Cooperative Principle #5 is Education & Training. As such, CDI believes that the best way to grow the cooperative economy is to share knowledge and training other people to become cooperative leaders.

Training Programs

Please join us for one of our two virtual training programs. Both of these programs are generously grant funded and are free of charge to select participants.

  • Cooperative Development Training Program (registration currently closed for 2022-2023)
    This introductory course is designed to not only teach you how to start a co-op but also give you the tools to become a co-op developer so you can each others how to grow their cooperative.

    • Who is this for: Future co-op developers, individuals looking to start a co-op or teach others how to start co-ops, organizations who want to incubate co-ops
    • 12 month online program, meets 1x per month.
    • Taught in both English and Spanish
  • Participatory Management Initiative (Accepting registrations now. Apply now.)
    This course is designed to teach managers and employees of small businesses, employee owned and not, the tools of participatory and democratic workplaces in order to build profitability, employee retention, and more.

    • Who is this for: Future co-op developers, individuals looking to start a co-op or teach others how to start co-ops, organizations who want to incubate co-ops
    • 8 monthly sessions, plus additional coaching hours
    • Taught in both English and Spanish

 

Custom Workshops

Please let us know if you are looking for a custom presentation about co-ops! We have prepared workshops that we can adapt to the particular needs of your group, including length of time; we can also design a new workshop in response to the needs of cooperators in our region.

Co-ops 101

CDI's Cooperative Training Academy in action!
CDI’s Cooperative Development  Training Program in action!

There are a few different ways to define what a cooperative is, what it isn’t, and what it should be, as well as different ways to categorize co-ops into different types. If after reading through our description of “What is a co-op” and viewing our generic presentation, your group wants to dig deeper into how the cooperative principles apply to the realities of your enterprise, you can have CDI run a long-distance webinar or an in-person workshop customized to your group’s needs.

Other Workshops We Have Offered

  • Co-ops Seeding Co-ops
  • Training of Trainers and Mentors
  • Inclusion and Diversity / Anti-Oppression
  • The Tyranny of Structurelessness? Identifying, Addressing, and Dealing With Informal Power Dynamics in Cooperatives

“In human relations, the ends depend on the means, and the outcome depends on the process.” -Dr. Haim Ginott

Knowledge Development

In line with Cooperative Principle Five, Education, Training, and Information, in addition to providing direct business assistance services and training, CDI makes significant investments in developing knowledge about and for cooperative development. We do research, gather resources, promote information-sharing in peer networks, and conduct evaluations of our work.

Research topics vary, from explorations of how co-ops can seed new co-ops to best practices for cooperative farming. Some of our published work, or publications we have contributed to, can be found on our Publications page.

Cultivate.coopThis website is an example of how we gather resources for easier access. CDI is also one of the founders of Cultivate.coop, a collectively curated wiki of learning tools about cooperatives.

CDI is a contributor to and a great beneficiary of our peer networks, in particular Cooperation Works!, the professional network of cooperative developers. We also started and moderate the peer discussion group NEFME, New England Farmers’ Market Exchange.

We are always on the lookout on how to advance not just the amount of information, but the quality of knowledge among co-operators.