JOIN THE USFWC BOARD
Each year, USFWC members elect candidates to the Board of Directors. On odd years, we hold an election for our At-Large Directors, and on even years, we elect our Regional Representatives, who advocate for the co-ops in their area.
In 2023, we are recruiting candidates to run for five at-large director seats.
Know a great candidate? Recommend them!
If you are part of a USFWC member organization, you can recommend any number of people to run for the board. Use this form to recommend a candidate – or ten!
Ready to run? Nominate yourself!
Use this form to self-nominate. If you still don’t have your workplace’s endorsement, you can still fill out the form. But make sure to secure the endorsement before August 7th.
Why run for the board?
- Be a key part of building the worker co-op movement in this country.
- Network with other co-op and economic justice organizations.
- Travel to local, regional, national worker cooperative conferences.
- Represent the US at the international worker co-op federation, CICOPA
- General Assembly and as part of international delegations
- Board members are not compensated for their time, but USFWC does cover expenses incurred in the course of regular board service, such as travel.
Questions? For more info, contact membership [at] usworker.coop
Overview & Candidate Eligibility
- USFWC is led by a member-elected Board of between 5 and 9 directors.
- There are 4 regional representatives (elected in years ending in even numbers) and up to 5 At-Large representatives (elected in years ending in odd numbers)
- Voting member classes include: Worker Cooperative, Democratic Workplace, Cooperative Developer, and Federation Partners. More about all member classes available here.
- Any worker-owner of a voting member workplace may run for the Board, with support from their workplace (or employee in the case of Democratic Workplace, Coop Developer and Federation Partner members).
- Before they run, a candidate’s workplace must have been a USFWC member for at least one year.
- At-large candidates can run from any voting member workplace and are voted on by the entire membership.
- The candidate can speak Spanish or English – our board is a bilingual space.
- Only one person can run per member workplace.
- If you have concerns about travel due to immigration status or other reasons, our staff will work with you to address needs.
Board Commitment
- Board terms are two (2) years from date of election.
- Attend our annual 2-day, in-person Board retreat (tentatively scheduled for the Fall/Winter)
- Participate in monthly 2-hour Board meeting via conference call, plus preparation time.
- Participate in at least one Board committee (2 - 6 hours work per month).
- Attend and participate in annual membership meetings and national conferences.
Timeline
- May 24th - Candidate nominations open at Spring Member Meeting
- Aug 7th - Nominations close
- Sept 7th - Voting begins for voting members
- Oct 12th - Voting ends for voting members