GCDC is supporting the startup process for a shared services cooperative in Athens, GA. Listen to this brief audio to learn more about what a shared services cooperative is. Visit carenshare.co to learn more about the project. Visit Georgia.coop to learn more about the Georgia Cooperative Development Center.

Mrs. Sherrod was born in Baker County, Georgia on November 20, 1947 to Grace and Hosea Miller. Her father who was a deacon at a local Baptist Church, was shot to death, reportedly over a dispute about livestock. No charges were returned against the shooter by an all- white grand jury. The tragic murder of her father, when she was 17 years old had a profound impact on her life and led to her decision to stay in the south to work for change. She attended Fort Valley State College beginning in September, 1965. After two years, she transferred to Albany State College where she received her bachelor's degree. There she studied sociology while also working for civil rights with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During this time, she married Reverend Charles Sherrod, one of the founding members of SNCC and the leader of SNCC's work in southwest Georgia. In 1969, Mrs. Sherrod and her husband helped form New Communities, Inc., a land trust that held 6,000 acres of land in Lee County, Georgia. According to land trust activists, New Communities, being connected to the Albany Movement, served as a laboratory and model in the movement toward the development of Community Land Trusts throughout the United States. The perseverance and foresight of New Communities, motivated by the right of African American farmers to farm land securely and affordably, initiated the Community Land Trust Movement in the US. Mrs. Sherrod earned a Master's Degree in Community Development from Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She worked for more than 24 years with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund as the Georgia Field Director. She was recognized by many organizations in the United States for her work with limited resource farmers. ​ Sherrod was appointed by the Obama Administration as USDA Georgia State Director for Rural Development in 2009. She was the first black person to hold that position. Currently, Mrs. Sherrod is the Executive Director of the Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education, Inc., an organization she helped to create in 1971. She continues her work with farmers and rural communities.

Author of Collective Courage and Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, of the City University of New York (CUNY) in New York City, USA. Dr Gordon Nembhard joins Founder, ICM and Co-op Nation Network to launch Women In Cooperation: Herstory in Black for Women's History Month.

ICM Founder, Media veteran, and co-opreneur, Ahzjah Netjer joins world renown Author, Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard as they welcome NASCO hall of fame inductee, writer, and Housing Co-op Pioneer, Ajowa Ifateyo!

Women In Cooperation hosts Ahzjah Netjer Simons and world renown author of Collective Courage, Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard welcomes Activist, Author, Pioneer, Performing Artist, and Co-Founder of Cooperation Jackson, Iyafalola Omobola to share her stories, wisdom, and insights as ICM celebrates Black Women In Cooperation, the Queens of Co-op.