Green Worker Cooperatives 2009 Annual Report
Green Worker Cooperatives Annual Report 2009
Table of Contents 2
Letter from the Founder of Green Worker Cooperatives......................................................................3 Letter from the Bronx Borough President.............................................................................................5 Programs Green Worker Cooperatives Coop Academy.........................................................................................6 Green Worker Cooperative Incubation Program...................................................................................8 Green Worker Family of Cooperatives..................................................................................................9 Spotlight on a Worker Cooperative: B-Blossom...................................................................................12 Spotlight on a Worker Cooperative: Aquatecture..................................................................................14 Financials Financial Statements..............................................................................................................................16 Supporters..............................................................................................................................................18 Lists Board of Directors..................................................................................................................................19 Staff........................................................................................................................................................21 Ways to Help Green Worker Cooperatives & Our Family of Coops.....................................................23 Green Worker Cooperatives Snapshot and Timeline.............................................................................24
Photo by Sonia Pichardo
Green Worker Cooperatives Letter from the Founder
Omar Freilla, founder of Green Worker Cooperatives, photographed at the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2009.
Since we began our work six years ago, Green Worker Cooperatives has been blazing a trail for an economy that is local, green, and embodies the spirit and practice of democracy. It hasn't been easy. After all, remember that we're blazing trails. We're not just incubating businesses in a marginalized community, which is hard enough, we're also making them worker-owned cooperatives AND environmentally friendly. No, it hasn't been easy. At times, it’s actually been pretty lonely and scary. But we've always managed to turn each challenge into an opportunity. We've realized that blazing a trail requires openness to experimentation, a willingness to learn from mistakes, and a fascination with possibilities. These are the qualities that made it possible for us to get through 2009, the year we faced our toughest challenge yet.
At the beginning of 2009 our first and only cooperative, ReBuilders Source, was threatened with having to close its doors because of insufficient sales. Its original members could no longer afford to continue to pay themselves. The worker co-op we had worked so hard on for so many years was in critical condition, and lying with it was our dream for a South Bronx incubator for worker-owned green businesses. In response, the staff at Green Worker Cooperatives met the challenge head on. We put on boots and coveralls and helped restructure operations, dug up financial support; and trained a new team of Co-op Academy graduates to further transfor m ReBuilders Source’s operations. We partnered with Arbor Education & Training to expand staffing at ReBuilders Source while providing work opportunities for members of our community who’d been formerly incarcerated.
What started out the year for us as a life threatening challenge motivated us to do some serious reflection on what was missing in our work. It became the catalyst for a series of transitions that have since unveiled a treasure of opportunity. Consider the following: • Our first co-op, ReBuilders Source, is now a model for the construction industry, recovering salvaged building materials like sinks, doors, tiles, and more and making it available to the public at a fraction of what other home improvement stores charge. In the past year they’ve expanded from four to seven workers and kept over 140 tons of valuable building materials out of landfills & incinerators. • Our Co-op Academy training program has been completely restructured. Now instead of us
coming up with the next business idea and recruiting people to join, people come to us with their co-op idea and team members in hand. They're saying “We’ve got an idea for a new business, will you help us?” And they’re saying “Yes!” to being green, “Yes!” to worker-ownership, and “Yes!” to the South Bronx. • As a result of the new format for our Co-op Academy, in 2009 we graduated six new co-ops in development that cover a wide range of industries: two healthy green caterers (Sabor Latino & B-Blossom); a green diner (The Worker’s Diner); a solar thermal products manufacturer (Aquatecture); a furniture renovator & re-designer (ReFab); and a green community youth center owned and governed by both workers and the young people served. What we've learned in the last year is much more than we could possibly
fit in this annual report. But you can rest assured that as a result of what we've learned we plan on implementing a number of new initiatives and strategies. Together these will make 2010 a powerful year, not only for Green Worker Cooperatives but also for the green collar jobs and cooperative movements as well as for all those working for the broader goals of environmental and economic justice. As you read through this report take the time to think about how you can help build on this work. In case you haven't realized it yet, we're creating an alternative structure for our economy and our society. To be successful, we need you. Only together will we make another world inevitable. In Solidarity & Cooperation, Omar Freilla Founder & Team Coordinator
Green Worker Cooperatives Letter from the Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz has always supported the idea of a greener, sustainable and more just future for the Bronx and its residents. In this photo, as an assemblyman, he cut the ribbon of our first cooperative ReBuilders Source in 2008.
Green Worker Cooperatives is a shining example of what I see as the future of the Bronx—a community that can take advantage of its industrial history and strong grassroots activism to develop a just and sustainable economy. With this type of innovative vision and cooperative spirit, the Bronx is poised to be a leader in green business and green job development, providing its citizens not only a means to lift themselves out of poverty but also an opportunity to create a greener world by starting at home in their own communities. Green Worker Cooperatives embodies these ideals, from its inventive methods of reusing materials that others have cast off as waste to its dedication to a bottom-up, egalitarian approach to business. Green Worker Cooperatives provides a vehicle for Bronx residents to recognize the many opportunities in their own backyards for economic development, community
development and self-advancement. The men and women developing these green cooperatives can take pride not only in owning and running their own businesses but in making serious contributions to protecting the environment, reducing waste and preventing pollution. I am proud to be a long-time supporter of Green Worker C o o p e r at i ve s a n d i t s m a ny achievements. I look forward to continuing this partnership and working together to build a robust green economy in the Bronx that will benefit all Bronx citizens. The foundation that is being constructed by Green Worker Cooperatives today will lay the groundwork for a greener, stronger Bronx in the future. Sincerely,
Begun in 2006, Coop Academy started with eight people from the Highbridge and Hunts Point neighborhoods of the South Bronx. Now GWC has a model for creating homegrown worker cooperatives from the ground up. This academy is attracting people from the South Bronx and beyond. It’s building off of itself. The Green Worker Cooperatives Training Program offers educational services to those interested in starting green worker-owned businesses and to the public at large. We create opportunities for individuals to realize their power through collective work. This is accomplished through workshops, seminars, conferences and intensive classroom training. We use a variety of teaching methods, from popular education to traditional entrepreneurship training and more.
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
MISSION
GWC’S COOP ACADEMY
First step in the movement towards grassroots entrepreneurship The Coop Academy is the entry point of GWC’s incubation program. It is a training program designed to provide participants with the skills and knowledge needed to launch, and sustain, a
successful cooperatively-owned green business. It is a 40-hour course designed to assist teams of aspiring coop business owners to work together for the development of their business, including the creation of a business plan. At the
completion of the 40-hour course, participants are expected to have completed a business plan and gained an understanding of business basics; democratic management; and environmentally sustainable business practices.
GREENWORKER COOP ACADEMY
Coop Academy is about Environmental, Racial, Social and Economic Justice The Green Worker Coop Academy is a program that runs for 16 weeks. This intensive business program teaches people how to develop South Bronx based environmentally friendly businesses. Students learn about issues dealing with the most beneficial ways to run a worker coop. In addition, the participants are taught how to communicate in the business world.
Cooperative Communication Management Intro to Accounting Toxic Tour, Anti-Oppression, & Conflict Resolution • Legal Structures • Market Research & Analysis I – Industry • Market Research & Analysis II – Consumer • Green & Cause Marketing • Green Sales • Raising Capital • • • •
In the future, Green Worker Cooperatives will offer other tiers to their training which include: community discussion courses, General Knowledge Coop Academy, Entrepreneur Intensive Coop Academy (our current Coop Academy) , New Member Coop Academy and Youth Coop Academy.
We introduce the public to our Coop Academy through traditional marketing, word-of-mouth methods and through community partners. We host informal coffee talks with community partners and organizations interested in introducing their participants to green entrepreneurship and worker owned workplaces. Our current Coop Academy Curriculum covers: • Worker Co-ops 101 • Am I Ready for Entrepreneurship? • Green Business
“ As a workerowner you are hands on, you help out and you get dirty. Here the community will actually see the owner.” Jerome Villanueva, Spring 2009 Coop Academy Graduate Photo taken by Sonia Pichardo
“Business incubators provide communities with significantly greater results at less cost than do any other type of public works infrastructure project.” - 2008 report “Construction Grants Program Impact Assessment Report” from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
PROGRAMS
GWC’S INCUBATION PROGRAM
Supporting the needs of a growing worker cooperative The Bronx has the highest unemployment rate in all of New [1] and yet every day we York City[1] encounter individuals with great ideas, a strong work ethic, business drive, and a commitment to their communities. These would-be grassroots entrepreneurs do not have the financial solvency or experience to reach small business ownership alone. The Green Worker Cooperatives Incubation Program is working to bridge this gap between dreams and life-long green careers.
We at GWC provide tailored support and technical assistance to worker cooperative businesses during the planning and start-up phases of development. The program aims to help graduates of our Co-op Academy launch the enterprises that had been only imaginings. GWC’s staff and network of experienced consultants are able to provide support in the areas of legal incorporation, democratic management and decision-making, marketing, operations, risk management, financial analysis, technology development and more.
We are also happy to support industry-specific workshops and advisement as needed. There are currently no other incubator programs designed to address the unique needs of social entrepreneurs in the Bronx that hold worker ownership, environmental justice, and financial success as central to their missions. [1] New York Times, 2009
MISSION
GWC’S FAMILY OF COOPS DEFINITION OF A WORKER COOPERATIVE: Workplaces which are democratically owned and governed by paid workers. (The International Organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Co-operatives)
Featured in the photo above are Joel Frank and Jerome Villanueva of ReBuilders Source. (photo by Maria Clark)
Our Family of Worker Owned Cooperatives: Open for business and in development Currently open: ReBuilders Source ReBuilders Source (RBS) was launched April 2008 by Green Worker Cooperatives as a discount retailer of salvaged and surplus building
materials. RBS obtains materials for resale from a variety of donors including; contractors, manufacturers and individual homeowners who can lower their disposal costs and possibly realize a tax benefit through donating these items. The materials are sold at
discounted prices to residential property managers and small building contractors, homeowners and do-ityourselfers throughout New York City.
Photo by Lisa Cohen
GREENWORKER FAMILY OF COOPERATIVES
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
Photos taken by Leyla Rosario
In development: Workers Diner Workers Diner plans to offer a traditional New York City dining experience, serving a full menu and great coffee to customers in the South Bronx. They aim to build a strong business model for worker cooperative restaurants, develop a premiere reputation in the metropolitan area, and expand to several locations within the next decade. In addition to being worker-managed, Workers Diner intends to purchase local and organic foods, providing for the health of its customers, the environment, and the regional economy. Founding members Chris Michael, Gabriel Martinez, and William Cerf are featured in the above (left) photo. Aquatecture The Aquatecture Cooperative will design, develop, manufacture, distribute and install solar energy equipment as well as water quality control systems. This cooperative will produce a solar hot water heater, a solar barbecue, a solar roaster, fryer, boiler and grill.
B-Blossom B-Blossom will provide vegetarian oriented foods to the community by selling to schools, hospitals, stores, private homes and restaurants. This cooperative will conduct classes and training in the implementation of more healthful cooking. Coop Academy graduates, Bertha (photo, top middle) and Manuela Perez (photo, bottom middle) are a unique mother-daughter team founding this cooperative. Sabor Latino Sabor Latino is a cooperative of strong immigrant women that create delicious Latin American food to better our community in the Bronx. They will be a source of work for immigrant women that’s fair and economically stable by offering a fusion of healthy, local and delicious Latin food at a reasonable cost. Leonila Lopez and Idalia Amaya (photo, right) are the founding members of this cooperative. They desire 8 new members to join them.
GREENWORKER FAMILY OF COOPERATIVES
Our Family of Worker Owned Cooperatives: In development In development: ReFab ReFab’s mission is to change the way we currently make things by offering a more responsible manufacturing service that promotes an environment that is safer, healthier, and fair for the local community. This cooperative will use a computer-controlled router that cuts sheet materials (planar wood, plywood, MDF, OSB, Chipboard, plastic sheets, etc) based on a CAD drawing. Their approach minimizes waste in the production process. These services will be used to produce furniture, cabinetry, commercial shelving, signage, interior fixtures, decorative elements and props. Amelia Cunard and Jon Santiago (photo, below and middle) are the founding members of this cooperative.
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario (in above photo:, Mustafa Sullivan, Maria Fernandez & Diana Barrientos)
BronXchanges The BronXchanges Empowerment Center is a safe space for Bronx youth and community residents to work together to make the social change that the Bronx needs. Bronx Xchanges unique structure sets in apart. It will be owned and governed by both workers and the young people served by the center. It will support our communities’ diverse culture, help youth make a successful transition from high school to college and the workforce, and celebrate the diversity of our Bronx community using art and technology. The BronXchanges Empowerment Center will be founded by members of Sistas and Brothas United(SBU). SBU is an organization that has brought youth to the forefront of much needed changes in education reform, community development, and the leadership of our young people in the Bronx.
“We want to start people looking at food in a different way . Food can kill you and food can save your life . And you make it healthy, so you can enjoy your family and your accomplishments. This is possible if you choose the right foods.” -Manuela Perez, Fall 2009 Coop Academy Graduate
e d in
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
B-Blossom
MISSION
GWC’S SPOTLIGHT ON A WORKER COOPERATIVE velopment
Catering provided by B-Blossom
First step in the movement towards grassroots entrepreneurship B-Blossom is a five person catering worker cooperative in development with Green Worker Cooperatives. We interviewed, Manuela Perez, marketing coordinator, about the cooperative’s
progress and their vision for the future. How did B-Blossom get its name? We have seen the Bronx rebound. We want to be a part the
movement. I was here when it was not so great. I have also been a part of the Bronx’s transformation. We thought it was better that we keep the name. The name B-Blossom reflects that the Bronx is blossoming.
GREENWORKER SPOTLIGHT ON A WORKER COOPERATIVE: B-BLOSSOM
B-Blossom is about Healthy, Local, Tasty Food for the Community
We want to be a part of the Bronx moving forward.
We are organizing this cooperative as a catering business. We are interested in developing healthy food products for market, like salad dressings for diabetics. We don’t see people eating apples with salad. We need to let them know that with an apple added it’s complete with vinaigrette. We are very concerned about health products. Recently, I saw a program about the “Superfoods of the Year.” Items like quinoa, walnuts, blueberries, chilies. If these items get to your fridge, most people don’t know what to do with them. We want to educate and train people to enjoy vegetables. We want to have classes to teach them how to cook and eat healthy foods.
Talk about members of your coop. We have five members. Matthew Ranghel does menu creation, trains members, and cooks for the cooperative. He makes sure that everything goes smoothly in the kitchen. He is also our food compliance and safety coordinator. Diane P. Ogle is our sous chef. She has a degree in diet and nutrition. She works with Matthew on menu What kind of education or creation and nutrition. Loida Perez is business needs do you think you our pastry chef. She creates the will require for your coop in cookies and sweets. Bertha Perez development? performs the administration for the cooperative. I (Manuela) perform We know that everyone needs more marketing for the cooperative. What are your visions for BBlossom cooperative?
financial literacy. Our coop has a tremendous need for marketing assistance. We have to put together an effective sales strategy that could
possibly include procuring contracts with larger institutions. After completing Coop Academy, we are also wondering how do we work with other coops. How can we support each other by utilizing the resources of other cooperatives?
What are you dreaming about now? When are we going to do this? We need a commercial space. In order for you to do manufacturing, you need certification for that. You need to work in a certified kitchen. There is one certified kitchen in the Bronx. We would really like our own commercial kitchen.
“We are in the business of enticing people with their palette.”
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
Aquatecture
MISSION
GWC’S SPOTLIGHT ON A t n e WORKER COOPERATIVEevelopm in d
“If you are a patient person who loves to make things, this is the coop for you.” -Donal Butterfield, Spring 2009 Coop Academy Graduate
Photo provided by Aquatecture
First step in the movement towards grassroots entrepreneurship Aquatecture is a solar and sustainable product manufacturing worker cooperative in development with Green Worker Cooperatives. We interviewed, Donal Butterfield, development coordinator about the
cooperative’s development and their current plans. What are your visions for Aquatecture? We are interested in manufacturing our products in a South Bronx building.
We want begin to incorporate the cooperative. Our desire is to produce a solar oven , grill and hot water heater. We want enough income to have more people with manufacturing backgrounds to create new products.
GREENWORKER SPOTLIGHT ON A WORKER COOPERATIVE: AQUATECTURE
Aquatecture is about Solar and Sustainable Products Manufactured in the Bronx
Ingerham as our Plumber and Jerry Kann as Sales Coordinator. We are looking for new members Another market we would like to but they need to fit into the culture enter is doing work with clients doing of our coop. We don’t have money salmon farming. We are developing right now, but their work would be an underwater enclosure to treat an investment. If you are a patient water for high density salmon “grow person, who loves to solve out” farms. Many farms have been engineering problems this is the coop forced to close because they pollute for you. the beaches and harbors. Our enclosure moves with the tides and How did Aquatecture get its maintains a constant volume. name? Floating aerobic filters removes the I (Donal Butterfield) contributed waste by airlift pumps to adjacent the name. My uncle who was selfland. This is a more natural way to taught became director of the New fish farm. We would be stimulating a York Aquarium. Over the years, I more natural cycle by reinstilling learned from him and the sanitary natural food chain within the aquatic engineers about how to design environment. aquariums. I started putting ads in journals to do work designing Talk about members of your aquariums. The name of that coop. business was Aquatecture. Currently our members are myself, Donal Butterfield as What things are holding Development Coordinator; Aquatecture back? Franklin Flores as Financial Apathy. Expenses for tools. We’re Coordinator; Eddie Charles as not looking for investors. We’re Production Coordinator, Ray looking for more self-sufficient members. We cannot pay people.
They have to be the kind of people who are not looking for a check but take will take risks when development may be difficult. Currently we need assistance with tools for future production and during the initial manufacturing of our products. Where are you in R&D? We have a patent drawn up for two of the products. We are trying to get the right materials and tools together until we make the products. We are working hard to make prototype for the products. What kind of education do you think you will need for your coop in development? Engineering training and more financial literacy is probably what we need. We are interested in everyone being able to work in different areas. Each person should get a hand at every job position to really know what’s going on.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
GWC FY2009 SOURCE OF FUNDS
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
GWC FY2009 USE OF FUNDS
SUPPORTERS
Green Worker Cooperatives kindly thanks our Financial Supporters The Kendeda Fund New York State
Rutgers University Department of Environmental Sciences, Water Resources Program
Department of Economic Development North Star Fund
Arbor Education & Training Rev. Mark Hallinan, S.J.
Citgo Fund David Rockefeller Jr Fund
John Ericson, Joseph Green,
Richard Salomon Family Foundation Trinity Church
John Luke & Jennifer Reynoso (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP)
Tides Foundation Southeastern Louisiana University
Gowri Krishna & Ted Barbierri (Urban Justice Center)
Sustainable Tompkins University of Texas at Austin
Ann Marie Runfola Wyldon Fishman(NY Solar Energy Society)
The Center for Urban Pedagogy Jews for Justice
Shene James Ashley Sartorius
Aepoch Fund The Frank Pace Jr Foundation
Majora Carter Group Bronx Community College Center for Sustainable Energy
D.A.B. Fund (Greater Tacoma) and the generous individual contributions of good
Citizens Advice Bureau Department of Youth & Community Development
people via GWC events, FaceBook, Network for Good, and our website.
Gifts in kind & Gifts of time The Urban Workshop Dwaine Lee Sheila Somashankar BEST trainees (Sustainable South Bronx)
The Bronx Guild High School Samuel Gompers High School Community School for Social Justice John Panganiban Rodney Cox Howard Giske
Luis Osorio, Ph.D. & Hugh Wheeler M.A. (Betances Community Center)
GWC’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS Board Members:
LISTS
Noémi Giszpenc, M.S. Omar Freilla, M.Env.Sci Secretary & Founder Omar Freilla is the founder & team coordinator of Green Worker Cooperatives, where he makes real his vision for a green and democratic economy in the South Bronx through the creation of workerowned cooperatives that help advance the cause of environmental justice. He is the son of Dominican immigrants and of the South Bronx.
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Noémi Giszpenc is Executive Director of the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI), whose mission is to build a cooperative economy in the Northeast through development of cooperative enterprises and networks. She began her career as an economics researcher at the World Bank, worked as an editor at the Nonprofit Quarterly, a magazine for nonprofit managers, and became a principal at Ownership Associates, Inc., a consulting firm in Cambridge, MA specializing in developing an ownership culture at employee-owned firms. She has earned a Master’s in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University and two Bachelor's degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lisandra Lamboy Lisandra Lamboy is currently Executive Director of the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District and Director of Economic Development for the Mosholu Preservation Corporation. Prior to this she served as Outreach Coordinator for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s “Healthy Bodegas Campaign” where she had the opportunity to work with small food retail owners on increasing access to healthy and local foods . In addition to corner stores, Ms. Lamboy has worked on various food access initiatives including school nutrition campaigns, farmer’s markets, healthy restaurants, food cooperatives, CSA’s, and green carts. Currently, Ms. Lamboy is a member of the National Healthy Corner Store Network. Ms. Lamboy is an alumnus of Swarthmore College with a B.A in Sociology and Anthropology.
Photo courtesy of Baruch SBDC
GREENWORKER BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Board Members:
Zena Nelson, M.BA. Zena Nelson is the founder and executive director of the South Bronx Food Cooperative and the Food Foundation, a financially sustainable non-profit organization designed to provide quality food and holistic activities for low-income residents at affordable prices. Her professional background is as a marketing and project manager within various corporations, foundations and city agencies. In addition to her professional and educational background, she is the co-chair of the Fordham University Black & Latino Alumni Association, Baruch College Entrepreneurial Fellow, Aspen Institute Scholar, Assembly District Leader for the NYS Green Party, YMCA Global NGO Volunteer and avid fencer.Â
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Kevin Ryan Chair Kevin has been the Senior Program Officer at the New York Foundation since 2002. He manages a portfolio of active grants for start up organizations that focus on community organizing and advocacy and also oversees the Foundation's Capacity Building Program that includes workshops, small grants, and individual technical assistance requests. Kevin is also an adjunct instructor at Hunter College Graduate School of Urban Affairs and Planning and the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies.
Gelvin Stevenson, Ph.D. Gelvin Stevenson consults with clean energy companies and is a Director of Clear Skies Solar, Inc. and Community Resource Exchange. He teaches Environmental Economics at Pratt Institute and has written for Business Week, the New York Times, The Nation, Indian Country Today and The San Juan Star. He was a community organizer in the South Bronx, with youth gangs and tenants. Gelvin has a BA from Carleton College and a Ph.D. in economics from Washington University in St. Louis. He is married, has two children, and is an enrolled member of the Western Cherokee Nation.
GWC’S STAFF
Omar Freilla, M.Env.Sci Team Coordinator & Founder Omar received his academic education through a Masters Degree in Environmental Science from Miami University; a B.S. from Morehouse College (where he founded the organization, Black Men for the Eradication of Sexism); the Bronx High School of Science; and a few underfunded and marginalized South Bronx public schools you never heard of. His education in life has come primarily from being an active part of numerous social justice movements and organizations since he was fifteen years old. Omar is a recipient of the inaugural Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism.
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Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
Photo taken by Omar Freilla
LISTS
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario
Green Worker Cooperatives Staff:
Tylea Richard, M.A., Operations Coordinator
Sonia Pichardo, Ph.D. Communications Coordinator
Tylea Richard is the newest member of the GWC team. She is currently working as the Operations Coordinator after coordinating GWC's Co-op Academy training program for two semesters. She comes to GWC with experience in the nonprofit sector, in the labor movement, as well as the private sector. Tylea's special interest focuses on worker cooperatives in the fashion industry. Tylea holds a M.A. in Business and Labor Studies from New York University, where she was also a Catherine Reynolds fellow for Social Entrepreneurship. She received a BA in Public and Community Service Studies from Providence College.
Sonia is the Communications and incoming Training Coordinator of Green Worker Cooperatives. She is involved with the Green Worker Coop Academy, which has trained our first coop, ReBuilders Source. Sonia received a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Spelman College and Ph.D from University of MissouriColumbia. Her professional background is as a physiologist, teaching biology at Bronx Community College and Manhattan College. She is a board member of the Green City Challenge and sits on advisory boards for Samuel Gompers High School and BMCC. Her early education was completed in the Bronx at Holy Rosary and at The Bronx High School of Science. She lives in the Bronx.
GREEN WORKER COOPERATIVES STAFF
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Patricio Bustamante Bookkeeper
Patricio Bustamante is the bookkeeper for Green Worker Cooperatives. Bustamante has many years of experience managing sales and human resources in a business environment. He is alumnus of Columbia University and the Green Worker Cooperatives Coop Academy.
WAYS TO HELP GREEN WORKER COOPERATIVES & OUR FAMILY OF COOPS Click Here to shop for (or donate) Building and Home Improvement Materials at ReBuilders Source Coop
Click Here to start your journey to entrepreneurship through our Coop Academy
Click Here to partner your organization with our Academy & Incubator
Click Here to Host a Worker Coop 101
Click Here to Give a Legacy Gift
LISTS
Click Here to Support Grassroots Entrepreneurship & Environmental Justice
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CREATING GREEN JOBS
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Creating “greento collar” jobs and Click Here become a worker ownership in the South business coach for our Bronx...
coops
http://rebuilderssource.blogspot.com/ http://www.rebuilderssource.coop
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because your work shouldn’t kill you, your community, or the earth.
ReBuilders Source
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GREEN WORKER COOPERATIVES SNAPSHOT
GREEN WORKER COOPERATIVES
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AS OF 2/2010
Green Worker Cooperatives is an independent nonprofit organization, founded to serve the community of the South Bronx with economic and environmental justice opportunities. Its training programs and operations are in part supported by the generous contributions of private foundations. Public funding from city and state government agencies provide generous leadership and financial support. One-fifth of Green Worker’s budget comes from individuals and corporations.
Co-op Academy Graduates......................................17 New Cooperatives In Development..........................6 Cooperatives in Operation........................................1 New Hires at Existing Cooperative...........................3 Appearances in print, online, and radio....................97 Unique Visits to Website...........................................9245 Unique Visits to Website by Country.........................93 Facebook Friends of GWC........................................1349
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