Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation

John Restakis of Synergia Co-operative Institute will be speaking on “Civilizing the State: Reclaiming Politics for the Common Good”
Thursday, May 12, 1pm EDT

As part of the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation Conference

JOHN RESTAKIS is a co-founder of Synergia Co-operative Institute and Instructor for Alternative Economies for Social Transformation at the University of Victoria. He is former Executive Director of Community Evolution Foundation and former ED of the BC Co-operative Association in Vancouver. He consults on international co-op and community economic development projects, researches and teaches on co-operative economies and the social economy, and lectures widely on globalization, regional development, and alternative economics. He is a founding member of the Advisory Committee for the MA Program in Community Development at the University of Victoria and was co-founder and Co-ordinator of the Bologna Summer Program for Co-operative Studies at the University of Bologna. John earned his BA at the University of Toronto with a Major degree in East Asian Studies and specialist studies in Sanskrit and Classical Greek. He holds a Masters Degree in Philosophy of Religion.

Christine Clarke of Freedom Dreams Co-op will be speaking on “Bringing our Whole Selves to Work: Creating Co-op Culture Welcoming to BIPOC”
Friday, May 13, 1pm EDT

CHRISTINE CLARKE is the Founder + Facilitator of Freedom Dreams Co-operative Education and Manager of Co-operative Food Systems of West Village Community Development Co-op. She is in the final year of CoopZone’s Co-op Development Training Program, sits on the Board of Directors of The Local Food and Farm Co-operative and is on the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee of the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation. Freedom Dreams Co-operative Education shares knowledge about the co-op movement from a BIPOC perspective and supports the development of BIPOC-led co-ops. It is a collaborative effort and is constantly seeking new partnerships with the ultimate goal that the program itself become a worker-owned educational co-operative.