keynote

Esteban Kelly

executive director, us federation of worker cooperatives

We’re honored to welcome Esteban Kelly, a national leader in economic democracy and social justice, Esteban’s insights will challenge and inspire us to build a more resilient, cooperative economy.

Esteban Kelly is the Executive Director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), and is Chair of the National Cooperative Business Association, (NCBA–CLUSA). He was a co-founder of AORTA, a worker co-op whose consulting, facilitation, skill-building, and political education enables co-ops and local and national organizations to be more effective and impactful. He was a co-founder and first board President of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) and has also served on numerous boards including the Democracy At Work Institute, the LCA housing co-op, and Cooperative Development Foundation. In 2011 Esteban was inducted into NASCO‘s Cooperative Hall of Fame in recognition of his decade of leadership on their board and as their Director of Education & Training, the same year he joined the board of NCBA-CLUSA. In 2018, Esteban won a Philadelphia Social Innovation Award for Public Policy, the same year he helped get the Main Street Employee Ownership Act passed by Congress. Esteban served two terms as a mayoral appointee and briefly co-chair of the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council. His appointment followed eight years expanding food access in West Philly as a worker-owner and co-op manager at Mariposa Food Co-op, when the grocery store was still democratically managed by a staff collective. He currently represents the US on the board of the international worker co-op association known as CICOPA

📌 Learn about Esteban’s work:
🎧 Podcast: S7 E8: The People’s Pushback
📖 Article: Unlikely Advocates: Worker Co-ops, Grassroots Organizing, and Public Policy
📺 Webinar: Remaking Economy the Critical Role of Advocacy

The Keynote session will end with a panel discussion between Esteban and a group of visionary cooperators from the Maine Co-op Ecosystem.