In an effort to help people better understand what CDI does – and why our work is so crucial – we turned to the best asset we have. Our staff. The people who work at CDI are, if we may say so ourselves, brilliant at and passionate about what they do. They’re also proud of their work, and we wanted to share their reasons why. Below is the voice of Rob Brown, Cooperative Development Specialist and the Director of CDI’s Business Ownership Solutions (BOS):
“The dramatic level of inequality we are seeing today shows how far we have drifted from a founding ideal – that the strength of our republic rests on widespread, democratic ownership. Everything else about what we could and should be as a country flowed from this. “Property monopolized or in the possession of a few is a curse to mankind,” said President John Adams, arguing for a broad and democratic distribution of property among citizens. He went on to say that through these means our Nation will “preserve all from extreme poverty, and all others from extravagant riches.”
That is what successful cooperatives do – they foster a democratic ownership culture built on resourcefulness, innovation, community, autonomy – and that helps people live better and richer lives.
And this is why I love my work with CDI. We help people attain the skills and tools they need to work together and meet their common needs. Whether helping a group of mobile home park residents figure out how to buy and run their community themselves, or helping a group of retail workers buy and run their places of work, my work with CDI is part of building a democratic ownership culture that, in some small way, advances both liberty and justice for all.”
-Rob Brown