2024 Conference - Network for Developing Conscious Communities

3rd Annual Conference | June 13-15, 2024

“Driving Economic Wealth: Power of Black Cooperative Enterprises”

National Conference on Black Cooperative Agenda

On behalf of the conference hosts Network for Developing Conscious Communities and Nexus Community Partners, we are proud to host such a diverse and inclusive audience attending this year’s National Conference on Black Cooperative Agenda. Our conference theme is Driving Economic Wealth: The Power of Black Cooperative Enterprises.

We have selected Saint Paul, Minnesota as our host city and this year’s conference dates are June 13-15, 2024, Our goal this year is to bring together diverse and influential Black cooperatives, economic practitioners and social entrepreneurs to foster collective dialogue, strengthen collaboration and develop actionable strategies to address systemic challenges that promote economic self-sufficiency and build sustainable economic futures for Black cooperatives within communities of color. Here are some key conference expectations:

Networking and Collaboration: Connect like minded individuals and organizations committed to fostering economic empowerment and economic justice.

Educational Opportunities: Engage participants in informative workshops and panel discussions that provide valuable insights into cooperative practices, business development and wealth building.

Showcasing Success Stories: Sharing organization’s achievements that lead to learning about collective knowledge and experience.

Policy Advocacy: Discussions on policy recommendations that support the development and growth of Black cooperatives at various levels of maturation.

Cultural Celebration: Immerse in the rich historical contributions of Black people connected to the cooperative movement through cultural events and performances.

Youth Engagement: Shape the future participation through engaging youth about cooperative enterprises.

Meet Conference Hosts

Network for Developing Conscious Communities, our mission is renew and inspire collective consciousness in community development through intentional engagement that builds sustainable power in Black communities”

Through collaborative efforts and partnerships, we work to address systemic issues and create lasting positive change in areas such as education, health, economic empowerment, and environmental sustainability.

Key initiatives and programs of NDCC include:

Community Development Projects: NDCC initiates and supports community development projects aimed at improving infrastructure, enhancing access to basic services, and promoting economic empowerment. These projects are designed to be inclusive, participatory, and sustainable, ensuring long-term benefits for residents.

Education and Awareness Campaigns: We believe that education is fundamental to creating informed and empowered communities. NDCC conducts education and awareness campaigns on a wide range of topics, including economic justice, environmental conservation, health and wellness, and community development practices.

Capacity Building Workshops: NDCC organizes capacity building webinars and training sessions to equip community members with the skills and knowledge needed to become agents of change in their communities. Topics covered include leadership development, reparations, health and wellproject management, and entrepreneurship.

Advocacy and Policy Reform: NDDC advocates for policies and practices that promote social equity, environmental sustainability, and community well-being. We engage with policymakers, government agencies, and other stakeholders to influence decision-making processes and advance the interests of marginalized communities.

Networking and Collaboration: NDCC serves as a platform for networking and collaboration among individuals, organizations, and institutions committed to community development and social change. We facilitate partnerships, exchange best practices, and amplify the voices of grassroots leaders and activists.

Nexus Community Partners’ mission is to build more engaged and powerful communities of color by supporting community-building initiatives that expand community wealth and foster social and human capital. We have distilled our nearly two decades’ worth of learning into three interconnected principles that we believe are key to supporting strong, equitable, and just communities: ownership, authorship, and leadership.

To meet our mission, we have identified a framework of three interconnected principles that guide our work:

Authorship: Engaging Community. All community members are engaged in and have authorship of their lives and their future.

Leadership: Cultivating Power. All community members are seen as leaders and are given opportunities to grow and to represent their communities in decision-making spaces.

Ownership: Building Community Wealth. All community members are afforded multiple access points to generate wealth and to own the wealth they generate.

Sessions

Wednesday, June 12

5:00 pm-7:30 pm

Registration

06:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Welcome Reception: Classic Jewel

Thursday, June 13

day

day 1

9:15 am – 10:15 am

Opening Plenary Waiting Room

Opening session begins with a welcome address from conference co-hosts Ron Hantz, Executive Director Network for Developing Conscious Communities and Repa Mekha, Founder and CEO Nexus Community Partners, and Marcus Pope – President of Youthprise

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Session 1 Foundations for Success: Essential Strategies for New and Growing Cooperatives

Red Cap Room

Designed to provide attendees with practical tools, resources, and insights to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of cooperative enterprises. This session recognizes the importance of building organizational capacity to effectively navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and achieve long-term success in today’s dynamic business environment.

This session equips attendees with practical knowledge, skills, and resources to enhance the resilience, effectiveness, and sustainability of their cooperative enterprises. It empowers participants to take proactive steps towards building stronger, more resilient organizations that can thrive in today’s complex and competitive business environment.

Session 2 Navigating Structure & Governance: Transparent Decision-Making for Cooperatives

Veterans Gallery

This session offers attendees a comprehensive exploration of the principles, practices, and challenges associated with governance structures and decision-making processes within cooperative enterprises. This session recognizes the critical role that effective governance plays in ensuring the success, sustainability, and democratic functioning of cooperatives. This session equips attendees with the knowledge, skills, and insights needed to effectively lead, govern, and participate in cooperative enterprises. It empowers participants to contribute to the democratic governance and long-term success of their cooperatives, fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, and member participation.

Session 3 Employee Ownership and Empowerment: Fostering a Culture of Ownership

Gateway Conference Room

Session delves into the principles, benefits, and strategies of fostering a culture of ownership and empowerment within cooperative enterprises. Participants gain insights into the various models of employee ownership, including worker cooperatives, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and other forms of employee ownership structures. Emphasis is placed on the principles of democratic control, shared decision-making, and economic participation among employees.

Session 4 Black Cooperatives: Expressions of Cultural and Spiritual Dimensions

Riverview Conference Room

The session explores strategies for preserving and transmitting cultural wisdom, knowledge, and traditions within Black cooperative communities. Participants learn about efforts to document oral histories, archive cultural artifacts, and pass down ancestral knowledge to future generations to ensure the continuity and vitality of Black cooperative movements.

This includes reflections on the teachings of liberation theology, Black spirituality, and other spiritual traditions that emphasize justice, equity, and solidarity. Attendees engage in discussions about the spiritual dimensions of Black cooperative movements, including the role of faith-based organizations, spiritual leaders, and sacred practices in inspiring cooperative action and social change.

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm

Lunch

Towards Equity and Justice: Exploring the Imperative of Reparations

Join us in this thought provoking conversation as we confront the legacy of historical injustices and envision a future grounded in dignity, equality, and restitution for all. Participants will engage in a dynamic discussion on the various forms that reparations can take, including financial compensation, land restitution, educational initiatives, and systemic reforms.

Participants will explore the historical injustices such as slavery, colonialism, and systemic racism to present-day disparities in wealth, education, and opportunity, the need for reparative measures has gained increasing attention in the global discourse on human rights and social justice.

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Session 5 Planning Cooperative Youth Projects: Reflection and Action Planning

Red Cap Room

This skill-building workshop helps youth participants to develop their knowledge and abilities needed to start and sustain cooperative enterprises. Workshops cover topics such as financial management, business planning, marketing, leadership development, and conflict resolution, providing youth with practical tools and strategies for success.

Participants have the opportunity to brainstorm and plan cooperative projects or initiatives that embody cooperative principles and address issues or interests relevant to their lives and communities. The session concludes with reflection and action planning activities to help participants process their learning experiences and identify concrete steps for applying the cooperative principles into their daily interactions and take action to create positive change in their communities.

Session 6 Legal Frameworks: Navigating Legality of Forming a Cooperative

Veterans Gallery

The cooperative sector holds the possibility of transformative power in our communities and for the economic liberation needed. Cooperatives are historic organizations that shape the economy. Cooperative legal expertise is essential for compliance but also for the creation, growth, and sustainability of socially and economically resilient entities. This session will give insight into the legal frameworks needed for cooperative development. It will provide expertise from cooperative attorneys and the resources necessary when developing cooperatives.

Session 7 Navigating Best Practices and Challenges: Promoting Partnerships for Cooperative Sustainability and Expansion

Gateway Conference Room

Participants are introduced to the concept of innovation hubs as dynamic spaces that bring together diverse stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, innovators, educators, and policymakers, to collaborate on solving local challenges and driving economic development.

Attendees learn about the role of innovation hubs as drivers of economic development and job creation within communities. Discussions may cover topics such as fostering entrepreneurship, supporting small businesses, attracting investment, and building innovation ecosystems.

Session 8 Harnessing Technology for Success: Digital Solutions for Black Cooperatives

Riverview Conference Room

Participants are introduced to the concept of digital transformation and its significance in the context of cooperative enterprises. Emphasis is placed on how digital technologies, such as cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, are revolutionizing cooperative operations, service delivery, and member experiences.

Attendees learn about the role of e-commerce and online marketplaces in expanding market reach, diversifying revenue streams, and connecting cooperative products and services with consumers. Participants learn about the opportunities and challenges of selling cooperatively produced goods and services online and strategies for optimizing online sales channels.

Friday, June 14

day

day 2

9:15 am – 10:15 am

Opening Session

Mayor Melvin Carter III: Melvin Carter is the 46th Mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the First African-American to hold the position as Mayor of the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Capital City.

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Session 9 Policy Advocacy: Empowering Cooperative Growth, Sustainability, and Social Impact

Red Cap Room

Session offers a comprehensive exploration of the principles, strategies, and best practices for fostering cooperative enterprises rooted in local communities. This session is designed to empower attendees with the knowledge and tools needed to initiate, nurture, and sustain cooperative ventures that address community needs and promote economic democracy and social justice.

Participants are introduced to the cooperative principles and values that underpin community-based cooperative development, including voluntary participation, democratic control, member economic participation, autonomy, and concern for community. Emphasis is placed on understanding how these principles guide cooperative enterprises in serving community interests and needs.

Session 10 Solidarity Economies: Building Intergenerational Community Power

Veterans Gallery

The movement for solidarity economies continues to grow around the country as communities seek alternative methods to return wealth to the community and build grassroots power movements that are for us and by us. In this session, participants will explore the definition of solidarity economies and the different tools to build community power and develop sustainable entities for generations to come. The session will also explore the dynamic opportunities in the solidarity economy ecosystem and how community members can leverage the lessons to build equitable and sustainable systems.

Session 11 Empowerment for Black Cooperatives: Managing Resources for Prosperity

Gateway Conference Room

Session is dedicated to equipping attendees with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to foster financial well-being and economic empowerment within cooperative communities. The session examines the role of entrepreneurship and business development in achieving economic empowerment. Participants learn about starting and growing a business, accessing financing and resources, and navigating the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship.

Session 12 Innovative Models and Industries: Navigating Entry and Building Partnerships for Black Food, Retail, Agricultural, and Energy Cooperatives

Red Cap

This session empowers participants to integrate sustainability into all aspects of cooperative operations, from governance and decision-making to product development and community engagement. It equips attendees with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration needed to build resilient, responsible, and future-proof cooperative enterprises that contribute positively to people, planet, and prosperity.

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm

Empowering Returning Citizens for Successful Reintegration

This cooperative session will focus on discussing challenges faced by individuals returning from incarceration, exploring strategies for successful reintegration, and highlighting initiatives that support their transition back into society. The criminal justice system has long played a role in racism, exploitation, and dehumanization, which impacts Black people at disproportionate rates. Through the lens of previously incarcerated individuals, we will explore the intersectionality of racism and exploitation and offer ways to support formerly incarcerated people through cooperative economics and solidarity economies.

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Session 13 Owning The Block: Collective Ownership Through Real Estate and Investment Cooperatives

Red Cap Room

There is power in collective and intergenerational ownership models. Reimagined, this ownership model allows for equitable economic development stewarded by community members. Control over property ownership has been used as a tool to oppress, take away access, and often disrupt families and communities over time. This session will explore the different avenues of collective ownership of housing cooperatives, permanent real estate cooperatives, land trusts, commercial land trusts, and investment cooperatives that work to build just, self-determined, and regenerative local communities.

Session 14 Building Community Wealth Through Cooperative Ownership

Veterans Gallery

Session offers a comprehensive exploration of innovative approaches and initiatives aimed at building economic resilience, promoting shared prosperity, and fostering inclusive development within communities. This session is designed to empower attendees with the knowledge, tools, and inspiration needed to advance community wealth-building strategies through cooperative enterprises, asset ownership, and collaborative economic development.

Participants are introduced to the concept of community wealth building and its principles, including asset ownership, local economic democracy, equitable development, and social justice. Emphasis is placed on understanding how community wealth-building strategies differ from traditional economic development approaches and their potential to create lasting, inclusive prosperity.

Session 15 Empowering Black Communities: Black-Led Social Impact Funding Initiatives

Gateway

This session will explore the importance of supporting Black-led initiatives in social impact funding, highlighting successful models from different regions, challenges, and opportunities for advancing equity and justice in funding allocation. Panelists will discuss how cooperatives can leverage investment strategies to create positive social and economic impact.

Saturday, June 15

day

day 3

9:15 am – 10:15 am

Conference Closing Ceremony

Ron Hantz, Executive Director Network for Developing Conscious Communities and Repa Mekha, Founder and CEO Nexus Community Partner. and Marcus Pollack President Youthprise

Redcap

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Session 16 Securing Growth Capital: Access to Funding for Black Cooperatives

Gateway Room

Provides a comprehensive examination of the challenges and opportunities cooperative enterprises face in securing loans, lines of credit, and equity investments, as well as alternative sources such as grants, crowdfunding, impact investing, and community investment funds.

This session is designed to empower attendees with the knowledge, tools, and strategies needed to navigate the complex landscape of capital acquisition and effectively finance cooperative growth and development. Emphasis is placed on the diverse range of capital needs, including startup capital, working capital, expansion capital, and capital for innovation and technology adoption.

Session 17 Collaborative Connections Panel: Breaking Silos, Building Bridges

Veterans Room

Provides a deep exploration of the role that cooperative enterprises play as anchor institutions within Black communities. Anchored in principles of community engagement, economic democracy, and social responsibility, this session aims to showcase the transformative potential of cooperatives in driving cooperative initiatives in affordable housing, community land trusts, renewable energy, and other sectors that contribute to neighborhood stabilization, social cohesion, and quality of life improvements.

This session explores the economic impact of cooperatives as anchor institutions, including their contributions to job creation, wealth generation, and local economic development. Participants learn about strategies for strengthening local economies, promoting sustainability, and fostering economic resilience through cooperative purchasing and sourcing practices

11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Session 18 Navigating Best Practices and Challenges: Sustainable Cooperative Food Sourcing and Supply Chains

Sabathani Community Center

This session provides a comprehensive exploration of strategies and best practices for promoting sustainability within cooperative food sourcing and supply chains. This session recognizes the critical role that food cooperatives play in fostering environmental stewardship, supporting local economies, and promoting ethical sourcing practices. Empowers participants to integrate sustainability principles into all aspects of food sourcing and supply chain management. It equips attendees with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to build resilient, responsible, and sustainable food systems that benefit producers, consumers, and the planet.

12:15 pm – 1:30 pm

National Association of Black Cooperators

Red Cap

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Sabathani Community Center

Lunch

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm

George Floyd Square

Visiting George Floyd Square is a deeply moving and thought-provoking experience that leaves a lasting impact on all who pay their respects at this historic site. Situated in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, the plaza serves as a symbol of remembrance, resilience, and the ongoing struggle for racial justice.
Approaching George Floyd Plaza, one immediately senses the solemn atmosphere permeating the space. The intersection, once an ordinary city block, has been transformed into a sacred ground, adorned with vibrant murals, colorful artwork, and poignant tributes honoring the life of George Floyd and countless others who have lost their lives to police brutality and racial violence.

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm

Session 19 Inclusion & Innovation Panel: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Cooperative Networks

Gateway Room

Is a dynamic exploration of strategies, and best practices focused on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within cooperative enterprises and the communities they serve. This session recognizes the transformative potential of cooperatives in fostering inclusive economic opportunities and building resilient, vibrant communities.

The session explores unconscious bias, privilege, and systemic barriers that can perpetuate inequality and exclusion within cooperative communities. Participants engage in discussions and activities aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of these issues and their impact on cooperative dynamics.

Speakers

Alaric Overbay,

Co-Founder and Visionary Greensideup Farm

Alaric Overbey is the Co Founder and visionary of Greensideup.farm. His background is in data
center optimization and cloud and back up systems. In 2015 while living in Dallas he experienced his first food desert. From that time he has worked to develop a solution for food security in marginalized communities. He has worked to develop an economic solution by using
vertical farming as the foundation. To date Alaric has pushed the envelope in this space and has been a speaker at the Indoor Ag-Conference twice, Earth Day Texas, and organized the first Food Desert tour. Green Side Up has now taken over a 49,000 Sq. Foot grocery store on
the Historic West Side of Las Vegas. They are installing a full vertical farm in the grocery store
consisting of five Freight Farms, 40 towe gardens, 10 radix and 2 Babylon Farms. Making this the first grocery store of its kind in the world.

Aleta Alston Toure’,

Founder, Parable of The Sower

Aleta Toure’ is a homeschooling mother, liberation strategist and worker-owned cooperative member with Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative, where they sell mostly community organizing products and services soon to sustain their worker owned housing cooperative and film documentary on “The Black Cooperative Movement.”

She has worked on six Public Broadcast System (PBS) Blackside Documentary Films including the Emmy award winning, “Eyes On The Prize Documentary Film” (WGBH/PBS-TV.) She was an academic acclaimed Ford Fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Urban Studies and Planning Community Fellowship Program.

Aleta is now focusing on spreading a mutual aid cooperative model through her cooperative for black women and children.

Amaha Sellassie,

Board President, Gem City Market

Amaha Sellassie is a peace builder, social healer, freedom fighter, network weaver, student of cooperation and lover of humanity. He’s an Associate Professor of Sociology and director of Center for Applied Social Issues at Sinclair Community College in Dayton Ohio. Amaha is a practitioner scholar dedicated towards building bridges of trust, healing historical wounds, and harnessing the unique gifts and talents of every human being as we press towards a just and equitable society.

As the former chair of the Dayton Human Relations Council Board and is a Caux Scholar fellow trained in the Swiss Alps in peacebuilding and healing historical wounds. He is co-founder and board chair of the Gem City Market, a community driven effort to address food apartheid through a food coop dedicated to increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables within west Dayton. He is also a co-founder and co-ed of CO-OP Dayton a coop incubator that is guided by the Mondragon model. Currently he is working towards his Ph. D. in Sociology at the University of Cincinnati with an emphasis on utilizing community based participatory research (CBPR) towards emerging health equity and community transformation.

Amber Senter,

Founder and CEO MAHR House

Amber E. Senter is a visionary entrepreneur with over two decades of expertise in marketing and project management. As the Founder and CEO of MAKR House, a storytelling cannabis house of brands, Amber leads fundraising efforts, manages the supply chain, navigates government relations, develops strategic plans, creates innovative products, and executes effective marketing campaigns. Amber’s former experiences include her work as Chief Operations Officer of an Oakland dispensary, where she was responsible for creating and implementing procedures that improved sales and increased profitability. During her tenure, she obtained Oakland’s first onsite consumption permit.

Amber’s unwavering commitment to serve did not end with her time in the US Coast Guard. In addition to her thriving business ventures, she is the Co-Founder, Chair of the Board, and Executive Director of Supernova Women, an organization formed in 2015 dedicated to empowering people of color to become self-sufficient shareholders in the cannabis industry.

Through her work with Supernova Women and MAKR House, Amber is working tirelessly to address the harm inflicted on Black and Brown communities by the failed War on Drugs and to lower barriers of entry for these communities in the legal cannabis market. With initiatives such as the creation of the first social equity program in Oakland and the country’s first social equity workforce development program for cannabis, Amber is a driving force for positive change in the industry. Additionally, MAKR House’s EquityWorks! Incubator serves as a model for the future, offering the first shared social equity cannabis manufacturing facility in the country that helps to break down barriers and level the playing field.

Amber is a sought-after leader in the growing cannabis industry, recognized for her trusted voice and extensive knowledge of the medical and adult-use base. She serves as a mentor and coach to new entrepreneurs in the field, inspiring them with her passion and drive.

Who Attends

The National Conference on Black Cooperatives Agenda offers a unique three-day learning experience.

The program of content is designed to give cooperative business leaders an edge in today’s fast changing competitive landscape so as to sustain growth and achieve ongoing success.

For senior leaders from across all cooperative industries and across all cooperative sizes.

For leaders and executive teams looking for ideas and inspiration.

For all those who understand the value of knowledge and continuous learning.

What You Will Learn

The conference provides an opportunity to learn from a world class program of business thought leaders and practitioners.

The program has been carefully curated to provide a blend of perspectives on the most important issues facing Black cooperative leaders today.

It offers high level, strategic thinking on the most critical management topics such as leadership, talent, performance and transformation.

Attendees leave with new ideas to help their cooperative organizations grow, and the inspiration to put those ideas into practice.

Why Attend?

We know you need the partnership to continually invest in your ability and resources needed to tackle the complex issues that face our communities. At the National Conference of Black Cooperative Agenda, we’ve got the civic engagement secret sauce to get you re-energized. You’ll benefit from:

Education

Experience more than 20 workshops with actionable takeaways led by cooperative industry experts.

Inspiration

Engage in compelling leadership discussions highlighting best practices in the economic and social impact space.

Connection

Form relationships and engage in deep conversations or the sharing of ideas with fellow changemakers.

Co-Host

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Registration

EARLY REGISTRATION

$275

Special Promotions

GROUP RATE

Have colleagues who also want to attend? Groups of three or more get:

15% discount

STUDENT/INTERN RATE

Are you still in school, or an intern interested in cooperatives? Join us either for only:

$125

Learning

Learn from the brightest minds in the business world and stay up to date on the latest trends in the market. You will leave equipped with the best tools to successfully overcome professional and personal challenges.

Development

Immerse yourself in the inspirational atmosphere of the event and develop new ideas that you can implement within your organization, and in your personal life. Challenge your current business and leadership practices, and open yourself up to new thinking that will help you innovate and address problems in ways you never imagined.

Networking

Connect with more than 200 high-level cooperative professionals. Network for Developing Conscious Communities and Las Vegas Department of Neighborhood Services brings together decision makers, leaders, entrepreneurs, managers of the most important Black cooperatives in United States, all in the same place. Don’t miss the opportunity to grow your network of contacts and expand your business.

Speakers

Name Surname

Anthony Goodwin,

Business Innovation Director National Co+op Grocers

Anthony Goodwin is the Business Innovation Director for National Co+op Grocers. He has over 17 years of grocery industry experience across various sectors including national chains, non-profits, and cooperatives. As a grocer, he has worked for Meijer, Lucky’s Market, ProMedica Health System, and National Co-op Grocers. His passion is improving food access in disinvested communities. In his current role at NCG—Anthony leads the Development Cooperative which is focused on developing a cooperative food solution to address low-income, low-access (LILA) communities. In 2021 he received a prestigious 20 Under 40 Award—showcasing dynamic leaders from Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan who have distinguished themselves in their careers and in the community. Anthony has a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Toledo and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Health with a concentration on food justice and health equity.

Assata Richards,

Founding Director of the Sankofa Research Institute

Assata Richards is a native of Houston, Texas and received much of her education in County Line, which is a small close-knit community in East Texas. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston, she earned her Master’s and PH. D form Pennsylvania State University in Sociology with a concentration o political and community participation, research methods and mass incarceration. After serving as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, she returned to her community in Houston, Texas, to work with Project Row Houses, a nonprofit arts organization established by African American artists and community activists in Houston’s Third Ward. She is an Adjunct Professor in the department of sociology at the University of Houston and most recently Assata is the founding director of the Sankofa Research Institute, a community-based nonprofit with the mission to create knowledge to build community.

Brooke Neubauer,

CEO and Founder The Just One Project

Brooke Neubauer, CEO and founder of The Just One Project, is a life-long Las Vegan, wife, mother, business owner, and advocate. In 2009, Brooke was introduced to giving back and making a difference through a friend. That holiday season they adopted a child to give gifts for Christmas. The impact it made touched her heart and she was changed forever. Brooke believes that it takes just one person to make a difference and she wanted to inspire others to join her mission of making an impact in the community and in the lives of others.

Since founding The Just One Project in 2014, it has become one of the fastest-growing nonprofit organizations in southern Nevada because of the support of our community partners and volunteers. The Just One Project’s mission is to connect the community through giving back. Through its mission, The Just One Project successfully connects over 20,000 people every month.

Caleb Dawkins,

Banker, JP Morgan Private Bank

Caleb Dawkins is a Banker in the Las Vegas office of J.P. Morgan Private Bank. He works closely with entertainers, athletes and tech entrepreneurs to advise them on financial strategies designed to grow, manage and preserve their wealth for the generations to come. Caleb brings a strong work ethic, and instills financial literacy so that others Before joining the Private Bank, Caleb was an auditor with Ernst & Young, focused on entertainment firms and retail companies. He plays a leadership role with J.P. Morgan’s BOLD and Advancing Black Pathways, two initiatives that help the black community chart stronger paths toward economic success and empowerment. Recently, he was one of 32 Analysts selected for the firm’s 2020 Wealth Management LEAP Program.

Originally from Compton, California, Caleb was raised in Flint, Michigan, and L Vegas, where he was named the Salutatorian of his graduating class at Mojave High School. Growing up, his father was heavily involved with running a record label, which inspired Caleb to earn a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California, Leventhal School of Accounting, with a minor in Music Recording from the University’s Thornton School of Music. While in school, he interned at Warner/Chappell Music Publishing. He is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

When not in the office, Caleb enjoys boxing, hiking and aerial trapezing. He taps his fun and creative side to write and produce music with longtime friends from the industry. Caleb is intent on helping others gain a stronghold on their futures and volunteers his time with the alumni chapter of his fraternity to offer mentorship for underserved neighborhoods.

Carl Windom,

Accrediated Financial Counselor and Financial Coach

Mr. Windom is an Accredited Financial Counselor and Financial Coach. He is retired from the National Credit Union Administration, the Regulator and Insurer of all credit unions in the US, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam, after 27 years of federal government service. Overall, he has over 35 years in the credit union industry and is a subject matter expert in credit unions, personal finance, accounting, auditing, and community development. He serves as a credit union expert consultant assisting credit union organizers in starting credit unions nationwide. He grew up in Harlem, New York, and the boogie-down Bronx, New York. In addition, he is a US Navy Veteran, a college graduate with a BBA degree in accounting from Georgia State University located in Atlanta, GA, and is married with two children. He loves meeting new people, playing and watching basketball, and traveling. But most importantly, he has a passion for helping his community in any way that financially moves people in a positive direction. Spiritually, physically, or otherwise.

Prof. Carmen Huertas-Noble,

Tenured Professor of Law Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Programs CUNY Law

Professor Carmen Huertas-Noble is a Tenured Full Professor of Law and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Programs at CUNY Law. She is the founding director of the Community & Economic Development Clinic (CEDC). CUNY Law School’s Clinical Program ranks first in the nation and CUNY Law is consistently ranked as one of the top U.S. public service law schools. Professor Huertas-Noble earned her J.D. from Fordham University Law School, where she was a Stein Scholar in Public Interest Law and Ethics.

Prior to joining the CUNY faculty, Professor Huertas-Noble was an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School where she supervised students in its CED Clinic and worked with nonprofits creating immigrant-led worker-owned cooperatives providing child care and house cleaning services. She also served as a senior staff attorney in the Community Development Project (CDP) of the Urban Justice Center, where she counseled cooperatives in navigating their legal entity formation options and on creating democratic governance structures. As part of CDP, she worked with ROC-NY in creating COLORS, a worker-owned restaurant in Manhattan.

Since then, Professor Huertas-Noble and the CEDC have played a leading role in providing transactional legal and policy support to some of the most innovative and grassroots organizations creating and supporting worker-owned cooperatives, including co-founding and incorporating 1 Worker 1 Vote, a movement-building non-profit, the American Sustainable Business Council’s Ownership for All Campaign, The Coalition to Transform Interfaith, Green Worker Cooperatives, the New York City Worker-Owned Cooperative Network (NYC NoWC) and the Network for Developing Conscious Communities (NDCC). In addition, CEDC was instrumental in securing financial investment from the New York City Council in 2015 for the Worker Cooperative Budget Initiative that developed a city-wide ecosystem to grow and support the worker cooperative movement and has grown substantially since 2015. NYC’s investment in the Initiative represents the largest, formal US city investment in worker cooperatives in North America.

Professor Huertas-Noble’s nationally and internationally recognized research and scholarship also focuses on promoting worker-owned cooperatives. Her scholarship emphasizes the role of lawyer in creating meaningful, client participatory decision-making processes as part of the lawyer’s counseling process and in support of client-centered lawyering on behalf of cooperatives.

Cheyenne Kyle,

Urban Farmer, Historic Westside, Las Vegas, Nevada

Growing up cooking in her grandmother’s kitchens Cheyenne soon realized that food was her
passion and wanted to pursue it. After graduating with a degree in Culinary Arts, Kyle has held
senior positions ranging from healthcare to fine dining, resulting in over 10 years of experience
in the field. Kyle has also been devoted to food justice work and activism within Southern Nevada participating as a member of the Southern Nevada Food Council and consulting on municipal food sovereignty projects . Kyle has developed food justice programs such as
teaching cooking classes, preparing large community meals, stewarding a 5-acre community garden, and operating Southern Nevada’s first mobile farmer’s market. Working alongside other local organizations Cheyenne has led a live cooking show focused on food justice and education. Currently, Cheyenne is focusing on developing programs that will increase food security in marginalized communities including building an urban farm within the Historic
Westside.

Chiquita Board,

Vice President Director of Regional Programming Truist Foundation

Chiquita Board joined Truist Financial Corporation’s Foundation in 2019 following a career in nonprofit management for twenty years. She serves as the Vice President, Director of Regional Programming for MD, NC, TN, TX, VA, and WA. She is a thought leader to multiple regions uplifting our purpose, to inspire and build better communities. The Foundation’s two guiding strategic pillars are Building Career Pathways to Economic Mobility and Strengthening Small Businesses. In 2005, she transitioned to
becoming a National Capacity-Building Consultant with National Center for Training Support and Technical Assistance|PROCEED, Inc. Consulting allowed her to present on a variety of topics with her extensive experiences (i.e., Fund and Resource Development, Board Development, Program Management, Leadership, and serve as Coach for a Milwaukee Leadership Fellows program for SGLAA Males for a 5-year tenure). She has received a number of awards for her passion around working with nonprofit leaders, boards, low-to moderate-income families, youth, families, individuals, LGBTQ, and peers locally and regionally. Most recently, she received a notable mention as one of the Top 50 Women to Admire in the Mountain region. Her purpose statement is to be positively engaged in our remarkable
philanthropic work throughout our footprint. This fuels her energy, sparks her creativity, and cultivates her aspirations to learn, thrive, and grow as a valued teammate. Married to Michael for 27.5 years. Five 5 adult children who live in CA, TX, GA, Las Vegas, and 7 BEAUTIFUL grands. In 2023, she’s set to travel
abroad. In her spare time, she’s a Stitcher.

Claytee D. White,

Director, Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries

Claytee D. White is the inaugural director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries. In this position, she collects the history of Las Vegas and the surrounding area by gathering memories of events and experiences from long-time residents. A few of many significant projects include the Las Vegas African American Experience, 1 October, Jewish Heritage, Building Las Vegas, Latinx Voices, and the Asian American Pacific Islander oral history projects.

Claytee received her Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and engaged in additional graduate work at the College of William and Mary. She has written several book chapters, journal articles, and presented oral history papers at national conferences from Atlanta to Maui. Her first book proposal has just been accepted by the University of Nevada Press.

A native of Ahoskie, North Carolina, Claytee serves on advisory boards of BlackPast.Org, the MOB Museum, Women of Diversity, and Black Mountain Institute.

Cynthia Pinchback Hines,

Racial Justice Educator and Co-Op Developer Co-op Cincy

Cynthia Pinchback-Hines is racial justice educator and co-op developer for Co-op Cincy, where she serves on the Board and leads Power in Numbers: Black Co-op U, a 14-week intensive training designed to help Black-led businesses work through the process of launching a cooperative.

Cynthia holds a PhD. in Educational Leadership for Higher Education. Her professional experience spans 4 decades in educational and corporate settings, where she has led major transformative organizational efforts. A native of Danville, Virginia, Cynthia believes she has been called to serve, whether as community activist, community organizer, or educator. The Cincinnati Enquirer named her one of the ten most influential educators in Greater Cincinnati and presented her with a Diversity Leadership Award for her achievements at Cognis Corporation.

Cynthia resides in West Chester, OH with her husband Gary.

Ebony Woodruff,

Lawyer, Southern University Law

Ebony is a first-generation attorney. She has more than a decade of experience as a legal entrepreneur and practicing attorney. She earned a Master of Laws in Agricultural and Food Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law, a Juris Doctor from the
Southern University Law Center, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Louisiana State University. Ebony is a former Louisiana State Representative.
Currently, she is a Land Retention and Advocacy Attorney with the Federation of Southern
Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund; and serves on the New Orleans Food Policy Action Council Board of Directors. Ebony is also an Aspen Institute 2023 Food Leaders Fellow.

Elizabeth L Carter,

Founder & Managing Attorney, Elizabeth L. Carter, LLC

Elizabeth is an investment crowdfunding attorney who represents investment companies, small businesses, nonprofits, cooperatives, and other social enterprises with the legal strategy and compliance of raising capital from their community and other investors. Her most recent work includes assisting a driver-owned ride-share cooperative with the legal compliance of its $2.5 million debt crowdfunding offer through Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF). Similarly, she assisted a number of cooperatives with their governing documents (by-laws, operating agreements, articles of incorporation) in order to prepare them for an upcoming capital raise from non-member investors. She also assisted a number of investment funds with the securities legal strategy and compliance of a SEC Rule 506(c) crowdfunding offer, including a cooperatively owned investment fund that offered $2 million in equity to accredited investors, as well as a community development financial institution that offered $1 million in slow equity to mission-aligned accredited investors. Elizabeth is passionate about the political economy, solidarity economy, restorative economics, and community development.

Erika Washington,

Executive Director, Make It Work Nevada

Erika F. Washington moved to the Las Vegas valley nearly 15 years ago and instantly integrated herself into the community. Working for many years as a journalist for the only African American newspaper in the state of Nevada, she came to appreciate and understand the inner workings of Nevada politics.

Currently as the Executive Director for the Make It Work Nevada and Make It Work Nevada Education Fund, she is striving to redefine the traditional idea of what organizing looks like. Since 2015 she has sought out to refocus old strategy ideas and adjust the view through both a gender and cultural lens. The organization is successfully organizing Black women and their families around important economic, racial, and environmental issues through a reproductive justice lens that will have a long-lasting effect on the political and cultural landscape of Nevada.

She believes and has proven that by amplifying the narrative of folks living at the margins and building infrastructure to expand opportunities and engagement that can build bridges across groups for the long term.

She is currently Board Chair of the Family Values @ Work Board of Directors; 6-term appointed board member for the city of Las Vegas Community Development Recommending Board; Board Chair for Michigan based Mothering Justice; Board member 9to5, National Association of Working Women; state appointed to the newly established Nevada state Maternal Mortality Review Committee, and the Medicaid Managed Care Reinvestment Advisory Committee and former board member for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada; and former 1st Vice Chair of the Clark County Democratic Party.

When she is not working to build a better community, she devotes her time to her almost grown daughters, her super supportive husband, drinking tea and discovering good books.

Follow: @VegasJournalist on Twitter.

Esteban Kelly,

Executive Director, US Federation Workers Cooperatives

Esteban Kelly works to expand economic democracy through forms of multi-racial solidarity and collective ownership. He is the Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), founding President of the freelancer co-op Guilded, and a worker-owner and co-founder of AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance)– a worker co-op that has built capacity for hundreds of social justice projects through intersectional training and consulting. He foregrounds political education, systemic thinking, and abolitionist principles into visionary organizing. He was a co-founder and first board President of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) and has served on numerous boards including the Democracy At Work Institute, the US Solidarity Economy Network, and the Cooperative Development Foundation. Esteban currently serves on the boards of NCBA–CLUSA, Climate + Community Project, the Platform Co-ops Consortium, and the international worker co-op association known as CICOPA. He advises Making Worlds Bookstore Co-op and the Movement for Black Lives. Esteban is a Ford Global Fellow, A Margaret Burroughs Fellow in the Portal Project/ Social Justice Initiative at UIC, an Executive Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University, and a Fellow in the Equitable Enterprise Initiative at the Institute for the Future.

Frank Hawkins,

Owner, Nevada Wellness Center, Silver Black Attack

Frank Hawkins grew up in an area of the city known as West Las Vegas. When he was a little boy, his goal was to build up his community so it would look like the rest of Las Vegas neighborhoods.

Frank graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice in four years from the University of Nevada Reno, starred on the gridiron where he was a three time All American running back and the third all-time leading rusher in college football history. As the result of his performance on the football field, Frank was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in 1981. Tenacious on and off the field, Frank returned home to Las Vegas to build businesses and to become the first African American ever elected to the Las Vegas City Council in 1991.

Mr. Hawkins has continued to make History in the State of Nevada by being the first to accomplish so many great endeavors. Frank has spent the last 8 years expanding his real-estate and Marijuana (Medical & Recreational) Territory as the First and ONLY 100% Black Owned dispensary in the State of Nevada.

He has grown the first, largest and only 100% Black Owned dispensary (Nevada Wellness Center) located in the City of Las Vegas into the first African American vertically integrated group of marijuana businesses including newly opened dispensary (Nevada Wellness Center West) and a marijuana Cultivation (Silver Black Attack) both located in Clark County Nevada, and soon to open a new Marijuana Consumption lounge.

Gary Hampton,

Business Growth Development Consultant

Gary W. Hampton is a Business Growth Development Consultant who helps businesses and organizations to reach operational and capacity goals. Hampton previously served as Deputy Director of Small Business Development for the State of West Virginia and worked for 17 years as an Information Technology professional. After a successful career in IT and strategic development across different industry sectors (Technology, Financial, Government, Private, Non-profit, Retail, Education), Hampton now advises, trains and coaches businesses on strategic development and growth strategies to reach their organizational goals. He is also active in community-based cooperative economic development and a member owner of the Ajani Group Cooperative. Hampton is a passionate community supporter who enjoys coaching up the youth in his community through basketball and technology activities. Hampton received his B.A. from Marshall University in Management Information Systems. Mr. Hampton currently sits on the boards of Create WV, Compensation Committee and Association of Cooperative Educators, Vice Chair.

George L. Carter III,

Founder, Skout Strategy

George is a connector. He is a systems thinker who sees projects holistically, bringing together all of the components and people needed to execute. Prior to forming Skout Strategy, George spent 3 years building Sananbio US’s global sales and marketing capacity in the categories of indoor vertical farming and horticultural lighting. George’s time at Sananbio was preceded by 4 years of leading a multi-licensed medicinal cannabis company in California, where he discovered his deep passion and respect for agriculture. Driven by building a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable food system, George leverages his business acumen, technological expertise, and team building to bring projects to life.

Jessica Gordon Nembrad,

Author

Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (2014), and 2016 inductee into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame. Dr. Gordon-Nembhard is a political economist specializing in cooperative economics, community economic development and community-based asset building, racial wealth inequality, solidarity economics, Black Political Economy, and community-based approaches to justice. She is a member of the Cooperative Economics Council of NCBA/CLUSA; the International Co-operative Alliance Committee on Co-operative Research; a Faculty Fellow and Mentor with the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations; and an affiliate scholar with the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives (University of Saskatchewan, Canada). Gordon-Nembhard is also a past board member of the Association of Cooperative Educators; a past fellow with the Center on Race and Wealth at Howard University; and a member and past president of the National Economic Association.

Johan Matthews,

Facilitator, Equitable Co-op Ecosystems

In this role, Johan facilitates the development of equitable co-op ecosystems in emerging communities across the northeast.

He also provides culturally relevant technical assistance to ensure that communities traditionally excluded from economic investment can engage in cooperative enterprise. Johan joins CFNE after over a decade of collaborating with local leaders and institutions to design and implement community-based economic engagement strategies. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from SUNY at Buffalo, a Certificate of Graduate Study in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Rockefeller College, as well as an M.S. in Strategic Design and Management from The Parsons School of Design Strategies.

John Holdsclaw IV,

President and CEO, Rochdale Capital

John Holdsclaw IV serves as president and CEO of Rochdale Capital, an emerging national non-profit community development loan fund that promotes community ownership and cooperative principles. In a dual role, John also serves as executive vice president of strategic initiatives at the National Cooperative Bank (NCB), which is the founding and strategic partner of Rochdale Capital.

Mr. Holdsclaw currently serves on numerous boards and holds degrees from NC Agricultural and Technical State University and Southern New Hampshire University, a Stonier Graduate School of Banking Diploma, Wharton Leadership Certificate and Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. In 2019, John received NCB’s Stanley W. Dreyer Spirit of Cooperation Award. John was named one of ImpactAlpha’s Agents of Impact for 2022, one of twelve who are breaking new ground, forcing hard conversations, and doing the hard work of driving positive social and environmental impact. In addition, John is an active member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.

Julian McKinley,

Senior Director Communications, Democracy at Work Institute

Julian S. McKinley leads communications initiatives and serves on the leadership team at the Democracy at Work Institute, supporting DAWI’s work to expand worker ownership to meet the needs of workers locked out of good jobs and business ownership. He is a passionate and mission-driven storyteller with deep roots in community empowerment and economic development, previously leading organizational storytelling and strategic communications campaigns around community- and systems-level economic change. He has trained cooperative developers in the U.S. and Kenya and partners to provide administrative leadership for New York City’s Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative. Julian is a former news editor, having founded and managed multiple hyperlocal news websites in his home state of Connecticut. Julian is also a certified Master Composter and lives in Queens, New York.

Keyona Hough,

Teacher and Researcher

Keyona Hough is a teacher, researcher, and defender of Black liberation and sovereignty at all costs. Currently, she holds the position of Food Susu Organizer for a powerful Black owned organization known as Black Yield Institute. Keyona is the President of the Cherry Hill Food Cooperative which is one of the solutions to food apartheid within Baltimore City. She understands the dire need for our communities to learn how food affects our psyches, attitudes, and behaviors. She graduated from Morgan State University with a bachelor’s degree in Family & Consumer Sciences and has over 20 years of experience in maternal and infant health, community organizing and advocacy, and resource development. Keyona continues the fight for Black people to thrive within systems they own and no longer fight for a seat at other people’s table.

Khalif Nunnally-Rivera,

Cooperative Business Developer ICA Group

Khalif Nunnally-Rivera is a Cooperative Business Developer at the ICA Group. In this role, he works on a variety of projects including business consulting, financial analysis, market assessments, outreach, and policy research. He joined the organization in May 2022. Born and raised in Springfield, MA, Khalif currently lives and works out of the ICA’s New York City office. Through the ICA, Khalif hopes to reduce wealth inequality, be an advocate for employee ownership, and create new opportunities for people of color and working-class communities. Khalif holds a B.A. in Human Geography and a Master’s of Public Policy and Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

LaKeisha Wolf,

Executive Director, Ujamaa Collective

LaKeisha Wolf, a first-generation Pittsburgher, has developed her roots across the community working at the intersection of arts and culture, social entrepreneurship, and community development and wellness for 20 years. She is a founding member of the Hill District based non-profit Ujamaa Collective, serving as Executive Director since 2013. In this role, Lakeisha focuses on the agency’s business affairs, including the cooperative development of emerging Africana women-owned craft industries, maintaining an artisans’ retail boutique in conjunction with creative community programming. She initiated the organization’s first direct, fair-trade relationship in East Africa.

Lakeisha holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Penn State University where she served as Black Caucus President, advocating for educational equity, revising diversity curriculum, and helping to establish the State of Pennsylvania’s first Africana Research Institute at PSU in 2001. She has been immersed in the world of cooperative economics for many years, studying and learning with organizations such as NASCO Institute’s Emerging Cooperative Leaders Program, the Eastern Conference on Workplace Democracy and serving as a panelist for the National Cooperative Business Association.

She is a cultural worker, creative entrepreneur, and teaching artist; founding a micro-enterprise called EnjoyourSelf, creating healing gemstone jewelry and producing E-Ma’s Natural Body and Hair Care line. Lakeisha is known for helping Africana women make healthy, informed choices around beauty product consumption combined with self and environmental awareness.

Linda Leeks,

Former Executive Director, Washington Innercity Self Help

Linda Leaks, who helped to form at least 16 affordable housing cooperatives in DC, and the first housing cooperatives in Johannesburg, South Africa, will be inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame on Oct. 5, 2023. About 400 families are able to live in DC because of the 7-day a week organizing she did as a housing organizer and later Executive Director of Washington Innercity Self Help. From WISH she helped to save the homes of many people who were being pushed out by developers who literally took apartment buildings that black and brown people had lived in for 30 years by turning off heat, refusing to repair elevators or other work to turn them into luxury condos for whites who wanted to move back into the District after the riots of the late sixties. This gentrification started in the late 1970s and sadly continues today.

Malik Yakini,

Co Founder and Executive Director, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network

Malik Kenyatta Yakini is co-founder and Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN). DBCFSN operates the seven-acre D-Town Farm and is spearheading the opening of, the Detroit Food Commons, in Detroit’s North End that will house the Detroit People’s Food Co-op. He serves as a board member of the co-op. Yakini, a longtime Pan-Africanist, views the work of DBCFSN as part of the larger movement for building power, self-determination, and justice for African people. He is adamantly opposed to the systems of white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy. He has an intense interest in contributing to the development of an international Black Food Sovereignty movement that embraces Black communities in the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa. He is a co-founder of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance.

Mark Dorosin,

Associate Professor of Law Florida A&M Law School

Mark Dorosin is an Associate Professor of Law and the Director of Legal Clinics and Field Placements. He has been a civil rights lawyer for over 25 years, working to address the continuing impacts of racial segregation and exclusion, including in housing, employment discrimination, environmental justice, restrictions on political participation, and racial disparities in education. Prior to joining FAMU, Professor Dorosin served as the Managing Attorney of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law-North Carolina Regional Office, and before that as co-Director of the Julius L. Chambers Center for Civil Rights. He also led the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Law Center for Civil Rights for 10 years.
Professor Dorosin’s areas of expertise include civil and constitutional rights, education law, fair housing, and environmental justice. Professor Dorosin received his J.D. from UNC Law School, an M.A.in history from UNC-Greensboro, and a B.A. from Duke University.

Min. Stretch Sanders,

President and Founder, Stretch for Change Foundation

Minister Stretch Sanders is President and Founder of the Stretch For Change Foundation.
He is also a historian, a revolutionary a Minister, a Community Organizer and he is best known for being the youngest in history to run for Mayor in Las Vegas.

As an empowerment speaker, Spiritual Life Coach and Licensed Minister he lectures and organizes events that are geared towards personal growth, unity and love.
Due to his accomplishments and passion for community service he was honored with February 19th being proclaimed Minister Stretch Sanders Day in the City of Las Vegas.

Omar Freilla,

Cooperative development consultant & co-founder and steering committee member of Collective Diaspora

Omar Freilla is a cooperative development consultant and co-founder and steering committee member of Collective Diaspora, a support network for Black cooperatives and Black-led cooperative support organizations throughout the African diaspora. He is a serial trailblazer, social entrepreneur, and movement builder dedicated to community self-determination and regenerative economies. His work is grounded in his experience growing up in the South Bronx amid fights for community self-determination.

His years at the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and Sustainable South Bronx led him to cooperatives as a tool for building economies that are just and regenerative. He founded Green Worker Cooperatives, created the first business accelerator for worker cooperatives in the US, and pioneered new approaches to cooperative development. He also co-founded local and national cooperative support organizations: US Federation of Worker Cooperatives; Democracy At Work Institute; and the NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives.

He also contributed to the establishment of the City of New York’s Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative. He is an Adjunct Lecturer at the City College of New York, serves on the City of NY’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board, NY State’s Just Transition Working Group, and enjoys family time with his two children and partner at home in the Bronx.

Ron Hantz,

Founder and Executive Director of the Network for Developing Conscious Communities

Ron Hantz has more than thirty-five years of professional experience in community development, his experiences include real estate development, community and economic development, policy advocacy, mortgage financing and community strategy building. He has worked with non-profits and private sector organizations on developing racial equity frameworks centered on community development.

He received his undergraduate degree in Sociology and African American Studies at University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has completed Georgetown Nonprofit Certification Program and has additional graduate course in city planning and holds a Master Certificate Graduate of the Johnnie Coleman Institute, where he received his formal training in metaphysical practices.

As Founder and Executive Director of the Network for Developing Conscious Communities, he has been instrumental in advocating a new community development paradigm based on “conscious community development” He is former Adjunct Professor, Africana Studies Department, University Maryland Baltimore County.

In 2014, Ron founded the Network for Developing Conscious Communities, where he now serves as Executive Director. He leads the organization’s efforts on advocacy and building a sustainable ecosystem for Black governed community development organizations. Under his leadership, NDCC has emerged as a grass roots voice on promoting the use of principle-based practices to regenerate under-resourced Black communities.

He has developed over 140 units of multi and single-family housing in Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia; securing over $30 million in government, foundation and private financing. In addition, Ron has worked in the private sector as a mortgage loan officer, originating residential and commercial loans in Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland, amassing over $269 million in government and private equity mortgages. He has provided consulting services on assisting community development corporations and faith-based organizations with neighborhood planning, organizational development and applying for Internal Revenue Tax Exempt status.

He believes that in order to develop sustainable communities, there must be a conscious effort to raise the consciousness and connectivity of local stakeholders. He sees his life purpose as elevating the Black consciousness in community development.

Shelley Miller,

Director of New Ownership Opportunities and Outreach, ICA Group

25+ years of diverse experience in business, law, nonprofit administration, and education, Shelley leads ICA’s New Ownership Opportunity team. She is a former small business owner who shares the benefits of employee ownership and cooperative ownership models with other business owners. Shelley joined ICA in August 2019 and has a particular focus on its New York City Council supported Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative work.

Tamah Yisrael,

Chief Solutions Officer at TMH Financial Services LLC

Tamah Yisrael is Chief Solutions Officer of TMH Financial Services LLC and a member of Resolve Financial Cooperative. She established her firm in October 2018 to provide business development, bookkeeping and management services to small businesses, nonprofits, and social impact enterprises in the Greater New Orleans Area. She currently provides Outsourced Executive Director Services to Builders of the Highway Foundation (BOTH Foundation) a national nonprofit. Under her leadership BOTH Foundation has merged the Temple of Brothers of Sisters of Goodwill and Neo Jazz School of Music under its umbrella and has developed educational community centers in New Orleans, Miami, and Orlando. She is also a partner of Yisrael Records Inc. an independent record label and producer of jazz and contemporary music who provides management of local artist such as the Yisrael Trio.

Her community advocacy efforts are focused on cultural awareness, social justice, and access to healthy foods. In her role as President of the board of directors for the New Orleans Food Coop, she was able bridge the connection in all three of these sectors. She is currently organizing a cooperative movement and is a project officer of Cooperation New Orleans Loan Fund. Additionally, she has been recognized by the Metro Birmingham Branch of the NAACP in its Annual Salute to Outstanding African American for her contributions to culture and youth of the community. She is a graduate of the Foundation for Louisiana’s TOGETHER Initiative LEAD Community Training Program, UNO’s Community Development Finance program, Cooperation Works’ Art & Science of Cooperative Development. She continues to serve community on various committees and working groups to build a more equitable society.

Teia Evans,

Project Director, NCBA CLUSA

Teia Evans has been working with nonprofits for the majority of her career, with a particular passion for youth development. She has been involved in the cooperative ecosystem since 2015 and currently provides technical assistance and training to help develop cooperative economies across the country. Ms. Evans is a proud graduate of Morgan State University. She earned her Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration degrees at North Carolina Central University.

William McCurdy II,

Commissioner Clark County, Nevada

William McCurdy grew up in a family surrounded by a legacy of community activism, but after dropping out of school to support his family at an early age, his life could have gone in a very different direction. However, William instead worked to get into the College of Southern Nevada where he earned an Associate’s degree and became Student Body President. He eventually joined the Service Employees International Union, Local 1107 (SEIU) as an organizer, working his way up to become the state Political Director.

Then, at 27 years old, he was elected Chairman of the Nevada State Democratic Party, the party’s first African American Chair and the youngest Chair in modern party history. As Chair of the party he went on to become the Vice President of western states while serving as a member of the Association of State Democratic Committees. Passionate about education, William earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and is on track to law school, all while serving as an active State Assemblyman, board member of several nonprofit and advocacy organizations, and was elected to the Clark County Commission in 2020. He is the proud father of two sons.

Yehudit Toure,

Member, Parable of the Sower Community Cooperative

Yehudit is one of the first members of the Parable of the Sower Community Cooperative. She has been working directly alongside its members with planning, facilitating meetings, and helping to host events. When not in California with the organization, Yehudit is a culinary student in the Midwest going for her CEC as part of the certificate program.