Building the network that builds cooperatives: CDF and CooperationWorks!

Like so much of the cooperative ecosystem, the story of CooperationWorks! is deeply linked to that of the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF).  

In 1990, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched the Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program. Over the next 10 years, leaders in cooperative development and advocacy worked informally via the Cooperative Development Network to share ideas and best practices, and to build the capacity necessary to support projects in rural communities across the country. 

From this network, and with the support of the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) and NCBA CLUSA, a shared vision of a formal organization emerged, and in July 1999, CooperationWorks! (CW) was founded to create, as their vision statement declared, “a unified system of cooperative development centers and development partners, [to] provide the highest quality professional services, honoring our diversity and creating leading edge cooperative solutions.” 

Twenty-five years on, this vision has remained steady, strengthening America’s cooperative movement by building and empowering a network of skilled cooperative development practitioners with a goal of building a society in which thriving, cooperatively-owned enterprises are the bridge to a just, resilient democracy.

As a national network of cooperative development centers, CW members work together to revitalize communities through effective cooperative enterprise development. With expertise across all aspects of cooperative development including feasibility analysis, business plan development, and training and education, the network enables members to share, develop, and refine knowledge and best practices and to regularly engage in peer-to-peer learning.

Continuing to partner with NCBA CLUSA and USDA, CW and its members leverage the combined and individual power of cooperative development centers and staff. With nearly three dozen cooperative development centers and 18 individual consultants in over 30 states, CW members provide technical assistance, training, and support to cooperative businesses in all sectors and all 50 states.

CDF was there from the beginning, with key staff providing input and support. Today, that relationship continues with CDF’s support of CW programs like Building Blocks for a Cooperative Economy and Finance Fundamentals, which enable new practitioners and groups to access tools and information they need to start cooperatives in their communities.

Judy Ziewacz, former Executive Director of the National Rural Cooperative Development Task Force and who went on to lead the Cooperative Development Foundation, sees how this intercooperation benefits CDF as well. 

"Through its partnership with CooperationWorks,” Judy notes, “the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) has access to a national, technical development network that helps to incubate and grow new cooperative models like home health care to meet the challenging economic and social needs of rural America."

The Center for Community Wealth Building joined CW this year, and J. Salvador González, a cooperative development specialist and CDF and NCBA CLUSA Co-op Leaders & Scholars (CLS) cohort member, has already experienced the combined value firsthand. 

"Being part of CW and CLS has been crucial in growing my capacity as a co-op developer by connecting me to networks across the nation,” Salvador says, “and it has allowed me to bring resources to the Denver community that help co-ops grow. These kinds of spaces are the backbone of the movement."

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has been a part of CW since the very beginning. RMFU’s Bob Mailander was a signatory on the 1999 vision statement. Sandra Baca, who today serves as executive director of RMFU Cooperative Development Center, is both a beneficiary of–and delivers on–that legacy.

“As a new cooperator and advocate of the cooperative movement it was crucial to cultivate relations with the organizations that were ‘doing the work’ and who truly encompassed the cooperative spirit,” Sandra states. “CooperationWorks! and CDF and NCBA CLUSA‘s Cooperative Leaders and Scholars program gave me the education and confidence to speak up and advocate for the things that are important to me like economic equity, advancing social justice, and workplace equity,” Sandra concludes. 

Alex Stone currently serves as the executive director for CW “CDF has been a critical resource for promoting cooperative education and tools for cooperative development throughout CW's lifespan,” she says. “From the early days, when CDF supported the creation of CooperationWorks by taking it on as a project to their continued support for The Art and Science of Cooperative Development training program, they have provided resources, support, and unwavering commitment to advancing the cooperative movement in the US.”

This is a year of milestones; CDF celebrates 80 years in 2024, and CW celebrates 25. Having helped to build the network over several decades, CDF is proud to be an ongoing partner with CooperationWorks! to ensure that the network is strong and able to build capacity for developers who then, through the cooperatives they support, can build a more inclusive economy for all.