USFWC Board and Staff
The mission and vision of the USFWC is stewarded by our staff and board. The board is made up of elected at-large directors that reflect the membership and mission of the USFWC.
USFWC Board of Directors
As of June 2023, all board seats are at-large. Learn more here.
Kimberly Britt
ChiFresh Kitchen. Elected 2022
Kim is a founding member and board president of ChiFresh Kitchen, a women and minority-owned worker cooperative that offers fresh, nutritious, delicious prepared meals to schools, community organizations, and other institutions working to improve the health and wellness of the individuals they serve. Having recruited three out of the other four founding members, she was a driving force in assembling the team. At ChiFresh, Kim leads the delivery team and is also responsible for purchasing and receiving. Kim has management experience in other food businesses as well.
Mavery Davis, Treasurer
New Economy Works West Virginia, The Seed Commons Network, The Ajani Group Cooperative Appointed 2022, elected 2023
Born in Los Angeles, California, Mavery moved to West Virginia on a football scholarship. Although his scholarship did not fully materialize, Mavery remained in West Virginia, completed his degree, and had a career filled with ups and downs, as he candidly shares. Mavery is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), breaking the chains of poverty and creating wealth. He is a CPA by day, serving as Director of Lending for New Economy Works WV/Seed Commons, and a community organizer, a motivator, and the Financial Literacy Bootcamp (FLBC) founder by night. Through the FLBC, he teaches youth the psychology of money and financial basics. Through these efforts, he plants the seeds of collective, community wealth, and abundance.
Mavery earned the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs Trail Blazer-Pioneer Award (2020). In addition to his professional accountant certification, Mavery also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with a concentration in Accounting from West Virginia State University (WVSU) and a Master’s of Science Degree with a concentration in Public Accounting from Strayer University. Additionally, Mavery is an adjunct professor of Accounting at WVSU, a guest teacher at Makeshop Design Lab, a National Society of Black Certified Public Accountants (NSBCPA) Board member, and a collaborator in All Things Workshops!
Mavery has been recognized as a Top 40 under 40 Black CPA by the NSBCPA (2021) and a Hometown Hero by WV Can’t Wait (2022). In his current role, as the Director of Lending for New Economy Works WV, he brings a passion for uplifting people and connecting them to the resources they need along their cooperative business journey.
Mavery’s essential roles are husband and father.
Denise Hernandez, Vice-Treasurer
Cooperative Homecare Associates. First elected 2021, reelected 2023
Denise Hernandez is the Vice President of Human Resources at Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA). Denise started working in 2003 when CHCA had just signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement with 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU). She was instrumental in creating a Joint Labor Management Committee which focused on creating a strong partnership between CHCA and 1199, while respecting the governance structure and labor relationship. Denise facilitated the Coaching Approach to Communications Training for all CHCA office members. In addition, she worked to incorporate these skills within the culture of the company. Denise has implemented fun and creative ways to engage members. She assisted in creating a zoom BINGO session, “Making CHCA Stronger”, which focused on building worker awareness in tasks and events that positively impact our organization. Denise also leads the Joy @ Work Committee whose task is to identify reasons that workers feel burnout and implement solutions to address those feelings. In her spare time, Denise enjoys spending quality time with her husband, daughter, and son. They enjoy playing board games and going to the movies. Denise has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.
Ricardo Nuñez, President
Sustainable Economies Law Center. First elected 2016, reelected 2023. Co-chair for the Racial Economic Justice Council
Ricardo Samir Nuñez is a worker cooperative ecosystem development specialist supporting cultural practices, policies, organizations, and systemic changes that allow communities to build beyond the interlocking systems of imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. He is currently the Director of Economic Democracy and a Staff Attorney at the Sustainable Economies Law Center where he collaborates on educational programs, legal services, policy advocacy, and regional and national ecosystem development to restore human labor to right relationship with people and the planet. He is board president of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and an at-large board member at the California Center for Cooperative Development and the Southern California Focus on Cooperation. He also became a lawyer without going to law school through California’s Law Office Study Program.
Dominique Pearson
L.A. Co-op Lab Appointed 2022
Dominique is a lover, a fighter, a daughter, and a sister. They are an herbalist, rootworker, food and economic justice educator, born and raised in Tongva lands, Compton and Los Angeles, CA. Dominique is committed to the practive of culture-keeping, the liberation of their people and the freedom dreams of their ancestors. A Black Mississippi Chahta woman, Dominique continues to help community build systems for a liberatory future.They are deeply involved in the work of mutual aid and alternative realities, as a founder of Black Roots Herbals LLC, member of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief and a founding member of the Baltimore Street Medic Collective.
Alan Luis Ramirez
PODER Emma. Elected 2023
My name is Alan Luis Ramirez and I am a cooperative developer with PODER Emma and the network of cooperatives in Buncombe County, Western North Carolina. I am running for a board position to advocate for the needs of cooperatives flourishing within the South under conditions that have created barriers for our community. My priorities and commitments to learn more about include accessing health care for workers in cooperatives. I believe that our region can be transformed through participatory governance and financial management, democratic decision making and care for our labor and leaders of cooperatives.
I will be a great asset to the board because of my experience within our community that practices language justice, ecosystem building and membership through a network model. Our focus in our community has helped us grow in our commitment for just wages and living conditions that would be exciting to share and receive support from the Federation membership and other cooperatives.
Click here to watch Alan Luis Ramirez's video candidate statement
Adrian Roman
Colmenar Consulting LLC. Elected 2024
Adrián Roberto Román (he/el), is a cooperative organizer working with the local community and nationally. He believes that prioritizing the culture of the team and relationship to the community leads to resilient organizations that can adapt and care for those involved. Adrián feels that art is a way to shift culture and speak clearly about the state of our times. He is a co-owner of Colmenar Consulting Cooperative, co-owner of the Dorchester Art Project, on the board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Cooperatives, a certified mediator, and an authorized teacher of Full Presence Mindfulness. He is from Miami, FL, of Cuban and Chilean descent and his culture and family history informs his approach.
Click here to watch Adrian Roman's video candidate statement
Evelyn Torres
Radiate Consulting NYC. Elected 2024
Evelyn is a worker-owner at Radiate Consulting New York. She holds a B.A in Accounting from Lycoming College and is fluent in both English and Spanish. With a background in financial education, she has been actively involved in immigrant and cooperative communities, sharing her knowledge to support financial understanding. In her free time, Evelyn spends her time volunteering on community initiatives and spreading knowledge of worker cooperatives.
Ellen Vera, Vice-President
Co-op Cincy. Elected 2023
Ellen is a Co-Director and Co-Founder of Co-op Cincy, a non-profit cooperative business incubator in Cincinnati Ohio dedicated to creating an economy that works for all by broadening ownership in our community. At Co-op Cincy, Ellen oversees the Business Legacy Fund Transition and Acquisition program to transition existing companies to worker ownership, coaches 4 of Co-op Cincy’s co-op businesses and makes sure the organization has the resources needed to be successful. She also serves as the new Secretary of the USW Local 14734.
Ellen’s experience as part of a family with mixed immigration status deepens her perspective and her passion for organizing with immigrant worker-owners and worker-owners of color. Prior to accepting a position with Co-op Cincy, she helped people organize and strengthen their labor unions, as the National Organizing Coordinator for the manufacturing arm of the Communication Workers of America, and for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 75.
Ellen has earned a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Northern Kentucky University, a Certificate of Latin American Studies from the University of Cincinnati, and a Bachelors of Peace Studies from Chapman University.
USFWC Staff
Kate Barut - kate [at] usworker [dot] coop
Membership Manager
Kate Barut (she/hers/ella) is the Membership Manager at the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Originally from New York City, she now lives in Philadelphia. Kate comes to her work at the federation after being a worker-owner of Caracol Language Coop, a women and Latinx im/migrant-led cooperative of interpreters and translators working to create spaces of language justice in our movements and communities. At Caracol she served as an interpreter, general coop coordinator and member of the membership and finance committees. Before that, she worked as a labor/community organizer. She is a certified Spanish/English interpreter, birth doula, medicinal plant lover and beginner-gardener who is always looking for ways to bridge gaps, build community and share strategies for cooperation and community autonomy.
Michael Brennan - michael [at] usworker [dot] coop
Projects Coordinator
Michael Brennan (he/they) is the Projects Coordinator for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. He was introduced to the worker co-op ecosystem as a worker-owner of the Maryland Food Collective at the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition to organizing with the Federation, Michael is engaged with the national movement for public banks, the "Modern Monetary Theory" heterodox economics community, the Democratic Socialists of America's Green New Deal campaign and the DC cooperative ecosystem. In his free time, Michael enjoys making music, running, riding his bike, eating vegan food, reading, watching movies and discussing politics with friends.
Tehmina Brohi - tehmina [at] usworker [dot] coop
Membership Director
Tehmina Brohi (she/hers) is the Membership Director at the US Federation of Worker Cooperative. She is a Pakistani-born, NYC-cultivated, citizen of the world. She has experience as a community organizer, cooperative developer and a small business owner. She is also the founder and owner of the cross-cultural lifestyle brand Istani - which uplifts and preserves indigenous Pakistani textile crafts. Connecting to her roots and learning about indigenous principles of production has also inspired her approach on equitable modes of production and exchange. Tehmina is inspired by the methods of exchange and relationship building that the solidarity economy presents and is excited to move this work forward by adding her perspective and skills to the worker-cooperative sector. In all that she does, Tehmina values and upholds collaboration, creativity, joy and authenticity.
Morgan Crawford - morgan [at] usworker [dot] coop
Systems Manager
Morgan is the Systems Manager for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. First introduced to cooperatives through living in student and community housing co-ops in California and Iowa, he served as Director of Education for the North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) for over four years before joining the USFWC. In his current role, Morgan supports the USFWC's operations and infrastructure, helping to keep things running smoothly and effectively.
Morgan strives to support the development a cooperative movement that is universally accessible, socially just, economically democratic, and environmentally sound. He is a governance nerd, a passionate educator, and a lover of effective and supportive meeting facilitation. In his free time, Morgan can be found sailing a historic tall-ship around the New York Harbor, singing with the NYC Gay Men’s Chorus, and spending time with his family.
Maureen Darras - maureen [at] usworker [dot] coop
Co-op Clinic Training Manager
Maureen is the Co-op Clinic Training Manager at USFWC. Born and raised in Queens, NY, she has spent over a decade living in rural areas across the country and across Chile participating in peoples' movements. Most recently she served as cooperative developer and agroecology coordinator with Community to Community Development, a farmworker-led organization in Washington State. She now lives in New Mexico and is excited to support cooperativism in the Southwest.
Matt Feinstein - matt [at] usworker [dot] coop
Co-op Clinic Technical Assistance Manager
Jamie Gill - jamie [at] usworker [dot] coop
Administrative Manager
Annette Griffin - annette [at] usworker [dot] coop
Bookkeeper, contractor
Esteban Kelly - esteban [at] usworker [dot] coop
Executive Director
Esteban Kelly is the Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), founding President of the freelancer co-op Guilded, and a worker-owner and co-founder of AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance– a worker co-op that has built capacity for hundreds of social justice projects through intersectional training and consulting.) Esteban works to expand economic democracy through forms of multi-racial solidarity and collective ownership. He foregrounds political education, systemic thinking and abolitionist principles into visionary organizing.
Esteban was a co-founder and first board President of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) and has served on numerous boards including the Democracy At Work Institute, the US Solidarity Economy Network, and the Cooperative Development Foundation. In 2011 Esteban was inducted into NASCO‘s Cooperative Hall of Fame in recognition of his decade of leadership on their board and as their Director of Education & Training. He previously worked at the New Economy Coalition and also served as a mayoral appointee and briefly co-chair of the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council. For eight years he was a manager leading food justice education and organizational development as a worker-owner at Mariposa Food Co-op, while the grocery store was still managed by a staff collective. Esteban currently serves on the boards of NCBA–CLUSA, the Cooperative Innovation Lab, Policy Advocates for Sustainable Economies, and the international worker co-op association known as CICOPA.
Esteban is a Ford Global Fellow, a Margaret Burroughs Fellow in the Social Justice Portals Project at University of Illinois-Chicago, an Executive Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University, and a Futures 4 Good Fellow in the Equitable Enterprise Initiative at the Institute for the Future. He is a member of the Climate + Community Project and the all-volunteer Philly Stands Up collective; the latter advances abolition through community accountability and transformative justice practices. Esteban is an advisor to the multi-stakeholder musician’s co-op Ampled, the Platform Co-ops Consortium, Making Worlds Bookstore Cooperative, and the Movement for Black Lives.
Elizabeth Lopez - elizabeth [at] usworker [dot] coop
Operations Manager
Elizabeth López (she/her/ella) is the Operations Manager at the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Elizabeth was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, the daughter of two working class Mexican immigrants who taught her how to luchar. She began organizing for immigrant rights and reproductive justice, which led her into labor organizing. While getting her MA in Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University, she found Workers’ Dignity- a Nashville worker center led by member low wage workers organizing for economic and transit justice- and eventually served as Operations Manager and Interim Co-Director. Elizabeth recently returned to the Philly area and is usually found exploring, reading, making things, and eating delicious food with her partner and their dog. Her passions lie in being a “builder” and helping folks empower themselves to fight back, organize and transform our lives.
Savanna Lyons - savanna[at] usworker [dot] coop
Managing Director
Mo Manklang - mo [at] usworker [dot] coop
Policy Director
Mo Manklang (she/they) is the Policy Director for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, leading policy efforts at the federal level, and works with partners on state and local advocacy initiatives. Mo has been a local and national organizer for cooperatives and social justice issues in a variety of roles, including five years with Philadelphia's social impact news site Generocity.org. A Philadelphia native, Mo is cofounder of the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, and has served many organizations throughout her career, including the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia, the Kensington Community Food Co-op, and the Alliance for a Just Philadelphia.
Chloe Montañez
Executive Assistant, contractor
Chloe is a Filipina administrative assistant with 6 years of experience working alongside a wide range of clientele: visual artists, course creators, professors, producers, midwives, and political campaign managers, among many others. She joined USFWC in 2021 and it brings her genuine happiness that she is able to help Esteban and the team schedule meetings and maintain their calendars. Chloe loves reading dystopian fiction and listening to djent and progressive metal. She spends a lot of her free time with her blended family of 5, e-biking around town. She dreams of supporting environmental advocates, reproductive health workers, and organizations that empower the marginalized sectors.
Maria Myotte - maria [at] usworker [dot] coop
Development Director
Maria (she/they) is the Development Director at US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. She brings more than 15 years of experience in fundraising, organizing, and narrative-power building for/with social justice movements. They have held leadership roles at Resource Generation, Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United, Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (CoFED), Class Action, and more.
Driven by anti-racist and abolitionist values, Maria believes deeply in abundance and that everyone urgently deserves better than racial capitalism. She works to approach development and resource mobilization strategies with a strong class consciousness rooted in racial justice.
Maria is also a multi-media visual artist, writer, gardener, scifi enthusiast, and aspiring historian. She lives and works on Lenape land in Brooklyn, NY.
Raquel Victoria Navarro - raquel [at] usworker [dot] coop
Communications Coordinator
Raquel Victoria Navarro (she/they) coordinates communications, social media, storytelling and language justice work at the USFWC. Before this, they were a freelance news writer covering labor rights struggles, international feminist movements and law enforcement regulation policy. Raquel hopes to uplift immigrant-owned worker cooperatives as a tool to build wealth and autonomy for refugee families displaced by U.S. imperialist and neoliberal economic policies. They are an alum of the North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO), Unites Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and worked with the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) to develop a community land trust launch guide and translate cooperative legal resources. On the weekends you can find Raquel at the skate park or improving her fashion design and sewing skills. She holds a B.S. in Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems and a minor certificate in Spanish from UC Davis.
May Pojoy Pérez - may [at] usworker [dot] coop
Membership and Benefits Coordinator
May Pojoy Pérez (she/her/Ella) is the Membership and Benefits Coordinator at the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. May was born in El Salvador and raised in Boston, MA. Her experience in wide-ranging specialties as a cooperative worker owner and small businesses consultant within customer service, non-profits, and academic oriented spaces, have helped her grow in her career and draw from different perspectives. Through her work, she strives to combine and find the intersection of her human-centered creative problem-solving skills with her passion for social justice to create positive and radical change. On the weekend you can find May journaling, or exploring new hikes in Mass and surroundings. She holds a B.A. in Media, Design & Entrepreneurship.
Theodora Rodine - theodora [at] usworker [dot] coop
Events Manager
Theodora is the Events Manager for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. She works on coordinating technical support for co-ops, helps plan conferences and events, and supports the Executive Director. Theodora grew up in San José, California and has lived in South Philadelphia ever since graduating from Haverford College in 2019. She is a member of the Philadelphia Public Banking Coalition and the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) Policy and Advocacy Committee, and she attends Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Theodora is an extrovert who loves talking, theatre, and the color yellow. She would like to learn more about policy, decolonization, dogs, and local hiking trails.
Camila Tapia-Guilliams - camila [at] usworker [dot] coop
Training and Consulting Coordinator
Camila Tapia-Guilliams (they.them) is the Training and Consulting Coordinator with the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Through their work as an educator, community organizer, and mixed media artist, they weave together narratives of community care, cooperation, and solidarity. They are a founder and Worker-Owner of Transverse Cooperative, a democratic artist-owned co-op dedicated to labor organizing and mutual aid in the arts as a means of collective liberation. Camila is a board member of Guilded, a multi-stakeholder co-op committed to empowering freelance workers through financial and administrative services. In their work with Anticapitalism for Artists, Camila created and led the Cooperative Arts Cohort, a collaborative class where artists learned to educate each other about how to wield art as a form of political power. They graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, where they were a Worker-Owner of the Maryland Food Collective and studied art and entrepreneurship.
Maddie Taterka - maddie[at] usworker [dot] coop
Worker Benefits Manager
Maddie Taterka (they/she) believes that everyone has a human right to healthcare. Maddie is the Worker Benefits Program Manager at the U.S. Federation of Worker Coops, where they help USFWC members sign up for vision and dental insurance, and supports members to navigate the labyrinths and understand the workings of the American insurance system, though she envisions a future with guaranteed free and quality healthcare for all. Maddie has been active in the worker co-op world since 2016, when they were part of the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) 20->20 cooperative development program and co-founded a video production worker coop, Bonfire Media Collective. Maddie has a past life as a journalist and copy editor, and has been involved in media labor organizing and Put People First! PA's healthcare is a human right campaign. In her free time, you can find Maddie doing crossword puzzles, birding, reading, and spending time with family.
eli tizcareño - eli [at] usworker [dot] coop
Director of Education and Training
eli identifies as an abolitionist, queer, first-gen Mexican American raised in the 818 valley of the unceded ancestral lands of Tataviam Peoples (aka Los Angeles). eli brings 12 years of experience working in partnership with immigrant communities of color, landworkers and collectives at the local, regional and transnational level through their work and activism. They have over a decade of training in the fields of leadership development, curriculum and program development, conflict resolution, developing and implementing institutional policies and processes for increased equity, and grassroots organizing for food sovereignty. Prior to joining the Federation, they worked with the National Young Farmers Coalition (2020-22) running a successful BIPOC farmer fellowship program in CA, and the American Friends Service Committee (2014-2020) leading a QTBIPOC youth leadership program and facilitation apprenticeship. They are also a co-founder of the R’Garden, a 4-acre educational and food security farm hub in the Inland Valley. Outside of the Federation, they play with cats, go on runs, read, drink coffee, and collaborate with BIPOC Agroecology Network, Vigilant Love, Creative Praxis, Liberated Learning Community, and the Alternatives for Violence Project. eli holds their BAs in Environmental Science and Gender Studies, and is a MA in Urban Sustainability from Antioch University: Los Angeles.
John-Michael Torres - johnmichael [at] usworker [dot] coop
Communications Director
John-Michael Torres (he/él) uses strategic communications, narrative strategy, popular education and play to organize for and win policies and processes that allow border communities to decide how we live and thrive. He has organized in the borderlands for 20 years, starting in high school, where he organized his musician friends to collectivize equipment and share resources so everyone got a chance to learn and perform publicly. For 12 years, he worked as communications coordinator for nonprofit La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) where he helped colonia residents and immigrant community members use narrative strategy in combination with neighborhood organizing to win improvements in their neighborhoods and fight for immigration processes that allow families to remain together and thrive. Now, in his role as Communications Director for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, he gets to tell the story of regular people coming together across race, gender and background to use worker ownership to create shared opportunity. When not organizing, he likes to play jarana, cook, and dance. Originally from Patwin territory in what is now known as northern California, for the last 30 years he has resided in Esto'k Gna territory in what is now known as the Rio Grande Valley.
Sasha Warner-Berry - sasha [at] usworker [dot] coop
Network Organizing Manager
As Network Organizing Manager, Sasha Warner-Berry supports the USFWC’s Member Councils and Peer Networks. Sasha has previously worked as a community and labor organizer, adult educator, teaching artist, and restaurant server. She is a former member of Connections Coop, a worker cooperative of translators and interpreters, where she was introduced to the global cooperative movement. Most recently, she served as Co-Director of Mayday Space, a volunteer-powered movement hub and community events space. Outside of work, she enjoys writing, dancing, and being near the ocean. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.