For over 30 years, MCEF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to educate the public about cooperatives.
The Foundation has supported a number of recent activities to further the goals of cooperatives and their members, including:
•Creating and distributing general co-op education curriculum and economics-focused lesson plans for Minnesota's teachers to use in high school to teach about co-ops
.
•Providing the Edward Slettom Cooperative Leadership Scholarships for students pursuing a career in coop
eratives. Scholarships are awarded to Minnesota residents with a variety of interests in participating in, and furthering the cooperative industry. As costs of higher education continue to rise, donations to the foundation help to relieve the financial pressure of educational costs for students and their families.
•Supporting the Annual Youth Cooperative Leadership Conference, a two-day senior high school program on cooperative and leadership. The leadership conference is an opportunity for young people to develop an understanding of the purpose, operation, and scope of cooperative business. Funding allows us to keep the cost of the conference manageable for youth and provide scholarships for those who may otherwise not be able to attend.
•Reaching out to Minnesota's higher education institutions, including law and business schools, in creating opportunities to learn about cooperatives.
•Working with the legal community by surveying law schools to find holes in co-op legal education and creating new resources for law schools to teach about co-ops.
•Hosting Continuing Legal Education (CLE) workshops to ensure that attorneys are briefed on the basics of co-op businesses and new statutes affecting co-ops.
•Created the first of its kind Co-op Committee of the Business Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association.
•Recognizing educators by providing funding for service awards at the annual Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators Conference and encourage cooperative and agricultural education.
•Sponsoring the MN Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program and the annual College Conference on Cooperatives held in Minnesota. Please consider a tax-deductible financial contribution so that we may continue to educate Minnesotans about the cooperative form of business and directly support students who wish to pursue careers in co-ops!
