The Common Share

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Dionne Pohler back to the show. Dr. Pohler, Associate Professor at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan, and CRS Research Chair at the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, talks about her research on rural-urban divides, and how co-operatives can help.

In this episode, we speak to Dr. Simon Pek of the University of Victoria about a new idea for co-op governance: deliberative mini-publics. These versatile groups can be a great way for co-operatives to engage and gather information from their memberships in deliberate and effective ways.

Project Equity is an organization that promotes and supports the employee ownership of businesses. In this episode, Kyle spoke to David Gray, Project Equity's Client Services Manager, about worker co-operatives and why transitioning to worker ownership can be a great option for a business. 

Rural communities that wish they had better access to the internet often don't realize they could create that service for themselves. In this episode Jesse Hirsh, a futurist, speaker, and consultant, talks about how he brought broadband to his own rural area, and others can too.

In this episode, two co-op researchers tell us about their work looking at people’s loyalty to co-operatives. Danika Dinko is the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Association who wrote a thesis exploring the opinions of consumers in regards to shopping at co-ops versus Investor-owned firms. Stan Yu is the Research and Communications Coordinator for the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, who looked at whether the employees of co-operatives tend to be loyal co-op customers. 

In this episode, we talk to our new Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Cathy Edwards. As a founding member of Heartlinked Community Service Co-op, entrepreneur, and business plan writer, Cathy has great insights about getting a co-op running, hiring staff, getting your message out, and more!

Co-operatives are businesses that bring people together — but how do you make sure everyone involved in your co-op is working towards the same goal? In this episode, our Director of Education Kyle White talks about what a co-op's leaders can do to make sure its members, staff, and board are all on the same page about the co-op's purpose and goals, which is key to its success. 

To learn more about this topic, take our FREE Co-op Professional certificate course: https://cooperativesfirst.com/become-a-certified-co-op-professional/

Co-ops can be a great way for people to tackle local issues and embrace opportunities. But not everyone has access to resources that can help them learn about the model in a way that speaks to them. 

The non-profit organization In My Own Voice (iMOVe) recently created a guidebook to starting conversations about co-operatives, written specifically for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Colour (BIPOC). In this episode, Laurie Cook talks about why and how they created this guide, and why it's important to create resources with the audience in mind. 

In this episode, we talk to  Dr. Anna Lund about what fiduciary duties are, what they mean for co-ops, and take a deep dive into the decisions made by the board of Mountain Equipment Co-op. Dr. Lund is a law professor at the University of Alberta who studies insolvency and bankruptcy law, and gives an insightful look at some key concepts for co-op boards.

Federated Co-operatives Limited is committed to sustainability. In this episode, FCL's Director of Sustainability, Vern Albush, joined us to talk about what sustainability means, and why co-ops are well-placed to be leaders in sustainable practices.