Workers have long been excluded from financial gains when businesses become profitable, and wages are no longer a way to create stability and build wealth. Cooperatives were created to combat this very problem. This week features Jamila Medley, the former Executive Director of the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA), a co-op OF co-ops. PACA works to support this business model across industries, from food, to banking, to electricity!

Guest: Jamila Medley - Former Executive Director of Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance

Twitter: @PhillyCoops

Bio: Jamila Medley is a passionate advocate and educator for the advancement and growth of the cooperative economy. In her work with existing and start-up co-ops, she provides support for leadership development, cooperative economics education, navigating group dynamics, and creating adaptive systems to support group process and learning. 

SHOW NOTES + LINKS

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We are grateful to Jamila Medley for joining us! Follow PACA at @PhillyCoops on Twitter, or find more of PACAs work at philadelphia.coop.

ACTIONS

PERSONALLY REFLECT 

How Do You Coop(erate)?

Just like Jamila’s experience growing up, cooperatives don’t always have to be formal organizations. What are some informal ways you have participated in collective stewardship? Perhaps a community garden? Local park clean-up? Or in church? Think about the ways you cooperate with your community, local and global!

BECOME INFORMED

Collective Courage

We’ve got some homework for you! Per Jamila’s suggestion, start with reading Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice by Jessica Gordon Nembhard. Collective Courage chronicles Black cooperative business ownership and its place in the civil rights movement. A history that’s often forgotten when discussing coops. Purchase it from our online bookstore, and support local bookshops in the process. https://bookshop.org/shop/howtocitizen 

PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Join or Support A Coop Near You

You’d be surprised how many cooperatives are operating right around you. Look into either buying from a local farm or grocery coop, joining a local credit union which is a financial co-op, or even getting your power from an electric coop. The best way to find some is do an online search with the name of your city or state and the word cooperatives. We also encourage you to buy from cooperative businesses. Find a directory at the website USworker.coop/directory 

If you take any of these actions, share that with us - action@howtocitizen.com. Mention Not Another Patchouli Soaked Co-Op in the subject line. And share about your citizening on social media using #howtocitizen. 

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CREDITS

How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Dustlight Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston, Elizabeth Stewart and Misha Euceph. Stephanie Cohn is our Senior Producer and Alie Kilts is our Producer. Kelly Prime is our Editor. Original Music by Andrew Eapen. Valentino Rivera is our Engineer. Sam Paulson is our Apprentice. This episode was produced and sound designed by Alie Kilts. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio.

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