bay area blueprint coop academydesignframework_final

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Worker Coop Academy Design by Blueprint Collabora9ve is licensed under a Crea9ve Commons A;ribu9on-‐NonCommercial-‐ShareAlike 4.0 Interna9onal License.

Bay Area Blueprint Crea9ng Pathways to Ownership for Low and Moderate Income Workers in the Inner East Bay

Design Framework

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Coop Academy Overview The Bay Area Coop Academy is one component of the Bay Area Blueprint. A collabora9ve year-‐long effort star9ng in April 2014, the Blueprint looks at three pathways to worker ownership for Low-‐ to Moderate-‐Income (LMI) workers: •  Small business coopera9ve entrepreneurship (the focus of the Coop

Academy) •  Scalable worker coops startups, and •  Conversions of exis9ng businesses to worker ownership Depending on the success of the Coop Academy pilot, we may seek ways to make it an ongoing program. As part of the Blueprint, we are also undertaking a related effort to design a course on coopera9ves at Laney College. This document is a design framework for the pilot run of the Coop Academy. The framework is meant to be flexible so that final design of the program can be responsive to par9cipants’ needs.

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Design Framework

Par9cipants

Curriculum

Instructors, Mentors, Coaches

Delivery

Coop Academy Components

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1. ObjecBves

2. ParBcipant Profile

4. Curriculum Framework 3. Outreach &

SelecBon Process

5. Instructor & Mentor Profile

Coop Academy Design Framework

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•  Expose LMI community members in the Inner East Bay to the coopera9ve business model –  120-‐160 people par9cipate in phase 1 (outreach and recruitment)

•  Help 3-‐5 worker coops launch or grow –  5-‐7 teams of 3 par9cipate in phases 2 & 3 (classroom cohort and

follow-‐up coaching for advanced graduates) –  Aiming for ~15-‐20 par9cipants total

Coop Academy 1. ObjecBves

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Coop Academy 2. ParBcipant Profile

•  Individuals directly engaged with crea9ng or growing worker-‐owned coopera9ve businesses –  Coop founders –  Members of growing coops –  Coop developers

•  Teams with strong poten9al for business success & job crea9on for low-‐ to moderate-‐income workers –  Planned or exis9ng coopera9ves commi;ed to growth –  Highly likely to transfer Academy training to new job crea9on

(business launch or growth) in the near future

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Coop Academy 3. Outreach & SelecBon Process

•  Outreach and networking (April – May) –  Generate interest –  Learn about universe of poten9al applicants –  Get input on design

•  Invita9on to apply (June) –  Learn about prospec9ve par9cipants’ strengths, hopes, ques9ons,

and needs; gauge level of interest and fit –  Refine design concepts to address needs –  Finalize program offering, requirements and applica9on

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Coop Academy 3. Outreach & SelecBon Process, conBnued

•  Teams submit applica9ons –  First applica9on deadline: July 11 –  Rolling applica9ons accepted through August 1

•  Team interviews –  July 21 – August 8

•  Par9cipants selected / invited –  August 15 – September 1 –  Target: 5-‐7 teams commit to program by mid to late August

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Coop Academy 4. Curriculum Framework

•  The curriculum framework is designed as a menu, to enable the specific curriculum delivery to be tailored to the group of par9cipants.

•  We may tailor the classroom por9on of the Academy to

fit the needs of our cohort and individual par9cipants by making some classes required and others op9onal; in this case, we will work with each team to determine which of the op9onal sessions they will a;end.

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Content Area:

Business Menu of topics, adaptable to par3cipants’ needs

•  Business feasibility and planning •  Business model and strategy •  Marke9ng •  Business financing •  Financial planning and

management •  Growth planning •  Surplus, profits and taxa9on of

coopera9ves •  Balancing business and social goals

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Content Area:

People & Culture Menu of topics, adaptable to par3cipants’ needs

•  Construc9ve communica9on •  Self management •  Conflict management •  Hiring, firing and evalua9ng

employees, candidates for membership and worker-‐owners

•  Employee à Worker-‐owner transi9on

•  Building a healthy organiza9onal culture for the long haul

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Content Area:

CooperaBves Menu of topics, adaptable to par3cipants’ needs

•  Coopera9ve principles •  History of coops in the United States and around the world

•  Site visits to Bay Area coops

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Content Area: Governance and Management Menu of topics, adaptable to par3cipants’ needs

•  Management models, roles and processes

•  Governance op9ons •  Leadership issues in coops •  Decision making prac9ces •  Effec9ve mee9ng prac9ces

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Content Area: Legal aspects Menu of topics, adaptable to par3cipants’ needs

•  En9ty forma9on •  Raising capital •  Corporate governance •  Employment law issues •  Taxa9on of coopera9ves

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Content Area: Coop Development Menu of topics, adaptable to par3cipants’ needs

•  Coop development cycle from feasibility to maturity

•  Pros, cons & ethics of different development models

•  Components of a development process: TA, training, management, governance, other

•  Defining roles and authority of developer and coop

•  Resourcing a development process: funding and other resources

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Coop Academy 5. Instructor & Mentor Profile

•  Instructors –  Knowledgeable about content –  Able to adapt to help par9cipants apply concepts to their businesses –  Skilled in par9cipatory, problem-‐based teaching techniques (popular

educa9on)

•  Mentors –  Successful coops or small businesses suppor9ve of coop model –  Strong prac99oners in at least one content area –  Industry match with Mentees, where possible

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For more informaBon, visit SELC’s website: www.theselc.org/worker-‐cooperaBve-‐academy

A project of the Blueprint CollaboraBve

bay area blueprint coop academydesignframework_final

Small Business & Entrepreneurship