The 2026 Worker Co-op Conference is in the books! The USFWC and DAWI hosted about 420 people from all parts of the United States in Boston on Sept 25th and 26th, and many more virtually through our Satellite Events and livestream.
A huge thank you to everyone who attended in person. The Nor’easter gave us some rainy adversity throughout the conference, and we appreciate everyone rolling with it as we shifted plans to accommodate. We quite literally weathered the storm together – much appreciation to all who made it!
If you did attend, please make sure to fill out the conference experience survey to help us improve for future conferences.
Don’t forget to upload your photos to the conference album here – the full conference photo gallery will be available in the coming weeks.
Special thanks to Access Cooperative, a local language services and consulting business who held down interpretation for the weekend.
The greater Boston area ecosystem showed up in full force: we hosted three site visits at Democracy Brewing, Dorchester Food Co-op, and the Co-op Social Club.
Crew getting ready to attend the Dorchester Food Co-op Site Visit
Alongside the Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power, we honored Senator Julian Cyr and Rep. Carmen Gentile for Championing the cooperative movement, and we highlighted several other local groups, including Deans Beans.
Our Co-op Clinic Technical Assistance Manager hosted our opening plenary, highlighting the groundwork that has been laid in the Northeast for a rich co-op ecosystem and spurred vital developments that are going strong today.
Opening plenary panel
This year’s sessions went deep, building up skills through conversations on facilitating tension and navigating financial uncertainty, to organizing meetings that highlighted regional strategies for advocacy and building up cooperative ecosystems.
Our rainy Saturday was also the debut of our Satellite Events – thanks to our 10 locations who piloted this idea with us, on our way toward a more inclusive conference experience!
Amidst our rich networking where attendees connected with peers and our record-number of sponsors (!) – we gathered for a plenary that delved into how we build toward a collective vision for the worker co-op movement
Saturday early afternoon plenary, Visions for the Future of the Worker Co-op Movement.
Finally, we closed out our time together with a storytelling ritual featuring folks from Rested Root Cooperative, Prospera, Equal Exchange, and Fractal HR.
Colleen Skemp from Fractal HR
Thanks to all of our attendees and sponsors for making the 2026 Worker Co-op Conference a success!
Thank you to everyone who supported the USFWC by signing up for monthly donations as a Worker Co-op Sustainer at the Worker Co-op Conference! And thank you to everyone who went home with some snazzy USFWC merch to show off your worker co-op pride!
We are currently 102 Worker Co-op Sustainers strong and growing – up from our mighty crew of 86 pre-conference!!!
Will you help us reach 120 Worker Co-op Sustainers as soon as possible this year?
Recurring monthly contributions provide us with the financial predictability and stability we need as an organization to plan farther into the future and be more resilient in the present. All contributions support the USFWC in providing critical programming and educational events for the worker co-op community, like the Worker Co-op Conference – the largest national gathering for worker -owners in the U.S.
