With 60 million LatinX people living in the Unites States and 1.3 million LatinX business owners and having 1 in 4 new business created by a person from Latinx community its quite remarkable to see how it takes twice as longer as a white male to earn the same.. ...
Cooperatives are a way to combine resources to create and redistribute wealth for better accessibility be it in grocery, library or businesses within marginalized communities . Its a means of empowerment to create power , dignity and equitable society.
Esther West brings a long-time passion for worker co-ops and community development in her role as Cooperative Development Specialist at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. Bringing insights from various urban planning experiences prior to joining the Center, Esther researches co-op ecosystems and Latinx cooperatives. Bringing five years of first-hand worker ownership experience from Equal Exchange, Esther provides technical assistance to co-op start-ups.
She has been Co-Facilitator for the Eastern Coordinating Committee for the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, a Trainer with Green Worker Co-ops in the Bronx, and Equal Exchange’s Education Committee Co-Chair.
Esther currently is a board member of MadWorC and was recently elected as vice president of the board of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.
"Creation" was an apt name for creating power, wealth and accessibility within underserved populations in the US. Creating a vision of worker owned coops for more equitable and just society .. A powerful resource for more information about Esther's work that gives an overview and a toolkit to start Co-op is:
https://uwcc.wisc.edu/research/latinx-cooperative-research/