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It’s a historic first for the national grassroots membership organization for worker cooperatives
The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives is beginning 2023 having reached a new milestone: for the first time in our history, all members of our Board of Directors are people of color.
We held our first board meeting of 2023 this week but the breakthrough came when the all-POC board was sworn in on Friday, November 18th.
In that meeting, four new regional representatives took their seats, joining four continuing at-large representatives, and the non-voting, ex-officio seat reserved for the Executive Director. Additionally, At-Large Representative Mavery Davis was appointed after Representative Marina Maldonado stepped down.
The new representatives are:
- Kimberly Britt
ChiFresh Kitchen, Northern Regional Representative - Beatriz Ordaz
Voces de Nashville, Southern Regional Representative - Dominique Pearson
Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, Western Regional Representative [appointed] - Diana Perez
Radiate Consulting NY, Eastern Regional Representative - Mavery Davis
New Economy Works WV, Also a member of the Seed Commons Network, At-Large Representative (appointed)
Almost half of all worker-owners are people of color, according to the most recent State of the Sector report. On our board, 40% of members are Black while about 60% are latinx of different backgrounds and ethnicities.
The new board makeup reflects the USFWC’s commitment to pursue economic justice using cooperative tools that build Black and brown power through democratic worker ownership.
In 2004, our first board of directors recognized the potential of worker ownership to be an engine for Black and brown communities to create economic democracy coupled with racial justice.
Since then, we have invested in strategies that break down barriers to Black and brown communities accessing worker ownership. That has included increasing financial support for POC-led cooperatives as well as creating opportunities for leadership development and growing our members’ capacity to govern.
Get to know the members of the USFWC’s Board of Directors here.
