February 1, 2024 In honor of the 2024 Black History Month theme of African Americans and the Arts, Vernon interviews Kali Akuno, co-founder and Director and Cooperation Jackson. Vernon and Kali discuss new initiatives of Cooperation Jackson, and how the organization has used "the Arts" to inform and promote co-ops. Kali Akuno is an organizer, educator, and writer for human rights and social justice. He is also a co-founder and director of Cooperation Jackson, which is an emerging network of work...
Feb 17, 2024•38 min
January 25, 2024 Vernon interviews Devin Fuhrman, Chief Agriculture and Sponsor Relations Officer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Vernon and Devin discuss the evolution of Nationwide, from its beginning as a part of the Farm Bureau through its partnerships and innovation techniques it relies on today, to maintain its commitment to be a "Customer Protection Company." Devin Fuhrman serves as the Chief Agriculture and Sponsor Relations Officer. In this role, Devin enables Nationwide busines...
Jan 28, 2024•53 min
January 18, 2024 Doug O’Brien, President and CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) discusses his cooperative journey, and the 2024 initiatives for NCBA CLUSA. Doug O'Brien works with the cooperative community, both domestically and internationally, to deepen their impact and influence. NCBA CLUSA is the primary voice for cooperatives in the United States for using the cooperative business model to empower people in their businesses and communities....
Jan 25, 2024•52 min
December 14, 2023 Everything Co-op continues to feature finalist from its Inaugural 2023 Holiday List, a thoughtfully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community. In this 3rd installment, Vernon will introduces his listeners to two of his picks for the "Body" & "Community". Nate Chittenden, Member/Owner at Cabot Creamery Cooperative, discusses the whole process of how the concept of "Farm-to-Table" plays out within his family farm, and other farmers, who are a part o...
Dec 17, 2023•53 min
12.7.2023 Christina Jennings, Christina Clamp. Michael Peck & Kevin O'Brien Share Products & Services for the Mind from Everything Co-op's 2023 Co-op Holiday List. Everything Co-op continues its Inaugural 2023 Holiday List, a thoughtfully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community. In this 2nd installment Vernon introduces listeners to three of his picks for your "Mind" and "Community". Christina Jennings, Executive Director of Shared Capital, Christina Clamp, D...
Dec 17, 2023•49 min
LaKeisha Wolf, Executive Director of Ujamaa Collective discusses how Ujamaa has used the collective cooperative business model to address Community problems, and create generational wealth. This interview features selections from Everything Co-op's 2023 Holiday List, a thoughtfully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community. The intention is to put into practice the principle of Cooperation Among Cooperatives. In this first installment Vernon introduces his listeners to...
Dec 17, 2023•52 min
November 16, 2023 Everything Co-op continues its observance of National American Indian Heritage Month, with an interview of Josephine Foo, executive director of Indian Country Grassroots Support, and project attorney with the Diné Nihi Kéyah Project, and Raymond Deal traditional counselor with Diné Bá Álchíní Yił Ádaaní Navajo Family Voices. Vernon and his guests will discuss the role Lawyers and counselors play in representing tribal communities, and families in the Navajo Nation. Josephine Fo...
Dec 01, 2023•48 min
November 9, 2023 Everything Co-op's kicks off its observance of National American Indian Heritage Month, with an interview of Eva Seidelman, associate at Chestnut Law Offices, and Kevin J. Fort, Executive Director and CFO of Regenerative Business Institute (RBI). Vernon and his guests will discuss the role Lawyers and accountants play in representing tribal communities, governments, businesses and non-profit organizations. Eva Seidelman is an associate at Chestnut Law Offices. Her practice inclu...
Nov 30, 2023•49 min
October 12, 2023 Vernon interviews Angela Marie Sayles, CEO of Little Africa Food Collaborative. Angela. Vernon will discuss her efforts to address land and food rights, and the topic of Rethinking Market Studies for Black Led Cooperatives. Angela holds the position of CEO for the Little Africa Food Cooperative. She advocates for local food systems and cooperatives, lobbying within the Ag Noire Coalition and the National Cooperative Business Association. Angela’s work as research facilitator, wi...
Nov 17, 2023•49 min
Everything Co-op features four Cooperative Leaders and Scholars who are participating in the 2023 IMPACT Conference. Vernon will discuss the co-op sectors they are involved with, and they will share their cooperative journey. Adrián Román is a Co-op Organizer at BCCO parallel to his work as a mediator and mindfulness instructor. His work as a co-op organizer focuses on creating and facilitating curriculum in cooperative education, assessing interpersonal dynamics to design organizational systems...
Oct 27, 2023•50 min
September 28, 2023 Sheldon C. Petersen retired governor and CEO of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), discusses his co-op journey, and projections about the future of the cooperative movement. Sheldon Petersen served as Governor/CEO of CFC for 26 years from 1995 until his retirement in 2021. He began his career in the rural electrification program in 1976 as staff assistant for Nishnabotna Valley REC in Harlan, Iowa. He later served as general manager of Rock Cou...
Oct 04, 2023•49 min
September 21, 2023 Everything Co-op continues it's tribute to the 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductees, with an interview of Leslie Mead, retired Executive Director of the Cooperative Development Foundation. Leslie discusses her co-op journey, and projections about the future of the cooperative movement with Vernon. After growing up in Indiana and attending college in Iowa, Mead moved to Washington, DC and took a job with the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) as assistant general...
Sep 29, 2023•47 min
August 14, 2021 Everything Co-op continues its tribute in honor of the 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees, with an interview of co-op housing advocate, Linda Leaks. Linda and Vernon discuss her cooperative journey, and projections for the future. Linda Leaks, affectionately known as the "Godmother of Housing Co-ops," is a Co-founder of the Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community, and at least 20 other housing co-ops in the Washington DC Metro Area. Linda's’ organizing of tenants for housing jus...
Sep 28, 2023•47 min
September 7, 2023 Everything Co-op has dedicated the Month of September to interview the 2023 Hall of Fame Inductees. Induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame is the highest honor that the U.S. cooperative community bestows on the extraordinary men and women who have made genuinely heroic contributions in support of the cooperative form of enterprise. The first interview to kick off this tribute was with Maurice Smith, Attorney and Counselor at Law, and retired CEO of Local Government Federal...
Sep 25, 2023•48 min
August 24, 2023 Joanne Lechasseur, Co-founder, Program Director of the Global Innovation Cooperative Summit, and Zuraidah Hoffman, Communications Director for the Global Innovation Cooperative Summit, discuss the upcoming Global Innovation Cooperative Summit, which will occur in Montreal, September 27 – 29, 2023. Zuraidah Hoffman is an Independent International Cooperative Communications consultant, with more than 20 years of experience in communications. Her cooperative journey began with NRECA...
Sep 12, 2023•52 min
August 10, 2023 Vernon interviews Deb Trocha, Executive Director at Indiana Cooperative Development Center (ICDC). Deb and Vernon discuss the Up & Coming Food Co-op Conference, "The River of Cooperation." The conference will be held at the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront hotel, September 14 - 16, 2023. For the first time ever, the Up & Coming Food Co-op Conference will be held in a city that is home to multiple food co-ops. Conference organizers are excited to have five local food...
Aug 29, 2023•47 min
August 3, 2023 Vernon interviews Minnie McMahon, Coordinator of the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network. Vernon and Minnie discuss the role community land trusts play in retaining collective control, strengthening diverse neighborhoods, creating permanent affordability in housing, and the history of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI). Minnie McMahon is the Coordinator of the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network, hosted by Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. She st...
Aug 19, 2023•49 min
July 27, 2023 Vernon interviews Dr. Dawn Carpenter, director of the Solidarity Economy Workshop. Vernon and Dawn discuss the theological nature of work and the moral responsibilities of wealth. Dr. Dawn Carpenter is an ethicist and a leading authority on the theological nature of work and the moral responsibilities of wealth. She is the founding director of the Solidarity Economy Workshop and the host and executive producer of the What Does It Profit podcast that seeks to tell the stories of the...
Aug 17, 2023•49 min
July 20, 2023 Peter Dean leads National Co-op Community Services, the national division of UHAB, in New York City. UHAB has empowered New York City tenants to create over 1,300 limited equity housing cooperatives totaling over 30,000 homes during the past 50 years. NCCS is offering incubators around the country to share the lessons UHAB has learned so others can build permanently affordable housing cooperatives throughout the US.ds Peter has developed and managed permanently affordable housing c...
Aug 03, 2023•50 min
July 13, 2023 Gary Hampton, Business Growth Consultant, and Vice Chair of the Association of Cooperative Educators' (ACE) Board of Directors, discusses the upcoming Climate, Cooperatives and Resilience conference, sponsored by ACE, on August 7-10, 2023, in San Juan Puerto Rico. Gary W. Hampton is an expert on organizational development, fundraising and community-based economic development. He advises, trains and coaches' businesses and nonprofit organizations on strategic growth and development....
Jul 27, 2023•53 min
June 22, 2023 Vernon Interviews Mark Goehring, Manager of Columinate and Common Good Management Services (Common Good); and Alejandra Chavez, Community Service Representative at Common Good. Our host, Vernon Oakes, is a member consultant of Columinate, and has been on the Common Good development team since its inception in Fall 2018. Vernon and his guests discuss the overarching goals and objectives of Columinate, and the many facets of Common Good. Mark Goehring is the Manager of Columinate, a ...
Jul 20, 2023•48 min
Vernon interviews Erika Allen, Co-Founder and CEO of Operations for Urban Growers Collective. Erika discusses the Urban Growers Collective's apprenticeship program, and how the cooperative business model can be used to address food insecurity in urban areas. Erika Allen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Operations for Urban Growers Collective, President of Green ERA Educational NFP and Co-Owner of Green Era Sustainability Partners. Previously, Allen founded and was the Director of Growing Power — Chi...
Jul 19, 2023•51 min
May 25, 2023 Julian McKinley, Senior Communications Director, at Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI), discusses DAWI's work with the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives to track, measure, and support worker co-ops through research, and the launch of its bi-annual census with Robert McClinton and Pat Thornton. DAWI staff are excited, because when the results of the census are evaluated, they will be able to look at 10 years of worker co-op data for the first time in history. Julian McKinley leads...
Jul 11, 2023•50 min
April 6, 2023 Vernon interviews Bob Allnutt, and Leslie Nordin. Vernon and his guests Bob and Leslie will discuss how co-ops are solving housing needs for their adult children with special needs, Bob and Leslie also introduce The Neighborhood of Maryland, Inc, and the Big Wave Project, two programs they have established as a vehicle for their efforts. Bob Allnutt is a real estate broker and developer in Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. Bob and his wife Amy are parents to three children, daugh...
Apr 30, 2023•50 min
April 27, 2023 This week Vernon continues his discussion of "Humanity@Work&life-Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience,” with an interview of contributing author, John Holdsclaw IV, President and CEO of Rochdale Capital. Vernon and John discuss the challenges and opportunities of financing worker cooperatives, and new initiatives of Rochdale Capital. John Holdsclaw IV currently serves as president and CEO of Rochdale Capital, a newly formed, national non-profit co...
Apr 29, 2023•51 min
April 13, 2023 Michael Alden Peck, Co-founder/Executive Director of 1worker1vote, and Co-editor of "Humanity@Work&life-Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience,” and contributing author, Sara Horowitz. Michael and Sara will give an overview of the book, discuss the Build Mutualism and Humanity@Work&life campaigns, and explore next steps on the pathway to the greater common good. Michael Peck serves as executive director and cofounder of 1worker1vote. Emerging fr...
Apr 26, 2023•55 min
April 20, 2023 Everything Co-op continues its coverage of "Humanity@Work&life-Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience,” with co-editor Christina Clamp, Director of the Center for Co-operatives & Community Economic Development, and contributing author, Terry Lewis, CFO at the Center for Community Based Enterprise. Christina gives an overview of the book, and Terry discusses her experience of Building Mondragon in Detroit. Christina Clamp is the Director of the C...
Apr 25, 2023•53 min
November 3, 2022 John Holdsclaw IV, President and CEO of Rochdale Capital, discusses the founding of Rochdale Capital, the influence of Chuck Snyder and the mission and initiatives of Rochdale Capital. John Holdsclaw IV currently serves as president and CEO of Rochdale Capital, a newly formed, national non-profit community development loan fund that provides financing and technical assistance to cooperative enterprises and other community-based organizations. Rochdale Capital will focus on makin...
Apr 25, 2023•49 min
March, 30, 2023 Everything Co-op concludes its Commemoration of Women's History month with Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., Professor at John Jay College, and social justice advocate. Dr. Nembhard discusses Black women's contributions to the co-op movement, and the Cooperative Development Fund's 2023 Unsung Heroes Inductee, Halena Wilson. Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (2014) and 2016 inductee into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of...
Apr 14, 2023•50 min
December 1, 2022 Jason Wiener, Principal of Jason Wiener|p.c., and co-founder of the Colorado Cooperative Developers discusses employee ownership in Colorado. Jason is the Principal of a boutique law and business consulting practice and co-founder of “Colorado Cooperative Developers”. Jason's specialty is in cooperative law, shared ownership models, cooperative finance, regenerative capital and financing strategies, sustainable economies law, teal lawyering, virtual outside general counsel, and ...
Apr 14, 2023•51 min
