As a cooperative, every individual is considered part of the board and every member is encouraged to participate in one of the Service Circles. Service Circles and the work their members are focusing on include:
Leadership Circle, chaired by Kate Smith, Keystone Development Center. The Leadership Circle consists of CW’s officers plus the chairs of the other circles. Its role is to establish and help oversee contracts for services with members; develop organizational policies; and oversee final development and testing of an outcome measurement instrument.
Advocacy Circle, chaired by Kevin Edberg, Cooperative Development Services. The Advocacy Circle works to extend the Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program through USDA and establish good relationships with USDA and new leaders; add cooperative development programs in other federal agencies; and seek foundation or non-government support for cooperative development.
Networking Circle, chaired by Jim Johnson. The Networking Circle helps plan two in-person meetings for CW members; implement and maintain the CW website; plan and implement CW communications; and organize and host topic conference calls on subjects such as worker ownership, energy and co-op housing.
Membership Circle, chaired by Susann Mikkelson, Southwest Cooperative Development Center. This circle identifies potential new CW members and solicits memberships; gathers and reports feedback from member programs and needs; completes a marketing brochure and public display materials.
Professional Development Circle, chaired by Teresa Young, Northwest Cooperative Development Center. The role of the Professional Development Circle is to oversee the delivery of the CW Professional Development Training Program; develop new curriculum; and conduct marketing for new and returning participants.
Urban Circle, chaired by Lisa Stolarski, Keystone Development Center. The Urban Circle is a two year strategic planning project led by Cooperation Works! in order to identify best practices and resources for urban cooperative development and set the stage in preparation for the implementation of those practices when the resources become available. The urban circle is currently working on 1. federal legislation to fund urban cooperative development, 2. plans to create private co-op development funding, 3. best practices for training and networking co-op development professionals in urban areas and 4. a system of statistical analysis and reporting of outcome measurements.