ACE guests in studio – Coop Universities w/ Dr. Michelle Stack

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Steve, Julien and Robin at the station, LIVE!

The Association of Co-operative Educators (ACE) held their annual ACE Institute in Vancouver, BC, in July, 2022. The theme for this year was Sharing our Stories – Racial Justice, Reconciliation & the role they play in Co-operative Education. 

We were so happy to host two members in person at the radio station. We spoke with: 

• Steve Dubb – vice chair of the board of ACE – Steve has spent over a decade working on community economic development strategy. Steve is based in Boston.
• Julien Geremie – manager at ACE – Julien is Executive Director of Le Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario or The Co-operation Council of Ontario – the French Co-op Association in Ontario. He is a manager with the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE), co-president of the Ontario Social Economy Roundtable, a board member for the Coopérative radiophonique de Toronto and the Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario. Julien is based in Toronto. 

Topics include: 

• Exciting developments and trends in the co-op sector
  • Worker co-op shift
  • Solidarity co-ops in Quebec
  • Indigenous and BIPOC community co-ops
• A weakening of co-op identity and a strengthening in some aspects as well 
• How ACE shares the stories of co-op success in communities and makes impacts
• Significance of co-op investment based on pressure from social movements
  • “When a community is trying to take back power, that’s when people look to the co-operative model.” 

In the latter part of the episode, we meet Michelle Stack, Associate Professor within the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. She is a new member of ACE.

Dr Stack’s research has traditionally focused on the post-secondary education sector. They are known for their important work on showing how university rankings amplify inequity and are based in imperialism and the marketization of education. Michelle is recently suggesting co-operatives can provide a possibility of transforming pedagogy and the governance of education.

Check out more of Dr. Michelle Stack’s work:

• Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: University rankings or co-operatives as a strategy for developing an equitable and resilient post-secondary education sector? | SpringerLink
• With campus co-operatives, universities could model new ways of living after COVID-19
• Michelle Stack – The Conversation