BLACK COMMUNITY WEALTH  LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Help support the cooperative business in the Start.coop Fall 2025 Accelerator for Black-led Co-ops as a Leadership Council member.  As a member of the Leadership Council, you will provide hands-on support to the participating businesses and advise Start.coop on the Accelerator curriculum, recruitment, and admissions. 

Status: Part-time, contract position (4 positions available)

Location: Remote 

Compensation: Flat fee of $5,000

Time Commitment: Approximately 35-40 hours over a 10 month period (all virtual)

  • One-hour onboarding meeting with Start.coop team (February 2025)

  • Six hours of curriculum prep meetings (February-April 2025)

  • Six hours of recruitment and admissions support (March-June 2025)

  • 16-20 hours of team support either as a coach or facilitator (September-November 2025)

  • 4 one-hour check-ins with the Start.coop team over the 12 weeks (September-November 2025); 

THE START.COOP ACCELERATOR 

Our Fall 2025 Black Community Wealth Accelerator is for Black-led cooperatives who want to get to the next level in their business.  Using our Lean Co-op methodology, the Accelerator is designed to help founders build both their business and ownership models so that their business can be sustainable and make a true impact.

Over 12 weeks of the Accelerator, the Start.coop team will work with the co-ops to:

  • Validate their business model

  • Validate their cooperative governance model

  • Develop traction for their businesses’ sustainability

  • Build a plan to drive sales and grow their revenue 

  • Explore different types of financing for their business

  • Develop your storytelling through their pitch deck

THE OPPORTUNITY

The primary ways that the Leadership Council supports our entrepreneurs are:

  • Contributing to curriculum development and customizing existing Start.coop Accelerator curriculum to support the distinct needs of Black cooperators. 

  • Promoting the Accelerator opportunity to your networks and providing admissions support such as reviewing applications. 

  • Contributing to the program either as a workshop facilitator or 1:1 business coach 

    • As a workshop facilitator, you will co-facilitate some of the 12 weekly virtual workshops, which will be selected based on your area(s) of expertise.

    • As a coach, you will provide 1:1 business support to 1-2 teams participating in the Accelerator, using a framework provided by Start.coop. The 3 primary ways Start.coop coaches support our entrepreneurs are: (1) Acting as an accountability partner; (2) Providing emotional support throughout the within the community.

    • Experience in 1:1 business coaching and/or facilitation is preferred.  

    • Deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs and a commitment to addressing these issues.

This role will involve collaborating with other council members to shape the strategic direction of our Accelerator, ensuring it effectively meets the needs of Black entrepreneurs.

COOPERATIVES FOR A BETTER WORLD (dba START.COOP)

Start.coop is a systems change catalyst committed to building a more equitable and resilient U.S. economy that shares prosperity among the many, not just the few. We envision a more equitable and resilient U.S. economy that shares prosperity among the many, not just the few. We achieve that vision by launching cooperative businesses across all sectors and prioritizing initiatives that seek to reduce the racial wealth gap. Recognizing that cooperatively-owned businesses are an under-utilized model for this change, Start.coop breaks down the barriers to staentrepreneur's journey; and (3) Offering strategy and tactics for business and governance challenges.

ABOUT YOU 

We seek a Leadership Council that draws from a variety of professional and lived experiences, but in general, all members of the Leadership Council will have:

  • Experience as a cooperator, such as being a worker-owner of a co-op or as a co-op developer with a focus on supporting Black-owned businesses.

  • Flexibility in your schedule so that you can commit to meetings and workshops that occur during working hours. (no more than 4 hours per week)

  • Comfortable working with entrepreneurs as a coach or facilitator.

  • Strong leadership abilities, with a passion for empowering others and driving change rting and growing cooperatively-owned businesses at scale. Using our cutting-edge three-pillar model, we grow the pipeline of cooperatively-owned businesses, facilitate the design of this ownership, and equip founders with the essential tools to build it no matter the stage of their business.