 | THE COOPERATIVE PROFESSIONALS GUILD |
About Us
The Cooperative Professionals Guild (the "Guild") is a national member-led community of legal and accounting professionals and paraprofessionals, specializing in cooperatives. Our members are legal and accounting professionals, paraprofessionals, academics, and students of these professions who support the work of cooperative businesses and organizations in creating more democratic, inclusive and equitable economies. The Guild envisions a world where all communities, particularly those that have been historically marginalized, have self determination and access to the professional resources they need to develop non-extractive, regenerative, and cooperative economies.
The Guild promotes the professional development of cooperative professionals by producing webinars on legal and tax topics for CLE credit, holding a biennial in-person conference, networking and resource sharing opportunities, and other educational programming. Our mission is to provide a networking and educational hub for our members and subscribers to effectively serve the needs of cooperatives and social enterprises.
The Guild is managed by its volunteer members. Members join the Cooperative Professionals Guild to participate in the development of the organization to further its mission and objectives and to build community around the work we do.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership with voting privileges is open to attorneys, accountants, paralegals, bookkeepers and students in the fields of law and accounting who are serving or interested in serving cooperatives. The Guild offers individuals in the broader cooperative community other opportunities to participate in the Guild's work, including joining the Guild as subscribers (see details about the subscriber program below). The Guild makes its webinars, conferences, newsletters and certain other resources available to the public.
2024 Member Benefits
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Free monthly live webinar series with CLE credits available in California and certain other states,
Free access to the Guild's library of webinar recordings since Feb. 2021.
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Discounted registration fee for the Guild’s biennial conferences,
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Participation in the Membership Directory, Guild email groups/listservs, member coffee chats and other networking opportunities,
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Opportunity to shape the direction of the Guild as a voting member and as an active participant in Guild circles,
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Invitations to working groups diving deeper into specific areas of cooperative law and accounting,
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An e-book copy of Many Voices, One Song and access to sociocracy training for active circle participants.
Click here to sign up for membership.
Member Directory
Members can opt to be identified in our Member Directory and to share any part of their profile in the public facing directory and/or the members-only version of the Member Directory. We make our Member Directory available to the public to help cooperatives, cooperative developers and others find legal and accounting professionals serving cooperatives. Our public facing Member Directory includes only members who are willing to be contacted by nonmembers. Our Directory is not an endorsement of or referral to any particular professional.
Participation
We are a volunteer organization operated by our members. As such, the work we do depends largely on member interest, initiative and participation. Members are encouraged but not required to contribute to the operation of the Guild by forming and/or participating in one or more of our volunteer-led circles which are self-organizing committees governed by sociocratic principles and practices. Members are also welcome to simply take advantage of the learning and networking opportunities the Guild provides in order to enhance their understanding of cooperative models.
Membership Circle Contacts
The Guild's Membership Circle serves the interests of members. Please contact our Membership Circle at membership@professionals.coop if you'd like to join this circle or if you have any questions about your membership or about becoming a member.
GUILD ACCESS WITHOUT MEMBERSHIP
Guild Subscriptions
Guild subscription is available to individuals who are interested in learning more about co-op law and/or accounting, and/or connecting with co-op law and accounting professionals and paraprofessionals, who are not eligible for Guild Membership. Subscribers get access to most Guild programming and resources, and do not participate in governance or voting.
To register as a Subscriber, go to the "Join Us" tab at the top of the page and choose "Subscriber Registration" in the dropdown menu.
Public Access
Most of the Guild's educational programming is available without a membership or a subscription. Individuals are welcome to sign up for the Guild newsletter and the Guild community listserv, and to join monthly webinars and public events, without signing up for membership or a subscription.
GOVERNANCE
The Cooperative Professionals Guild incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization at the end of 2022, following several years of being generously supported as a fiscally sponsored project of the Sustainable Economies Law Center. The Guild has a Stewardship Circle that serves as the Board of the Nonprofit, and a General Circle that serves as the operational management governance body.
The Guild has implemented a sociocratic structure through its Bylaws. The Circle of all Members is comprised of all the voting members for the current calendar year. The Guild uses sociocracy for circle discussions and decision-making, and members are expected to participate accordingly. The Guild will offer new members a basic orientation in sociocratic practices with the expectation that members will further develop their sociocratic skills through participation in Guild circles.
Circles
The Guild's current circles include the following:
- The Stewardship Circle serves as the Guild's governing board elected by the members.
- The Membership Circle manages the process of member recruitment, registration of members and subscribers, and ensures that member voices, interests and concerns are heard throughout the organization. Membership provides general association management and helps members to be informed and involved in the Guild to the extent they desire. Contact them at membership@professionals.coop.
- The Webinar Circle produces monthly webinars on topics of interest to members and the public, recruits presenters and arranges for CLE credits. Contact them at webinarcircle@professionals.coop.
- The Conference Circle serves to plan and produce the Guild's biennial conferences. Contact them at conference-circle@professionals.coop.
- The Finance Circle manages the Guild's finances and includes the Guild's treasurer. Contact them at financecircle@professionals.coop.
- The General Circle is an internal management level circle that includes representatives from the Guild's operational circles, listed above, and meets regularly to coordinate Guild activities.
HISTORY
The Guild began in 2013 as an informal collective of attorneys interested in advancing the development of cooperatives by training themselves and other professionals in cooperative law and accounting. In the intervening years after 2013, Guild members operated a listserv and produced several conferences and events. The Guild became a fiscally sponsored project of the Sustainable Economies Law Center ("SELC") in 2019. SELC facilitated the Guild's open conference in Chicago in 2019 which was attended by close to 150 professionals from across the United States. Based on survey responses from attendees of that conference, the Guild committed in 2021 to becoming an independent, member-governed nonprofit association in 2022 in order to formalize the participation of professionals interested in helping the organization fulfill its mission.