Dedicated to providing anti-racist, anti-oppressive education in Saskatchewan, a group of women came together to form the Prairie Centre for Racial Justice Employment Cooperative.
Based in Saskatoon, this worker co-op aims to create societal change by organizing education efforts to meet community needs across sectors in (and beyond) the prairie provinces. The group chose to organize as a co-operative to ensure each of them had a say in how they support themselves as workers, as well as the learners and organizations they plan to work with.
“A worker co-operative model aligns with our values of prioritizing human dignity,” a member of the group said. “We are setting up the co-op to meet our needs as workers carrying out the work collectively. Profits will be used to support workers and to build more anti-racism practitioners and facilitators in the community through models such as sliding scale fees.”
Co-operatives First was proud to help the Prairie Centre for Racial Justice identify how the co-op model could work for them and to support them through the process of incorporating their co-operative.
“[Co-operatives First] responded promptly to our requests for help, and they offered flexible support as we made decisions and pursued incorporation,” the representative said. “They’ve built trust by consistently delivering everything they promised! Although none of us have had much experience with co-operatives, the support of Co-operatives First boosted our confidence in choosing the worker co-op model.”