Author: Nia Hunter

  • 2026 Worker-Owned Co-op Jumpstart

    2026 Worker-Owned Co-op Jumpstart

    Worker cooperatives are more important than ever, and the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED) Cooperative Jumpstart can give you the tools you need to go from ideation to creation. We can work together as a city and region to build a cooperative economy that makes ownership for everyone possible.

    This day is geared towards those who might be co-op curious, or even potentially want to sell their business to their employees. Are you co-op curious?

    Join BRED for a fun-filled day of conversations and workshops about the business of co-ops!

    Topics we will cover include: Starting up, co-op governance, day-to-day decision making, conflict transformation, business models, and so much more! We are ready to help you on your journey.

    Breakfast will be served by Red Emma’s Bookstore and Coffeehouse, and lunch by Mera Kitchen Collective.

    Registration is open, click HERE

    Spanish interpretation will also be available.

    **Childcare is available again this year! If you would like to have your children supervised at Impact Hub during the Jumpstart between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm on Saturday, April 11th, 2026, please complete this request form by April 8th, 2026! Parents and caregivers must also sign in and sign out during drop-off and pick-up times. They will be required to show photo ID at both drop-off and pick-up. Register HERE

    **If you are interested in sharing contact information to stay connected with other attendees post Jumpstart, please do so HERE

    baltimoreroundtable.org IG @bred.baltimore

  • EnviroCollab Reflects On Their Cooperative Conversion

    EnviroCollab Reflects On Their Cooperative Conversion

    https://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/2025/11/19/a-thousand-percent-worth-it-a-cooperative-tells-its-conversion-story

  • Baltimore’s Co-op Movement Fetured In Baltimore Beat

    How Baltimore became a rising star in America’s worker cooperative movement

  • How Are Bookstores Connected to Organizing?

    An article by Samantha Puc talks about how independent bookstores nationwide are leading efforts in community organizing. BRED co-ops, Red Emma and Firestorm Books are featured, along with several other amazing bookstores. To read the Publishers Weekly article click here.

  • Red Emma’s Cooperative Featured In Prism Article

    Costa Beavin Pappas writes an article about the importance of independant bookstores and the role they serve during these authoritarian times. One of the bookstores featured is none other than Baltimore’s favorite bookstore, restaurant, and event space, Red Emma’s.

    https://prismreports.org/2025/11/11/independent-bookstores-literature-activism/

  • Red Emma’s In The USA Today Top 10!

    Red Emma’s In The USA Today Top 10!

    USA TODAY recently published the results of their Reader’s Choice Awards for top 10 independent bookstores. Out of all the independent bookstores in the nation, Red Emma’s came in 9th! Make sure when you stop by, you tell them congratulations!

    Read more here!

    Red Emma’s ranked #No. 9:  for Best Independent Bookstore in the 2025 USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards

    Photo courtesy of Red Emma's / Casey McKeel

    No. 9: Best Independent Bookstore

    Named after 19th-century radical thinker Emma Goldman, Red Emma’s in Baltimore’s Waverly neighborhood is a worker-cooperative-run bookstore and cafe dedicated to sustainability and community engagement. The store stocks titles of every genre, with a wide-ranging collection of books on civil rights, revolutionary history, and activism. Red Emma’s frequently hosts speakers, community events, and author series, while the on-site restaurant offers a plant-based menu, coffee drinks, and a full wine and cocktail bar.

  • Glass Recovery And Sustainable Systems (GRASS)

    Glass Recovery And Sustainable Systems (GRASS)

    We want to be an example of what zero waste will look like Baltimore and beyond. At least 75% of what we dispose of is reusable, recyclable, and compostable, which means so many small businesses could and should be created in Charm City.

    Lucky for us, glass is 100% recyclable!

    GRASS

  • Village of Love And Resistance

    Village of Love And Resistance

    VOLAR is co-creating a cooperative community in East Baltimore owned by Black and Brown people, through the reclamation of land, healing, reconnecting and building a base of community power.

    VOLAR

  • NASCO Co-op

    NASCO Co-op

    North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is an alliance of group-equity housing cooperatives helping to build a world where every community benefits from resident-controlled housing by educating and organizing youth and emerging leaders to create and cre for co-ops in the US and Canada. They have been educating and organizing an emerging generation of cooperators since ‘68!

    Read More

  • BRED Leads Cooperative Statute All The Way

    BRED Leads Cooperative Statute All The Way

    We did it! The Maryland Cooperative Statute has passed!!! It has been signed by the Governor and will go into effect on October 1, 2026!

    Our project steward, Anna Evans-Goldstein, took initiative and cultivated the Maryland Limited Worker Cooperative Association Act. This meant a lot of drafts, meetings, conversations, connections, trips to Annapolis, and time. We are so proud of the work Anna has done on this, and are happy to be a part of getting this bill passed.

    A huge thank you goes out to the many cooperative members and supporters who contacted their elected representatives to push for this landmark legislation!

    From Anna:

    Thank you so much to all of you who wrote letters, made calls, and showed up to testify. This bill would not have passed without the overwhelming support of the cooperative community in Maryland. We truly showed what it is to be a community that supports each other – cooperatives supporting cooperatives – a shining example of the sixth cooperative principle.

    A special thank you to our champions in the Maryland State Legislature, Legislature includes: Senator Mary Washington , Delegates Lili Qi, and Delegate Lorig Charkoudian. Please take a moment to reach out to them by email or by phone to express our heartfelt thank you for championing this bill. And thank you to our partners who helped with bill drafting and support: the University of Baltimore Community Development Law Clinic and the Public Justice Center.