This workshop included three presentations providing important updates about cooperative governance in Australia, a panel discussion with the guest speakers, a Q&A session and an opportunity for people to ask advice about setting up and managing their own cooperative.
Co-op Curious?
This is a clinic for people who are interested in cooperatives:
- Why do they exist?
- How do they work and how do they compare to other ways of structuring an enterprise?
- What can they do and what is it like being in one?
This workshop includes three presentations providing important updates about cooperative governance in Australia, a panel discussion with the guest speakers and a Q&A session.
SPEAKERS
- Antony McMullen - Co-operative Bonds
- Anthony Taylor - Business Council of Cooperatives & Mutuals (BCCM)
- Eleanor Coffey - Redgum Cleaning Co-operative (Earthworker)
SPEAKER BIOS
Antony McMullen
Antony is a co-operative founder, developer and advocate committed to building local prosperity for the common good. His passion for good governance is recognized through his designation as Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia (formerly Chartered Secretaries Australia); he co-drafted the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) Co-operative and Mutual Enterprise best-practice governance framework . He co-founded the 888 Co-operative Causeway, and Co-operative Bonds, a cooperative of cooperative developers that works to enable communities to establish or redevelop innovative member-owned enterprises in the social economy. He is Co-convenor of the New Economy Network Australia (NENA) Co-operatives Sectoral Hub (along with Anthony Taylor of the BCCM). He is a member of the Australian Services Union and Professionals Australia and is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA ). He writes regularly on the social and solidarity economy (some of his articles can be found here).
Anthony Taylor
Anthony Taylor is the Policy and Research Adviser at the national peak body for co-ops and mutuals, the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM). He provides advice to support BCCM’s advocacy for an improved regulatory environment for co-ops and mutuals and information and training to groups seeking to start co-ops. Anthony is also Secretary of member-owned co-working space 888 Co-operative Causeway.
Eleanor Coffey
In 2015, Eleanor's experience volunteering with Earthworker Cooperative encouraged her to make the transition from being employed as a cleaner to co-founding the Redgum Cleaning Cooperative. After 2 years of development, Redgum launched in early 2018 with 5 founding members and began cleaning homes and offices around Melbourne using eco-friendly methods. The worker-cooperative has doubled in size since then, and its members are always learning new things about cooperatively running a business. Eleanor is keen to develop her skills to communicate about Redgum's experience, and find ways to encourage and support others to start their own worker-cooperatives in ethical industries.