Why Cooperative Ownership Matters — And How Credit Unions Can Lead the Way

The listeners of this podcast are likely to know that credit unions are financial cooperatives — an identity that some credit unions lean into and others don't talk about much. Amongst the general U.S. population, our understanding of cooperatives is limited, at best. Most people are ill-equipped to distinguish between, say, a consumer co-op, like a credit union, and a worker co-op, like PixelSpoke! 

We'd like to change that, and we think that credit unions can play a crucial role, not only in expanding our general understanding of what co-ops are and why they matter, but also in supporting the broader cooperative ecosystem.

We're excited to be joined by two guests who have made it their life's work to expand access to ownership through the cooperative business model. Frank Cetera is the Business Transfers Program Director for the Democracy at Work Institute, which helps communities overcome accelerating economic and social crises through worker ownership, and also a Board Member of local CDFI, Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union. Stacey Smith is SVP and Head of Programs at Project Equity, which helps raise awareness of broad based employee ownership and supports businesses transitioning to employee ownership.

Frank and Stacey help us tackle this month's BIG Question:

How can credit unions more broadly support a cooperative economy, and what specific needs can they address for co-ops in their communities?