This week, Everything Co-op launches its Women’s History Month series. The 2025 theme, set by the National Women’s History Alliance, is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations,” celebrating women leaders in education and mentorship.
The inaugural episode of the series will feature cooperative advocates Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., Professor at John Jay College, and Ahzjah-Netjer Simons, Co-Executive Director of the Georgia Cooperative Development Center. Vernon and his guests will discuss their podcast experiences of introducing listeners to Black women cooperators, insights gained from the interviews, and their future plans.
Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (2014) and 2016 inductee into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame, Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., is a Professor at John Jay College, City University of NY. She is a political economist specializing in cooperative economics, community economic development, racial wealth inequality, Black Political Economy. She is a member of the Cooperative Economics Council of NCBA/CLUSA; the ICA Committee on Co-operative Research; an affiliate scholar with the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan; and past board member of Association of Cooperative Educators.
Ahzjah-Netjer Simons is a transformative leader committed to empowering cooperative businesses and communities through education, strategy, and innovation. As Co-Executive Director of the Georgia Cooperative Development Center and P6 Ambassador for the NCBA, she champions sustainable growth and economic empowerment. Simons also serves as President of Digico Global, where she assists women, cooperatives, and small businesses in bridging the digital divide through digital transformation.
With 25 years in media activism and 18 years as a cooperative leader, Simons has been a force for change, earning the CCMA Cooperative Service Award. She founded International Co-op Media, a coop media incubator and launched Co-op Nation to illuminate the cooperative movement and its impact. She is also co-creator of Women In Cooperation, a pass the mic podcast, digital magazine, and community dedicated to uplifting and amplifying women in the cooperative space.
