Session materials from "The Critical Role of Women in U.S. Cooperative History and Lessons for Today's Work," presented by Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo at NASCO Institute 2015.
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Women have always been an integral part of cooperative history --whether benign silent and supportive in the background, or loud and boisterous organizing in the foreground. Many times it is being the loyal backbone of many cooperative organizations. Women's roles in cooperatives have been critical, and today it is even more critical that women recognize their different perspectives, power and influence and use them to educate members, bring fresh perspectives, organize prospective members, create vision and otherwise sustain cooperatives as a way to eliminate poverty and provide income and to create and provide the many services that communities need to truly sustain themselves.
