In this Members Only video, Jason Wiener speaks with Kate Smith and Claire Christensen of Gimme Coffee about the company’s transition to worker ownership. They share lessons from converting a 25-year-old coffee business into a cooperative, including governance challenges, cultural shifts, and how centering workers has strengthened Gimme’s mission, workplace, and connection to the Ithaca community.
In our 3rd Members Only video, Jacqueline Radebaugh interviews Gwen Pasquarello of EMMA Technology Cooperative, a worker-owned consultancy of creative technologists. Gwen reflects on EMMA’s origins, why the founders chose a cooperative model over a traditional LLC, and how shared ownership supports stability, collaboration, and stronger decision-making in creative, experimental work.
A Fairer Society (AFS USA) is reimagining how businesses are owned, governed, and sustained. Operating at the intersection of ethical business acquisition, shared services, and cooperative governance, AFS builds a growing network that replaces extractive ownership with shared prosperity. This coop spotlights consent-based decision making, real worker ownership, and a scalable alternative that helps businesses and communities thrive for the long-term.
The TRANSFER Data Trust Cooperative is redefining how experimental media art is preserved and valued. Founded by a global group of artists and supported by dedicated caretakers, the co-op champions decentralized stewardship, artist-owned data, and long-term cultural preservation. By blending innovative infrastructure with a supportive creative community, it offers a new model for sustaining digital artworks and the artists shaping the future of contemporary art.
In our latest Members Only interview, Jason Wiener talks with Eli Allen, co-founder of Wild Blue Studios, an artist-owned co-op reshaping creative work in games, TV, and film. Eli shares how shared ownership fosters agency, accountability, and sustainability in an industry often defined by burnout. A thoughtful look at how cooperative models can build fairer, more resilient studios—and a better creative future.
At Democracy Brewing, founders James Razsa and Jason Taggart are proving that democracy in the workplace can be delicious. Their worker-owned brewery, restaurant, and event space in Boston (and soon to also be in Maine) offers every employee a path to ownership, teamwork, and even free English classes – all while serving some of the city’s best beer. Discover how they’re redefining hospitality, one pint at a time.
Meet Wild Blue Studios, a worker-owned external development team delivering art and creative services to teams across the entertainment industry. Learn how its “horizontal structure, vertical deployment” model balances equal votes and profit-sharing with role-based pay. They've also adopted a four-day week and created a ‘fun committee’ to counter remote burnout, and leveraged mission-aligned partners to help cover finance and legal gaps. With low attrition and an inclusive culture, they’re proving that cooperative ownership can produce representative and high-quality creative work.
We’re excited to launch our brand new video series, “Members Only," where we interview clients about the impact of shared ownership and the cooperative business model. In our first interview, Jason Wiener speaks with Shane Gring, Co-Founder of Certainly, a new worker-owned cooperative offering marketing and technology strategy to help cerficiation leaders do more business online. Learn how their reorganization to a coop has resulted in a healthier, fairer workplace and more inclusive, efficient certification programs.
AORTA is a 10-member, worker-owned cooperative of facilitators, coaches, and consultants helping 80+ organizations and hundreds of individuals build leaderful movements for justice. Rooted in liberatory practice, they deliver bespoke facilitation, coaching, and trainings that center accessibility, participatory design, and navigating complex power dynamics. Collective governance shapes their client work, while weekly check-ins and quarterly “dream weeks” sustain culture. Their mission: turn conflict into connection and accelerate coordinated, values-aligned action.
DENVER, CO – August 11th, 2025 – Jason Wiener | [...]
