Grant Spotlight: Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC

Thanks to CDF's Howard Bowers Fund the Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC (CEANYC) continues development of an anti-racism and anti-gentrification training program. The training helps food co-ops develop work plans for making services and membership more inclusive, especially for co-ops located in primarily low-income neighborhoods.  

Members of the Bushwick and Lefferts Community Food Cooperatives participated in CEANYC training that included neighborhood outreach and organizing techniques targeted at understanding the needs of the community.  The program includes the history of co-ops in Black communities in New York and the importance of sustaining the cooperative as well as the community.   

CEANYC is revising and strengthening the training based on feedback from Bushwick and Lefferts Food Co-ops and researching and developing curricula for anti-oppression trainings.  CEANYC will continue to offer the program to New York City cooperatives.  

About the Howard Bowers Fund

Supported by the food cooperative community and guided by the fifth and sixth cooperative principles to promote education, training, and cooperation among cooperatives, the Howard Bowers Fund invests in the professional growth and development of food cooperative staff and board members with bi-annual grants and scholarships. The Fund provides training and education grants and scholarships to professional conferences for food cooperatives, sponsorship of education conferences for food cooperative boards and staff, and development of educational materials relevant to food cooperatives. Applications for the 2019 fall grant cycle must be submitted by September 15, 2019 by visiting cdf.coop/bowersfund.