Here at Co-op Cincy, 75% of our staff members are women, and 71% of the individuals employed in our co-op network are women. As an organization, we strive to build an economy that’s equitable and inclusive – an economy that works for all.
Julia Marchese (left) and Marie Hopkins of Queen City Commons
Women’s History Month provides an opportunity to honor the women who have played a vital role in our lives and the lives of those before us. And so we’d like to highlight a few of the amazing women in our co-op network!
Julia Marchese is one of two women behind Queen City Commons, a co-op business that provides clean and timely food scrap collection in Greater Cincinnati. For Julia, Women’s History Month offers an opportunity for women in business to “be recognized and appreciated and just seen as legitimate actors in the field.”
Julia and fellow worker-owner Marie Hopkins faced skepticism when launching their co-op business because they were women. “We met with hesitance from certain mentors,” Julia said. “They would call us a project or minimize what we were trying to do. And I do think that comes from generally viewing women as inferior.”
The Queen City Commons team takes inspiration from the composting community. “What inspires Marie and I is just figuring out a way to be a part of the composing infrastructure in Cincinnati and taking it as something not that we do by ourselves, but that we do collaboratively with other urban agriculture folks.”
Mona M. Jenkins speaks at the launch event and fundraiser for Queen Mother’s Market
Mona M. Jenkins is one of three female worker-owners behind Queen Mother’s Market, which is working to start a Black- and women-led co-op grocery store in the Walnut Hills neighborhood, a food desert. A Kroger store closed there in 2017.
Mona said it was important to acknowledge the contributions of women. “We’ve always lived in a patriarchal system,” she explained. “We’ve always highlighted that men were bread winners and never acknowledged that women contributed just as much if not more to the success of businesses and the wellness of family.”
In launching Queen Mother’s Market, Mona was influenced by the need for community. “As Black women, we’re raised as caregivers, so I think that our approach is trying to take care of each other.”
She said that while the concept of a co-op is foreign to some, many women have used the model in the past. She cited the example of Fannie Lou Hamer. “I’ve seen it in action through previous women in history who came before me,” Mona said, “and had the same aspirations of building community and providing the needs for the community and trying to find justice for Blacks, people of color, and folks who were low-income.”
Hope Gordon of Hopes Fulfilled Farm 2 Table
Hope Gordon started Hopes Fulfilled Farm 2 Table with her husband. Their goal is to open a food truck that provides access to fresh, healthy food.
During Black History Month, Hope learned about the concept of counter-storytelling, which “reveals the stories of people whose experiences are not often told or who in many cases have been purposely silenced.” This category includes women, who were historically relegated to background roles, Hope explained. “So a lot of times it may have been women who create things and men get the accolades.”
Hope wants to see women compensated like men. “Equal work for equal pay,” she said.
She is inspired by food. “Food is power. And I like to see people in power through food and agribusiness.”
