NASCO Institute 2024

Session materials from the Creating a Co-op Course Track at NASCO Institute 2024.

With the cost of living constantly on the rise, the demand for affordable housing solutions—like housing co-ops—is greater than ever. NASCO has pulled together a team of experts to take future co-op founders through the process of starting a new housing co-op, from clarifying the initial concept to drafting your business plan. Workshops in this series provide a comprehensive, step-by-step training program on the development process.

Session materials from “Storytelling Time!” presented by Bronwyn Walls at NASCO Institute 2024. In this workshop, we'll discuss how storytelling is a tool for social change and we'll explore a storytelling framework that connects our own personal narratives to the social change work that we are embedded within in our co-ops and beyond. We'll then work together to develop and refine our public narratives related to the power of cooperation. P.S. The stories we create in this workshop can be used for member recruitment, fundraising, grant writing, education, and more! 

Session materials from “Cultivating Connection: Principles to support Facilitation” presented by Adrian Roman at NASCO Institute 2024. Facilitation is an important skill in any cooperative. The practical skills are very important, as are the intuitive elements - like when someone may not have felt heard, or when things need to shift direction, how to adapt or allowing emergence. In this session we will experience a Listening Circle. A Listening Circle is an intentional space where we gather to build relation, connection, trust and practice being seen, heard, seeing and hearing.

Session materials from “The impact of Direct Federal Loans to Student coops in the 60s-80s AND why we should lobby for more!” presented by Brian Donovan and Jared Katzman at NASCO Institute 2024. Brian and Jared presented research done for CCDC about co-ops that received funding through the College Housing Loan Fund, what they used the funds for, and make the case for lobbying in DC when the new administration is getting started.  We will discuss what we should request and sign up interested co-ops and members to make the trip in early 2025.

Session materials from “Creating Neurodiverse Conscious Communities: Recognize and Respect Members Strengths and Differences” presented by Alex Bailey at NASCO Institute 2024. 

This session will look at examples of how neurodiversity and unseen disabilities can affect participation and volunteer retention. We will explore ways to identify barriers to ongoing participation and how to approach accommodations with compassion and respect.

Session materials from “Governing Big Coops Through Crisis” presented by Bryan Pagán, President of the ICC and Cyn Macias-Gomez, President of the BSC at NASCO Institute 2024. Both the ICC and BSC Recently Encountered Crises.  The pandemic added fuel to the fire, but was not at the main issue at all.  In 2022 the ICC fired its Finance Director and the General Manager resigned after being censured by the board.  The BSC is on their third Executive Director in the last few years and has seen turnover in several important staff roles.

Session materials from “Organizing across Movements” presented by Camila Tapia-Guilliams at NASCO Institute 2024. 

Cooperatives are organized by community members collectively meeting their needs as mutual aid. They are rooted in a diverse history across movements for people power. While community organizing is foundational to many cooperatives’ history and practice, it is often an unspoken tactic or framework. 

Session materials from “When Boundaries Get Crossed: A Transformative Justice Approach to Consent Violations” presented by Fuzzy Shostak and Emma Daley at NASCO Institute 2024. Most co-ops strive to be places of care, community, and consensus, but even in co-ops, boundary crossings happen. How do we handle them in a way that prioritizes safety while treating everyone with fairness and respect? How can we create cultures where consent is so normal that major incidents are rare?

Session materials from “How NASCO has inspired European Student Housing Cooperators” presented by Anke Schwittay and Jim Jones at NASCO Institute 2024. This workshop will introduced the Pan-European Student Cooperative Housing Network (PESCHA), which is an ecosystem of cooperatives in six European countries that aims to grow the number of student housing cooperatives. While some members (UK, Germany, Switzerland) have well-established coops, other members (Ireland, Hungary, Italy) are at the beginning of their coop journey.

Session materials from “The Cooperative Horizon: Collapsing the Housing Market” presented by Liz Curran-Groome and Caroline Davis at NASCO Institute 2024. The housing market is not a free market. There’s a ton of free money out there and most of it subsidizes landlord profiteering. What if we the autonomous communities were to get in on the party?