Threads of Belonging: Cooperation & Community Storytelling (Advocacy/Movement)

This cooperative mapping session is designed to uncover the histories, stories, and identities that shape our paths into collective work. Desiree met Ana Martina through the Co-op Navigator Fellowship with Cooperative Fund of the Northeast , where Ana introduced her to the powerful scholarship of Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard. That moment sparked a deeper investigation into the cooperative legacies of Wabanaki communities in Maine—and raised essential questions about why so many Indigenous and Black cooperative traditions remain hidden or under-acknowledged.

Together, we’ll reflect on how culture, community, and creative expression have long been tools to address equity and build belonging—and how we can continue those traditions through the models we co-create today.

Participants will:

• Map personal and cultural histories that connect to cooperative values
• Reflect on how storytelling can reclaim erased or hidden traditions
• Share experiences of belonging (or exclusion) in co-op spaces
• Identify the legacy they want to carry forward in movement work