MESSAGE FROM ACBA BOARD PRESIDENT
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ACBA YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Congrats to all of us for making it to the end of 2021! It has been another challenging year for Austin’s cooperative economy, but we have persevered together. 
As I look back on what ACBA and friends and
allies have accomplished this year, I’m reminded of the power of the cooperative principles. Working with our members and partners, we demonstrated a steadfast commitment to community (Principle #7), our passion for educating and training (Principle #5), and our values of autonomy (#4), democracy (#2), and cooperation among cooperatives (#6) every single day.
2021 was a big year for the ACBA. We hired Drew De Los Santos to be our Program Director, filling a staff position for the first time in many years. Drew has become an invaluable member of the ACBA team, supporting local cooperative growth, teaching classes, building partnerships, and improving our digital presence. Many of you have had the opportunity to work with Drew, so you know. If you haven’t, make that a 2022 goal!
Another major highlight of 2021: a full suite of programming during October’s Co-op Month celebrations. We hosted unique workshops, such as “Democracy at Work: How Co-op Management Can Improve Your Daily Work Life,” reconnected with many of you during our tabling hours at Wheatsville’s dual locations, and together with Austin Public Library developed a fun and informative self-guided co-op tour of Austin!
Looking ahead, we’ve got big plans for 2022. We are expanding our work with the Texas Rural Cooperative Center and the City of Austin, offering more free coaching and classes to existing and start-up cooperatives. We aim to have a larger presence in Austin and develop a marketing campaign for cooperative businesses. We also plan on developing new programs to support green jobs and cooperatives in response to the climate crisis. Stay tuned for an updated website - with fresh co-op club perks! - in January.
Like what you’re reading? Support us and our work by becoming a member of the co-op club or encouraging your co-op to join as a business member. (Psst - business member dues are going up in 2022, so renew today!)
Co-operatives UK recently posted on Twitter that there are “over a billion members of co-operatives and millions of co-operative businesses [worldwide]. But despite a global pandemic and the climate emergency, can we say we live in a cooperative world?”
My response would be, not yet, but let’s make it happen, y’all.
In solidarity,
Carol Fraser, President
ACBA Board of Directors
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Looking for easy gift ideas that support the Austin economy and your values? ACBA members can help. Wheatsville features a plethora of fair trade gifts and chocolates, plus toys, ornaments, and calendars at both the Guadalupe and south Lamar locations. Black Star schwag and 4th Tap merch will let your loved ones show their cooperative support in style. Or consider a Treasure City Thrift eGiftCard to help sustain a valued local business during these tough economic times. Happy holidays everyone!
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PITCH IN TO SUPPORT OUR BOOMERS TODAY!
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Boomers Collaborative Foundation has launched their first ever end of year fundraiser. They’re so close to $3,000 Donate now!
Wouldn’t it be cool to retire to a co-op? Right now many seniors are struggling, and retirement prospects for younger generations don’t look promising. With some of us paying student loans until our 60’s it’s time to think cooperatively for our future.
Rethink and enjoy senior life through cooperative housing and support Boomers Collaborative. They’re creating a retirement housing model for the current generation of seniors and future ones.
Boomers Collaborative has been working for about 8 years with the City, developers, and co-op experts to bring this project together. And they’re in the final steps of a development contract for the first location, and they’re working to identify a second site in Austin! Your tax-deductible contribution will support their organizing efforts to recruit and train new coop members. Your money will directly help set the foundation for a new way for seniors to thrive in Austin.
Pitch in $25 to end 2021 today!
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TALES FROM AVENUE FOOD CO-OP
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Tales from Avenue Food Co-op
Thanks to a local co-oper for submitting this story! Names have been changed for privacy.
In 1976 I was a volunteer cashier at The Avenues Food Co-op. Lots of mistakes were made and a lot of lessons learned as we floundered forward until going out of business in '77 or '78. But, the mistakes and experiences of The Avenues planted seeds that became Wheatsville. Here are several vignettes from that time.
We had one paid staff [member]. We thought we were gaining enough traction to hire a part-time cashier to supplement the volunteers and build some stability. I and another volunteer cashier applied. As we did things in those days the hiring interviews consisted of Mitch, our lone staffer, and any other Avenues member who wanted to attend. We wound up with about 4-5 interviewers. There were a bunch of questions from all comers and then myself and Kathy were allowed to ask each other questions. I can't remember if or what I asked. Kathy asked if I believed in astrology. Taken aback I think I just said "no, I don't". In closing comments she told our interviewers that she didn't see how Avenues could possibly hire someone who didn't believe in astrology. I didn't get the job.
As we struggled with tenuous finances an emergency all store meeting was called to address the crisis. Someone or several people diverted the meeting by bringing up a controversy that apparently had been bubbling for some time. Was it ethical or proper for a health conscious co-op to carry waxed cucumbers? Should we hold the line and only offer unwaxed cucumbers? The scheduled 2 hour meeting spent over 45 minutes debating wax versus no wax.
At another all store meeting considerable time was spent debating personal freedom as one particular female in-store volunteer did her shifts topless. It should be stated that Avenues could not afford air conditioning and it was summer.
Send us an email if you'd like to submit your own co-op history story! drew.delossantos@acba.coop
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VULK COOP: MONTHLY MEETUP
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Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Time: 7 - 8pm CDT
Where: Online - via Zoom
Topic: Book Review:Design Justice: Community Led Practices to Build the Worlds we Need
Each month, the Austin Software Co-operatives Meetup reviews a topic or book that helps us discover the best ways to structure a software co-operative.
Join us remotely on January 5th for a book review of "Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need" by Sasha Costanza-Chock.
About the book from https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/design-justice:
Summary:
An exploration of how design might be led by marginalized communities, dismantle structural inequality, and advance collective liberation and ecological survival.
What is the relationship between design, power, and social justice? “Design justice” is an approach to design that is led by marginalized communities and that aims explicitly to challenge, rather than reproduce, structural inequalities. It has emerged from a growing community of designers in various fields who work closely with social movements and community-based organizations around the world.
This book explores the theory and practice of design justice, demonstrates how universalist design principles and practices erase certain groups of people—specifically, those who are intersectionally disadvantaged or multiply burdened under the matrix of domination (white supremacist heteropatriarchy, ableism, capitalism, and settler colonialism)—and invites readers to “build a better world, a world where many worlds fit; linked worlds of collective liberation and ecological sustainability.” Along the way, the book documents a multitude of real-world community-led design practices, each grounded in a particular social movement. Design Justice goes beyond recent calls for design for good, user-centered design, and employment diversity in the technology and design professions; it connects design to larger struggles for collective liberation and ecological survival.
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HOUSING CO-OP DEVELOPMENT SURVEY
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Since late 2019 a group of Housing Co-opers formed a Housing Co-op Development Work Group with the goal of coming up with a model for sustainable growth for Housing Co-ops in Austin. We have created a survey to determine how much interest there is in current co-ops and/or the formation of a new co-op. Please fill out the survey if that sounds like something you would be interested in. Additionally, if you would like to join the Working Group please email ryan.nill@acba.coop.
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Now is a great time to get involved with our Board, Committees, Fundraising and Special Projects. We're working in many different ways to impact our local co-op economy. Click here to fill out the form on our website to get plugged in today!
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