|
|
|
|
 |
Strategic Planning Process Underway!
by CWCF Staff
The Strategic Planning consulting team hired by CWCF has launched
 |
|
|
Russ Christianson |
the initial consultation with the Board and Committee. Next, the team will be opening up conversations with members and others; we hope you will participate actively! We are using the
Loomio
platform for this purpose; Loomio itself is a worker co-operative, and it is a process to create a space for deliberation among people, to lead to clear outcomes.
See below in this newsletter for an article by Russ Christianson, the lead consultant, about this exciting process to grow and strengthen the worker co-op movement.
Seeking Volunteers on CWCF's Strategic Planning Committee
We are are looking for a Worker Co-op member to join our Strategic Planning Committee. If you are interested please apply by stating why you are interested. Email this to Kaye at
[email protected]
|
Reba Plummer Joining the Board of The Co-operators
Congratulations to our Board President, Reba Plummer, who
 was recently chosen to be an Ontario Director to The Co-operators' Board, to be ratified in April. She joins Hazel who also sits on that Board. What an achievement for our small organization!
Reba lives in Toronto and is the Ontario Region Director and President on our board. She has worked at Urbane Cyclist Co-operative since 1999. She completed the Co-op Management Certificate through On Co-op at the Schulich School of Business in April of 2010. She has been a member of the Toronto cycling community since the mid-1980s, and was the 1999 and 2008 Cycle Messenger World Champion (cargo bike racing division). She joined the CWCF board in 2010.
Reba was hired by the Ontario Co-operative Association as the GTA Co-op Network Regional Manager in 2016, going though March 2018. In this position, she helps to develop co-operatives and to build relationships among existing co-ops in the Greater Toronto
Area.
|
|
|
|
New ICA Secretary General to Keynote CWCF Fall Conference!
|
|
|
Bruno Roelants
|
CWCF is thrilled to announce that the Secretary General of the International Co-op Alliance, Bruno Roelants, will be the keynote speaker at our Conference in Winnipeg, taking place Nov. 1 - 3. Please see the article below for more about Bruno. For many years, Bruno has had the Secretary General role at CICOPA, the International Organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers' Cooperatives. He will be serving along with the new ICA President, Ariel Guarco of Argentina. Both are supportive of the worker co-operative model. Congratulations to both on their new positions!
|
The Co-operators - Insurance Webinar for CWCF Members
March 20, 2018 at 12 p.m. Eastern Time
(1 p.m. Atlantic, 11a.m. Central, 10 a.m. Mountain, 9 a.m. Pacific)
The Co-operators has created an insurance program, Co-op Guard, which is designed to meet the needs of co-operatives across Canada, including the members of
CWCF. Your Co-op Guard® policy combines all the protection you need in one complete package, including Property and Essential Liability insurance, Directors and Officers' and Employment Practices Liability, as well as Group Benefits. Offering Group Benefits is an excellent strategy to attract and retain key employees and can increase both morale and productivity within your organization.
Member Benefits Program
is an exclusive insurance coverage and savings program for members of The Co-operators' participating member organizations. The program was designed in collaboration with members to offer added-value benefits to their members.
As a member of CWCF, you have access to many exclusive benefits and savings including:
- Enhanced Home coverage
- Enhanced Farm coverage
- Farm and Home member benefits program discount
- Assistance for estate trustees: Executor EASE
- 10% Discounted Travel* insurance
To take advantage of discounts on policies, members of participating member organizations simply need to make their Co-operators Financial Advisor aware of their membership in CWCF.
Please join us on Tuesday, March 20 from 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. Eastern Time when Manon Monette, a Strategic Client Manager of The Co-operators, and Atlantic Co-operators, and Beverly Barker, an Advisor based in Nova Scotia and knowledgeable about commercial insurance, will be hosting a webinar to describe the advantages and features of these two programs. To RSVP, please write to Kaye Grant,
[email protected].
|
Be Part of Creating a Strategy to Grow Canada's Worker Co-op Movement
Over the next few months, Dominique Bernier, Cathy Lang and I will be working with CWCF  board members and staff, members of worker co-operatives, and co-op developers to co-create a strategy for scaling Canada's worker co-op movement. In addition to CWCF insiders,
we will engage key opinion leaders inside and outside of the broader co-op movement, including social entrepreneurs, unions, community development organizations, anti-poverty organizations, economic activists, Chambers of Commerce, Community Futures Development Organizations, and Municipal EDOs.
|
|
CoopZone Announces New Executive Director /
CoopZone annonce la nomination d'un nouveau directeur général
**Le français suit**
CoopZone, a bilingual national network of co-operative developers, is pleased to
announce  the selection of Benjamin Prunty as its new Executive Director. Benjamin will be replacing Hazel Corcoran, who has resigned from CoopZone to focus on her continuing role as Executive Director of the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation. The Board has accepted with regret Hazel's resignation. She has provided invaluable leadership to CoopZone since its founding in 2009, and the Board extends heartfelt thanks to her for that leadership.
CoopZone has in place a new, ambitious Strategic Plan which the new Executive Director is tasked with mobilizing.
**
Le français**
CoopZone, un réseau national bilingue de développeurs de coopératives, a le plaisir d'annoncer la nomination de Benjamin Prunty comme nouveau directeur général.
Benjamin remplacera Hazel Corcoran, qui a démissionné de CoopZone pour se concentrer sur son poste de directrice générale de la Fédération canadienne des coopératives de travail. Le Conseil d'administration a accepté avec regret la démission de Hazel. Elle a fourni un leadership inestimable à CoopZone depuis sa fondation en 2009, et le conseil l'en remercie chaleureusement pour son implication et sa dévotion.
CoopZone a mis en place un nouveau plan stratégique ambitieux que le nouveau directeur exécutif est chargé de mobiliser.
|
Democracy in Motion? Operationalizing Our Values Through the Co-op Index Report
by John McNamara 
Who doesn't love talking about the co-op advantage? Co-ops, because of their member-
based, problem-solving focus, enjoy a marketplace advantage based on trust and a core set of values and principles. This advantage, however, only works if the co-op engages those values and principles. How can members, directors, and managers assure that their co-op embraces the co-op identity and the advantage that comes with it?
The Co-op Index Tool offers a mechanism to measure a co-op's ability to manage within the co-op identity. Created by researchers, developers, and practitioners, the CIT provides several levels of analysis, from a broad overview with four key indices to specific statements on the ability of the co-op to engage values and principles. The CIT reveals what co-op workers think about the ability of the co-op to engage the co-op identity.
Furthermore, CWCF can provide $1,500 to enable a worker co-op to hire a developer to help the co-op with the Worker Co-op Index.
|
Ontario Co-operative Association Queen's Park Reception 2018
|
|
Careforce Acquires Assets of Pictou County Business
From King's County News
Two Nova Scotia worker co-ops have joined forces to provide quality home health  care
throughout the Annapolis Valley and Pictou County.
Careforce Home Care Workers Co-operative Limited, based in Kentville, has purchased the assets of Pictou County Home Care Co-operative Limited, which will continue to operate under the name Pictou County Home Care as a division of Careforce.
Read more...
|
|
Report Brief: Is Offering Renewable Energy Investments Viable for Kindred Credit Unio
n?
by Chelsie Hunt and Devon Krainer
Recommendation: To acquire new clients, expand cross-selling, build enduring client
 relationships, and become a leader in the impact investing space, Kindred Credit Union should offer 1-3 renewable energy investment options to retail and accredited investors. The decision should gain board approval and approved investment advisors should communicate these investment options to their clients.
|
|
Bruno Roelants appointed as new Director - General of the International Co-operative Alliance
T
he International Co-operative Alliance Board has appointed Bruno Roelants as the new
 Director-General. Mr Roelants will begin his new role in the coming weeks, succeeding Charles Gould who last year announced his decision to retire.
Bruno Roelants currently serves as Secretary General of CICOPA, the sectoral Organisation of the International Co-operative Alliance for industry and services - a role he has held since 2002. Under his leadership, membership of the organisation increased from 18 countries in 2002 to 32 countries in 2018.
|
|
|
|
|
The Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation (CWCF) is a national, bilingual grassroots membership organization of and for worker co-operatives, related types of co-operatives (multi-stakeholder co-ops and worker-shareholder co-ops), and organizations that support the growth and development of worker cooperatives. CWCF's e-newsletter is available free of charge to anyone with an e-mail address and an interest in worker co-operative developments in Canada.
Please send any comments and suggestions to:
Kaye Grant
Editor of CWCF Newsletter
(204) 257-1198
|
|
|
|
