C.A. et équipe de travail

Based primarily in Calgary, Hazel Corcoran has served as CWCF’s Executive Director since 1995. She first became interested in the idea of employee ownership while completing a Master’s in Linguistics at Berkeley. She later went on to study law, and discovered the worker co-op model while completing a research paper on various models of workplace democracy. Coincidentally, CWCF was in the process of forming nearby, and Hazel attended the founding AGM and ultimately helped the Federation draft its bylaws.

Worker co-ops appeal to Hazel as a way to empower workers and help them flourish in the workplace and learn new skills.  She believes it’s the most humane way to organize the economy. She would like to see Canada’s worker co-op sector grow significantly, and hopes it can partner with government and the solidarity economy to achieve this.

In addition to her work with CWCF, Hazel has also served as a director of a variety of co-operatives, in the past including Calgary Co-op, First Calgary Credit Union, le Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada.  She is currently a director of The Co-operators where she chairs the Member and Co-operative Relations Committee.

In her spare time, Hazel enjoys spending time with her family, walking in nature, and cooking Cajun food, a legacy of her origins in New Orleans. She’s also an active member of Prairie Sky Cohousing in Calgary.

Based in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Kristin Van Hattem has served as CWCF’s RRSP Program Manager and Bookkeeper since November of 2016. She has learned a great deal about worker co-ops during her time with the federation, and likes how they emphasize work-life balance and give employees a say in their working conditions. Kristin also appreciates that CWCF supports a national network of worker co-ops and how these organizations are concerned with wanting to make the world a better place. She is especially excited by the work being done by so many innovative co-ops and CEDIFs throughout Nova Scotia.

In her spare time, Kristin enjoys discovering new trails, parks and beaches with her family. She relaxes by reading, crafting and doing crossword puzzles.

Based in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Josh Dyke has served as CWCF’s RRSP Program Administrator since 2016, a position that has grown since he began the job to include more hours and interaction with investors. Josh had little knowledge of worker co-operatives before starting with CWCF, but has come to learn more about them through his work with the federation, including a course on co-op governance he took through CoopZone.

Josh likes working for CWCF because it’s good to its employees and responsive to employee needs. He also appreciates the values CWCF holds and how it tries to promote these through services such as the RRSP Program.

A graduate of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts in criminology with minors in philosophy and psychology. In his spare time, he volunteers as a Beaver Scouter, which he enjoys for the opportunity it allows him and others to have fun.

Based in Toronto, Reba Plummer has served on CWCFs board since 2010, and as board President since 2016. The Co-executive Director of Toronto’s Urbane Cyclist, Reba started out as the proprietor of her own bike shop before joining Urbane in 2000. She attended her first CWCF conference in 2006, and has been present at every one since. She is currently on the board of The Co-operators, having been nominated by CWCF, and previously served as the Greater Toronto Area Co-op Network Regional Manager for the Ontario Co-operative Association.

Having been a sole proprietor, Reba appreciates the shared responsibility that comes with belonging to a worker co-op. She finds that the co-op’s members have particularly demonstrated their commitment during the Covid-19 pandemic and stepped up to meet the challenges arising from it. She believes that Urbane’s members are committed to living out the co-op values in their work, seeking to create fair and equitable employment for all.

Reba believes a lack of understanding within the wider community remains a challenge for worker co-ops, and hopes to make them better understood. She would also like to grow CWCFs membership, and to ensure it has more resources available to support the creation of or conversion to worker co-ops.

An avid cyclist, Reba has completed the Adventure Cycling Association’s leadership training and has led several bicycle tours including the Eastern Canada Adventure, a two-week tour from Quebec City to Gaspé. She is also a two-time Cycle Messenger World Champion (cargo bike racing division).

Jessica Provencher has served on CWCF’s board since 2011. She got her introduction to worker co-ops as a bartender at La Barberie, a microbrewery in Quebec City. During her time there, she spent six years as head of co-operative life, representing the co-op at conferences and on various boards. She is currently on the board of The Co-operators, having been nominated by CWCF.

Serving on the board has allowed Jessica to learn more about worker co-ops in the rest of Canada, and to bring her experience from the Quebec sector to CWCF. She believes she’s benefited from building relationships with members of the worker co-op sector who share common values in spite of geographical separation, and learning that there were more people committed to worker co-ops in Canada than she believed.

“That gave me faith and confidence that there were a lot of people in Canada and throughout the world that wanted this model to be more dynamic and more well-known,” she says. “So I think how I’ve benefited the most is it kept me motivated to work in worker co-ops and to help and support them to be viable.”

Jessica believes in the worker co-op model because it empowers workers in both their work lives and other areas, and thus helps create stronger communities. She also believes CWCF has both a challenge and an opportunity in the coming years to grow Canada’s worker co-op sector, and that issues such as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and precarious employment make this especially timely.

“I think the worker co-op movement can be a very good example of how it works when people come together and share the power and responsibilities in organizations,” she says.