Dear Co-op Cincy community,
Ware OVERJOYED to announce that Cynthia Pinchback-Hines has joined our staff as our new Racial Justice Educator and Co-op Developer. She’s already hard at work, helping us ground and contextualize the racial justice components of the manual we’re publishing for Co-op U.
Cynthia is also starting to recruit for our first-ever cohort of ALL Black-led co-ops. Our new program, Power in Numbers, provides teams of Black entrepreneurs in Cincinnati an opportunity to work through the process of launching a cooperative business, and build Black wealth for the long term.
The program also has some added perks to help overcome racial disparities, from bank accounts to banks’ lending practices, by linking graduates to $2,000 in seed capital for their co-op to launch, a $10,000 prize for the best proposal, and access to our non-extractive loan fund, designed specifically to get our grads’ co-ops on their feet.
Members of the cohort will learn from co-op development professionals, as well as the skills and wisdom of other Black entrepreneurs in this space. The course includes tools to build and test a successful business, as well as the tools needed to design a worker co-op that serves each team’s goals and values.
Applications are due March 8.
Curious if YOU should apply for Power in Numbers? Learn more here, or reach out to cynthia@coopcincy.org
As if that wasn’t enough big news - we also launched our NATIONAL child care Co-op U, with teams from our partner networks Cooperación Santa Ana in California; Wellspring Cooperative in Springfield, MA; and Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi. Cincinnati is especially well-represented in the national cohort, with 2 full teams. Our CareShare team is working on potential changes to the business model, and helping our sister cities learn from our experience. An existing child care center in Cincinnati is also working on a possible expansion and transition to worker ownership!
