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About Us

cooperative development from the grassroots

We are a worker, self-directed non-profit co-op development center rooted in community organizing.

We provide organizing support in English and Spanish for startup co-ops and co-op conversions, as well as ongoing training and technical assistance for existing cooperatives.  

We believe in a worker-led approach to cooperatives and community economic development. Communities of color and working class communities provide the organizing strength to mobilize resources, workers bring skills, experience, and a drive for self-determination, and BCCO brings the right tool at the right time so that those workers and communities can create the future they envision.

We are members of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, Cooperation Works!, the Greater Boston Chamber of Cooperatives, the Massachusetts Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power, and the Association of Cooperative Educators.

Our Approach

We are part of the field of Cooperative Development, but we’re different from other Co-op Development organizations.

Our work is rooted in community organizing, and we see ourselves as Co-op Organizers, more than Co-op Developers.  Our process always begins with the workers.  We learn about your needs and aspirations, and help build trust and solidarity among your team.  We bring information and resources to the table, but understand that the process of researching, designing, and launching a co-op will be most effective when carried out by the future co-op members for their own benefit.

Staff & Board

We're Hiring!

Stacey Cordeiro

Stacey Cordeiro is a Co-op Organizer and founder of the Boston Center for Community Ownership.  She provides training, facilitation, and technical assistance to worker co-ops and other community owned businesses.  In this work, she uses popular education methods to build upon the knowledge and experience of the members, includes team building and leadership development to build personal and collective power, and translates complex business and economic concepts into plain language so that co-op members can be responsible and savvy entrepreneurs.  

Stacey holds a Masters in City Planning from MIT, and provided technical assistance to cooperatives through the Cooperative Development Institute and Cooperative Economics for Women, before launching BCCO.  In addition, she has worked to further the field of co-op development as a founding member of the Democracy at Work Network (DAWN) through the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and by developing the open-source curriculum now used by the Worcester Roots Co-op Academy.  Stacey believes deeply in grassroots organizing and peer-to-peer learning, and for that reason was an organizer for many years for the Worker Owned and Run Cooperative Network of Boston (WORC’N), and is a co-founder of its successor organization, the recently organized Boston Chapter of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.  

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Adrian Roman

Adrian Román (he/él) is a Co-op Organizer at BCCO, a program consultant and mindfulness teacher for the Center for Creative Inquiry in Berkeley, CA and a mediator for organizations, groups and pairs. He believes in growing through conflict, empowering individuals through ownership and co-creating inclusive spaces. He studied Human Resources and Philosophy while at college, obtained an alternative MBA for Social Entrepreneurs, is certified in Conflict Resolution and Mediation and is trained in Group Facilitation. He was the founder and director of Mindful Living, a decentralized residential working community in Berkeley, CA. He has developed programs including: onboarding and orientation, course curriculum in cooperative education, group dynamics and meditation, teacher trainings in mindfulness and meditation, and long term residential work study programs. Adrían was born in Miami, FL with his family from Cuba and Chile. 

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Eulalio Guevara

Eulalio Guevara is a Co-op Organizer and one of the founding worker-owners of A Yard & A Half Landscaping Cooperative, where he has worked as Maintenance Sales Manager since 2008. He is a graduate of UMass Green School, accredited in organic land care by the Northeast Organic Farming Association and Certified as a Master Gardener by the Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association.  Eulalio is also a graduate of the Democracy at Work Institute’s Líderes Cooperativistas en Acción training program for employee-owner peer advisors organized by the Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI), a member of the DAWI board, and an active participant in its programs, including the Immigrant Cooperative Strategy Collaborative.  He came to the Boston area from El Salvador in 1999, after completing his secondary education at Instituto Nacional Benjamin Estrada Valiente, with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Accounting.  He lives in Revere, MA with his wife and two children.

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Sadie Modi

Sadie Modi (she/her) is a Co-op Organizer for the Boston Center of Community Ownership. Sadie graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Business Administration. Sadie has a passion for community building and social entrepreneurship. She has worked as a financial consultant for the Center of Student Businesses by helping student-run coops on the UMass campus. She has also served as a Community Director for a cancer prevention organization called Protect Our Breasts during their time in college. Sadie is a first generation American raised in Lynn, MA with family from Sierra Leone and South Sudan. 

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Recent Clients

We want to hear from you!

Have an idea for a new co-op? Or would your organization would like to support its members?

We partner with individuals, grassroots membership organizations, and municipalities to transform co-op ideas from vision to reality – No matter what stage of development you are in!