Celebrate Co-ops on July 2!

July 2 marks the 100th celebration of the International Day of Cooperatives, and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) has created the hashtag #CoopsDay to help get the word out about cooperatives. #CoopsDay aims to promote the cooperative ideas of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality, and world peace.

The cooperative model is people-centered, as opposed to capital-centered; democratically governed, rather than wealth-based; and jointly owned and controlled, focusing on maximizing wellbeing. Lofty ideals indeed! Or, as Bruno Roelants, Director General of the ICA, puts it, “Cooperatives are the only enterprise model with globally agreed upon principles that rest on a foundation of shared ethical values.”

I recently learned that 12% of humanity is now a member of a co-op! Operating around the world, in many different sectors of the economy, cooperatives have proven more resilient to crises than the average business. They also foster economic participation, fight environmental degradation and climate change, generate good jobs, contribute to food security, keep financial capital within local communities, build ethical value chains, and by improving people’s material conditions and security, contribute to positive peace. In these fraught times, cooperatives are more important than ever.

So, help spread the word by clicking on or sharing this hashtag #CoopDay. And thank you for supporting your Co-op!

Note: Thanks to the ICA for the above summary of how co-ops are helping build a better world. Want to know more? Check out International Cooperative Alliance | ICA