration, communications, education and marketing. Since...
Jun 30, 2022•49 min
On June 9, Zen Trenholm, Director of Employee Ownership Cities and Policy at Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI), discusses the metrics of using employee ownership to build equitable economies though employee ownership. Zen Trenholm builds capacity, partnerships, and resources to scale democratic employee ownership across the country. He currently leads the Shared Equity in Economic Development Fellowship program (SEED), where he convenes and equips city and community leaders with tools and suppo...
Jun 23, 2022•53 min
Ted Rau, Co-founder of Sociocracy For All, and John McNamara, Ph.D., Sr Cooperative Development Specialist at Northwest Cooperative Development Center NCDC, discuss the Sociocracy in Cooperatives Conference, being held on June 23rd. Ted Rau is an Operational leader at SoFA. Ted spends most of his time training and consulting in sociocracy and leading SoFA as an organization. Ted is co-author of the sociocracy handbook Many Voices, One Song. He enjoys writing articles, and teaching meeting facili...
Jun 22, 2022•51 min
6.2.2022 Gina Schaefer is founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores appeared on Everything Co-op June 2, 2022. Gina shared the strategy of how she and her husband Mark, have used their hardware stores to build and serve communities throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area. Gina Schaefer is founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores. Gina's big passion is for developing urban markets, supporting small businesses and helping women to succeed in all aspects of the hardware industry. A sel...
Jun 16, 2022•51 min
Ajoke Williams, is a Program Manager for Guilded, a Freelance Co-op. She and Vernon discuss how Guilded leverages the power of pooled benefits, collective purchasing, and collective advocacy; to build agency, decision-making and economic power of freelance and gig economy workers. Guilded, is an initiative of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Ajoke joins the Federation's team that provides tech development, fundraising, communications, project management, and consulting for artist and ac...
Jun 09, 2022•50 min
