About this Event
Join Common Shares as we kick off 2026 with an event focused on the ways that workers are building a new economy.
Join Common Shares as we kick off 2026 with an event focused on the ways that workers are taking the lead in business to build wealth and vibrancy across Richmond.
While Richmond has had a long history of worker organizing and unions, cooperatives have primarily developed in rural communities throughout Virginia as a way to share costs, limit risks, and support one another. In recent years, Virginia is seeing an uptick in interest as workers come together to start new businesses and convert successful businesses with owners that are retiring. These include coffee roasting, landscaping, health work, milling, food coops, and custodial services with more on the way.
Common Shares is a new organization dedicated to supporting these efforts by linking the business planning, legal/financial services, cultural development, capital resources, and eventually creating state laws that are needed to make these businesses truly successful. In doing so, we are creating integrated economies that lead to economic democracy and meaningful work.
We will screen VPM's Life in the Heart Land episode on Worker-Owned Businesses and hear from a panel of worker cooperatives from around the Richmond region.
Panelists will include -
Eric Mason - Afterglow Coffee Cooperative
Stephanie Toney - CHW Strength
Aaron Linas - Future Habitats
Dilcia Molina - Magic Broom and Madre Tierra
Lysandra Petersson - Filmmaker - Deep Structure Productions
The evening will be a kick off of a wider effort by Common Shares to connect these businesses and investments in a thriving cooperative ecosystem across Virginia.
The event is support by contributions from the Virginia Solidarity Economy Network and VA Fairs.
Common Shares is fiscally supported by the Foundation for Philanthropic Funds.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Studio Two Three, 109 West 15th Street, Richmond, United States
USD 0.00
