Cooperative Buffalo Announces Cooperative Changemakers Scholarship

Intensive 10-week training for entrepreneurs and cooperative advocates planned for September 2024

Over the past five years, Cooperation Buffalo (founded in 2016) has trained more than 150 entrepreneurs. What is particularly important is that each of these individuals has the skills required to be a “change agent in the cooperative movement”, including cooperative business development, finance, governance, democratic decision-making and conflict resolution. This was accomplished through a program known as the Cooperative Changemakers Fellowship, which prepares entrepreneurs for a future in Buffalo’s cooperative community.

If you’re unfamiliar with the local co-op landscape, you can refresh yourself here. Examples of co-ops in Buffalo include Extra Extra!, The Healing Grounds (main image), and The Rose Garden. Each of these companies is run by an entrepreneur who thinks about business using a more democratic and egalitarian approach (worker owners, for example). The Cooperative Changemakers Fellowship offers people the opportunity to engage directly with local cooperators and develop action plans to bring their visions to life.

“Our vision is to support a resilient, interconnected ecosystem of community businesses that enable neighborhood self-determination, worker dignity, and wealth creation for the many, not just the few,” said Andrew Delmonte , executive director of Cooperation Buffalo. “The Cooperative Changemakers Fellowship brings together entrepreneurs, advocates, organizers, professional service providers, governments and, most importantly, workers, to develop practical skills and action plans for an economy that puts people first . »

Priority for the next program will be given to applicants who have been historically excluded from wealth creation opportunities, including Black, Indigenous and other people of color, but this does not mean that anyone interested in creating and building of a cooperative enterprise should not apply. Buffalo’s cooperative landscape is diverse and varied, with business enterprises such as a worker-owned computer company, a real estate investment cooperative, a farmworker-owned flower business, a worker-owned coffee shop, a pizzeria and a consulting company. (learn more).

Cooperation Buffalo is now accepting applications for the first cohort of Cooperative Changemakers: A Community Power Exchange.

For 10 Wednesdays, from September 4 to November 6, participants will participate in classroom training with experts in the skills required to be a changemaker in the cooperative movement. On Wednesday, November 13, the Fellowship course will conclude with a graduation celebration.

After completing the course, scholarship participants will have access to one-on-one technical assistance from cooperative business developers; training and support in fundraising, planning and other start-up requirements; and access to a peer support network of existing Buffalo cooperatives and other Changemakers.

The Cooperative Changemakers Scholarship is offered free of charge. Apply at cooperationbuffalo.org/fellowship. Places are limited and applications must be submitted before August 1st. For more information, call (716) 541-0407 or email [email protected].