Please provide a brief update on your progress toward your proposed CWB goals in the last reporting period:
We continued shaping our Chicago Worker Cooperative Development Cohort and translated our application materials into Spanish for release by 11/1. We also began seeking a contractor to provide program support for the cohort next year. We additionally proposed a series of ecosystem education workshops and events at the CCWEB worker cooperative working group meeting for feedback. We have taken their feedback and continued to refine our program for next year. We also began shaping a database of business service providers and capital providers that we will outreach to for these events and learning opportunities.
What constraints or limitations, if any, did you experience in the last reporting period?
We experienced no major constraints. Given our scope of work and approach to centering local priorities, our program development phase includes a strong community feedback process. While this takes more time, local input is necessary and valuable in shaping a series of services that meet local needs and builds longterm ecosystem capacity for cooperative development.
What opportunities, if any, did you take advantage of in the last reporting period?
We used the Chicago Worker Cooperative working group to vet our ecosystem education vision. We also promoted our Chicago Worker Cooperative Developer Cohort program contractor position via the working group. Additionally, we reached out to the Cooperative Professionals Guild, a national member-led community of legal and accounting professionals specializing in cooperatives, to identify ways to collaborate around their November conference in Chicago. We are attending the event and will continue working with them to explore how their conference and its aftermath can reach unassociated business service providers and plug them into the worker cooperative ecosystem.
Did you establish new CWB relationships/partnerships in the last reporting period?
Yes
Please describe the relationships you established pertaining to your CWB work.
We established a relationship with the Cooperative Professionals Guild
Did you collaborate with other TA providers in the last reporting period?
No
Which TA provider(s) did you work with?
Please share on behalf of whom / which projects you collaborated with the TA providers above:
Did you attend the Working Group meeting last month?
Yes
How would you rate the usefulness of the working group to your project last month? (on a scale of 1-5)
5 extremely useful
Optional Space
Gender identity of Participants (select all that apply)
Age Range of Participants (select all that apply)
How many sessions of one-on-one consulting to Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers did you conduct this reporting period? (e.g. one group or individual with one training provider)?
0
How many group workshops for Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers did you conduct this reporting period? (e.g. convenings, workshops, events, etc.)
0
How many hours of support to CWB Pre-Development Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers did you provide this reporting period?
0
How many hours of support to existing Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers did you provide this reporting period?
0
How many co-op businesses did you develop last reporting period? (It's okay if the answer is 0)
0
How many jobs were created overall last reporting period? (It's okay if the answer is 0)
0
Please list the Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers Organizations you worked with this reporting period.
What type(s) of Technical Assistance did you provide to Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers this reporting period? Select all that apply.
Did you provide education to any Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers this reporting period?
No
What are the greatest needs that your WC clients/partners expressed in this reporting period?
NA
What are the greatest gaps in service or resources in Chicago's CWB ecosystem?
Cooperative fluent accountants and bookkeepers; cooperative fluent business service providers (e.g. business planning)
Please share any direct testimonials from Worker Cooperatives, Conversions, or Co-op Developers clients or storytelling about the impact of your work this period:
NA
Please upload media (document with testimonials, photos, or video links) from WC workshops or events held.
