Cooperative Professionals Guild

March 2023 Newsletter

Guild News, Community Events, Jobs and Announcements 

March Webinar: Update on Diné Nihi Kéyah Project: Toward a Navajo Vision for Land Use featuring Josey Foo, executive director of Indian Country Grassroots Support

Please join us on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 10 am PT/11 am MT/12 pm CT/1 pm ET for an update on the Diné Nihi Kéyah Project. The Diné Nihi Kéyah Project is a grass-roots effort to empower the Navajo community to reach a vision for land use. 

Current land use rules on many Tribal reservations were created by the Department of the Interior for Federal public lands and involve systems of public leases and permits. These rules may be suitable for national parks that were designed for conservation and recreation but are inappropriately restrictive for tribal lands where communities live permanently and need more flexibility than what is afforded to them by single-purpose public leases and permits. The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Guidance for Integrated Resource Management Planning in Indian Country (2001) provides a means for Federal regulations to be revised or waived when a tribe provides its vision for integrated land use through Community Land Use Plans (CLUPs) and an Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP). Prior attempts to produce CLUPs and an IRMP did not work because they were created by non-Navajo individuals and BIA consultants.

The land use vision being developed by the Diné Nihi Kéyah Project is informed by legal, historical, and customary knowledge and is led by retired Navajo Nation justices, judges, and land use planners and advocates. Josey Foo, executive director of Indian Country Grass Roots Support, will describe how the project is facilitating the type of envisioning that the BIA recommended when it said to “simulate stepping into a time machine and dialing it ahead 20 years” and to “identify fundamental values which will allow the quality of life and resource conditions in the vision to be achieved.” 

A request for approval of 1 hour of CLE credit in California is pending.

Register here to join the webinar.  

Our members-only recordings library has been updated and includes links to our past webinars.

March Coffee Chat

Please join Guild members and subscribers for our March Coffee Chat on Friday, March 24th at 9:30 am PT/ 12:30 pm ET. This will be an informal chat to get to know each other and build community. Bring a mug with something you like to drink if you'd like. A link to register will be circulated shortly; please email membership@professionals.coop with any questions. Stay tuned for our mentorship coffee chat series, which will continue in April.

• The California Worker Owned Recovery Coalition (WORC) is requesting signatures in support of state funding for SB1407 initiatives, including California’s new voter-approved co-op development hubs. Please consider lending your support by signing on to WORC’s letter or sending one of your own (you’re welcome to review WORC’s draft letter). 
  

• New Open Access Book on Governance Humanistic Governance in Democratic Organizations: The Cooperative Difference Humanism in Business Series, palgrave macmillan Edited by Sonja Novkovic, Karen Miner, Cian McMahon https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-17403-2. 

• Colorado business owners can access the Colorado Employee Ownership Office’s new virtual education program, “Introduction to Employee Ownership.” You can find the link to sign up here.

Community Upcoming Events

• April 2023: 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.

• June 1-3: The National Conference On Black Cooperative Agenda is being held on June 1-3 in Las Vegas. Find more info at https://ndccnetwork.org/2023-conference/.

• June 2-3: The California Center for Cooperative Development is holding their annual conference in San Jose on June 2-3. Find out more at http://www.cccd.coop/events/2023-california-co-op-conference.  

• June 8-10: The Consumer Cooperative Management Association (CCMA) annual conference will be held on June 8-10 in Sacramento, California. Scholarships are available; the application deadline is March 17 and applications can be found here https://ccma.coop/scholarships/. 

• June 7-9: The NSAC Far Western Chapter’s annual meeting will be held on June 7-9 in Las Vegas. The chapter honors the memory of cooperator Dan Nutley by offering the Dan Nutley Scholarship, which includes 1 free registration to both the Educational and General sessions. If you’re interested, send an application to Josh Bakke (Josh.Bakke@mossadams.com) by April 30th. 

• May 10-11: The National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3) is co-hosting the upcoming SuperCrowd 2023 conference on May 10-11th. This conference is a good fit for anyone interested in learning more about investment crowdfunding, one of the options cooperatives have for raising capital. To register using NC3’s discount, use this link.

• Aug. 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 jobs and engagement opportunities

• Key Figures is currently hiring for two positions: Client Accounting Specialist and Administration Manager. Key Figures is a fully remote worker-owned firm providing bookkeeping, tax preparation, and financial management solutions. We have a nationwide client base, primarily composed of cooperatives and nonprofits. We are able to consider applicants from most US states. We offer competitive pay & benefits, flexible schedules, professional development, and the opportunity to become an owner after 1 year. https://www.keyfigures.coop/join-our-team. 

• The Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) is seeking its next Executive Director (job posting here: https://cdi.coop/cdi-executive-director/). This is a fully remote position, but CDI is only accepting applications from candidates located in CDI’s service area of New England and New York state who have experience working in the region.

• Yale Law School has a clinical fellow opening in its Housing and Community & Economic Development Clinic. This is a two-year position with a third-year option, beginning on or about July 1, 2023, for a lawyer with at least three years of practice considering a career in law school teaching. Annual salary is $75,000-80,000. Email a resume, cover letter, writing sample, and names/addresses/phone numbers of three references to Osikhena Awudu (osikhena.awudu@yale.edu). Applications will be accepted until March 15, 2023 but will be reviewed on a rolling basis (early applications encouraged).

Participate in the Cooperative Professionals Guild

• Submit community listings for the next newsletter using this Google form;

• Send messages to the CPG network by emailing the CPG listserv at  members@professionals.coop;

• Attend meetings or join governance circles. Committee members are also eligible to join the Stewardship Circle. 

• Webinar Committee: Email Sarah Kaplan at sarah@cuttingedgecounsel.com.

• Membership Committee: Email Pacyinz Lyfoung at pacyinz@gmail.com.

• Finance Committee: Email Alexandra Devendra at ​​alexandra@aligned.law. 2023 CPG Conference Circle: Fill out this form forms.gle/ezPhbxPvRCh1Gf6r8. 

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