The Blueprint Collaborative held a live webinar where we went over the Worker Coop Academy, what it will offer to potential participants, what categories of participants we are accepting, and what the commitment from each team will be. We also answered questions from the audience.

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Bay Area Blueprint
Creating Pathways to Ownership for Low and
Moderate Income Workers in the Inner East Bay
Info Session

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Bay Area Blueprint
Overview
This pilot run of the Worker Coop Academy is one component of the
Bay Area Blueprint for Increasing Worker Ownership, a year-long effort
that started in April 2014. The Blueprint is creating actionable
feasibility studies and pilots across three pathways to increase worker
ownership for LMI workers:
1. Cooperative start up and growth assistance through education,
business coaching, and legal advice (Worker Coop Academy);
2. Incubating or accelerating scalable cooperatives; and
3. Converting existing businesses to worker ownership.
During the pilot year, we are also designing a course at Laney College.
After evaluating the Pilot, the Worker Coop Academy may become an
ongoing program, potentially housed at Laney or a community
organization.

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Worker Ownership’s benefits to society
What does the research say?
All citations available in Worker Cooperatives: Pathways to Scale
Better jobs 158% increase in member incomes at WAGES coops
Lower turnover
15% at Cooperative Home Care Associates vs. 40-60%
industry-wide
More efficient Coops in plywood industry were 6-14% more efficient
Higher survival rates
65% of Canadian coops survived 5 years vs. 40-50% of
comparable businesses
civic engagement
Citizens with employee stock ownership vote more: 73%
voted in 2008 vs. 63% of non-owners
Citations available in Worker Cooperatives: Pathways to Scale (download at www.project-equity.org).

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Worker Coop Academy
Overview
The Worker Coop Academy aims to assist the formation and expansion
of worker-owned businesses that will provide good jobs for Low- to
Moderate-Income (LMI) workers.
During Phase 1 (Sept. to Dec. 2014), the Academy will provide a
customized educational program tailored to your team’s needs,
including workshops on essential topics for starting or growing a
successful worker-owned cooperative business. Topic areas include:
business fundamentals, people & culture, cooperatives, governance &
management, and legal aspects.
During Phase 2, the Academy will provide individualized business
coaching and legal counsel, for a subset of Phase 1 participants.

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1. Objectives
2. Participant
Profile
4. Curriculum
Framework 3. Outreach &
Selection
Process
5. Instructor
& Mentor
Profile
Worker Coop Academy
Design Framework

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• Expose low- to moderate-income community members in the
Inner East Bay to the cooperative business model
– 120-160 people participate outreach activities
• Help 3-5 worker coops launch or grow
– 5-7 teams of 3 people
– 15-20 participants total
Worker Coop Academy
1. Objectives

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Worker Coop Academy
2. Participant Profile
• Individuals directly engaged with creating or growing worker-owned
cooperative businesses
– Startup: Founders of new worker cooperatives that are already operating
or plan to open in 2014 or 2015.
– Expand: Members of existing worker coops that seek to grow.
– Convert: Owners and employees looking to transition to worker
ownership.
– Develop: Staff of nonprofits or other organizations that are developing
worker coops that are already operating or that will open in late 2014 or
2015
• Teams with strong potential for short-term business success & job
creation for low- to moderate-income workers
– Planned or existing coops committed to growth
– Highly likely to transfer Academy training to new job creation (business
launch or growth) in 2014 or 2015

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Worker Coop Academy
3. Outreach & Selection Process
• June 11th – August 1st: Teams submit applications
• Teams that get their application in by July 11th will have their
applications reviewed first
• Rolling applications accepted through midnight on August 1st
• July 21st – August 8th: Team interviews
– If you are invited for an interview, we will contact you in
advance to request additional information about
scheduling needs and program interests

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Worker Coop Academy
3. Outreach & Selection Process, continued
• August 15th – August 29th: Participants selected and
invited to participate
– We will hold follow-up conversations with finalists to
discuss tailored program design for each team.
• August 15th – September 8th: Participants commit to
program
• Between September 15th and October 1st: Worker
Coop Academy begins

10. 10
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Worker Coop Academy
4. Curriculum Framework
• The curriculum framework is designed to offer both a
shared experience for the whole cohort and a
customized program for each team.
• We will work with each team to determine its customized
program.
• Some workshops may be optional.
• Total formal classroom time for each team is estimated at
30 hours over the 3 month period.

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Worker Coop Academy
4. Curriculum Framework
Content
Area:
Business
Menu of topics,
adaptable to
participants’ needs
• Business feasibility and planning
• Business model and strategy
• Marketing
• Business financing
• Financial planning and
management
• Growth planning
• Surplus, profits and taxation of
cooperatives
• Balancing business and social goals

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Blueprint Collaborative is licensed
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Worker Coop Academy
4. Curriculum Framework
Content
Area:
People &
Culture
Menu of topics,
adaptable to
participants’ needs
• Constructive communication
• Self management
• Conflict management
• Hiring, firing and evaluating
employees, candidates for
membership and worker-owners
• Employee  Worker-owner
transition
• Building a healthy organizational
culture for the long haul

13. 13
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Blueprint Collaborative is licensed
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Worker Coop Academy
4. Curriculum Framework
Content
Area:
Cooperatives
Menu of topics,
adaptable to
participants’ needs
• Cooperative principles
• History of coops in the United
States and around the world
• Site visits to Bay Area coops

14. 14
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Blueprint Collaborative is licensed
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ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Worker Coop Academy
4. Curriculum Framework
Content
Area:
Governance
and
Management
Menu of topics,
adaptable to
participants’ needs
• Management models, roles and
processes
• Governance options
• Leadership issues in coops
• Decision making practices
• Effective meeting practices

15. 15
Worker Coop Academy Design by
Blueprint Collaborative is licensed
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ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Worker Coop Academy
4. Curriculum Framework
Content
Area:
Legal aspects
Menu of topics,
adaptable to
participants’ needs
• Entity formation
• Raising capital
• Corporate governance
• Employment law issues
• Taxation of cooperatives

16. 16
Worker Coop Academy Design by
Blueprint Collaborative is licensed
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ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Worker Coop Academy
4. Curriculum Framework
Content
Area:
Coop
Development
Menu of topics,
adaptable to
participants’ needs
• Development process from
feasibility to maturity
• Pro’s and con’s of different
development models
• Components of a development
process: training, TA,
management, governance, etc.
• Roles of developer and coop

17. 17
Worker Coop Academy Design by
Blueprint Collaborative is licensed
under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

18. 18
Worker Coop Academy Design by
Blueprint Collaborative is licensed
under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
For more information, visit SELC’s website:
www.theselc.org/worker-cooperative-academy
A project of the Blueprint Collaborative