Everything Co-op continues it’s tribute to the 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductees, with an interview of Leslie Mead, retired Executive Director of the Cooperative Development Foundation. Leslie discusses her co-op journey, and projections about the future of the cooperative movement with Vernon.
After growing up in Indiana and attending college in Iowa, Mead moved to Washington, DC and took a job with the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) as assistant general counsel. After a decade with NCFC, she moved into her role as an independent consultant, where she developed education projects for NCFC, set up the Leadership Scholarship Program for the Ralph K. Morris Foundation, and served as the executive administrator for the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE).
Building upon its historic strengths, while redirecting resources to meet a more diverse contemporary and future audience, Mead helped ACE re-establish itself as a premier educational organization, with uniquely cross-cultural offerings. Mead then moved on to expand the impact of cooperative philanthropy, first as executive director of The Cooperative Foundation and then at the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF).
During her tenure at CDF, Mead consolidated multiple funds under management, which lowered the costs of fund administration, and enabled CDF to invest more strategically and impactfully in cooperative development. She increased operating revenue by 64%, operating surplus by five-fold, and grant giving by ten. Though CDF supports every cooperative sector, among Mead’s most notable accomplishments is her work structuring and funding the Cooperative Home Care Initiative, a network to support a particularly vulnerable group of American workers. One of her parting contributions was the Unsung Cooperative Hero category launched in 2021 to recognize the contributions to cooperatives by members of historically overlooked and marginalized communities.
The 2023 Everything Co-op List: Vernon Oakes’ Picks for Heart, Mind, Body, Soul, and Community
For nearly 10 years, Vernon Oakes, Everything Co-op’s founder and host, has dedicated himself and the show to promoting the cooperative model to build economic resilience, expand employment, and provide dignity of work and home. It does this by highlighting and amplifying the work, products, and services of cooperatives, their members, and their allies.
This year we are proud to expand those efforts by offering a thought-fully curated list of products and services from the cooperative community centered around five categories, each mirroring Vernon’s interests – Heart, Mind, Body, Soul, and Community. These categories embrace a wide variety of items that reflect the cooperative ethos of mutual support, sustainability, and community welfare.
We’re inviting the community to help select these products and services. If you provide a product or service that you would like to highlight or if you are a customer of a product or service, please feel free to submit them. (Submit Link)
