Sollars

Established in 1990, the Frank Sollars Fund for International Cooperation honors Frank’s accomplishments as an international cooperator and life-long commitment to international cooperation.

The Sollars Fund strengthens the cooperative form of business through interaction between U.S. and overseas cooperatives. The Fund provides grants for travel of U.S. leaders overseas to visit counterparts to exchange information, strengthen trade, and provide technical assistance. It was endowed by Nationwide Insurance Enterprise and the National Cooperative Bank (now NCB) in 1998 in honor of Frank Sollars.

Mr. Sollars led the effort to create the National Cooperative Bank and was a director and chair of that bank, the Nationwide Mutual Casualty Insurance Co., and the National Cooperative Business Association. A firm believer in international cooperative development, he was a member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance and hosted cooperative delegations to the U.S. from around the world. While with NCBA he promoted and strengthened the case of international cooperation through the International Cooperative Alliance and through his own personal contacts.

Sample Projects and Accomplishments:

- $5000 to Partners Worldwide (now Partners for Christian Development) to send dairy experts from Texas to Senegal to give technical assistance to a women’s dairy cooperative

- $500 to the National Association of Housing Cooperatives to study cooperative housing in the United Kingdom

- $3000 to Pachamama Coffee Cooperative for travel to Peru, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua to help organize the co-op and to meet with local cooperative development practitioners

- $6075 to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s International Foundation to send volunteers to the Philippines

- $5140 to the Federation of Southern Cooperatives to visit South Africa to provide technical assistance and explore trade opportunities

Click here for the grant application. View Application (pdf)