Cooperative businesses offer a way for us to formalize and institutionalize our existing values of cooperation. We already have cooperative relationships that mutually uplift each other, and we can extend these values and relationships into how we build businesses. We can practice democratic ownership, create local jobs, and build community by turning our values of cooperation into cooperatives.

Mai Nguyen, co-op developer and member of the co-op movement for 20 years, will set the stage for this session that will feature the voices of local leaders that have started agricultural, food consumer, and worker cooperatives. Join us as we reflect on the natural ways that we embody cooperation in our lives and hear the stories of those who are going against capitalist conventions to form cooperative businesses in San Diego County.