A Final Word, and a Torch Passed Forward, by Hazel Corcoran
When I first became involved with this Federation, as a 29-year-old law student, I found a torch lit by visionaries who were gathered in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1991 with little more than conviction, a shared belief in worker ownership, and the courage to build something that did not yet exist. They imagined a Canada where worker co-operatives were not a curiosity but a genuine force for justice, democracy, and shared prosperity in the economy. I have spent these intervening 35 years trying to be worthy of that inheritance: carrying their vision through the quieter, hard work of building programs, securing resources, developing policy, and standing up for worker co-ops in the halls of government and in communities across this country. One development of which I am particularly proud is our Common Good Capital Registered Plans Program, serving primarily not worker co-ops but a variety of enterprise types in the solidarity economy, improving their ability to capitalize themselves. As I write this final report as Executive Director, I do so with immense gratitude for the chance to have served this movement, and with the deep satisfaction of knowing that the flame that founders lit still burns, brighter and steadier than at that first Conference.
It has been the honour and privilege of my working life to walk alongside the boards who governed with such care and wisdom, going back to early directors like Mark Goldblatt, Marty Frost, Louise Champagne, David Daughton, Colin MacDougall, April Bourgeois, Alain Bridault, Yuill Herbert, Yvonne Chiu, Eric Tusz-King, and Jessica Provencher*, through to our present board, led with such dedication by co-presidents Martin Van Den Borre and Tara Williams, vice-president Reba Plummer, treasurer Kelly Storie, other directors, and equity advisors Juliet ‘Kego Ume-Onyido and Lucenia Ortiz. I have been equally fortunate in the small staff teams who have brought skill and heart to every file: Peter Hough (the first Executive Director, later Financial Officer, who has been and remains a great mentor to me), through to today, where I have the fortune to work with Kaye Grant, Kristin Van Hattem, and the rest of our small-but-mighty team, along with many other staff members who came before. To the members who trusted us to help guide them and to share in mutual learnings as they developed their worker co-ops, and the allies across the broader solidarity economy movement who never let us feel alone in this work, thank you. Allies such as Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada, Co-operators, Vancity, CoopZone, the Quebec worker co-op federations, CICOPA, and many others have been critical to our ability to grow as we have from ½ of one staff member FTE in the first 10 years to about 6.0 FTE today. Together we weathered setbacks, celebrated new worker co-ops taking root, and kept faith with the founders’ belief that people can own and govern their own workplaces democratically. Now, as I prepare to step back, I do so with complete confidence in the new leadership chosen by your board of directors to carry this Federation forward. They bring fresh energy, new perspectives, including to deepen important work in Justice, Equity, Diversity, Decolonization and Inclusion, and an unshakeable commitment to the values of solidarity in the economy that built CWCF. I am certain they will take it further than any of us have done to date. The torch is in good hands, and the future of this Federation is bright.
As for me, I look forward over the next few months to supporting the successful transition to CWCF’s new leadership. As of the new year, I intend first to simply rest, to take a few months of pure, unhurried break after many years of full engagement. But I do not intend to leave the co-operative movement behind, only to change how I show up for it. Through the Big Idea Rainbow Foundation, which I was fortunate to help co-found, I hope to use the reach of popular culture to bring the co-operative model, and its promise for workers especially, to people who might never otherwise find it. I may also find my way back to the practice of co-operative law, where I began my career, and where there is always more good work to be done in service of this movement. And above all, I look forward to spending far more time with my family and friends, the people who supported me through this whole journey and who deserve more of me than I have often been able to give in the last 35 years of co-leading CWCF. I leave CWCF grateful beyond words, and confident that the movement the founders imagined in 1991 is, at a time when justice and solidarity are needed more than ever, poised to take off.
*There have been so many volunteers contributing to the success of this Federation over the years that it is impossible to name them all. This includes other board members, committee members, worker co-op developers, and advisors, including re: Government Relations, the Tenacity Works Fund, Quebec, and youth. However, the list of volunteers is so long that space does not permit naming all of you. A huge thank you to all including other staff who have contributed to building this Federation!