Collaborating for a larger impact
After years of working in different fields and for different organizations and individuals, a group of experts and consultants sought a workplace built to take care of one another and their communities.
To create a business that would give them the work environment and impact they wanted, this group formed Oodenaw: Urban Indigenous Consulting Cooperative.
This multi-talented team of Indigenous people (and one settler ally) from across Turtle Island provide services ranging from curriculum and workshop development, policy development, and community-based research and engagement, to Indigenous engagement training, communications, graphic design, and more. They specialise in areas like child and family welfare, language and culture resurgence and revitalization, Indigenous governance, decolonization, and Indigenization.
“After doing extensive searching, we found that the worker co-operative model makes the most sense for our members and communities as it allows us to work in good ways with each other, our communities, and the lands we occupy and/or come from,” said founding member Carmen Craig. “This model allows members to combine their skills, interests, and experiences to achieve mutual goals…We particularly appreciate that under this model, we are all equal and we each have a voice.”
As the co-op grows, its members plan to invest a portion of each contract into projects for their communities.
“We envision a future where our Indigenous languages and cultures are vibrant and all around us at home, in our communities, and at our places of work.”
Co-operatives First has been proud to work with Oodenaw: Urban Indigenous Consulting Cooperative to get their business up and running. You can read more about our work together on the co-op’s blog.