Can the economy be democratized? How can we transform it into a more socially inclusive and ecologically sustainable system? How can we combat the growing concentrations of power and wealth? What current practices point toward a participatory democracy and resilient next system? Read more.
The Origins and Relevance of the Struggle for Economic Democracy in the U.S. (Keynote Address)
J. Phillip Thompson, New York City Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives
Strategies for Urban Transformation: The Co-City, the Commons, and a Sectoral and Regional Approach For Economic Justice and Well Being (Opening Plenary)
Sheila Foster, Professor of Law & Public Policy, Georgetown University; Roger Green, Co-Chair & Co-Founder, Citizen Share Brooklyn and Society for Effective Economic Democracy (SEED) Moderated by: Carmen Huertas-Noble, Founding Director, Community & Economic Development Clinic, CUNY School of Law & Co-founder, 1Worker1Vote
Speakers: Michael Menser, Brooklyn College; Gabriela Alvarez, Chef and founder of Liberation Cuisine; Kali Akuno, co-founder and co-director of Cooperation Jackson; Yorman Nunez, Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative
There has been a growing interest in how to make CBO’s in the youthwork sector more transparent, democratic, and equitable as it is aligned with the vision and mission of many of these youth-serving organizations. The move towards worker-ownership has been growing in health-care, business, and some daycare centers, which offers the possibility that there is another way of operating. There is also interest in learning about how to support young people to develop their own cooperative enterprises. In this convening, we will hear from organizations in the field who are beginning to move towards worker-owned cooperatives as their governance structures and/or are building intergenerational or youth-led coops. Join us for a conversation about the possibilities and complexities of incorporating worker-owned cooperatives into the youthwork sector.
Public Ownership and Economic Democracy
Cat Hobbs, Founder & Director, We Own It; Andrew Cumbers, Professor in Regional Political Economy, University of Glasgow; Shahrzad Habibi, Research & Policy Director, In the Public Interest; Moderated by: Thomas Hanna, Director of Research, Democracy Collaborative
Municipalism, Corporate Accountability, and Labor Rights
Suzanne Adely, Regional Organizer, Food Chain Workers Alliance; Ron Kim, New York State Assembly Member; Brad Lander, New York City Council Member; Zubin Soleimany, Staff Attorney, New York Taxi Worker Alliance; Moderated by: Chaumtoli Huq, Associate Professor, CUNY School of Law
Municipal Policy and Economic Democracy: Lessons and Questions For New York City
Zayne Abdessalam, Director of Policy & Research, Office of Financial Empowerment, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection; Christine Curella, Deputy Director, Business Development & New Economy Initiatives , Office of the Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives; Deyanira Del Rio, Co-Director, New Economy Project; Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice & Social Economic Development in Department of Africana Studies, CUNY John Jay College; Moderated by: Abby Scher, Member, Research|Action Cooperative
System Change and the Green New Deal (Closing Plenary)
Anthony Torres, Campaign Strategist , Sierra Club; Sean Sweeney, Director of the International Program for Labor, Climate & the Environment and Director of Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies; Johanna Bozuwa, Research Associate, Democracy Collaborative; Moderated by: Alan Aja, Associate Professor in Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, CUNY Brooklyn College
From Economic Crisis to Economic Democracy(March 2017)
Speakers: Dario Azzellini, Murphy Institute visiting scholar, Johannes Kepler University, Austria, Associate Editor for WorkingUSA and Cuadernos de Marte; Naceo Giles, worker-owner from Thoroughbred Pest Control; Jessica Gordon Nembhard, John Jay College, CUNY and author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice; Roger Green, Director, Dubois-Bunche Center on Public Policy, Medgar Evers College and the Coalition to Save Interfaith (March 2017)
Worker Cooperatives & Workforce Development: A Strategic Conversation (October 2016)
Speakers: Melissa Hoover, Democracy at Work Institute; Steven Dawson, visiting Fellow at The Pinkerton Foundation and former president of PHI; Adria Powell, Executive Vice President and President-elect of Cooperative Home Care Associates
Solidarity Economies & Worker Coops (December 2015)
Speakers: Amy B Dean, Fellow, The Century Foundation, co-author, A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement; Roger Green, Director, Dubois-Bunche Center on Public Policy, Medgar Evers College; Adria Powell, Executive Vice President, Cooperative Home Care Associates; Melissa Risser, Attorney, Urban Justice Center’s Community Development Project, co-founder of 1worker1vote.org