Ed Whitfield chairs the board of Southern Reparations Loan Fund (SRLF), a network of Southern, place-based loan funds that are part of Seed Commons: A Community Wealth Cooperative. A long time social justice activist, Ed had been involved in labor, community organizing and peace work since the late 60‘s when he was a student activist at Cornell University. He has served as the chair of the Greensboro Redevelopment Commission for nine years, and is the former board chair of Greensboro’s Triad Minority Development Corporation.
Ed is deeply involved in theorizing and promoting the development of cooperative enterprises in marginalized communities in the south.
E. Kim Coontz Executive Director, California Center for Cooperative Development, has been working with cooperative enterprises for over 20 years. She has assisted in the start-up of more than 30 cooperatives, authored and co-authored more than 10 publications about cooperatives and written numerous articles. Prior to her employment with CCCD, Kim was Executive Director of Yolo Mutual Housing Association, a nonprofit developer of cooperatively-governed affordable housing in Davis, CA. She also spent 14 years in an academic position with the Center for Cooperatives at UC Davis.
Jamie Duong is a founding member of Resolve Financial Cooperative, a worker owned cooperative that proveides bookkeeping services for cooperatives, non-profits, and other businesses nationwide. For many years Jamie served as CCCD’s business planning and finance manager, where she led the development of business plans for cleaning and homecare worker cooperatives, and for childcare cooperatives. Jamie is also experienced with developing proformas for cooperative housing developments. She is well versed at assisting co-ops with a variety of challenges related to accounting. Jamie has a BA in Economics from UC Davis, and a degree in accounting. For more information about Resolve Financial Cooperative, see www.resolve.coop.
Mark Fick is the Director of Lending with Shared Capital Cooperative where he leads the business development, loan underwriting and portfolio management functions of the organization. As a cooperatively owned loan fund, Shared Capital works to build economic democracy by providing financing throughout the United States to cooperatively owned enterprises including consumer, worker, and producer owned cooperatives. Over the past 25 years, Mark has been an active leader with a variety of community-based and cooperative development organizations with a focus on building economic systems that are democratic and radically inclusive. This has included work with the US Federation of Worker Cooperation, Chicago Mutual Housing Network, NASCO Development Services,
Kim Rivero Frink is the Board President of SunCoast Market Co-op in Imperial Beach, California. SunCoast is a startup food cooperative in the southern region of San Diego County near the Mexican border. Kim has been involved in the co-op since they started organizing in 2016. SunCoast now has 845 member-owners and is in lease negotiations for a store site. In 2020, SunCoast received the national "Best of the Best" award at the Up & Coming Food Co-op Startup Conference. Kim is retired from the County of San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency where she worked in programs such as First 5 San Diego and Maternal and Child Health that promote the health and well-being of children and families.
JQ Hannah is the Assistant Director of the Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) and specializes in the development of training and content to empower startup food co-op organizers to lead in their communities. A deep believer in the power of peer idea sharing and the best innovations coming from those leading in the trenches of the movement, JQ has headed up the vast expansion of FCI’s peer learning opportunities, from the FCI peer remote learning groups that over five dozen startups across the country participate in, to the FCI regional DeepDive training, to the FCI Live video series.
Dennis Hudson is a former Airforce Chaplain and United Methodist Minister. Dennis’ mother, a resident of Allensworth, expressed concern to Dennis that Allensworth would die with many residents leaving. Allensworth is the only California town founded by and for African Americans in 1908. The town thrived on African American leadership, establishing governance, education, and an agricultural way of life. Dennis purchased close to 60 acres in Allensworth to support the community, educate residents, and revitalize the town of Allensworth. He worked with siblings to found TAC Teaching and Innovation Farm to attract new farmers and families. They are motivated to be the Tuskegee Institute of the West based on self–resilience, and innovation.
Joaquin Jimenez is the farmworker liaison for Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS), providing cultural arts and social services programs for Latino youth and families in Half Moon Bay. He is active in his community, he volunteered for the Cabrillo Unified School District's migrant education program and helped many of the Bay City Flower Company workers find new employment after the nursery abruptly shut down operations last fall. Joaquin serves on the Half Moons Bay City Council, and is proud to advocate for the city's essential workers, where he champions affordable housing and the preservation to open spaces. He was the first Latino council member elected to the Half Moon Bay city council position. He co-founded Half Moon Bay's Latino Advisory Council. In 2020 Joaquin received the "Role Model of the Year" award from the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce.
Kayode Kadara grew up in rural Northern Nigeria, where he gardened and raised chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, and geese. In the Bay Area, Kayode worked as deputy director of an air pollution agency and as environmental program manager of postal facilities. Kayode and his wife Denise participated in ALBA, an organic farming program. Kayode is co-founder of TAC Farms, a program devised to revitalize the African American town of Allensworth through a regenerative farming training program and acquiring business practices to create a sustainable regional economy. TAC Farm is a reward movement of regenerative farming paired with modern administration and tech inclusion.
Erin Lapeyrolerie, attorney at law, practice with Goldfarb and Lipman, LLP in San Francisco. Her practice emphasizes affordable housing, land use, cooperative corporations, and real estate transactions. She represents numerous public agencies and nonprofit housing developers on subjects such as affordable housing requirements, real property transfers, land use entitlements, and compliance with federal and state fair housing laws. She further assists public agencies in complying with planning and land use laws, including new state housing laws. Erin advises housing cooperative corporations on compliance with the Davis-Stirling Act, the Corporations Code, and other laws and regulations impacting cooperatives. Erin’s credentials include an M.C.P from UC Berkeley and a JD from UC Hastings.
Pedro Maturana supports worker cooperative initiatives at the California Center for Cooperative Development. Currently he is supporting the launch of Co-op Home Care, a worker-owned business that provides in-home support services to elderly and disabled adults, and providing governance and business support for Yolo Eco Clean Cooperative. Pedro’s experience includes two years with the Arizmendi Association, the entity that provides development support and technical assistance to Arizmendi member bakeries. In this capacity he developed procedures, systems of accountability, as well as coordination and facilitation support. Prior to that, for seven years Pedro was as a worker member with Arizmendi Bakery and Pizzaria Emeryville. Pedro has a BS in Philosophy, and a double minor in professional writing and sociology from the University of California, Davis.
Jose Armando Munguia is Cooperative Development Agriculture Specialist with the California Center for Cooperative Development where he supports farmers with cooperative training and agriculture technical assistance. He invested the early years of his career in organizing rural communities to support access to higher education for disadvantaged students creating civic empowerment workshops and lobby days. Later, he opened agriculture trading channels and markets in Latin America, conducting business in over 11 countries. Jose Armando guided foreign customers in conducting business in the United States and ensured their success through innovative solutions and attention to supply chain efficiency. While in graduate school, he became aware of cooperatives as a tool to empower workers with self-determination and practice democratic values. Jose Armando Munguia earned a Master of Public Administration from Seattle University focused on social justice solutions.
Jerry Rioux is a Housing and Community Development Consultant who specializes in affordable housing, manufactured housing and cooperatives. He recently retired from directing the San Luis Obispo Housing Trust Fund. Prior to that, he held leadership positions in the affordable housing sector, most of these allowed him to use his expertise in manufactured housing. In the 1980s, Jerry developed and managed what is now California’s Mobilehome Park Rehabilitation and Resident Ownership Program (MPRROP). Jerry earned a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Southern California. He was a licensed California real estate broker for 18 years and has taught college courses in both real estate and urban planning. Jerry also serves as treasurer of the board of the California Center for Cooperative Development.
Kate “Sassy” Sassoon is the founder of Sassy Facilitation, a consultancy that provides facilitation, education, mediation, and group process design to cooperatives of all sorts and innovative organizations. In her 20+ years of membership in various democratically owned and run organizations, Sassy has seen many faces of the co-op sector, including: housing, childcare, worker-owned enterprises, arts and manufacturing collectives, and intentional communities. She strives to bring lucidity, productivity, and humor to her classes and her clients. Sassy is also Director of Cooperative Membership at Zebras Unite Co-op.
Mary Sutton is life-long activist/artist with a strong commitment to racial and economic justice. She has been active in the movement to stop prison and jail expansion and has worked to mobilize a broad coalition of community-based organizations to stop LA Counties massive $2 billion jail construction plan, and to push for available funds to build community-based solutions. Sutton designed Collective REMAKE in the MA in Urban Sustainability program at Antioch University Los Angeles; and now works full-time to move Collective REMAKE forward through Co-operative Education and Development (CEAD) programs, the implementation of democratic participatory practices, leadership development, and diverse fundraising efforts. Sutton is currently a PhD student in the Graduate School for Leadership and Change at Antioch University.
Karen Tiedemann, attorney at law, is a partner with Goldfarb and Lipman Law firm where she practices affordable housing, redevelopment and environmental law. She represents numerous public agencies and nonprofit corporations on the development, financing and management of low and moderate-income housing. She has special expertise on both stock and limited equity cooperative housing structures. Karen is co-author of Between the Lines: A Question & Answer Guide on Legal Issues in Supportive Housing and A Legal Guide to California Redevelopment. Karen's education includes an A.B. from the University of California, Berkeley. J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, and a Masters in City Planning from University of California, Berkeley. Karen is a long time board member of the California Center for Cooperative Development.
Thérèse C. Tuttle, attorney at law, is a partner with Tuttle Law Group. Therese works with consumer, housing, agriculture, and worker cooperatives, and also advises clients on business formation and estate planning matters. She serves on the non-profit committee of the California State Bar Association. In 2013, she drafted amendments to California’s cooperative law that enabled preferred-share financing and capitalization of cooperatives. She was awarded USDA’s “Great Cooperator” Award. Therese also served as Director of Cooperative and Economic Development for the National Farmer’s Union, managing cooperative project requests from 23 state-based member organizations. She earned her JD from Loyola Law School. Therese is vice chair of the board of the California Center for Cooperative Development.
