Hnin W. Hnin, Executive Director of Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (CoFED) appeared on Everything Co-op on September 13, 2018, a weekly Nationally broadcast radio show. Vernon and Hnin discussed how CoFED is building the leadership of young people of color at the intersection of food systems change, solidarity and cooperative economics. Hnin W. Hnin is a storyweaver, educator, and facilitator who is guided by the ancestors and mother earth to transform systemic injustices into compost for collective liberation. As the current Executive Director of Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (CoFED), they design and facilitate transformative experiences where young people of color (un)learn cooperative values and economics through food and land. Rooted in the movements for food justice, solidarity and cooperative economics, and just transitions, Hnin is a 2018 Movement Voices Fellow with New Economy Coalition. They have written for Grist and Civil Eats, been interviewed by Colorlines and Synergy Airwaves, and presented at conferences including Just Food, CommonBound, and Vegan Praxis of Black Lives Matter. Before CoFED, Hnin worked with World Learning as a global human rights educator and held national positions at Slow Food USA and Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, building power to transform the food system. They previously served on the Board of Advisors at CoFED and Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON). Hnin graduated from Williams College with a degree in Political Economy and International Studies. CoFED partners with college students and administrators to start or scale campus food co-ops with a triple bottom line of food sovereignty, sustainability and social justice. Since 2011 the organization has developed 11 new cooperative projects, trained over 500 students on over 60 campuses, and cultivated a community of nearly 4,000 supporters. CoFED forefront’s racial and economic equity at the core of cooperative development.
