The Worker Co-op Conference is the only national event where worker-owners from across the United States gather to learn and build power together.
Since 2004, this conference has inspired new businesses and collaborations, influenced the strategy of cooperative developers, and connected workers from cooperatives around the country. We have come together as worker owners, cooperative developers, policymakers, funders, and other allies, to make space for connection, education, skill-building, and sharing to improve the lives of workers and their families.
We are so excited to host the 2022 Worker Co-op Conference in Philadelphia this September 9th and 10th. While we have worked so hard to support co-ops from a distance during the pandemic, we can’t wait to see what we can do when we come together. We are focusing on what we’ve missed so much: in-person connection, innovative strategy, collective learning, and celebration!
The conference will take place over two full days, starting the morning of September 9th and ending in the evening on September 10th.
The first day will include informal convenings, an outdoor table fair with a political rally, and our fall member meeting. Daylong workshops will take up most of the second day, and the conference will end with an outdoor party, featuring our Worker Co-op Awards ceremony. For more details about the schedule see our Schedule & Track Info page. For questions about registration and logistics, visit our Logistics & COVID-19 Information page and Frequently Asked Questions page.
Sponsorship for the conference is now open! Learn more here
The Worker Co-op Conference is produced by Democracy at Work Institute and the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives.
U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC)
The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) is the national grassroots membership organization for worker cooperatives.
As a membership and advocacy organization, we connect worker cooperative members to benefits, to each other and to the larger cooperative and economic justice movements. We amplify our members’ voices to advocate for worker cooperatives at the local, state and national level. We provide consulting and technical assistance to cooperatives old and new. And through the education, training and organizing work of our partner organization, the Democracy at Work Institute, we are committed to ensuring cooperative business ownership reaches those who need it the most.
Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI)
The Democracy at Work Institute expands the promise of cooperative business ownership to reach those communities most directly affected by social and economic inequality. It was created by the USFWC to ensure that worker cooperative development in economically and socially marginalized communities is adequately supported, effective, and strategically directed. It is the only national organization dedicated to building the field of worker cooperative development, through strategic research, creation of tools and standards, leadership development, direct technical assistance and advocacy for worker cooperatives as a community economic development strategy. The Institute brings both a birds-eye view of the national stage and an experiential on-the-ground understanding of cooperative business, making sure that our growing worker cooperative movement is both rooted in worker cooperatives themselves and reaches new communities of worker-owners.