Cooperative Professionals Guild

Happy New Year!

January 2023 Newsletter

Look for the Community Events, Announcements and Job Listings sections we've added towards the end.


January 26th Webinar: Basic Cooperative Taxation featuring Teree Castanias and Brett Huston, CPAs

Please join us on January 26, 2023 at 10 am PT/11 am MT/12 pm CT/1 pm ET for the first of our series on Cooperative Taxation. Teree Castanias and Brett Huston, both CPAs, will present the basic rules of Subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code and describe how those rules affect a cooperative's tax return, Form 1120-C. This session will be helpful for anyone who wants to know what tax rules are required for a cooperative.  Future sessions will go into much more depth on these rules.

Register here to join the webinar.  

Currently, CPG offers California CLE credit for qualifying webinars. Most CPG webinars can count as CLE credits in most US states. If you’d like to help us offer CLE credit in other states, please email Sarah Kaplan at the Webinar Committee: sarah@cuttingedgecounsel.com. Our members-only recordings library has been updated and includes links to our past webinars; you can also access webinars on this Google Document.

It's official - CPG is incorporated!

New year, new entity! CPG is now incorporated as an independent nonprofit and has obtained tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3). Governance documents, including the Bylaws and Policies and Procedures Manual, are being adopted by the Stewardship Circle this week. CPG looks forward to formally admitting Members in the coming weeks. Congratulations to the team and all the many people who have participated in growing the Guild over the years.  We are especially grateful to the Sustainable Economies Law Center for their support and inspiration during our fiscal sponsorship.  We are planning for many productive collaborations in the future.

2023 CPG Membership Renewal

Membership in CPG runs on a calendar year basis and must be renewed at the beginning of each year.  We will begin registering new and returning members in mid January. Meanwhile, all 2022 memberships have been extended through January 31st, 2023. Expect an email in the next week with more details.

No Coffee Chat this month 

The CPG Membership Circle will resume monthly coffee chats in February. 

Community Upcoming Events

Jan. 18: The launch of Cooperation Africa will be held online on January 18th from 10am-12pm ET. Speakers include Professor Gordon Nembhard, Professor Shenaz Hossein, Professor Pérotin, and Brian Kagoro of Open Society. Register here.

Jan. 18: The National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives is hosting a webinar on “Grant Opportunities for Cooperatives” on January 18th at 2pm ET. CPE credit is available.  Register here. 

Jan. 24-25: The Ohio Cooperative Law Conference invites you to their 3rd Biennial Co-op Law Conference, which will be held on January 24th and 25th in Columbus, Ohio. The theme this year is “Cooperative for the Modern Era”. More information and registration can be found at this link.

Feb. 8: KDC is presenting "A More Just Food System Through Cooperatives" Feb. 8, 2023 at the PASA Conference. In this webinar, KDC will be exploring the barriers to a just food system and how the cooperative model is being employed to transform our currently distressed system. KDC will discuss how cooperatives have provided collective solutions to long standing problems farmers continually face in an exploitative food system. 

April: SMU's International Centre for Cooperative Management will host a two-day (virtual) interactive short course in April 2023 to take a deep dive on the topic of Cooperative Principle 6 from diverse perspectives. From the role of associations and federations to business partnerships and supply chains, to the development of new co-operatives. All content and examples will illustrate the benefits of inter-co-operation in strengthening co-operatives, economies, and communities.

August 20-30: The International Centre for Co-operative Management and the J. Dobrila University of Pula (Croatia) are offering an international cooperative law summer school on August 20-30, 2023 in Pula, Croatia for co-op practitioners and students. It will be taught by international cooperative law expert Hagen Henrÿ and other guest speakers. Courses bridge co-operative law, cooperative identity (ICA 1995), and sustainable development with legal rules and practice. Find more information here.

      Community Announcements

  • CityWorks, a media platform of the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, invites you to watch “Worker Cooperatives: Building a Better Workplace”, released January 2, 2023. The 30-min episode features LaRay Brown - CEO, One Brooklyn Health; Rebecca Lurie - Founder, Community and Worker Ownership Project; Sandy Nurse - Councilmember, New York City Council, District 37; Shawn Santana - Co-Founder and Worker Owner, Brooklyn Packers; and Karna Ray - Worker Owner, Brooklyn Packers. Watch here
  • Union Co-operative is a community real estate investment co-operative in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. We are the first co-operative in Canada to raise capital from community investors and foundations to acquire existing properties for permanent rental affordability through community ownership. Read about our recent milestone purchase here. 
  • The Solidarity Economy Principles Community of Practice launches March 19th. Principles and practices are outlined at solidarityeconomyprinciples.org. There are no fees. If you are working with cooperatives, land trusts, incubators, or groups interested in solidarity economy, please tell them about this free multilingual peer network. To learn more, register for PeoplesHub’s two upcoming workshops: Introduction to Solidarity Economy Movements, and Liberation Culture.
  • Jason Wiener | p.c., a Public Benefit Corporation is excited to share that Jacqueline (read: zhahk-keh-LEEN) Radebaugh has been promoted to Partner with Jason Wiener | p.c. You are invited to read the full Press Release and the blog post in our Pathways to Purpose Driven Legal Service series.
  • Jason Wiener| p.c., a Public Benefit Corporation introduces Healing Law Practice Area. Relevant details can be found here.  

Community Job Listings 

  • The Cooperative Fund of the Northeast (coopfund.coop) seeks a Director of Finance and Admin. This new remote (in region) position will provide leadership to support CFNE’s growth and consolidate and strengthen financial, HR, and IT functions. Candidates should have a demonstrated commitment to justice. Click here for the full job description. Priority will be given to applications received by 1/23/2023.
  • TakeRoot Justice seeks applicants with 2 to 7 years relevant substantive legal experience for the position of Staff Attorney to join TakeRoot’s Capacity Building practice. More information is available in this job announcement. 

Have questions or suggestions?

Please contact us at guildquestion@professionals.coop

Here’s how to get involved:

Contribute to the CPG Newsletter

Share your cooperative community news in our next month’s newsletter by submitting it to Paola Eisner using  this Google form

Connect with other Members by listserv

Reach members using CPG's listserv: Members@professionals.coop

Join one of our governance circles

The Cooperative Professionals Guild is a growing network of co-op professionals created by us, for us. We’re currently volunteer-run. If you’re interested in being part of growing and shaping this group, you’re welcome to listen in on, or join, one of our governance circles:

●      Webinar Circle: Email webinarcircle@professionals.coop or Sarah Kaplan at sarah@cuttingedgecounsel.com.

●      Membership Circle: Email membership@professionals.coop

●      Finance Circle: Email Alexandra Devendra at ​​alexandra@aligned.law. 

●      2023 CPG Conference Planning Circle: Fill out this form: forms.gle/ezPhbxPvRCh1Gf6r8

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