Archive | July 2023

JULY 30: Happy International Day of Friendship

Jul30

From all of us at Whole Woman Network Worker Cooperative, Happy International Day of Friendship! #Cooperation #Loyalty #Support #Solidarity #Allyship #Love

Source: UN – https://www.un.org/en/observances/friendship-day

“The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.

The resolution places emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.

Sharing the Human Spirit through Friendship.

“Our world faces many challenges, crises and forces of division — such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses — among many others — that undermine peace, security, development and social harmony among the world’s peoples. To confront those crises and challenges, their root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.

Through friendship — by accumulating bonds of camaraderie and developing strong ties of trust — we can contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability, weave a safety net that will protect us all, and generate passion for a better world where all are united for the greater good.”

A special session to mark #InternationalDayofFriendship

Join Juliet ‘Kego Ume-Onyido, MBA of #WholeWomanNetwork #WorkerCooperative BWPW – Black Women Professional Co-op for a culturally-informed conversation on Leveraging Friendship and Community for Financial Freedom! Hosted by a group of phenomenal and dynamic women professionals and business owners in the Halton and West End Region #NigerianMumsinOntario #AfrocentricLens #HaltonandWestEndRegion 

#CelebratingWomenWhoDare: First Black-owned, Women-led Credit Union opens in the USA

Jul16

(Source: culled from Black Enterprise and ABC7News)

The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority has incorporated its own credit union.

The “For Members Only,” or FMO, credit union is the first Black-owned, women-led, sorority-based digital banking financial institution in the history of the United States of America.

The AKAs are one of America’s oldest service organizations, founded by college-educated African American women with nearly half a million members worldwide. “Everyone doesn’t understand the impact we make financially, so you have to start doing things so folks know we know how to control our money,” said Danette Anthony Reed, international president and CEO of AKA Sorority. FMO’s grand opening at the group’s international headquarters in Chicago coincided with the 115-year-old sorority’s leadership conference.

The FMO is chartered, regulated and insured by the National Credit Union Administration, and will offer primary savings, loans and other banking services during its first year of operations. It’s open to AKA members, their immediate families, AKA staff and credit union employees.

“Every member will be an owner of the credit union,” said Terri Bradford Eason, FMO federal credit union executive director. The first-of-its-kind credit union is based in part on the sorority’s six initiatives, which include building economic wealth. “We want to invest in what we own,” said FMO board member Deardra Hayes-Whigham.

ABC7 reported that the 115-year-old sorority initiated plans for the credit union a few years ago, focusing on efforts to generate economic health and financial stability for women of color.

“It’s just awesome to know we’ll have the opportunity to actually do something financial,” AKA sorority member Monica Teal said.

FMO will serve members of the AKA sorority and their immediate families. Additionally, those who work for the credit union and the organization will be granted access to the credit union’s services. According to Terri Bradford Eason, FMO federal credit union executive director, “Every member will be an owner of the credit union.” FMO is chartered, regulated, and insured by the National Credit Union Administration.

The women of the AKA sorority have been hard at work creating new establishments on behalf of the organization. As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, the Gamma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Society and the sorority’s nonprofit, Ivy Alliance Foundation, announced a collaboration to transform the former St. Louis home of the sorority’s founder, Ethel Hedgemon Lyle, into a museum. A land dedication for the 12,000-square-foot community center took place in December 2022.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MARCH 03: Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. attend the game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena on March 03, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Read more here:

How to Stop Poverty: Start a Worker-owned Cooperative | Jim Brown 

Jul10

“Worker-owned cooperatives are owned by their workers and decisions are made democratically. I am proposing worker-owned co-operatives as a pathway to business ownership, and a pathway out of poverty. Worker-owned cooperatives build individual wealth and stabilize communities by anchoring ownership because a co-op business will not relocate to get cheaper labour or move production overseas to maximize shareholder value. As a start up, a worker-owned co-operative are thre times more likely to be successful than non co-operative counterparts, and co-operatives are more productive too. Co-ops have transformed entire economies – Northern Spain, Northern Italy, France, Quebec in Canada. The focus of a worker co-operative is job security, people over profits, and not to maximize share-holder.” – Professor Jim Brown











Source: TEDx





Why is chronic poverty tolerated…? Is our economic system flawed? Through personal stories and insights, University of Alabama professor J. Brown explores the problem of poverty and advocates a solution in worker ownership and cooperation. Ever heard of the Freedom Quilting Bee Cooperative? Watch this Ted Talk by Jim Brown. He studied at Cal Poly & MIT, and he is a social entrepreneur and clinical professor at the University of Alabama. His research focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship.










To learn more about Worker Cooperatives in Canada, visit this website: Canadian Worker Co-op Federation





To learn more about Worker Cooperatives in Quebec, Canada, visit this website: Le réseau de la coopération du travail du Québec





To learn more about Worker Cooperatives in the USA, visit this website: US Federation of Worker Cooperatives