Colorado Nonprofit Association

Cooperative Community Organizer

Position’s Objectives

• Increase the number of worker cooperatives in Metro Denver and expand the capacity of Metro Denver workers, entrepreneurs, business owners, community members, and residents to participate in developing worker cooperatives and converting traditionally structured businesses to worker ownership.
• Increase awareness of the cooperative business model through outreach, education, and relationship building with related movements for labor, worker power, good jobs/jobs with dignity, community wealth building, and the solidarity economy.

How Candidate will meet objectives

Outreach, Community Engagement, and Base Building (50%)

• Recruit worker-owner candidates by conducting outreach (one-on-one meetings, emails, phone calls, social media, Zoom meetings, and webinars) to entrepreneurs, business owners, community members, and other worker-owner candidates to expand cooperative economic thinking and practice.
• Generate employee ownership conversion leads and convert them into clients, building and managing a sales pipeline through outreach (community flyering, event tabling, cold calls, mailers, etc.) and education (giving presentations, one-to-ones, etc.).
• Organize the Worker Co-op Peer Network by forming deep relationships with existing co-ops, facilitating bi-monthly events, coaching co-ops to identify points of economic, social, and leadership development collaboration between co-ops, and developing materials for peer mentorship.
• Develop strong working relationships with and facilitate collaboration between stakeholders in government, nonprofits, place-based organizations, public policy, economic development, community organizing, labor unions, and the business community, including associations and chambers of commerce, to expand opportunities for worker cooperative education, including education about converting existing businesses to worker-ownership.
• Connect cooperative members to broader campaigns for economic justice and prepare them to participate.
• Collaborate with the Communications Director to share co-op stories and other content on social media and newsletters.
• Contribute to the planning and executing of outreach events that support overall program goals.

Cooperative Training (25%)

• Organize, conduct, and co-facilitate Co-op 101 training sessions.
• Provide logistical and recruitment support for the Worker-Owned Cooperative Academy and Co-op 201 and 301 training sessions.
• Build cooperative and employee ownership awareness through popular education and community training.
• Co-create and implement a follow-up plan for participants and community partners after each educational event.

Program Administration (15%)

• Maintain and update all worker co-op data, keeping accurate and up-to-date records on individual members, individual businesses, closure and startup trends, and year-over-year performance
• Contribute to team-wide and organizational record-keeping systems, evaluation feedback, and quality control.
• Compile and maintain the worker co-op database as a tool to connect with cooperatives and bridge relationships throughout the ecosystem.
• Identify operational issues and facilitate solutions.

Other Duties as Assigned (10%)

What We’re Looking For

• You have a deep understanding and commitment to racial and economic justice.
• You’re committed not just to ideas but to outcomes. You’re a self-starter, driven to achieve and exceed goals and objectives. You have the capacity to complete projects with multiple, sometimes competing deadlines. Your commitment to quality adds value to everyone you work with. You learn and adapt as you go and recognize when an approach or tool is not working.
• You love diving into details. Whether you come with a background in small business consulting, small business start-up, cooperatives, cooperative development, or some combination, you are eager to learn, to meet entrepreneurs where they are at, and to seek creative solutions to entrepreneurial problems, including business modeling, ownership structures, accounting systems, marketing campaigns, and more.
• You see the system, too. In addition to business skills, you have a deep and demonstrated commitment to racial and economic justice. You understand how we might respond to systems of oppression through community wealth building and asset-based methodologies. You may have experience with grassroots community organizing or labor organizing for social change.
• You’re adept at communicating and translating information. You delight in working with people from diverse class, racial, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, practicing empathy and respect. You code-switch and use your multilingual skills (ideally Spanish, Amharic, Vietnamese, Arabic, or Somali) to ensure that entrepreneurs have full access to information and resources that can help them succeed. You’re confident in communication, whether presenting one-on-one, drafting social media posts, or planning and facilitating group workshops or community meetings.
• You’re excited to practice horizontal management with our team. You don’t stop with pointing out how things can be better, but you roll up your sleeves and take steps to improve and influence the world around you. You value contributing to the process and co-creating. You’re committed to growing and helping others grow through collaborative thinking and doing, kind feedback, occasional vulnerability, and gratitude. You are open to learning and developing new ways of running a nonprofit.

Required Qualifications

• Bilingual – verbal and written – in Spanish, Arabic, Amharic, Vietnamese, or Somali, or long-standing lived experience with underserved Denver communities
• At least 2 years of outreach experience in communities of color, such as grassroots community organizing or labor organizing for social change
• Experience facilitating groups and hosting one-to-ones with people from low-income and diverse backgrounds
• Strong communication and writing skills
• Track record of accountability and follow through
• Practice balancing impeccable attention to detail with the motivation to complete work on time
• Empathy and strong interpersonal skills
• Experience implementing multiple projects simultaneously
• Willingness to work occasional irregular hours, including nights/weekends
• Intermediate computer and data entry skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Gmail, and Google Suite, and willingness to learn new platforms
• Car and valid driver’s license (mileage reimbursed)

Desired Qualifications

• Understanding of movement-building principles and practices
• Experience and familiarity with cooperative businesses and employee ownership models
• Project management experience

CCWB’s Work Style and Organizational Culture

• Candidates who have succeeded as CCWB staff have also demonstrated the following:
• A passion for creating structural change, advancing racial justice, and creating a new economic paradigm that reverses economic inequities
• A strong commitment to working as part of a team, while often functioning autonomously in a virtual environment
• Comfort with non-traditional approaches to economic development and a willingness to experiment with creative solutions in an entrepreneurial environment
• A drive to achieve and exceed goals and objectives, think creatively to develop strategies, and course correct as needed
• Respect for community-based models of change, and commitment to working side by side with community partners
• Comfort working on a small team with big ideas and no support staff
• Attention to detail and high quality service