*español abajo*
Dear fellow cooperator!
Happy National Co-Op Month!
We are 10 days away from our 1st Annual Meeting! Thank you to everyone who has registered for, co-sponsored, or signed up to volunteer so far!
Here are 5 reasons why you should join us on October 18th!
#1 – This is a historic moment for Connecticut’s co-op movement!
The seven international cooperative principles are what make co-ops different from your average business or organization. They provide a set of standards that we strive to uphold, regardless of whether your cooperative is a farm, grocery store, coffee shop, bookstore, credit union, school, daycare, or home.
The sixth principle is “cooperation among cooperatives,” recognizing that if we ultimately seek to build a thriving cooperative ecosystem and solidarity economy , we as co-ops and our allies need to work together across sectors, regions, and cultures.
Prior to 2023, there were only a handful of co-ops in Connecticut and there was no central hub for local cooperators to connect, learn, and take collective action. Over the past three years, more co-ops have emerged and a small group of cooperators have tended the soil and laid the groundwork for this network to exist.
On October 18th, we’re bringing this network to life by launching this annual tradition and our first membership drive and board elections!
#2 – We’re celebrating our collective resilience and progress!
We can’t forget to find moments amidst the struggle to celebrate our wins, big and small! We have a lot to celebrate this year! It’s the International Year of the Cooperative! The Cooperative Fund of the Northeast turned 50 years old! Cooperate Connecticut is turning two!
As we featured in previous newsletters, the Brookside Housing Cooperatives in Waterbury won a campaign against an unlawful and excessive tax assessment by the state, and the Hartford Press Co-Op celebrated the grand opening of their studio! The Fiddleheads Food Co-Op hit a major milestone of 500 members, Havenly announced the launch of an immigrant women-led credit union, and the Liberated Land Co-Op is completing their second year of running a CSA, aggregating and distributing produce from Black and Brown-owned farms across the state.
That’s why we’re kicking off the day from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. with a catered brunch sponsored by the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast!
#3 – You’ll have the chance to become one of our founding members!
During our opening plenary from 12 – 1 p.m., you will receive an overview of how co-ops, organizations, and individuals can participate in the network moving forward and have an opportunity to ask questions and share reactions.
Years of research and planning have gone into designing our membership model. We’ve thought long and hard about member tiers, benefits, dues, expectations, and communication channels—and how we share responsibility, make decisions, and navigate conflict and harm. This process of transitioning from staff- and board-led to democratic and member-led will be a learning curve, but we’re excited to figure it out together! This is what it means to cooperate!
To be clear, when we say democratic, we are not simply referring to voting in our board elections. We seek to practice participatory democracy through semi-autonomous committees, general assemblies, and of course our annual meeting.
If you cannot attend on the 18th but are interested in getting involved, please note that we’ll be publishing a detailed Member Guide and you can contact us at cooperatect@gmail.com to schedule a 1 : 1 and/or meet us at The Parking Lot, our monthly virtual peer-support space, on October 28 or November 25 from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
#4 – This is also an opportunity to practice mutual aid!
We are not simply gathering to discuss cooperation in theory, but to coordinate in real time the exchange of services and resources.
From 1 – 2 p.m., we’ll hold breakout sessions divided by sector and language. In addition to spaces for members of worker, housing, food, and producer co-ops, we’ll have breakout sessions for labor and community-based organizations (e.g., mutual-aid networks, land trusts, unions) and professional service providers (e.g., co-op developers, coaches, consultants, lawyers, accountants).
In these sessions, you’ll experience an abbreviated version of an Offers and Needs Market — read more here.
Need advice on your co-op’s legal structure or bylaws? Do you have property where groups can host a meeting or event? Are you looking for a bookkeeper or a conflict mediator? Do you grow medicinal herbs or design websites? Bring your requests and gifts to share!
Regardless of who is in office, how the stock market performs, or whether we receive that grant or loan, there is an abundance of monetary and non-monetary resources in our communities and on the Earth. As a network, we can find creative ways to tap into that wealth to sustain ourselves and the work we need to do.
#5 – Last but not least, this is an important step in building a united front to resist racial capitalism and build the next economy!
The solidarity-economy movement is a broad tent. It’s going to require a diverse set of strategies to transform our current political and economic system.
“I’ll teach classes. You’ll organize tenants. She will make tortillas. They will grow vegetables. He will write poetry. We may not always fully understand, agree with, or even like each other, but the fact is we need each other. If we want to win, a critical mass of us needs to commit to a shared long-term vision, theory of change, and principles.”
Despite our state’s size, we have a tendency to work in silos. Especially in moments of crisis, it’s easy to default to individualism, competition, hopelessness, and despair. In those times, we must remind ourselves and each other that we’re not alone and lean on one another for support and accountability.
By convening spaces like our annual meeting, Cooperate Connecticut makes it easier to build relationships and foster alignment and coordination at the local level — and then at the regional, national, and global scale. This is why we’re proud members of the New Economy Coalition and affiliates of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and in relationship with our sister networks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York.
During our opening assembly on the 18th, we’ll share our long-term vision, guiding frameworks, and short-term plans as the network’s current organizers. Then, in our closing assembly from 2 – 3 p.m., we invite you to voice your hopes and dreams for what we can co-create together in 2026 and beyond.
*español*
Estimado compañero cooperador,
¡Feliz Mes Nacional de la Cooperativa!
¡Estamos a 10 días de nuestra 1.ª Reunión Anual! ¡Gracias a todos los que se han inscrito, copatrocinado o se han apuntado como voluntarios hasta ahora!
Aquí son cinco razones por las que creo que deberías acompañarnos.
#1 – ¡Este es un momento histórico en el movimiento cooperativo de Connecticut!
Los siete principios cooperativos internacionales distinguen a las cooperativas de las empresas u organizaciones comunes. Ofrecen un conjunto de estándares que nos esforzamos por mantener, independientemente de si su cooperativa es una granja, un supermercado, una cafetería, una librería, una cooperativa de crédito, una escuela, una guardería o un hogar. El sexto principio es la “cooperación entre cooperativas”, que reconoce que, si buscamos construir un ecosistema cooperativo próspero y una economía solidaria, como cooperativas y nuestros aliados debemos colaborar entre sectores, regiones y culturas.
Antes de 2023, solo había unas pocas cooperativas en Connecticut y no existía un centro donde los cooperativistas locales pudieran conectarse, aprender y emprender acciones colectivas. En los últimos tres años, han surgido más cooperativas y un pequeño grupo de cooperativistas ha cultivado el terreno y sentado las bases para la existencia de esta red.
¡El 18 de octubre daremos vida a esta red con el lanzamiento de esta tradición anual y nuestra primera campaña de membresía y elecciones de junta!
#2 – ¡Esta es una celebración de nuestra resiliencia y progreso!
¡No podemos olvidarnos de encontrar momentos en medio de la lucha para celebrar nuestras victorias, grandes y pequeñas! Tenemos mucho que celebrar este año: ¡es el Año Internacional de las Cooperativas! ¡El Fondo Cooperativo del Noreste cumplió 50 años! ¡Cooperate Connecticut cumple dos!
Como ya informamos en boletines anteriores, las Cooperativas de Vivienda Brookside en Waterbury ganaron una campaña contra una imposición fiscal ilegal y excesiva por parte del estado, y la Cooperativa de Prensa de Hartford celebró la gran inauguración de su estudio. La Cooperativa de Alimentos Fiddleheads alcanzó un hito importante: 500 miembros; Havenly anunció el lanzamiento de una cooperativa de crédito dirigida por mujeres inmigrantes; y la Cooperativa de Tierras Liberadas completó su segundo año de gestión de una CSA, reuniendo y distribuyendo productos agrícolas de granjas propiedad de personas negras y latinas en todo el estado.
¡Por eso comenzaremos el día de 10:30 a.m. a 12 p.m. con un brunch patrocinado por nuestros amigos del Fondo Cooperativo del Noreste!
#3 – ¡Tendrás la oportunidad de convertirte en uno de los miembros fundadores de Cooperate Connecticut!
Durante nuestra sesión plenaria de apertura de 12 a 1 p.m., recibirás una descripción general de cómo las cooperativas, organizaciones e individuos pueden participar en la red en el futuro y tendrás la oportunidad de hacer preguntas y compartir reacciones.
Se han invertido años de investigación y planificación en el diseño de este modelo. Hemos reflexionado detenidamente sobre los niveles de membresía, los beneficios, las cuotas, las expectativas y los canales de comunicación, así como sobre cómo compartimos la responsabilidad, tomamos decisiones y gestionamos los conflictos y los perjuicios. Este proceso de transición de un modelo dirigido por el personal y la junta directiva a uno democrático y dirigido por los miembros será un proceso de aprendizaje, ¡pero nos entusiasma descubrirlo juntos! ¡Esto es lo que significa cooperar!
Para ser claros, cuando decimos democracia, no nos referimos simplemente a votar en las elecciones de nuestra junta directiva. Buscamos practicar la democracia participativa a través de comités semiautónomos, asambleas generales y, por supuesto, nuestra reunión anual.
Si no puedes asistir el 18 pero estás interesado en participar, ten en cuenta que publicaremos una Guía detallada para miembros y puedes comunicarte con nosotros en cooperativect@gmail.com para programar una reunión individual
