Co-op Conversations: Promoting Your Co-op Values
Co-op Conversations: Promoting Your Co-op Values
February 28, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET
Like most small businesses, worker co-ops today are facing a variety of challenges. Unlike conventional businesses, however, we believe that we are stronger together, when we can share success stories and identify solutions to our common problems. That’s the focus of our Co-op Conversations series, developed for CWCF members, which will highlight the knowledge and experience of our members on contemporary issues while encouraging discussion.
We’re pleased to announce that our next session, facilitated by board member Evan Proven of Sun Certified Builders Co-op, will feature Robin Puga of CanTrust Hosting Co-op and Veronica Ing of Urbane Cyclist Worker Co-op, who will share their insights about how they’ve promoted their co-op values. In addition to the personal experience that Robin and Veronica will draw upon, we look forward to hearing from you, our members. What have you discovered about this topic? What do you wish you knew? Come ready to share, learn, and connect.
Please note this event is exclusively for members of worker co-ops in Canada.
Evan Proven is a founding member of Sun Certified Builders Co-op Ltd. and the current Vice President. Having worked in building trades since starting in concrete construction as a teenager, Evan has continued his professional development as a carpenter gaining experience in wood framing and finishing carpentry. Evan’s more recent carpentry experience focuses on super insulated renovations and high-performance new home construction. Evan achieved his Red Seal Endorsement in Carpentry in June of 2017. Evan has since taken on more of the business management at SCBC and graduated from the Master of Management in Co-operatives and Credit Unions program at Saint Mary’s University in September of 2023.
Evan has been on the board of the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation since 2019 and currently serves as Co-President and Director for the Prairies and NWT/NU Regions. Evan also volunteers with the Winnipeg Folk Festival as crew coordinator for the Year Round Concert Series Hospitality team. Evan’s hobbies include gardening, cooking, snowboarding, sailing, and fixing things.
Veronica Ing is the Marketing Coordinator at Urbane Cyclist Worker-Owned Co-op, and you will see them working both in front of and behind the camera on social media, and day-to-day on the sales floor! They have been with Urbane Cyclist Worker-Owned Co-Op in Downtown Toronto since 2022, and a Worker-Owner since April 2024, but that is but the briefest moment in time for a co-op that’s 27 years old!Urbane Cyclist has been around since 1997, bringing quality products and service to cyclists of all kinds in downtown Toronto. As part of an industry that increasingly prioritizes throwaway culture and poor quality in favour of quick turnaround and increased profit, it is with pride that Urbane brings a holistic methodology to the alternative transportation movement and challenges car supremacy! You can find them online at www.ucycle.com and on Instagram at @urbanecyclist
Robin Puga is a Vancouver-based software engineer and consultant with over 20 years of experience in Open Source web
application development. In 2008, Robin co-founded CanTrust Hosting Co-operative, a worker-owned enterprise dedicated to providing secure, reliable, and ethical web hosting services for non-profits and social economy organizations. CanTrust embodies the principles of the co-operative movement, emphasizing fairness, transparency, and sustainability in its operations. By offering Canadian-based hosting solutions, CanTrust empowers organizations to maintain full control of their data while staying true to their values. Robin’s passion for co-operatives began in 2002, and he continues to champion the model through his work at CanTrust, as well as through the educational radio show Each for All: The Co-operative Connection, which he co-founded in 2006. His commitment to promoting co-op values earned him the BCCA Distinguished Co-operator Award in 2009, recognizing his long-standing contributions to the B.C. co-operative sector.