Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Overall, the CBFDP's target audience is Black & long-term residents of Central Brooklyn. Beyond that, each entity reached the following people... CBFC: Over the course of this grant, the Central Brooklyn Food Coop (CBFC) has continued to center our target audience of Black residents, low-income families, and long-term residents of the neighborhood, many of whom face systemic barriers to food access and economic opportunity. Engaged low-income Black residents of subsidized and public housing, with a focus on long-term Central Brooklyn residents, distributed bags of fresh produce from Brooklyn Packers, a Black-led cooperative via #HoldDown BK mutual aid initiative 2020-2022 As we wrapped up, we engaged 21 #HoldDown BK participants in focus groups. Feedback from these sessions deepened CBFC's relationships with the community and informed strategies for CBFC. CBFC reached almost 300 members in the Central Brooklyn area, with 95% residing locally and reflecting a diverse mix of income levels. Members continued to participate in monthly general meetings, committee meetings, or special events, contributing to CBFC's collective organizing efforts. Through targeted outreach events and activities, the Membership and Outreach Committee attracted and oriented 161 new invested members, representing a significant expansion of CBFC's reach and engagement. CBFC partnered with Beautifully Fed Food to conduct in-person food demonstrations that centered the recipes and food stories of CBFC members. These events engaged both existing members and prospective community members. This initiative was intentionally designed to celebrate cultural traditions, encourage member participation, and create a dynamic learning environment. RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program: During the full grant period, we held 3 different cooperative academies, while providing outreach and education on Black-owned cooperative businesses From 2020-2023 we held 9 info sessions about our academies, with 205 RSVPs and 101 attendees. Our inaugural 2020-2021 Academy was 7 months long with weekly sessions. We had 18 participants from 3 cooperatives: Beautifully Fed Food, Sisters 3 Tea and QT Herb Farm. The cohort was 89% women or non-binary; 72% African, Afro-Caribbean, or Black/African-American; 100% were Black, Indigenous or other people of color (including mixed-race) Our 2022-2023 Academy was 9 months long with weekly sessions. We had 10 participants from 2 incubated groups and 1 auditing group: Goumel Co-op, Our Family Tree, and BK Futures Farm (auditor). 100% of the cohort was Black. Our Fall 2023 "Academy Intensive" had 9 sessions, with 23 participants. The cohort was 87% Black. In the 2023-2024 period, we continued to provide TA (incubation support and education) to 6 worker-owned cooperatives, totaling 28 program recipients: Brooklyn Packers, Beautifully Fed Food, Sisters 3 Tea, Goumel, Our Family Tree and Flatbush Ladle who are collectively 93% Black and 68% women/non-binary. Beyond our co-op academies and TA, we facilitated approximately 15 public workshops/conference presentations, with approximately 140 attendees. Changes/Problems:CBFDP - Leadership Team As mentioned above, we have not yet formed a CBFDP Leadership Team. In reflection, we have felt that both (a) individual cooperatives needed more sustainability before capacity was demanded of members toward this leadership, and (b) it was smarter tactically to create opportunities for relationship-building between cooperatives so that a leadership team process would be more organic and community-determined. Having given attention to these priorities, we are currently hiring a consultant to lead us through a strategic planning process that will (a) get cooperative member input into what Black worker-owner leadership should look like over the project, and (b) help identify a 3-5 year plan. We anticipate this process culminating in Summer 2025, and we will create a plan to implement the findings and initiate a to-be-determined form of the leadership team in Fall 2025. CBFC While the Central Brooklyn Food Coop (CBFC) did not open a brick-and-mortar store during the project period, the shift in approach ultimately led to opportunities that could result in a more impactful long-term outcome. Several major changes influenced the project's direction: The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant external factor that disrupted many of CBFC's in-person activities, momentum, and planned community engagement events. The pandemic's effects on member engagement and financial stability and affordability across Central Brooklyn neighborhoods caused delays in meeting the timeline for opening the store. The physical distancing and safety concerns also meant that much of the educational programming and community building had to pivot to virtual formats, limiting the co-op's ability to fully establish itself within the community. As a result of leadership challenges and membership turnover, particularly by the end of 2023, CBFC had to refocus on internal governance and capacity building. Initially, CBFC struggled with a deficit of board members, which resulted in the loss of momentum. However, this challenge also catalyzed a rebuilding phase, where the co-op recruited new, active leadership--specifically Black women leaders-- into the board and reinforced governance structures and systems. This period was essential for laying the groundwork for sustainable operations, ensuring that CBFC could function more effectively as it moves toward the store opening. While the store did not open during the project period, CBFC alongside the partners of the Brooklyn Food Democracy Project has the opportunity to move into our first Brick and Mortar store through the Steps at Saratoga project. This allows our physical location to be a part of a hub of food coops/businesses, rather than being in isolation. We are anticipating a 2028 opening. RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program During each year of the grant period, we have pivoted our cooperative development recruitment, incubation and technical assistance strategy based on observation, feedback and data collection. For example: In 2022 we changed our recruitment strategy to require groups of 3 or more members (rather than 5), due to the challenge of finding groups of 5+ people interested in starting a business together. We lengthened our 2022-2023 Academy from 7 months to 9 months because we included more "Academy Work Sessions" that provided space for 1:1 support to the cooperatives. In 2023, we decided to have a Co-op Academy Intensive to engage a broader group in low-stakes cooperative education. Following the intensive, we received 5 applications from participating groups who were interested in ongoing incubation services with us. In 2023 and again in 2024, we decided to invest in marketing initiatives that would support existing co-ops, rather than developing new cooperatives. These have included Marketing TA support, the public Black Food Rising event, Institutional Buyer research, and customized website development for the newest cooperatives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program During the grant period, we have participated in over 50 trainings and professional development activities, including: 3 National Coop Conferences 12 Co-op Academy Peer Network sessions Wholehearted Bookkeeping's Worker Coop Finance 101 Wholehearted Bookkeeping's Inclusive Budgeting NDCC Black Cooperative Agenda Conference NPQ's Building Regional Solidarity Economies USFWC's Member Removal workshop USFWC's A Conversation Between Co-ops in Rojava and the US Brooklyn Coop's Business Plan Series: Business Model Canvas Non Profit Quarterly's Remaking the Economy: Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories SCORE's Starting A Business On Shoestring Budget In 2023 Collaborative Funding with Cobudget BCDI's Downtown Crenshaw Ecosystem: Worker Cooperatives Penn Loh at Tufts' Solidarity Economy Movements Course Bluelight's Transformative Justice cohort Asset Funders Network's Employee Ownership Strategies for Economic Resilience & Equity: Pathways for Philanthropy Municipalism Learning Series: Municipalism & Labor USFWC's Co-op Clinic: Basic Finances Slow Money's Food Funded NYC LIFT Economy's How to Raise Mission-Aligned Capital US Federation of Worker Cooperatives workshop on Conflict in Co-ops National Coalition for Community Capital - Community Investment Fund Toolkit Launch Network for Developing Conscious Communities' Black Co-ops Conference BeInspired's Understanding Racial Inequity US Federation of Worker Cooperatives' Worker Co-op Week (conference) Food Sovereignty & Anti-Colonial Struggle Mental Health & Deescalation New Economy Coalition's Solidarity Economy Principles workshop Black Entrepreneurs NYC's Funding Options for your Business Community Food Funder/Seeding Power workshops on Courageous Conversations and Conflict Resolution NASCO workshop on Conflict in Coops Crowdfunding Series with Jamie Frank LIFT Economy's How to Raise Mission-Aligned Capital NYC's Small Business Services courses: Business Finances, Building an Operational Plan, Small Business Financing Groundswell's webinar on Starting a Farm New York State Food Governance Workshop with Equity Advocates In It Together- a webinar on a tool kit for moving groups through conflict Conflict and Courageous Conversations with Vision, Change, Win Patronage in co-ops Training Food Justice Media Training Trainings on Understanding Racial Inequity; Colorism; and Anti-Blackness led by BeInsipred Central Brooklyn Food Coop participated in: National Black Food & Justice Alliance (NBFJA) CBFC was a leader in the NBFJA, actively participating in monthly webinars and peer calls that covered key topics such as organizing, fundraising, management, market study development, and real estate issues. CBFC members participated in 12 monthly leadership team meetings with NBFJA, which focused on building leadership, understanding cooperative economics, and addressing challenges specific to Black communities in the food system. CBFC leaders also engaged in four NBFJA webinars on various topics, allowing members to gain valuable knowledge and connect with other emerging food cooperatives across the country. A CBFC member participated in an NBFJA market study focus group, which explored challenges specific to conducting market research in Black communities--a critical skill for the successful launch of a food coop. CBFC leaders attended the annual NBFJA meeting, where they further deepened their understanding of cooperative business models, networking with leaders from other food justice initiatives. CBFC participated in the Up & Coming Food Coop Conference, a national event that provided opportunities for members to present, network, and gain insights into the business operations of food cooperatives. At this conference, CBFC's then board chair prepared and presented on the CBFC project, gaining exposure to new ideas and best practices for cooperative development and learning from other emerging food coops. This event was particularly important for CBFC members in learning the nuts and bolts of operating a food coop, connecting with peers, and building relationships with others in the cooperative ecosystem. CBFC also participated in the annual meeting of the Cooperative Economics Alliance of New York City, providing opportunities for networking and learning about cooperative economics and how to strengthen the cooperative movement in NYC. Member leaders attended the BUGS conference Member leaders attended the We The Land conference CBFC members attended THe Network for Developing Conscious Community's Black Cooperative Agenda Conference June 2024 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The RiseBoro Worker Coop Development Team initiated and distributed a quarterly newsletter, sent ten times during the grant period directly to over 2000 people & indirectly to at least 7500. As noted above, RiseBoro has been convening peer-learning gatherings of organizations involved in worker cooperative academies. The CBFDP has produced three annual reports collectively in 2020, 2021, and 2022. These have been distributed to CBFC, RiseBoro's and BMC's email lists as well as through partner lists, reaching an estimated 5000 people and 45 organizations and foundations. The CBFDP has also created several revisions of a presentation on the project that has been used for presenting to potential funders, funders, the USDA CFP community, at worker co-op Academy intro sessions, internally within RiseBoro, and more. While not about the project overall, there have been several articles about the the co-ops themselves - including CBFC and Brooklyn Packers and about Black Food Rising.? CBFC meticulously reports on participation in conferences, seminars, and trainings at general member meetings. This allows members to stay informed about the knowledge and skills being gained by their peers and leaders, fostering a sense of collective learning and engagement. CBFC has built strong connections with other food coops and allied ventures. It regularly invites members of these ventures to board meetings, general member meetings, and the annual meeting, where they can share advice and insights on co-op startups and growth. This exchange of information strengthens the knowledge base within CBFC and builds solidarity among cooperatives. As part of a cohort of food cooperatives organized by the National Black Food & Justice Alliance (NBFJA), CBFC actively shares and receives information with other cooperatives in the network. This allows for cross-pollination of ideas and strategies and fosters collaboration on shared goals and challenges in the food justice and cooperative spaces. CBFC Business & Strategy Chair was a part of a weekly NBFJA Market Study group that worked to develop strategies and standarize market study requirements for Black Food Coops; it resulted in the white paper linked here. The previous CBFC chair co-created and presented at an event called, "Creating New Food Cooperatives with an Equity Focus," coordinated by Community Food Funders. The event, in collaboration with Kingston Food Coop and Food Coop Initiative, served as a platform for sharing insights on the process of creating food cooperatives, with a focus on equity. This event allowed CBFC to share its experiences with a broader audience, while also learning from other cooperative initiatives. The shared knowledge and best practices were disseminated back to CBFC's membership and broader community through ongoing discussions and presentations at meetings. CBFC has maintained a member-newsletter to nearly 200 members and 2100 subscribers where we have spotlighted active members, shared current programming and offers, and updates about the coop. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1 The Membership and Outreach Committee spearheaded efforts, attracting and orienting 161 new invested members to the co-op with 20 orientations since 2019. To deepen engagement, CBFC held: 2 political education sessions Monthly membership meetings Events like Black August grub parties and December Socials Throughout 2020, the Store Opening Working Group met monthly to address questions, identify capacity needs, and determine key strategies for store readiness. In 2022, CBFC conducted a two-day retreat attended by 15 leaders, resulting in a comprehensive framework outlining strategies for store opening, prioritizing deeper membership engagement and relationship-building with long-term Black residents. In 2024, CBFC's interim board leadership conducted another strategy meeting to develop a foundational plan to onboard a new Project Manager and plan for efforts needed to open the store in 2028. The Business and Strategy Committee developed: A business plan Financial strategies for the store opening via a partnership with Columinate, which estimated a $4M budget CBFC initiated plans for a market study and finalized assumptions about the co-op's space and operating model. This important work is ongoing and will be furthered by the Project Manager. Conducted an internal audit of resources to prepare for an upcoming capital campaign. Held community-building events like Black Food Rising, which attracted new members and offered educational materials such as: Political education zines A curated Black Radical Tradition & Cooperative reading library Distributed $10 grocery coupons to members for use with Brooklyn Packers. Launched the #HoldDownBK food distribution campaign, delivering over 70,000 pounds of food to more than 250 families during the pandemic. Engaged Vision Change Win, a consulting firm, to support conflict resolution and strengthen board leadership. Created an RFP to hire a consultant to assess CBFC's current stage and identify next steps toward store opening; this RFP ultimately became a job description for a Project Manager hire. The Governance working committee developed a decision-making matrix to aid in transparency during big decisions. In February 2023, we secured a development bid for land at Fulton Street and Saratoga Avenue in Brooklyn. GOAL 2 RiseBoro is excited to have achieved numerous accomplishments from 2019-2024, including: Drafting our own vision, mission and principles, as well as our organizing model Supported 7 cooperatives, with 6 still operational or in the startup process, surpassing our goal of 4 surviving beyond the project period. Providing over 700 hours of technical assistance, excluding training and Academy time. Creating an ecosystem of six Black- and worker-owned food enterprises: Brooklyn Packers (BKP): A Black-led food sourcing, packing, and distribution cooperative that builds Brooklyn food sovereignty by connecting farms to the city. Beautifully Fed Food (BFF): A women-of-color-led cooperative focused on eliminating health disparities among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color through nutritious food. Sisters 3 Tea (S3T): A Black-woman-led beverage cooperative offering loose leaf tea and sparkling botanicals inspired by Caribbean herbs and fruits. Goumel (GML): A women-owned cooperative that promotes Haitian culture through catering, cooking demos, and market products. Our Family Tree (OFT): An African-Indigenous wellness education center providing training and community space for health and sustainability. Flatbush Ladle (FL): A meal prep and skill-sharing business serving busy adults and mutual-aid groups, anchored in solidarity. Key Co-op Achievements 4 incorporated during or before the grant period (BFF, S3T, GML, and BKP). Our Family Tree and Flatbush Ladle will incorporate in 2025. 4 cooperatives finalized bylaws (BFF, S3T, GML, BKP). All 6 have increased revenue with our support and improved governance structures, including decision-making processes and conflict resolution. Financial Support to the Co-ops $10,000 startup grants to BFF, S3T, and GML. $2,500 annually for external consultant needs to BKP, BFF, S3T, and GML. Participation stipends for members of BFF, S3T, GML, OFT, and FL. Inter-Cooperative Collaboration BKP has provided transportation services to GML. S3T has sourced ingredients from BKP. BFF and S3T have vended at RB farmers markets. S3T is advising GML on operations such as point-of-sale systems. Additional Initiatives Completed an Institutional Buyer Study with Pratt Center for Community Development to understand institutional buyer needs and co-op capabilities. We are currently planning Phase 2--a pilot program for institutional buying. Conducted various trainings including two financial education workshops, a member manual workshop, and a marketing workshop. Goal 3 Beautifully Fed Food participated in three (live and virtual) cooking demonstrations during the spring of 2020, reaching a large online audience during the pandemic and allowing BFF to build engagement and visibility while providing essential food education. As part of the Fall 2019 Kickstarter campaign, CBFC hired Karen Cherfils of Beautifully Fed Food to create and share four seasonal recipes with donors. BFF continued its engagement with CBFC membership in 2021 through a series of virtual cooking demonstrations, highlighting the flavors of local foods. This partnership helped build business viability for BFF. GOAL 4 Black Food Rising The Central Brooklyn Food Coop (CBFC) and RiseBoro hosted their inaugural public event, Black Food Rising, on September 23, 2023, at Restoration Plaza in Brooklyn. This free outdoor event aimed to enhance visibility for CBFDP co-ops and allied small businesses. It featured 20 vendor tables, a DJ, a raffle, and a screening of the documentary The Sun Rises in the East. Despite heavy rain, over 200 participants attended, with two cooperatives selling out their products. The event successfully united partners and showcased the community ecosystem. Steps at Saratoga In 2021, NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) sought proposals for redeveloping vacant land in Bedford-Stuyvesant/Ocean Hill to promote community wellness. RiseBoro Housing, its Worker Co-op team, CBFDP partners, and other developers collaborated to create Steps at Saratoga, which includes: 238 affordable homes for low-income families and older adults A Food Hub featuring: The Central Brooklyn Food Co-op Brooklyn Packers' 6,000 sq. ft. food warehousing and distribution center, sourcing from BIPOC farmers Beautifully Fed Food's culinary education space for community residents A community kitchen and food business incubator operated by Urbane Development A 2000 sq. ft. greenhouse for education and food production by Isabahlia Ladies of Elegance Additionally, the project will house RiseBoro's Worker Co-op Development Team and the NYC Network of Worker-owned Co-ops, including a storefront for worker co-op product sales. In February 2023, HPD announced that RiseBoro's proposal was selected. Since then, partners have been designing the ground floor and cellar spaces while also securing funding for this groundbreaking and historic project. CBFDP Leadership Team During 2022-2023, the focus was on: Supporting co-op sustainability Creating opportunities for cooperative economics Key activities included: Capacity-building support such as strategic planning and marketing strategies Organizing collaborative events like Black Food Rising and Pitch & Sip Presenting at the National Coop Conference For 2023-2024, RiseBoro's co-op team aims to establish a strategic planning process to: Develop a strategy for Black worker-owner leadership Clarify resource allocation of its resources for the next five years An RFP has been drafted to hire a consultant for this initiative and the team will invite meaningful collaboration from CBFDP partners throughout the process.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:In general, the CBFDP's target audience is Black and long-term residents of Central Brooklyn. Beyond that, each entity reached the following people. CBFC CBFC's primary outreach and organizing work was among the existing members of the food coop, which continues to include almost 300 people from the surrounding Central Brooklyn community. This activity has been in the form of monthly general meetings, monthly committee and working group meetings and special events. In January, in collaboration with the Central Brooklyn Food Democracy Project, CBFC members and our larger community were invited to join a Pitch & Sip event hosted by RiseBoro, to introduce CBFC members to the growing CBFDP ecosystem, while fostering connections and generating excitement for the range of Black cooperative businesses. Began hosting office hours twice a month where members have the option of working their 3 hours a month (1.5 hours per office hour) by opening a zoom space where they can use dedicated time to fulfill CBFC work, meet with members, brainstorm with other members, or have informational one on ones. The Food project was launched in August as a partnership with the Brooklyn Packers, using their Brooklyn Supported Agriculture, a weekly farm share program, we subsidize both for members and Hold Down BK (our mutual aid project) participants. Members get a $10 gift card each month. RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program During this period, we fully implemented our second worker-owned cooperative Academy. For this, we had 4 groups/16 people apply. We ultimately accepted 2 groups as incubated participants, and 1 group as auditors, totaling 10 people, thus meeting our revised goal. Here's a little about the groups: Goumel is a women-owned cooperative that connects people to Haitian culture through virtual classrooms and cooking demos, market shelf products (bottled epis and pickliz), and pop-up shops that showcase Haitian culture, food, and history. Our Family Tree -Launching soon, Our Family Tree is an African-Indigenous cooperative wellness education center, providing training, value-added products, and community space for collective health, wellness, social justice, cultural & environmental sustainability. Finally, we continued providing TA services to Brooklyn Packers, Beautifully Fed Food, and Sisters 3 Tea, who collectively had 16 worker-owners. In total, programs served 24 worker-owners of whom 100% are people of color, 92% are Black, 67% women or gender non-conforming. Changes/Problems:In our initial application, there was an expectation that the "leadership team" would be an established body by this point. After having had a lot of success toward increased collaboration across co-ops this year, we see that this process will be long & slow. The questions that lie in front of us are not just about how to structure a governance body, but are really about relationship-building & democratic practice, both of which take time. CBFC CBFC faced several board transitions during this period. Per our bylaws, our full board includes 7 members. We were able to appoint 2 new members at our December 2022 annual meeting. Additionally, shifting to a virtually based organizing body has resulted in limited engagement from our nearly 300 members. RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program While no major changes or problems occurred during this reporting period, we do recognize that in our initial application, we proposed that, "of the 12 potential worker coop groups that participate in the 3 coop academies, 6 of them will launch & at least 4 will succeed beyond the project period in the addition to the 2 existing coops, providing at least 36 food system jobs with equity ownership stakes." As we enter this last year of the project, we can see that we've run two coop academies, & with the implementation of our new strategy, one coop intensive, which is part of a longer incubation process that we expect will not be complete until after the project period. In these three cohorts, we expect that we will have incubated eight worker-owned co-ops & that by the end of the project, five will launch & succeed beyond the project period, with 24 worker-owners. Ultimately, we expect that we will surpass our goal of having four succeed beyond the project period, the road getting there will have looked different & that we will not have as many worker-owners in the network as initially expected. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program Our Team facilitated: Launch of the Co-op Academy Peer Network at the National Coop Conference 2 subsequent Co-op Academy Peer Network gatherings We attended: National Coop Conference Brooklyn Coop's Business Plan Series: Business Model Canvas Non Profit Quarterly's Remaking the Economy: Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories SCORE's Starting A Business On Shoestring Budget In 2023 Collaborative Funding with Cobudget BCDI's Downtown Crenshaw Ecosystem: Worker Cooperatives Penn Loh at Tufts' Solidarity Economy Movements Course Bluelight's Transformative Justice cohort Asset Funders Network's Employee Ownership Strategies for Economic Resilience and Equity: Pathways for Philanthropy Municipalism Learning Series: Municipalism and Labor USFWC's Co-op Clinic: Basic Finances Slow Money's Food Funded NYC Central Brooklyn Food Coop participated in: 12 monthly leadership team meetings of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance The annual meeting of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance NBFJA also held a market study focus group on the challenges of doing Market Study research in Black Communities in which a CBFC member participated The CBFC's board chair also prepared for the 2023 Up and Coming conference where they presented on the CBFC project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The CBFC meticulously reports out on the participation in conferences, seminars and trainings to its membership at general member meetings. In particular, CBFC is part of a cohort of food coops organized by the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, that are organizing and actively sharing information with one another. In addition, CBFC invites members of other allied ventures to share information and advice on co op start ups at its board, general members meetings, and annual meeting. The chair also co-created and presented at an event coordinated by Community Food Funders called, "Creating New Food Cooperatives with an Equity Focus," alongside Kingston Food Coop and Food Coop Initiative. As noted above, RiseBoro has been convening peer-learning gatherings of organizations involved in worker cooperative academies. The CBFDP 2022 Annual Report was directly disseminated to over 2000 people and indirectly to at least 7500. The RiseBoro Worker Coop Development Team continued distributing a quarterly newsletter, this was sent four times during the reporting period directly to over 2000 people and indirectly to at least 7500. The CBFDP Presentation has been updated and in this program year was shared with: Partners Participants in our Info Sessions Cooperative Academy Participants Staff of RiseBoro Potential Funders Elected Officials What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1 CBFC will soon co-host (on September 23rd) Black Food Rising with RiseBoro to celebrate the vibrant culture of food and cooperative practices of the Black Central Brooklyn Community. The event will promote the vision of the Central Brooklyn Food Coop and numerous worker-owned food businesses, while delving into the history of Black-owned cooperatives in Brooklyn, the presence and power of culture, and the belief in the right to quality food, justice, and freedom-within the backdrop of music, art, and community connection. We expect this event to serve as part of a member drive and expect that we will co-host this event annually, with another one possible in this same reporting period. Following our engagement with Columinate and the creation of the preliminary pro forma, the Business and Strategy Committee determined that the best next steps for the coop would be to have a working session to create committee-specific plans that get the coop closer to store opening. This session was to take place in Summer 2023, but due to scheduling, it will likely be pushed to January/February 2024. Following the working session, CBFC will contract someone to complete a market study to inform further decisions. The most critical next step for CBFC is to facilitate a working session to allow each committee to memorialize plans towards store opening. As stated before, the RFP is both for an Organizational Development Consultant who will also facilitate this process as a culmination of the work. As we prepare This is all in preparation for the opening of the coop at Steps, and making critical decisions about opening an interim store. We will continue to identify where committees can focus their efforts on as we gear up for this,as an updated strategy will be important to ensure all activities are supportive of longer-term efforts to open the brick-and-mortar storefront. In this session, we will create a holistic strategic plan with a corresponding action plan for store opening. The Business and Strategy Committee determined that the best next steps for the coop would be to have a working session to create committee-specific plans that get the coop closer to store opening. This session was to take place in Summer 2023, but due to scheduling, it will likely be pushed to January/February 2024. As we get clearer on capital costs for the brick-and-mortar, a critical next step will be to launch a robust capital campaign focused on securing the initial capital funds needed to outfit and open the coop. Goal 2 In addition to our ongoing support services for our cooperatives, 2024 will be the test of our new recruitment strategy. In January, we will invite participants in this academy to apply to a pre-incubation process where we offer smaller cohort-based sessions focussing on refining their business models, feasibility, and recruiting founding cooperative members. We expect this next stage to last about six months and will include all-cohort sessions, regular check-ins with individuals and groups for accountability on coop development progress, and collective work time in an office hours model. From there, we expect to choose 1-2 groups that will continue into incubation with us beginning in September. We expect that these groups will launch their businesses in Spring 2025. Goal 3 We plan to continue the proposed planning with Beautifully Fed Food to provide a series of in-person food demos centering the recipes and food stories of current CBFC members. With the intention of capturing CBFC membership's favorite food stories and recipes in a first-edition CBFC cookbook. Additionally the goal of this project would provide an engaging and dynamic learning environment that CBFC members will look forward to attending and that they will want to share with others. Lastly, the conclusion of the series would create a foundation for a CBFC story-telling event to continue the community-building journey. Goal 4 We are very excited to build on the collective work that we've laid the groundwork for in 2023. RiseBoro expects to organize another Pitch n' Sip event in February and we are beginning early stage conversations in hopes of organizing another public event. Further, in January, RiseBoro will be convening all of the ground floor tenants of Steps at Saratoga for an initial meeting to both get an understanding of the capital needs of all of the tenants, present on the budget thus far, and to start thinking collectively as to how to raise the capital needed for all of the partner. RiseBoro has committed to using its resources to support the tenants' capital raising-needs more than a developer normally would and this is a first step in that direction. The architects will also use the time to present on the design thus far and seek input from all involved. The CBFDP is in its nascent stages of learning what collective work looks like for this network. Black Food Rising is already showing itself to be a major milestone toward this, but there is still so much to figure out as to how to resource folks properly to take on positions of leadership as well as questions around what a governing body might look like for the project as it aims toward cooperative leadership. Finally, in early 2022, The CBFDP project partners agreed to formalize the relationship in an MOU. The MOU process has been much longer and slower than expected and will continue into this reporting period. With the MOU and other accountability measures in place we hope to begin the process of planning for a "leadership team" for the project. The partners have been working on updating the MOU to reflect our more complex working relationship and the CBFC has support from its lawyers at CUNY law.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
GOAL 1 In February, we learned that RiseBoro won a bid to redevelop a piece of land on Fulton St & Saratoga Ave in Brooklyn. In the next 5 years, RiseBoro & their development partners will build 280 units of affordable housing. More significantly, the ground floor commercial space & cellar will be rented below market rate, in part, by CBFDP co-ops, including 10,000 sq.ft. for the CBFC. The CBFC is still assessing whether or not to open an interim store. In Addition: CBFC continued to hold monthly general membership meetings as well as regular meetings of the Board & the committees. In total, the CBFC held at least 80 meetings over the course of the year. CBFC committees began hosting regular office hours where members have the option of working their 3 hours a month (1.5 hours per office hour) by opening a zoom space where they can use dedicated time to fulfill CBFC work. During this project period, CBFC membership has grown by 7 members. The Business & Strategy Committee continued efforts to finalize a CBFC pro forma, to inform the ultimate budget for the store opening, support efforts for continued fundraising & retail search, & gauge the sustainability of an opened store in the market of our choosing. We contracted with Columinate to take in early assumptions about the space requirement & planned activities & to present a pro forma to the general membership. The findings including: The 1-for-1 comparison with other coops in NYC to determine sustainability was more apples to oranges considering CBFC's leadership makeup & mission, both encountering significant socioeconomic hurdles in opening a retail store. The current membership structure doesn't share what roles members would take leading up to & through store opening. The coop needed to determine if they were willing to take on debt and, if so, how much debt CBFC would be willing to accept. The Business & Strategy Committee shared these findings at a May 2023 general meeting where the Coumniate consultant also shared an estimated (and preliminary) budget of $5 million for store opening.. With directive from the Board & membership & informed by the information shared by Columinate in the pro forma, the Fundraising Committee committed to prioritizing capital needs for store opening. The Fundraising Committee focused efforts on completing an internal audit of existing resources (grants, donations, prospective loans) to better understand current resources. This work is active & ongoing as we get prepared for launching a capital campaign. The Outreach & Membership Committee has begun providing $10 coupons to CBFC members for grocery bags from the CBFDP worker-owned co-op, Brooklyn Packers. The project allows current members to access affordable & healthy food in the interim while we don't have a physical store. Additionally, the Outreach & Membership Committee contributed to organizing & planning throughout the year to create Black Food Rising that will soon take place. For CBFC, the event will be an outreach tool to increase our current membership. Attendees will receive political education zines & custom canvas bags. Attendees who visit the CBFC table will be invited to take a look through our Black Radical Tradition & Cooperative reading library. Activities to increase membership engagement In-person general meeting in August & in-person Outreach & Membership meetings throughout the summer Black Food Rising organizing opportunities throughout the Spring & Summer Finally, lead by the Board: We applied to the Congressionally Directed Spending through Senator Chuck Schumer's office for capital funding. Our application was accepted, but due to a delay in Congress, the budget hasn't been passed. If it does pass without amendments, the coop will get over $1M in capital. The board hired & worked with Vision Change Win, a consulting firm to support both conflict resolution processes within the coop, & support a board healing process. In collaboration with Business Strategy, the Board created an RFP for an Organizational Development consultant who would support assessing the coop in the current development stage, & then making recommendations for what type of support is needed to move the coop through subsequent stages GOAL 2 RiseBoro is excited to have achieved several accomplishments this year, including: On June 6, 2023, two worker-owned cooperatives graduated from our 9-month Academy. Photos & more details about the event are available upon request. Our legal partner, Take Root Justice, has been with each of the graduating businesses as they form legal entities. Once formed, there will be 5 worker-owned co-ops, with 24 worker-owners in the CBFDP network. Collective revenues as of 2022, are nearly $600K. During this grant period, RiseBoro has provided over 233 TA/business support hours to the five active worker co-ops. In the spring, we collected & analyzed business financial data and used this to help co-ops in understanding their growth & setting annual goals. RiseBoro & Pratt Center for Community Development began our initial research to build our understanding of the institutional buyer landscape & the co-ops ability to meet buyer needs. Start to Finish, a consultant, has begun the work to support marketing projects for each of the cooperatives. During this grant period, RiseBoro planned for & began implementation on a new strategy toward cooperative development with a 9-week academy intensive that will serve as another layer in our recruitment and incubation process. We expect that 20-35 people will participate in the intensive & that from that group, we will identify 1-2 new co-ops to incubate. Incubation services will start in 2024, but we will know by the end of the year how this new strategy worked. Goal 3 During this period, we worked with Beautifully Feed Food to provide a series of in-person food demos centering the recipes & food stories of current CBFC members. With the intention of capturing CBFC membership's favorite food stories & recipes in a first-edition CBFC cookbook. Additionally, the project would provide an engaging & dynamic learning environment for current & potential CBFC members. Lastly, the conclusion of the series would create a foundation for a CBFC story-telling event to continue the community-building journey. GOAL 4 In seeing that having collaborative CBFDP-wide events is a vital cultural/relational component to the success of a governance body, we: On January 27th, RiseBoro hosted a Pitch n' Sip event for CBFC, the current worker-co-ops, & Academy participants to socialize & to share more info with each other about their businesses. CBFC members have attended two Academy sessions. First, to recruit for CBFC, & second, to attend a governance session. CBFC members & current CBFDP worker-owners were invited to the Academy graduation. Members of both Beautifully Fed Food & Sister 3 Tea both gave speeches with "words of wisdom" to the graduating co-ops. CBFC & RiseBoro have planned Black Food Rising (BFR), the first ever CBFDP public event, in order to increase visibility of the co-ops & the project as a whole. (BFR) will be held on September 23rd in Bed-Stuy. The free event will engage residents interested in learning more about Brooklyn's Black-led cooperative projects. Attendees will experience first hand the ethos & offerings of the multiple coops within our ecosystem & will feature over 15 other co-op & food-based vendor partners, a DJ, speeches, a raffle, free giveaways, & a film screening of the documentary The Sun Rises in the East.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program In summer 2022, we held 3 Info Sessions for the upcoming Academy. For those Info Sessions, we had 47 RSVPs and 25 participants. From that group, we had 4 groups/16 people apply. We ultimately accepted 2 groups as incubated participants, and 1 group as auditors, totaling 10 people across 3 all-Black groups, thus meeting our revised goal. Here's a little about the groups: Our Family Tree Cooperative - We are an Intergenerational Cooperative and Wellness Education Center, providing courses, small business consultation, products, and community projects around collective health. Our aim is to restore, reclaim & rejuvenate African-Indigenous community land, food ways, health, peace, heritage, cosmology & collective self-love connection. Our foundation service, the Juice Library and Garden Marketplace, creates a physical wellness space for the community to gather, learn and grow healthier while manifesting collective wealth. Goumel - We are a women owned business and food passionate searching to connect people to our diverse culture, rich in history and flavor. We hope to enhance education through virtual classrooms and cooking demos, market shelf products (pikliz, epice etc..) and create pop shops to showcase our culture, food and history. Black Futures Farm (audit only) - Through the BMC Black Futures Farm, we aim to promote Black self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-determination through land & food cultivation. An essential part of the garden project is the need to embrace the sacred connection between elders and youth, and to recognize and rebuild the land. Present in every step is social cohesion through intergenerational learning and experimentation. Additionally, in spring 2022 we conducted 2 workshops for 12 people in partnership with the Center for Nu Leadership, a Central-Brooklyn based organization that works with majority-Black court-involved young people. Finally, we continued providing TA services to Brooklyn Packers, Beautifully Fed Food, QTie Herb Farm, and Sisters 3 Tea, serving 24 worker-owners of whom 96% are people of color, 70-75% are Black, 75% women or gender non conforming. Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop Black and long-term residents of Central Brooklyn: #HoldDownBK Over the past year, CBFC held a series of focus groups that engaged participants of #HoldDown BK, a mutual aid initiative in which CBFC members delivered food, free of charge, to food insecure residents of low-income housing residents in Central Brooklyn. A total of 250 people were notified about the focus group and a total of 21 residents participated in the sessions. A team of 6 CBFC members helped organize the sessions. All of these participants were low-income, Black residents who live in subsidized housing in Central Brooklyn; most of whom have lived in Brooklyn all of their lives. CBFC Members CBFC's primary outreach and organizing work was among the existing members of the food coop, which continues to include almost 300 people. Roughly 65% of these members are Black with the remaining members being other people of color and white. They are an economically diverse group, a combination of middle-, moderate- and low-income people. 95% of them live in Central Brooklyn. Approximately two thirds of the membership participated in a monthly general meetings, committee meetings, special events or annual meeting. Changes/Problems:RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program In preparation for our 2022-23 Academy, we had a goal to recruit a minimum of 3 groups & at least 15 people. At the time, our criteria was that groups must be a minimum of 5 people to participate in the Academy. Over the course of the year, we revisited our criteria as we found that we were targeting an incredibly niche group - Black, involved/interested in the food industry, low-to-moderate income, interested in workplace democracy, & having relationship to Central Brooklyn. As we took a critical look at our model, we saw that it was a smaller demographic & that the demand of not only meeting all of these criteria, but that groups must be in already-formed groups of 5 or more people, was simply too much. So, we changed our criteria to three or more people, while recognizing that our criteria was still targeting a niche group. Our goal then shifted to recruiting 3 groups with a minimum total of 9 people. In terms of our strategy to recruit through partnerships, we reached out directly to 20+ organizational partners in the hope of delivering educational services to their clients. Of these, we had at least one partnership conversation with 6 organizations. Unfortunately, only one of these community organizations continued to follow up & respond to us after these initial conversations. While we believe these - & other - organizations promoted our offerings via flyers & newsletters, we were not able to offer events in partnership with other entities. In the end, it became clear that we could depend on partners to spread information about our own programming, but educating & recruiting through community-based partners was not likely to introduce us to would-be academy participants. It was ultimately mostly through our food & farming partners that our 2022-23 participants learned of our work. After 1 year, we unfortunately had to let the Partnerships & Marketing Associate position go due to budget cuts. This has meant that we have not yet had the capacity to develop a collective cross-coop marketing strategy. In the coming year, we hope to raise the funds to re-institute capacity for this work, as well as continue developing our strategy for anchor/institutional client relationships. Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop The most obvious & daunting challenge the CBFC faced during this period was the COVID pandemic, which prevented us from meeting face-to-face or conducting any of the face-to-face organizing & engagement that we originally envisioned & planned on. Also, we did not anticipate the departure of our organizer, which significantly ruptured & set back our efforts to coordinate membership recruitment efforts across committee formations & among community members. CBFC also, over the past year experienced the loss of four board members through term expirations & life transitions. The combined impact of these transitions is hard to calculate, Nonetheless, the leadership & members of the Central Brooklyn Food Coop have been working diligently to open the doors of the food coop during the reporting period, & in many ways, the CBFC is just as resilient & focused as ever. Staffing Changes at BMC/CBFC The Brooklyn Movement Center & Central Brooklyn Food Coop experienced two significant staff changes. First, the Central Brooklyn Food Coop organizer left her staff position & joined the board. Secondly, the Executive Director of the Brooklyn Movement Center, who was a liaison to the CBFC, retired as executive director, but remains on the board of the food co-op. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program Our team facilitated: 7 peer-learning gatherings of organizations involved in worker cooperative academies. 5 internal trainings on introduction to cooperative development We attended: LIFT Economy's How to Raise Mission-Aligned Capital US Federation of Worker Cooperatives workshop on Conflict in Co-ops National Coalition for Community Capital - Community Investment Fund Toolkit Launch Network for Developing Conscious Communities' Black Co-ops Conference BeInspired's Understanding Racial Inequity US Federation of Worker Cooperatives' Worker Co-op Week (conference) Food Sovereignty & Anti-Colonial Struggle Mental Health & Deescalation New Economy Coalition's Solidarity Economy Principles workshop Black Entrepreneurs NYC's Funding Options for your Business Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop Central Brooklyn Food Coop participated in: 4 National Black Food & Justice Alliance webinars & peer calls The annual meeting of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance The annual meeting of the Cooperative Economics Alliance of New York City. The Up & Coming Food Coop Conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As noted above, RiseBoro has been convening peer-learning gatherings of organizations involved in worker cooperative academies. The CBFDP Annual Report was directly disseminated to over 2000 people & indirectly to at least 7500. This year, the RiseBoro Worker Coop Development Team began a quarterly newsletter, this was sent twice during the reporting period directly to over 2000 people & indirectly to at least 7500. An article was written about the Brooklyn Packers in Civil Eats. Civil Eats has a readership of over 150,000 people. An interview was published about Bianca Bockman, RiseBoro's Director of Our Food in Authority Magazine. Rachel Isreeli was named a Rising Star in Food Policy in New York City Food Policy Center's 40 under 40 list An article was published about the Central Brooklyn Food Co-op in The City, which has a readership of over 100,000. The CBFDP Presentation has been updated & in this program year was shared with: Partners Participants in our Info Sessions Cooperative Academy Participants Staff of RiseBoro Potential Funders The Food Coop membership The CBFC meticulously reports out on the participation in conferences, seminars & trainings to its membership at general member meetings. In particular, CBFC is part of a cohort of food coops that are organizing & actively sharing information with one another. In addition, CBFC invites members of other allied ventures to share information & advice on co-op start ups at its board, general members meetings & annual meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Goal 1 Equipped with a working framework & individual committee goals, the next year will be perhaps the most consequential for CBFC. Over the next year we plan to build internal capacity, ramp up community engagement efforts, & get to store opening. Internally, we plan to add at least 3 new members to the Food Coop board of directors, growing our capacity to bring in new perspectives reflective of Central Brooklyn & support our collaborations with committee leadership. We will create a new timeline for CBFC priorities generated through conversations between the Board & the heads of all the committees. Finally we will participate in a coop development cohort with the National Black Food & Justice Alliance. Led by our outreach & membership committee, we plan to launch a major membership outreach drive. To support this effort we will create a new membership outreach plan & revamp the Food Coop's new member orientation module. Hiring a new CBFC organizer will increase our capacity to meet our goal to recruit 250 new members. Finally, we will make final plans for a store opening. Those plans will include completing a market study & pro forma, & identifying a retail storefront for CBFC. Relatedly, we will generate & implement a plan for autonomy for the food coop, including a mechanism for independent financial management. Goal 2 In 2021, Our Worker Coop Development Team identified seven areas of work that our program falls into. This helped us to gain clarity on goals & key activities for each work area, team roles, & to plan our annual calendar of tasks & activities. Our goals & activities for the 2022-2023 program year have been identified as follows: Work Area Goal Activities Admin, Team, & Strategic Planning To build a culture for our coop development work that demonstrates political alignments, that is both ambitious & realistic, & lends toward our growth as individuals & as a team. - Further clarify roles - Maintain & continue investing in healthy WCD team culture, including conflict work & relationship building - Pursue intentional professional development opportunities based on our team & personal goals for the year Black Self-Determination & Alignment with the Central Brooklyn Food Co-op To move the CBFDP closer to being a Black-led & Self-determined project. -By finalizing & signing the MOU, we will achieve alignment with the CBFC & BMC on roles & leadership by the end of 2022. - Co-establishing a governing body/process led by the coops within the CBFDP (worker-owned co-ops, CBFC), alongside the BMC & RiseBoro. - Investing in relationship & culture-building opportunities across/within all CBFDP partners, including events, offerings, & CBFC involvement in the Academy. Community Education, Partnerships & Recruitment To create deeper awareness on both the local & national level about the CBFDP & in Central Brooklyn about cooperativism & RiseBoro's related offerings in order to build a more incubation-ready base through a fall 2023 mini-Academy. - Having a presence at two or more Cooperative, Food Sovereignty, and/or Black power-building gatherings each quarter, - Publishing our 3rd annual report by March 2023 - Growing our relationships by at least 15% within the Cooperative, Food Sovereignty, & Black organizing ecosystem, with an emphasis specifically within Black food systems organizing. -implement our recruitment strategies (flyering, promotion in Black food networks, e-channels,1:1 meetings) Academy/Incubation to manage & facilitate a 9-month academy with 2 groups graduating. Each of these groups will be ready for legal formation & an initial business launch. Adapt incubation model to meet participant needs Refine auditor participation Aim for 70% of participants to receive stipends (of 10 participants, 8 full & 2 auditors) Solicit feedback from participants that indicates a high degree of satisfaction & learning, and/or pivot the Academy structure accordingly Plan for a mini Academy in the fall for a broader base, which will lead to future incubation-ready cooperatives. Ongoing Co-op Development To support the team dynamics, sustainability, visibility & growth of the existing 3 cooperatives in alignment with their goals. Disburse the Consultant Fund in areas of business growth that the co-ops & our team collectively decide on Refine our data collection & management so that we receive data from co-ops that supports our & their goals, specifically around financial sustainability, growth & team culture Be proactive in our guidance based on our observations, skills & knowledge Partnerships, Branding & Sales To create & implement our initial branding, communications & marketing strategy. - Brainstorm an initial anchor/institutional buying framework for CBFDP coops for FY2023-2024. - Increase community awareness & visibility of CBFDP co-ops through a Spring '23 event as well as through existing communications channels. - Creating a strategy to resource communications & marketing support for co-ops in FY2023-2024 - Initiate a press strategy for co-ops & the CBFDP - Support Academy participants in honing their target markets & strategies - Connect with other local initiatives/marketing projects to elevate co-ops (e.g. SBS, NYC NoWC, etc) Budget & Fundraising To come into alignment about our fundraising strategies & roles of the WCD & Development teams by June 2023. Through this work, we will raise a total of $225K toward FY '23-'24. Through education & discussion, we will create a fundraising plan that will be reflective of our capacity, energy, & skills & will also be in balance with program needs & RiseBoro's development team. It may include: - Private & Public Grants - Individual Giving - major donors (> xx/year) - Fundraising events Goal 3 The CBFC is planning for an ambitious culinary education plan for the year, which will be implemented in tandem with it's recruitment plan. The plan for this project period includes: at least 12 cooking demonstrations led by Beautifully Fed Food. Some will be live virtual, others in a vlog format, & others will be in person. In addition to cooking demonstrations, the CBFC anticipates offering a longer-form course to members & potential members. The implementation of the programming will be completed from March to August 2023 & will be held twice a month for these six months. Goal 4 Following the affirmative vote by the CBFC, the CBFDP project partners agreed to formalize the relationship in an MOU which we are in the process of finalizing right now. With the MOU & other accountability measures in place we expect to hold our first Leadership Team meeting in early 2023.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1 New work has included membership recruitment & engagement, fundraising, business development, & strategic planning, all behind the backdrop of re-forecasting the CBFC opening & undergoing a new strategic planning process. In 2020 & 2021, In order to build relationships with low-income members, CBFC operated an emergency food distribution campaign called #HoldDownBK, which included thousands of deliveries to hundreds of local residents. #HoldDownBK was a joint project between CBFC, BMC, & the Brooklyn Packers. During the grant period, CBFC worked with Research Action to conduct focus groups with #HoldDownBK members to learn about their experience with us & how the effectiveness of CBFC engagement and how the Coop could address barriers to food access in Central Brooklyn. The focus groups: Put CBFC leaders in deeper relationship with long-term Black residents. Provided data on how we could improve that relationship & what kinds of food & amenities they would need to feel a sense of belonging & ownership at the food coop when open. Gave CBFC insight into how to nurture leadership among a core constituency within our memberbase. In 2021, CBFC continued organizing our Store Opening Working Group monthly. A core project of this working group was to bring in a facilitator to help us collectively understand what questions we have, where we need additional capacity, & determine a strategy. After a two day retreat, attended by 15 people representing each committee & the board leadership, the Coop developed a framework outlining committee strategies to support efforts to open a self-sustaining food co-op. The guiding priority for our efforts is to increase internal membership & engagement & deepen our focus on building relationships with longer term Black residents. To date, we've engaged 270 members through membership recruitment activities including hosting 7 monthly virtual new member orientations & two political education sessions. Until the store opens, members contribute labor by participating in committees. During this period we held 10 general membership meetings with an average of 30 members attending & a special Annual Meeting with 45 members. The board met twice a month, except for special circumstances, for a total of 20 times; the Membership & Outreach Committee met 10 times; the Business Strategy Committee met 10 times. The fundraising Committee met 8 times. Results of each committee include: The fundraising Committee submitted 4 grant applications; 3 of which were successful; The Business Strategy Committee began updating a business plan, generating an original pro forma, & screening consultants for a new market study & we had regular monthly meetings of the Store Opening & Governance Working Groups Beyond this, the CBFC: Members made 4 presentations to organizations, meetings & conferences. Created a system for codifying membership & identifying what roles various members have in the organizing of the food coop. Created a plan for selling food to our members, thus offering a tangible benefit to membership en route to opening the coop. In the summer of 2022, CBFC held a "grub party," attracting over 40 people & including activities that helped members & allies get to know one another. Most importantly, it featured a screen of the documentary "The Sun Rises in the East," which chronicles the story of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969. The consensus among those in attendance was that the documentary was an inspiring reminder of the history & legacy of self-determination that buttresses the work of CBFC. The CBFC board began a conversation with lawyers about the possibility of forming a 501c3; The fundraising & business strategy committees also began putting other measures in place for the CBFC to become financially independent & self-sufficient. The business strategy committee began the planning for a pro forma & market study for food coop. Goal 2 Our new recruitment strategy included a goal of conducting at least 20 educational & outreach activities during the grant period to create deeper awareness locally about cooperativism & RiseBoro's related offerings. We exceeded this goal by having 5 workshops, 7 individual or small group conversations with community members, flyering at over 20 organizations, initiating a program newsletter, & beginning a social media strategy that included >10 posts by RiseBoro & partners. We also met our goal of growing our relationships by at least 25% in the field, including by regularly attending Cooperative, Food Sovereignty, and/or Black power-building gatherings. Finally, we published & promoted CBFDP's 2nd Annual Report, we initiated a newsletter in spring 2022, promoted our educational offerings to all community organization contacts, & we created a press kit for partners to promote our offerings. Our partners' social media sharing resulted in many of the RSVPs noted above. We are currently supporting 3 launched co-ops & are supporting 3 more accepted into the upcoming Co-op academy: 3 co-ops graduated from our Co-op Academy in May 2021, & received ongoing technical assistance during the grant period. As of November 2022, 2 of these co-ops are still in operation. 1 additional already-launched co-op, with whom we had a previous long-term relationship, has received ongoing technical assistance during the grant period. 3 co-ops were accepted into our current Co-op Academy, beginning September 2022. During the project period, we have provided staff & consultant support for Brooklyn Packers, Beautifully Fed Food & Sisters 3 Tea, who have increased their sales through marketing and launching new product lines. Examples of support include: bookkeeping & financial management systems setup; facilitating strategic planning sessions; identifying affirming worker-owner pay structure models; & setting up goals & work plans. Each of the co-ops received consultant fund grants to support their website development & branding, as well as their industry-specific professional development. Both Beautifully Fed Food & Sisters 3 Tea received $10,000 startup grants for their initial business costs. Finally, in August 2021, we hired a Partnerships & Marketing Associate. This enabled us to better support our cooperatives in their marketing strategies as well as to build partnerships with larger & institutional buyers for the network of coops. In this time, we designed & delivered several important marketing resources for the co-ops, which included: a marketing materials guide to support co-ops to create & implement a marketing plan, even those without prior experience; a social media engagement tool; an anchor client-building plan; & an overall marketing resource folder. Goal 3 During this project period, the CBFC brought Beautifully Fed Food in to conduct cooking demonstrations for its membership. Two of these were virtual, live sessions & one was a vlog that was posted to CBFC's social media channels. The recipes included: Asian Noodles (4/23/22), Ropa Vieja with Oyster Mushrooms (6/8/22) & Oyster Mushrooms 1-2-3 (6/28/22). Goal 4 While this process has been moving slower than we originally anticipated, we have made great strides & are learning a lot as we move at the speed of community collaboration. Earlier this year an outside consultant was brought in to facilitate a 2-part meeting with CBFC members & RiseBoro staff to air out concerns, bring clarity & build accountability between the CBFDP partners. This process ended in an affirmative vote from the CBFC membership to move forward with the project. A commitment was made by both parties to create a Memorandum of Understanding about the CBFDP collaboration.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program In this second year of our CFP, we launched our worker-owned coop development program with our inaugural cohort of worker-owners going through our very first 7-month Academy. While there was an official graduation of the cohort in May 2021, we have been offering ongoing support to the co-ops ever since. The founding worker cooperative of the Central Brooklyn Food Democracy Project network, Brooklyn Packers, has maintained the growth they initially saw during the initial period of the COVID-19 Pandemic. They still have 6 worker-owners, 4 of whom are Black, 1 who is white, and 1 who is South Asian. The inaugural worker co-op Academy commenced in October 2020 with a cohort of 18, spread out over three co-ops to be. First, Beautifully Fed Food, a culinary education coop had 8 members participating. Second, Sisters 3 Tea, a beverage manufacturing company specializing in sparkling herbal teas and loose leaf blends, is made up of 5 members, who were also all family members with Barbadian ancestry. Finally, QTIE Herbal Farm is an herbal farm co-operative of 5 members who all identify as queer, Black and/or POC and their mission is to serve the Queer BIPOC community. All 18 completed the academy in May 2021 and have been participating in monthly workshops and other services ever since. Key demographics of participants include: 89% women or non-binary; 72% identify as African, Afro-Carribbean, or Black/African-American; 100% are Black, Indigenous or other people of color (including mixed-race); 75% had no business training prior to the Coop Academy; In the late Spring of 2021, we began recruitment for our second worker-owned coop academy. From June - August, we distributed flyers in person as well as digitally. While we believe we had a broader reach this year than we did in the first year, the response rate was far lower. In the summer of 2021, we held three info sessions using the Zoom platform. We had 26 RSVPs and 10 attendees. While we did not collect demographic information of attendees, we estimate that 70% use either "she" or "they" pronouns and that at least 60% identify as Black and another 20% identify as non-Black people of color. Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop The primary activity and goal of the Central Brooklyn Food Coop is to recruit new members to the food coop and to engage existing members so that they will feel fully empowered and invested as CBFC stakeholders. The target audience for the Central Brooklyn Food Coop membership recruitment is largely defined in geographic, racial and class-tems: Black, working-class, long-term residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and the surrounding Central Brooklyn area. Because of the pandemic, person-to-peron membership outreach was limited. Similarly, because the Central Brooklyn economy was hit hard by the pandemic and left many residents food insecure, CBFC was compelled to pivot it's outreach efforts to respond to the emergency food needs of Central Brooklynite in ways that could generate new community relationships centered in free food distribution and hunger remediation. As a result, working with community based partners and using data that identified residents who were in food distress, CBFC, in the form of the Membership and Outreach committee and the CBFC Board of Directors, used an outreach and base-building strategy that identified specific segments of residents within the Central Brooklyn area who indicated that they needed food. CFBC designed #HoldDownBk as a way to meet this moment and mobilize existing CBFC members toward food distribution. In total, we focused our food delivery efforts towards low-income residents in 3 different public housing and low-income housing developments, as well as other low-income residents in scattered housing sites throughout Central Brooklyn. Once they were a part of our distribution universe, we invited CBFC's member orientations were conducted to prepare newly signed-up members to participate in the food coop. Similarly, CBFC general body membership meetings, committee meetings and board meetings engaged existing CBFC members. Political education and social events, while open to all members, were specifically intended to build consciousness and cooperative understanding and values among Black members of CBFC. Changes/Problems:RiseBoro's Worker Coop Development Program In 2021, our outreach and recruitment efforts yielded few interested applicants in the coop academy: 26 people RSVPed to Info Sessions 10 people attended Info Sessions 0 people/groups applied In contrast, in 2020: 80 people RSVPed to Info Sessions 41 people attended Info Sessions 8 groups / 31 people applied We selected 3 groups Our analysis Internal/Programmatic We realize we are trying to reach a niche group, that is: Rooted in Central Brooklyn, mostly Black, involved/interested in the food industry, low-to-moderate income, interested in workplace democracy → this might be a smaller demographic than we realized. Perhaps the most difficult part of our ask is that we're not only for this pretty niche group, but we are looking for already-formed groups of 5 or more people, which is an incredibly tall order. This worked last year, so we didn't question it, but now that we're seeing it play out this way, we're realizing it may be too tall of an order. We also reflected on the fact that of the 3 groups we selected for the academy, we had pre-existing, long standing relationships with two of them. The community chef co-op specifically was a vision that was 1-2 years in the making. We did not do significant in-person outreach (and people are not attending as much Zoom as before) External/Societal Last year, people had energy for change - the BLM uprising and Covid contributed to desire to start projects, engage with their communities, politicize, take risks Now, people are exhausted by the pandemic Many places are struggling to hire due to overall economic conditions People are currently quitting their jobs at higher rates than throughout the pandemic People have Zoom fatigue The food industry has suffered and is in transition; people might be hesitant to enter it We speculate that people may be desiring more security, comfort, predictability... and less hustle Given, the above analysis, the worker coop development team at RiseBoro has decided to pivot to the plan as outlined in the section above. Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop The Central Brooklyn Food Coop is a vibrant and active organizing campaign. The most significant challenges ahead of us are in making the transition from an organizing process to an actual retail operation. This will require not only new training, skill development and operations talent acquisition, but a cultural shift into making high stakes decisions that will have significant financial and programmatic consequences. Financially, the food coop has made great strides in raising capital that will enable us to hire staff and purchase inventory necessary to open our retail storefront. Remaining capital and person power must be generated through new member investment. For the past three years, membership recruitment has happened at a relatively slow pace; in order to achieve the level of operational scale that we feel is necessary to sustain the food coop we must recruit hundreds of new members in the course of the next nine months. This will require not only a higher level of coordination and execution around outreach than we have been able to achieve thus far, but the hiring of new staff and a re-prioritizing of member recruitment. At the heart of our ambitions to recruit new members, is the need to attract long-term Black members of the Central Brooklyn community at a time when the neighborhood is becoming increasingly less Black.This will require and outreach, communication and member orientation strategies that conforms to the class and cultural diversity of the Black community and can make a compelling case for consumer cooperativism. Lastly, because storefront property is so expensive in Central Brooklyn, CBFC will need to be adept at identifying a property that is affordable and can meet our immediate needs, while allowing for our growth and expansion. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program Our team facilitated a workshop at the 2020 National Worker Cooperative Conference called "Worker Cooperatives for Liberation." We attended: Community Food Funder/Seeding Power workshops on Courageous Conversations and Conflict Resolution NASCO workshop on Conflict in Coops Crowdfunding Series with Jamie Frank LIFT Economy's How to Raise Mission-Aligned Capital NYC's Small Business Services courses: Business Finances, Building an Operational Plan, Small Business Financing Groundswell's webinar on Starting a Farm New York State Food Governance Workshop with Equity Advocates In It Together- a webinar on a tool kit for moving groups through conflict Conflict and Courageous Conversations with Vision, Change, Win Patronage in co-ops Training Food Justice Media Training Trainings on Understanding Racial Inequity; Colorism; and Anti-Blackness led by BeInsipred Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop? CBFC was a leader in the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. Every month during the reporting period, a cadre of food coop members participated in trainings and webinars that focused on organizing, fundraising, management, market study development, and real estate issues and skill-building. CBFC leaders also presented and participated in the national Up and Coming Food Co-op conference. Through these opportunities, CBFC members are learning the business of how to operate a food coop and plan to be a part of a cohort of emerging food coops supported by the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The CBFDP Presentation has been updated and in this program year was shared with:? Individual donors Partners Cooperative Academy Participants Staff of RiseBoro The Food Coop membership CFP grantees at the annual gathering in August 2021 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1 The next reporting period will be perhaps the most consequential for CBFC. Over the next year we plan to: Participate in a coop development cohort with the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. Conduct a market study and pro forma for the Food Coop Add at least 3 new members to the Food Coop board of directors. Launch a major membership outreach drive and recruit 250 new members. Revamp the Food Coop new member orientation module Hire a new CBFC organizer. Identify a retail storefront site for CBFC. Make final plans for a store opening Goal 2 This program year will involve extensive outreach and education through new partnerships with organizations that are connected to our target populations as well as direct co-op support to the four in the network. We expect in this next program year, we will: Build partnerships for outreach & education on coops/food sovereignty/Black cooperatives, through regular workshops and Info Sessions (e.g. Bed Stuy Restoration, Center for Nu Leadership, churches/faith center, NYCHA/HDFCs) Collaborate with and co-facilitate with Green Worker Cooperatives and other organizations in both the cooperative sector and the business development sector More extensively support existing/cohort 1 coops, through fundraising, strategic planning, market-building, sales Build alignment with the Central Brooklyn Food Coop around the CBFDP Provide greater support to the CBFC Analyze our model (of groups coming to us with a business idea), by engaging in market research & community-based research (with CBFC and other partners), leading potentially to intentional recruitment for a specific food industry If we recruit for an industry and/or build a group, we can provide trainings and support prior to the next cohort so that they are prepared for the Academy Build out our collective marketing strategies via newsletters, emails, website platforms Goal 3 As the CBFC heads into a full launch mode, with anticipated opening in September 2022, outreach will be of utmost importance this year. A survey has already been sent out to CBFC membership to plan for a full suite of educational opportunities led by BFF and the Outreach and Membership Committee is planning to use their services in various street engagement opportunities as well. RiseBoro will also continue and seek out new opportunities for BFF within its own programming and with partners. Goal 4 Together with the CBFC Board, the program leads at BMC and RiseBoro are currently organizing a process that will take place in January and February to not only seek resolution on the relationship of the CBFC to the CBFDP, but to also create clear pathways for involvement in its future development for the CBFC membership. Following this process, we expect regular leadership team meetings to commence within the program year.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
? Overall Impact The CBFDP addresses a microcosm of issues, including: Lack of affordable fresh produce, high rates of diet-related diseases, most food jobs available are in the low-wage sector, and new businesses in the area are primarily not owned by longtime community members. With funding, time, staffing, and other resources, we have been organizing to open the food coop, conducting culinary education workshops, and providing support and training for worker co-op development, all with an effort of reaching low- and moderate-income adults, seniors, and families as well as food system entrepreneurs. The CBFDP has already had impact on the local food system. Firstly, toward the opening of the Central Brooklyn Food Coop, which will eventually create greater access to affordable and nutritious food for our community, we have engaged over 2000 people in our outreach, recruitment, educational, emergency food, and organizing efforts. We have raised over $800K toward the opening of the store. We have also conducted 6 culinary workshops for over 70 CBFC members and non-members, thus increasing their food knowledge and comfort with cooking from scratch. Toward the goal of shifting economic security specifically in the food sector, we have completed 1 coop academy and now have a network of 4 worker co-op predominantly Black-led food businesses operating and growing. These businesses are creating a small, but important shift, in who owns the food system in Central Brooklyn and we hope and expect that in the years to come as new businesses are incubated, that this shift can be felt on a measurable level in Central Brooklyn. These businesses, collectively, are already employing 24 people, not just as workers, but also as owners, thus setting them up for increased economic security. Goal 1 The leadership and members of the Central Brooklyn Food Coop have been working diligently to open the doors of the food coop during the reporting period. This work has included membership recruitment and engagement, fundraising, business development, and strategic planning. Specifically the CBFC: reached the 225 member mark through membership recruitment activities. In order to build relationships with low-income members, CBFC operated an emergency food distribution campaign called #HoldDownBk. There were 20 deliveries of free food (worth $20/each) made to over 400 families by 30 volunteers who also made over 1000 phone calls to families during this period. held 10 general membership meetings with an average of 30 members attending and a special Annual Meeting with 45 members. held two virtual strategic planning retreats that attracted over 35 member-leaders. participated in an extensive planning and RFP process in which plans were made to design and establish a retail food coop space in coordination with other food operations. board met twice a month, except for special circumstances, for a total of 20 times; the Membership and Outreach Committee met 10 times; the Business Strategy Committee met 10 times. The fundraising Committee met 8 times. held a total of 7 membership orientations and had regular monthly meetings of the Store Opening and Governance Working Groups. members made 8 presentations to organizations, meetings and conferences. fundraising Committee submitted 9 grant applications. Goal 2 At the end of year two, we find ourselves on the mark in terms of meeting our goal to create an ecosystem of eight worker-owned food enterprises, with four worker-owned food businesses currently in the network. The worker-owned co-op development program launched with the start of the 7-month Academy in October, 2020. There were several accomplishments along the way in the following areas: Staffing In August 2021, we hired a Partnerships and Marketing Associate. This has enabled us to better support our cooperatives in their marketing strategies as well as to build partnerships with larger and institutional buyers for the network of coops. Launching and Running RiseBoro's first Co-op Academy RiseBoro's first co-op Academy ran from October 24 - May 22. The academy sessions were held weekly with additional weekend-long retreats. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Academy was entirely held on zoom. The curriculum was planned and executed in four phases: Grounding and Orientation; Cooperative Business Basics; Policies and Governance; and Readying for Launch. Over the summer, we also held additional monthly trainings for the entire cohort. As reported by our project evaluators and through our own weekly surveys, the feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive. In the final survey of the academy, in addition to other questions, we asked participants to rate 17 individual sessions. From the 17 participants that responded, we found that 15 sessions (89%) were either "very helpful" or "must keep in the Academy". Additionally, because all 18 participants completed the program, they all received the $1500 participant stipend for the program. Launching Co-Ops In the late Spring and early Summer of 2021, the co-ops in the academy started going public with their businesses - doing pop-ups, taking on clients, developing social media presences, e-commerce sites, etc. While each co-op ended the year in a different place, they had all generated income from sales of their products and services. Business Support We have provided valuable support for both the Brooklyn Packers as well as to the newly incubated co-ops, both directly with staff support and by hiring consultants to support them. Some examples of this include: Supporting coops in setting up bookkeeping and financial management systems; facilitating strategic planning sessions so cooperatives could evaluate their work and identify priorities and pathways; identifying affirming worker-owner pay structure models; and setting up goals and work plans for different business areas. Creating Program Collateral We created and solidified our curriculum and lesson plans, including an overall syllabus, content and materials for approximately 25 sessions, an online platform on Google Classroom, and many resources for cooperative business development. Toward the beginning of the Academy, we created a participation agreement and data release, intake form, and numerous evaluation materials. Part-way through the year, we secured a partnership with Take Root Justice, a legal firm with expertise in co-op development to offer pro-bono legal representation to our co-ops. In collaboration, we have now completed a template for an annual service contract for the co-ops. Finally, we developed a startup grant agreement, which will result in $10K grants by RiseBoro to the co-ops. Goal 3 RiseBoro directly hired Beautifully Fed Food (BFF) to lead cooking demonstrations at our farmers markets and at our pick-up days for Cosecha, our weekly farmshare program. This has had a direct benefit to BFF as they grow their business and refine their model, as well as to those participating in the workshops. CBFC organized a series of political education events to keep members engaged and connected. Beautifully fed food led two virtual cooking classes online using afro-caribbean inspired recipes. The CBFC is also currently working with BFF to launch an online 4-month cooking club as a membership engagement program to build relationships with CBFC members outside of the organizing work. Goal 4 The leadership team remains in development. Part way through the program year, we learned of some concerns about the development of the CBFDP and the need to have more involvement and decision-making from the CBFC if we are to move forward with Leadership Team Development. The partners at RiseBoro and BMC have been working with the CBFC Board to develop a process that we hope will lead to the development of the leadership team in this program year. We expect that by the beginning of Year 3, the leadership team will be meeting with regularity.
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program In this startup year of our CFP, the major focus on building our capacity and then developing our worker-owned cooperative development program model and curriculum. We also offered business support services to Brooklyn Packers throughout the year. The founding worker cooperative of the Central Brooklyn Food Democracy Project network, Brooklyn Packers, has grown significantly since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pre-Pandemic, the cooperative consisted of 3 worker-owners. It now includes 6 worker-owners, 3 people who are not owners but hold leadership positions, and 17 hourly employees. In the tenth month of the grant year, we began recruitment for our first Worker-Owned Coop Academy (Academy), which commenced in year two of the CFP grant. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our recruitment strategy for the Academy shifted to be all digital. This meant that we reached a segment of the population that had access to broadband and computers. In August of 2020, we held two info sessions using the Zoom platform for our Academy. We had 71 RSVPs and 41 attendees. We also recorded the info sessions and had at least 5 people watch the recording. While we did not collect demographic information, we have since done so for many of our participants and can share that of the 71 RSVPs, we estimate that 79% use either "she" or "they" pronouns and that at least 36% identify as Black and another 40% identify as non-Black people of color. Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop Existing Members - Our organizing included the cultivation of existing members through political education, social events and regular engagement through committee meetings, board meetings, general body meetings and an Annual meeting. New and Prospective Members - Since 9/1, we have recruited 161 members of the Food Coop. General Central Brooklyn residents - Through a series of public events and fundraising efforts, we have communicated the vision of the Food Coop aimed at a wide audience of residents living in Central Brooklyn #HoldDownBK recipients - Through our emergency food distribution, we have engaged approximately 250 people living in Central Brooklyn. The prospective members have included: 305 Decatur Street - Through outreach efforts, we have canvassed members of this low-income housing complex and then distributed free food to them over the last 26 weeks. Weeksville Houses - Through outreach efforts, we have canvassed members of this public housing complex and then distributed free food to them over the last 26 weeks. Community Chef-led Cooking Demonstrations (Beautifully Fed Food, more info below) One in-person cooking demonstration with 35 people in attendance Two Instagram live demos with nearly 800 views Demographics - The intended target audience consists of long-term residents, between the ages of 25 and 65 years old. 75% of this population are people of African descent, 15% are other people of color, and 10% identify as non-Hispanic white. 35% of this population receives some form of income-designated public assistance. 65% of the population has lived in Central Brooklyn 10 years or more. Changes/Problems:RiseBoro's Worker Coop Development Program No major changes or problems have occurred in this reporting period. While the COVID-19 Pandemic has forced our Academy to move online, it hasn't substantially changed the delivery of the program nor prohibited us from meeting our goals for the year. Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop the Food Coop is recruiting new members, but would like to attract more members who are specifically part of the Food Coop target audience - long-term residents of Central Brooklyn. As we move forward, we will develop ways to be more intentional about identifying and tracking long-term resident. Because of social distancing and infection concerns, the Food Coop has had to suspend many of its in-person activities and face-to-face approaches to membership recruitment. We have also slowed down our efforts to build a storefront retail presence because of the potential risks for shoppers and member-volunteers. We are planning to have strategic planning retreat that we will use to reconsider the timeline and the appropriate business model for a pandemic-time grocery store opening and operation. RiseBoro and Brooklyn Movement Center's Leadership Team As noted above, the leadership team for the Central Brooklyn Food Democracy Project has not formed or launched this year. In part, this was due fact that the two teams at RiseBoro and BMC/the Food Coop were very occupied with launching brand-new programs, hiring and onboarding staff, and responding to and dealing with capacity issues because of the Pandemic. That said, several meetings have occurred between the entities in order to move it forward. The latest conclusion we came to, however, is that the Food Coop will need to first address their own governance needs, so that we can move into how that relates to the leadership team. The expectation is for the leadership team to launch, with regular meetings in year two of this CFP. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?RiseBoro's Worker-Owned Coop Development Program The staff team of the Worker Coop Program all travelled to New Orleans from March 9-13th to participate in the Wallace Center's National Good Food Network Conference. While the group did not present on any panels, we all participated in valuable workshops that helped to better prepare us to support our coops. Some of these included: Collaborative Financing Values Based Food Business Tour Business Failures Unlocking the Economic Development Toolbox We were also able to build relationships at this conference that have led to offers of support for the program, particularly from Capital Impact Partners, a financer, funder, and technical assistance provider. On Friday, September 11th, the staff team participated in the online one-day US Federation of Worker Coops Annual Coop Conference. Workshops included: A keynote with Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis, leaders in the movement for economic democracy A worker-led Green New Deal Leveraging Impact Capital to Scale Employee Ownership Worker Self-Directed Nonprofits: Building Liberatory And Democratic Nonprofit Organizations Brooklyn Movement Center's Central Brooklyn Food Coop the Food Coop has held trainings and orientations that have developed a deeper understanding of how coops function as well as the history of Black coops in New York City. Volunteers have been involved in wide range of professional development opportunities: Members of the Business and Strategy Committee have received briefings and trainings on real estate development, POS systems and budgeting. At least 5 members of the Food Coop leadership have attended 3 peer learning sessions and 1 retreat with the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. Members of the Fundraising Committee have learned how to run and fulfill a crowd funding campaign and how to cultivate individual donors. Members of the #HoldDownBK crew have learned procurement and food delivery system building. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As noted in the "Other Products" section, we created a 20-minute presentation on the CBFDP. This presentation has been shared with: Development Partners of the Vital Brooklyn/Brooklyn Developmental Center development project Individual donors (who gave substantial contributions since) Partners Cooperative Academy Participants Staff of RiseBoro The Food Coop membership What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1 The next reporting period will include another annual meeting, the appointment of new board members, the establishment of a store opening committee and learnings from a strategic planning session. The next reporting period will be focused on raising more money, hiring additional staff, recruiting new members, and figuring out how to open and operate under pandemic conditions. Goal 2 The next reporting period will contain an entire Academy cohort - running from October 24, 2020 - Spring 2021. It will also include recruitment and planning for our 2021-2022 cohort. We also expect to onboard at least one new staff member to support the coops further as they launch. Goal 3 Over the course of the next reporting period, Beautifully Fed Food will launch as a worker coop and they will do more business in turn. While they only completed three cooking demonstrations for the Food Coop this year, we expect to use the excess funds from year one to host several cooking demonstrations and courses in order to support Food Coop member recruitment in the coming year. The coordination of these offerings will be led by the Food Sovereignty Organizer at the Brooklyn Movement Center, who has now been onboarded sufficiently and will the capacity to enable this over the course of the year. Goal 4 We have already begun to solicit the services of Akua D. Smith, an expert in organizational governance structures, food justice, and group facilitation. We expect to work with Akua to hold a series of retreats for stakeholders (RiseBoro staff, BMC staff, the Food Coop membership, Brooklyn Packers, and perhaps representatives from the worker coops being incubated currently) to further design the leadership team's structure, role, and responsibilities. Following this process, we expect regular meetings to commence within the program year.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
GOAL1 The Food Coop/BMC team made great strides in this area. Not only did we dramatically increase the size of our membership, but continued to build organizational infrastructure even in the face of a debilitating pandemic. This has included: Membership and Outreach The Membership and Outreach Committee has held a series of outreach events, political education trainings, member orientations and made updates to the website, that resulted in attracting and orienting 161 new invested members to the Food Coop. Hiring After a careful and participatory hiring process that attracted over 50 applicants, we successfully hired a Food Coop organizer, Shaquana Boykin, in April 2020. Strategic Planning In the beginning of 2020, the board and membership convened to discuss a store opening vision, timeline, and guiding benchmarks. Although this planning was ultimately interrupted by the pandemic, it helped build momentum toward a consensus on key decisions for the opening of the Food Coop. Fundraising Crowd Funding - The fundraising committee of the Food Coop successfully raised $50,000 from a Kickstarter campaign that attracted national support. Individual giving - The Central Brooklyn Food Democracy Project raised $600,000 in individual donations from three large donors, spread over three years. This included support for the Food Coop, BMC and RiseBoro. HoldDownBK - BMC raised over $150,000 to support emergency food relief efforts that were designed to feed food insecure members of the community and introduce them to the Food Coop. #HoldDownBK In May, after raising $150,000, BMC began the process of identifying families at 305 Decatur, the Weeksville houses, and in other locations in the community, who were food insecure. Ranging between 100 and 250 family deliveries per week, we have delivered over 3,500 grocery bags representing 70,000 pounds worth of food over 22 weeks. These recipient families are among the primary market for current and future the Food Coop membership drives. Annual Meeting and Board Member Elections In December of 2019, the Food Coop held its second annual meeting, attracting more than 25% of our existing membership. At the board meeting we considered amendments to the by-laws, and elected 2 new board members. GOAL2 The worker-owned cooperative development program at RiseBoro has been years in the making in terms of visioning and planning, but it was in this first year of this CFP grant that the program was finally able to launch into a public-facing program. This has been made possible because of the following accomplishments along the way: Staffing The Director, Our Food and Manager, Our Food transitioned their workload in order to accommodate 50% of their time toward the cooperative academy. Additionally, we hired our Worker Cooperative Developer, Rachel Isreeli. Rachel brings over 5 years of cooperative development experience from one of the country's most prolific and successful incubation programs. Their expertise on the business needs of the coops has rounded out our team. Design and Academy Launch As noted above, as soon as Worker Coop Developer joined the team, the staff team of three dove deep into program design, which was then followed by curriculum development. This has resulted in a coop development program that is unique in the coop world, both for its focus on a particular industry while also being place-based and for the financial incentives we offer to participants and coops in the program (stipends, startup grants, access to consultant funds). which we see as an accomplishment is that instead of having The Working World lead worker coop academies for us, we have created and are leading the overall academy ourselves. The Working World remains a close partner - they will lead workshops in the Academy and they will work 1:1 with coops to offer technical assistance and financing opportunities. The reporting period ended right after the info sessions and just before application deadlines. That last month was spent preparing for the launch of the academy - confirming partners, preparing participant agreements, drafting contracts, etc. Recruitment Because COVID-19 created so much uncertainty, our expectation was to have very few people participate in our info sessions. We are pleased to have had 46 attendees/viewers of the program. We attribute this accomplishment to the wide breadth of our networks in the food justice and cooperative fields in New York City. We found our materials circulating back to us through many different channels in the days leading up to the info sessions. Business Support As noted above, we have provided valuable support for Brooklyn Packers in a year where they've needed to scale in order to meet the increased demand for their services. The support we have offered in terms of both governance and their member manual has given them the structural support they need in order to accommodate growth. Strategic Partner Development We have brought several partners in to support our coops in development, both within the Academy to teach workshops and to support the worker coops post-launch. These partners include: New York City Network of Worker-Owned Cooperatives (NYCNoWC) Take Root Justice The Working World We have also been learning from: LIFT Economy, PUSH Buffalo, Capital Impact Partners, Green Worker Cooperatives, the NYC Cooperative Solutions Working Group (came out of a Mayoral task force on COVID-19 response), Agency of Joy and others. GOAL3 Increasing the business viability of Beautifully Fed Food began with the process of supporting them as they transitioned their membership in 2019-2020 and will continue with the start of the Academy. There are currently seven members of this coop-in-incubation, who will all participate in the Academy. Though they are further along in their process than others, the Academy will prepare them to fully launch as a worker coop and grow their business in a way that they haven't been able to in the past. The other part of this goal is to increase the culinary knowledge of Central Brooklyn residents through leading cooking demos and courses with the Food Coop. In this first year of the CFP grant, the members of BFF have led three Cooking Demonstrations. One in-person on February 6th and the other two on Instagram live on April 16th and April 23rd. As noted above, the participation in these workshops was very high. While we look forward to resuming in-person learning in a post-Pandemic future), we do recognize that using the online platforms that we have used during the Pandemic has the potential to reach a much larger audience. We imagine that we create hybrid programming that brings to together the value of in-person learning and relationship-building and at-home accessibility. As noted above, the Food Coop led a very successful Kickstarter campaign in the fall of 2019. As part of our rewards program, we hired Karen Cherfils of BFF to create 4 seasonal recipes to share with donors. GOAL4 The leadership team is in development. The focus this year was more on Goals 1 and 2 and we expect Goals 3 and 4 to be much more of a focus in the coming year. In this reporting year, the Worker Cooperative Development staff of RiseBoro and the Executive Director of BMC have met twice to discuss the leadership team and how best to design an opportunity for more community-based leadership of this project. We recognize that the very concept of the CBFDP is about community self-determination and also that we, as staff of community organizations were the ones to first vision this project. We would like to host a process that ensures that this project becomes truly community-led. While we expect that BMC and RiseBoro will have a role in the Leadership Team, we also anticipate that our role in decision-making and leading this project will shift toward the community as the leadership team is designed and launched.
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