Connecting Our Workplaces; Building Cooperative Economies

July 8-10, 2011
University of Maryland Baltimore County | Baltimore, MD

Thanks for helping to make the 2011 Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy a huge success! We had about 220 participants and would like to thank everyone who presented sessions, volunteered, and participated!

The 2011 Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy will bring together representatives of worker cooperatives, ESOP's, and other cooperatively-run organizations to strengthen the network of democratic workplaces in the Eastern United States.   Through networking, seminars, tours, and storytelling, participants will exchange tools and solutions for democratic management and development of cooperative workplaces. We will share strategies for building systems for regional support and advocating for ourselves as we build momentum toward the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives.

The Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy supports an economy that utilizes cooperative and democratic organizational structures to support equitable systems for exchanging goods, services & products and stewardship of the commons for mutual benefit by all. We believe that democratic workplaces are the fundamental building blocks that power our work towards economic, social, and environmental justice and solidarity.

About the Conference
ECWD exposes people to the concept of worker-owned businesses; strengthens existing worker-owned businesses; develops relationships between democratically-owned businesses, labor institutions, and resource organizations; and builds the movement for workplace democracy. It is held every two years in the Eastern United States.

Who Should Attend?
Members of worker cooperatives; other democratic employee-owned businesses; labor, technical assistance, and community organizations; and scholars will gather for problemsolving and movement-building discussions. Organizations and individuals interested in creating good, locally-owned, community-based jobs are especially encouraged to explore this promising strategy for economic and social development.

The Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy (ECWD) is a non-profit cooperative organization established to aid in the continued growth of the workplace democracy movement. The ECWD is managed by the Coordinating Council, which is a group of worker-owners and members of support organizations that were elected by the general membership of the ECWD. The ECWD works in cooperation with the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives to promote and develop worker-owned enterprises regionally and nationally. The main work of the ECWD includes holding a conference every two years, in the Eastern United States, for the purpose of bringing together worker-owners, employees of democractically run ESOPs, companies and organizations that provide support to democractic workplaces, and anyone interested in the workplace democracy movement. For more information, contact ECWD organizers Neily Jennings or Esteban Kelly at: info@east.usworker.coop.