The Asian American Solidarity Economies Project presents a five-part webinar series in 2018 on solidarity and cooperative economics targeted to the assets and needs of Asian American immigrant and refugee communities.

You can access the contents of the latest webinars while we warmly invite you to join and share the coming ones.

March 19th 2018 – Introducing Solidarity Economy

The speakers introduced the framework of solidarity economy, its history and contemporary practice, and examples in Asian American immigrant and refugee experience.

Emily Kawano, US Solidarity Economy Network

Emily is the co-director of the Wellspring Cooperative Corporation which seeks to create an engine for new, community-based job creation in Springfield, MA. She serves as Coordinator of the United States Solidarity Economy Network, a RIPESS member. An economist by training, Emily served as the Director of the Center for Popular Economics from 2004 to 2013. Prior to that, Emily taught at Smith College.

 

Julia Ho, Solidarity Economy St. Louis

Julia is the founder of Solidarity Economy St. Louis. During the Ferguson uprising in August 2016, she worked with Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE). For the past two and a half years, Julia has been building a network of businesses, organizations, and individuals fighting for a just and sustainable economy.

 

 

Access to complementary resources and watch the recorded livestream on this page

April 2nd 2018 – Introducing Cooperatives

In the second of five webinars, the speakers introduced cooperatives, its principles and examples, and the cooperative ecosystem.

Mai Nguyen, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives

Mai serves on the board of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. They own and operate an organic farm and were the cooperative development specialist at the California Center for Cooperative Development. Now, Mai is an organizer for the National Young Farmers Coalition.

 

 

Anh-Thu Nguyen, Democracy at Work Institute

Anh-Thu is director of special projects for the Democracy at Work Institute. She develops markets and opportunities for collaboration between cooperatives and cross-sectoral allies, including the development of a value chain within the textile and fashion industries.

 

 

Access to complementary resources and watch the recorded livestream on this page.

May 21st 2018 – Forming Cooperatives

 

In the third of five webinars, our speakers will introduce the steps involved in forming a cooperative including deciding on its legal entity, cooperative finances, and governance and decision making.

Ro McIntyre, Red Emma’s Cafe and Bookstore

She co-founded Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED), provinding high touch technical assistance paired with non-extractive financing to help co-ops grow & thrive.

 

 

 

Annie Sullivan-Chin, A Bookkeeping Cooperative

She is now a certified DAWN Peer Advisor, providing customized technical assistance to worker-owned and democratically-managed organizations throughout the country.

 

 

 

Get more information here.

September 24th 2018 – Legacy Community Businesses


In the fourth of five webinars, the speakers will discuss legacy business conversions into cooperatives and how existing micro-business can work together in cooperative ways.

Speakers:

  • Shevanthi Daniel-Rabkin, Democracy at Work Institute
  • Soyun Park, Micro Business Network

Get more information here.

October 22nd 2018 – Incubating Cooperatives

In the last of five webinars, the speakers will discuss how to incubate cooperatives as a community-based organization or worker center.

Speakers:

  • Lan Dinh, Vietlead
  • Lolita Andrada Lledo, Pilipino Workers Center

Get more information here.