Registration is now open for the 2017 Cooperative Issues Forum, a gathering of co-op influencers and supporters that falls during Co-op Week, the U.S. co-op community’s annual emphasis week in May celebrating the business model and honoring its leaders and champions.
Join co-hosts NCBA CLUSA, the Cooperative Development Foundation and Cooperatives for a Better World (CBW) on May 3, 2017, from 2-4:45 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. for this important conversation generously sponsored by the Ralph K. Morris Foundation.
With a spotlight on co-op identity, the afternoon will focus on the cooperative business model as a disruptor, differentiator and change agent. Howard Brodsky, chair of CBW and CEO of CCA Global Partners, will deliver the keynote presentation, “Lead With Our Co-op Identity, Together.”
Afterward, Brodsky will moderate a panel called “The Cooperative Edge: Marketing Your Co-op Identity.” Panelists include Jessica Ross, Managing Partner of Finn Partners; Rebecca Smith, General Manager of REI Co-op’s flagship store in Washington, D.C.; and Wendy Scherer, Social Media Manager for Cabot Creamery Cooperative.
The afternoon rounds out with the Cooperative Hall of Fame Panel and Q&A, featuring the 2017 inductees to the Cooperative Hall of Fame, the movement’s highest honor. They include Rita Haynes, CEO emeritus of Faith Community United Credit Union; John Johnson, retired President & CEO of CHS, Inc.; Richard Larochelle, retired Senior Vice President of National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation; and John & Carol Zippert, Cooperative Activists and Founding Members of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund.
These cooperative leaders will be recognized at the Cooperative Hall of Fame reception, dinner and induction ceremony immediately following the Issues Forum. Click here to read about their achievements in cooperative leadership and development.
The Cooperative Development Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. promoting community, economic and social development through cooperative enterprises.
Cooperatives for a Better World challenges the global community to elevate themselves beyond the inequalities of the 21st century into an era of innovation and sustainability through the cooperative business model.