Join the USFWC Board
Nominations for the board of directors open April 28. Please return on that date to self-nominate or recommend a candidate.
Each year, USFWC members elect their representatives to the Board of Directors from a pool of candidates nominated by members. We elect four directors in even years and five directors in odd years.
In 2025, we are recruiting candidates to run for five Board of Directors seats.
If you are part of a USFWC member organization, you can recommend any number of people to run for the board.
Know a great candidate? Recommend them!
Use this form to recommend a candidate. USFWC member organizations can recommend any number of people to run for the board. However, only one person can run per member workplace.
Ready to run? Nominate yourself!
Use this form to self-nominate. If you still don’t have your workplace’s endorsement, you can still fill out the form. But make sure to secure the endorsement before nominations close.
Why Run for the Board?
Be a key part of building the worker co-op movement in this country.
Network with other co-op and economic justice organizations.
Travel to local, regional, national worker cooperative conferences.
Represent the US at the international worker co-op federation, CICOPA General Assembly, and as part of international delegations.
Board members are not compensated for their time, but USFWC does cover expenses incurred in the course of regular board service, such as travel.
Learn more by watching the recording of our 2022 informational session below
Overview & Candidate Eligibility
USFWC is led by a member-elected Board of between five and nine directors.
There are four directors elected in years ending in even numbers and five directors elected in years ending in odd numbers.
Voting member classes include: Worker Cooperative, Democratic Workplace, Cooperative Developer, and Federation Partners. More about all member classes available here: www.usworker.coop/join
Any worker-owner or staff person of a voting member workplace may run for the Board, with support from their workplace.
The candidate’s workplace must have been a USFWC member for at least one year in order for a member to run.
All directors are at-large. Candidates can run from any region and are voted on by the entire membership.
The candidate can speak Spanish or English – our board is a bilingual space.
Only one person can run per member workplace.
If you have concerns about travel due to immigration status or other reasons, our staff will work with you to address needs.
Board Commitment
Board terms are two (2) years from date of election.
Attend our annual two-day, in-person Board retreat (Feb/March)
Participate in monthly two-hour Board meeting via conference call, plus preparation time.
Participate in at least one Board committee (two - six hours work per month).
Participate in a monthly or bimonthly Member Council meeting of your choice (1.5 - 3 hours per month)
Attend and participate in annual membership meetings and national conferences.
Important Dates
April 28
Candidate nominations open at the Spring Member Meeting
May 29
Spring Member Meeting
July 4
Nominations close
July 21
Voting begins for voting members
September 8
Voting ends for voting members
Late September
Winners announced.
October
New board member orientation begins.
November
New board members take their seat
Bylaws Updates Regarding Elections
All board seats are now at-large, after the Board of Directors of the USFWC voted to amend the federation’s bylaws during its June 2023 meeting. The amendment eliminated regional representatives and the mechanism of regional elections. Now, each year, board candidates can run from any voting member workplace and are voted on by the entire membership. Learn more by reading the memo on the bylaws change in the 2023 Fall Annual Member Meeting Packet.
Questions? For more information, contact membership [at] usworker [dot] coop
