Invitation to apply for the NYCNoWC/ECWD Host Committee

About the NYC/ECWD Host Committee Expectations

NYCNoWC and ECWD are looking for host committee members for the June 2017 New York City/Eastern Conference for Work Place Democracy.

The goal of the host committee is to ensure that this year’s conference program and identity meet the needs of NYC worker-owners.  The host committee is composed of 8-10 volunteers from the conference host city and surrounding area. Volunteers should be involved in some capacity building their local solidarity economy. Workers, students, community organizers, and other interested individuals are welcome to apply.

The committee meets via monthly conference calls at a regular time to be determined by participants beginning in January 2017. In between meetings, committee members are also expected to take on volunteer tasks and participate in email or phone discussions.

With support of ECWD Conference Organizer and The ECWD Coordinating Council, The host committee members:

  • Help research and compare potential conference venues.
  • Have a major role to play in the curation of the conference program, selection of workshops outreach to speakers, and setting the tone.
  • Connect conference organizer with local resources such as childcare providers, transportation information, interpreters, catering options, lodging options, etc.
  • Organize a tour of local cooperatives & democratic workplaces (usually Friday during the day)
  • Organize a conference kick-off event that showcases local cooperatives (usually Friday evening, but there is a lot of flexibility for the committee to take ownership of this)
  • Identify potential local conference sponsors and in-kind donations
  • Help orient conference participants during the conference weekend.

Key members of the host committee who contribute a substantial amount of work may be awarded free or discounted conference registration at the discretion of the conference organizer.

For more information, contact ECWD organizers info@east.usworker.coop.

How to Apply

Please send a letter of interest to info@nycworker.coop no later than December 9th.  NYCNoWC and the ECWD Coordinating committee will review all applicants and will respond with their decision by December 16th.  We ask that only one person per organization apply.

About ECWD and NYCNoWC

We are excited to announce that the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy (ECWD) and The NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives (NYCNoWC) are joining forces to organize a conference in NYC in early June.

ECWD is a non-profit cooperative organization established to aid in the continued growth of the workplace democracy movement. The ECWD is managed by the Coordinating Council, which is a group of worker-owners and members of support organizations that were elected by the general membership of the ECWD.

The New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives (NYC NOWC) is the trade association for worker cooperative businesses in the NYC metropolitan region and aims to increase public awareness of workplace democracy and improve business conditions for democratic, employee-owned enterprises.

The ECWD and NYCNoWC work in cooperation with the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives to promote and develop worker-owned enterprises regionally and nationally.

The Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy and NYCNoWC support an economy that utilizes cooperative and democratic organizational structures to support equitable systems for exchanging goods, services & products and stewardship of the commons for mutual benefit by all. We believe that democratic workplaces are a fundamental building block that power our work towards economic, social, and environmental justice and solidarity.

About the Conference

NYCNoWC has held a conference every year in NYC since 2014.  ECWD holds a conference every two years, in the Eastern United States, for the purpose of bringing together worker-owners, employees of democratically run ESOPs, companies and organizations that provide support to democratic workplaces, and anyone interested in the workplace democracy movement.   The two organizations are combining forces in 2017.

This conference will expose people to the concept of worker-owned businesses; strengthen existing worker-owned businesses; develop relationships between democratically-owned businesses, labor institutions, and resource organizations; and build the movement for workplace democracy.

Who Should Attend?

Members of worker cooperatives; other democratic employee-owned businesses; labor, technical assistance, and community organizations; and scholars will gather for problem solving and movement-building discussions. Organizations and individuals interested in creating good, locally-owned, community-based jobs are especially encouraged to explore this promising strategy for economic and social development.

 

2 Comments

  1. As the Community and Worker Ownership Project at CUNY we would love to be on the host committee. We would be able to leverage our relationships to organized labor, community based organizations, our student body and to the City University in various ways. Our mission includes public programming activities in worker empowerment and healthy community development and we see supporting this conference as part of that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *