Democracy At Work Institute

Thinking about starting a business but want to do it differently?

Join this free webinar on building a business with shared ownership and democratic decision-making. You’ll learn the fundamentals of worker cooperatives, from getting started to avoiding common pitfalls.

Hosted by NYC Department of Small Business Services in partnership with WCBDI providers and Democracy at Work Institute.

🗓️ April 10
⏰ 12:00 PM (ET)
💻 Online
🎟️ Free (registration required)

Plus: attendees receive 30 minutes of free consulting support after the session.

🔗 Register here:

How to Start a Business with Shared Ownership - WCBDI |SI| 4/10/2026 How to Start a Business with Shared Ownership - WCBDI

Thinking about your exit plan… but don’t want to sell out what you built? 👀

What if the people who helped grow your business… could own it?

📣 Join
Co-op Conversion Consultations: Selling to Your Employees as an Exit Plan for Your Business

📍 The Hub, NYC
🗓️ April 1 | ⏰ 10AM–5PM

Get 1:1 guidance from
Democracy at Work Institute on how to turn your business into a worker-owned co-op.

💡 Learn:
• Your options (ESOPs, co-ops, EOTs)
• If your business is ready
• What happens after you step away

👥 Featuring: DAWI's Director of Strategic Partnership, Anh-Thu Nguyen.

Ready for your next chapter? See you next week!

Take an inside look at The Funder's Network's CA Smart Growth convening!

The panel on community ownership featured Vanessa Bransburg, our Co-Executive Director. Vanessa discussed the worker ownership landscape and how funders can invest in it in meaningful ways.

We hope to see these conversations continuing to grow and center real strategies for building community wealth.

If you were up there, what's one thing you would say to funders about the importance of worker ownership?

Worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces are growing steadily and meaningfully. Since 2020, the sector has grown 34%, while traditional small businesses only grew 13% since 2019.

Today, there are an estimated 1,300 worker co-ops and democratic workplaces employing 16,000 workers across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In this year’s census, we identified 820 firms employing 13,520 workers, more than double the workforce counted just over a decade ago.

Let’s keep moving toward shared ownership, democratic governance, and workplaces built on values.

Read the full 2025 State of the Sector report to explore the data and stories shaping the future of work.

https://institute.coop/resources/2025-worker-cooperative-state-sector

Las cooperativas de trabajadores y los lugares de trabajo democráticos están creciendo de manera constante y significativa. Desde 2020, el sector ha crecido un 34%, mientras que los pequeños negocios tradicionales crecieron solo un 13% desde 2019.

Hoy existen aproximadamente 1,300 cooperativas de trabajadores y lugares de trabajo democráticos, que emplean a 16,000 personas en Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico. En el censo de este año, identificamos 820 organizaciones que emplean a 13,520 trabajadoras y trabajadores, más del doble de la fuerza laboral registrada hace poco más de una década.

Seguimos avanzando hacia la propiedad colectiva, la gobernanza democrática y lugares de trabajo construidos sobre valores.

Lee el informe completo del Estado del Sector de las Cooperativas de Trabajadores y Lugares de Trabajo Democráticos 2025 para conocer los datos y las historias que están dando forma al futuro del trabajo.

https://institute.coop/resources/estado-del-sector-de-las-cooperativas-de-trabajadores-y-los-lugares-de-trabajo

We’re proud to see Democracy at Work Institute featured in -operative News , a global news outlet covering the cooperative movement worldwide. 🌍

The article highlights the continued growth of worker cooperatives in the United States and underscores the momentum behind democratic workplaces.

Grateful to see worker ownership gaining international attention — and honored to help document and support this growing movement.

Read the full piece: https://www.thenews.coop/worker-co-ops-rising-in-the-usa/

Convertir un negocio en una cooperativa impulsa a les trabajadores a continuar el legado al convertirse en dueñes, y les da beneficios de ganancias compartidas mientras disfrutan de una jubilación tranquila, bien planeada y a su ritmo.

29% de las 242 cooperativas que encuestamos tuvo su origen en una conversión (cuando una empresa tradicional pasa a ser una cooperativa de trabajadores).

Para más información sobre las conversiones y el campo de las cooperativas de trabajadores en los EE.UU. y Puerto Rico, descarga nuestro Estado del Sector de 2025, con más de 10 años de datos para comparar.
https://institute.coop/resources/estado-del-sector-de-las-cooperativas-de-trabajadores-y-los-lugares-de-trabajo

Running a business on your own with no succession plan is stressful. And starting a successful business from scratch is a huge undertaking.

29% of the 242 cooperatives we surveyed originated as a conversion (when a traditional business transitions ownership to a worker cooperative).

Conversions allow former owners to preserve their legacy while offering job security, ownership and stability for workers who know the business inside and out.

Learn more about conversions and the worker cooperative field in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Download our 2025 Worker Co-op State of the Sector report, which includes more than 10 years of data to compare. https://institute.coop/resources/2025-worker-cooperative-state-sector

We’re thrilled to announce that nonprofit community-based organizations can now submit proposals for the SEED 3.0 Grant to support immigrant entrepreneurship.

Last year, the Economic Mobility for All (EM4A) Coalition, with leadership of Immigrants Rising, California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), Inclusive Action for the City, and Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI), secured $7.5 million for the Social Entrepreneurs for Economic Development (SEED) Initiative. From sending letters of support to sharing powerful stories with the state legislature, we thank everyone who has contributed to make this possible. We also give a special appreciation to Assemblymember Juan Carrillo for his leadership championing this investment.

SEED has a proven track record of supporting the entrepreneurship of immigrants and limited English proficient individuals through micro-grants, entrepreneurial training, and technical assistance, investing in California’s economic growth.

Once again, it’s time to put these dollars to work. 💪 If you’re a nonprofit in California advancing economic justice and opportunities for immigrant communities, we encourage you to learn more about SEED and how you may be able to bring this funding to your local community. Proposals are due February 26, 2026, at 5 p.m. PT!

🌱 For more information, visit etp.ca.gov/fundingopportunities/grants/seed-3

El Estado del Sector de las Cooperativas de Trabajadores y Lugares de Trabajo Democráticos 2025 ofrece una mirada actualizada sobre cómo están evolucionando los negocios de propiedad colectiva y gestionados democráticamente en Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico. Este reporte, coproducido por el Democracy at Work Institute y la U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, se basa en datos del Censo de Empresas 2024 e incorpora las voces y experiencias de las personas trabajadoras.

Con más de diez años de información, el informe muestra un sector que sigue creciendo mientras enfrenta nuevos retos. En un contexto marcado por la pérdida de financiamiento, desastres naturales e incertidumbre económica, las cooperativas de trabajadores identifican sus necesidades más urgentes y continúan construyendo, juntas, una economía más justa y democrática.

Descarga el reporte aquí: https://institute.coop/resources/estado-del-sector-de-las-cooperativas-de-trabajadores-y-los-lugares-de-trabajo