by Michelle “Gigi” Godwin, Board Member
From June 9–11, 2022, I had the privilege of representing Willy Street Co-op as a Board of Director in person at the CCMA (Consumer Cooperative Management Association) conference. This year’s CCMA was titled “Rooted: Renewing Our Cooperative Identity,” and the conference was held in Sioux Falls, SD.
P6
This CCMA was primarily paperless, as us attendees used the conference app Whova for selecting our daily sessions, texting others to meet up for break-out sessions or lunch, note-taking, and photo-sharing. Another feature of Whova was that attendees could upload a picture of themselves, include a resume or CV, their links to social media, and any other information in the form of a short bio. As I perused people’s profiles, I started to notice a commonality among many attendees: A passion for P6. “My special interests are pottery, plants, and P6.” “I am all about P6.” “P6, y’all!”
I had to stop and ask myself, just what is this P6? And then I remembered. P6 is the sixth of the Seven Cooperative Principles: “Cooperation Among Cooperatives.” Both the UW Center for Cooperatives and the International Cooperative Alliance define P6 as such: “Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.” In a nutshell, P6 creates sounder operating practices.
Though food cooperatives like Willy Street Co-op are autonomous and independent from other cooperatives, we still bring our abilities, ideas, and contributions to the table to work together in harmony with other such entities to create an even larger and stronger network of cooperatives. Willy Street Co-op co-exists and works with other co-ops that strive toward the common goals of providing access to a variety of food products and options (organic, locally sourced, high-quality) that members of the community seek out and want. Not only do members/owners benefit greatly from that cooperative connectivity, the cooperative movement itself also benefits as a whole, while making democracy, sustainability, Fair Trade and fair labor practices more successful and viable.
P6 also pertains to Co-op Board members, too. While at CCMA, I was part of several informal pop-up discussions on how to “Build a Better Board.” I am proud to say that Willy Street Co-op is very well-recognized in the co-op community and was often cited as a key example of a how a sound and thriving food cooperative operates. I was asked many questions related to the Board, from as basic as “how many individuals serve on your Board?” and “how often do you meet during the calendar year?” to more in-depth inquiries like “what Board committees have you created?” and “how have you been reaching out to members since the beginning of the pandemic?”
While all of the CCMA sessions that I attended were important and informative, I did feel immense satisfaction during informal Board networking. I tried my best to answer any questions thoughtfully and clearly, and to provide any resources that I could think of. Email addresses were exchanged and new connections—plus lasting friendships—were made as well. P6 y’all!