NEW YORK-It may not be the largest effort the Federation of Community Development CUs has been involved with, but it might be the biggest the organization has backed as far as advancing this country's understanding of the cooperative movement.
The Federation has launched "New York: Building a Cooperative City," a year-long campaign that seeks to bring the various cooperative sectors in New York City together to learn, collaborate, and promote the cooperative model. The campaign is timed to coincide with the International Year of Cooperatives, announced by the United Nations.
One of the campaign's main goals is to raise awareness of the role co-ops play in people's lives. "Many people actually do not fully realize they are members and owners of their cooperatives," said Federation President Cliff Rosenthal. "Not all credit unions market prominently the fact that they are financial cooperatives, and we think this is a huge opportunity to spread that message to the masses. We have some consciousness raising to do."
Rosenthal told Credit Union Journal that the campaign is the first in his career to bring co-ops together from across many sectors, such as food and housing, as well as credit unions. "Cooperatives are so important now, as there is such a desperate need and desire among people to find another way of sustaining themselves and living their lives that is not about maximizing profit for another entity, but is about serving people first."
'An Uplifting Experience'
The effort kicked off recently with more than 125 representatives from cooperatives across New York City gathered at the Ford Foundation. The initial host committee for the campaign was convened by the Federation, and the launch followed by one day the proclamation by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of 2012 being the International Year of Cooperatives.
CUNA President Bill Cheney was among the credit union dignitaries on-hand to address the Ford Foundation group. "It is an uplifting experience to celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives at the United Nations and here at this event in New York City," he said.
Participants also heard from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a strong supporter of community development credit unions, and community development in general, across the Big Apple.
Rosenthal said the Federation has talked with New York cooperatives about having monthly open houses to reach out to their communities. "We want to also identify any legislative impediments or obstacles there may be in terms of expanding the cooperative movement. So it will be a process of internal education of co-op members as well as externally to raise the profile among consumers and policymakers in New York City and State."
Rosenthal described the campaign as one of the Federation's highest-profile events to reach out to the general public. "This is a campaign that feels like something we have been waiting on for a long time."
