This election season, we are hearing candidates and activists calling to "save" or "protect" our democracy. Here at PACA, as a cooperative organization, democracy is one of our core values. But what does it mean—really—to practice democracy? What does it mean to engage, to participate, beyond the ballot box? How can we foster cultures and institutions (including workplaces) that value this?
Join us as we welcome two very special guests for this conversation: Amethyst Carey of the Center for Economic Democracy and Suparna Kudesia of CoFED (the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive).
Amethyst (she/her) is a Boston based co-op advocate, organizer and solidarity economy practitioner. As a Program Associate for the Center for Economic Democracy, Amethyst coordinates the Massachusetts Worker Ownership Table, a multi-stakeholder racial and economic justice initiative advancing policies, financing and technical assistance to grow employee ownership across the state. Before joining CED, Amethyst served as an Associate and Consultant for Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative's nationally recognized Community Land Trust, Dudley Neighbors Inc., where she supported resident and community engagement. She is a Board Member for CoFED as well as the Board President for Boston Community Cooperatives, a network of housing co-ops in Dorchester. Amethyst is an avid community gardener, music lover, and is passionate about envisioning new futures for the poor and working class Black communities that raised her.
Suparna (they/them or she/her) is a decolonial educator and immigrant mother. They bring with them over 15 years of experience imagining and breathing life into educational programs and leading organizational development. Suparna believes in the power of unraveled unlearning to shift narratives, heal trauma, and transform systems. She is guided by ancestral re-visioning, abolitionist and decolonial praxis, and manifesting collective dreams. Suparna responds to the call to return stolen wealth as the Choreographer of Collective Change by moving money where it can have a critical impact on building a beautiful regenerative food system - into the hands of young cooperators of color. Suparna lives on unceded Kumeyaay land with her partner, toddler, and numerous bunches of mint.
Event image is art by Rommy Torrico.