Director

Barbara joined ACDC in 2022, after working for almost a decade on rural development projects across Alaska. She has an MSc in Resource and Applied Economics and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Natural Resources and Sustainability at the University of Alaska.

Andrew has 30 years of experience working in economic and rural development in Alaska.  In  2006 he was appointed the first director of the Alaska Cooperative Development Center.  Since then he has provided technical assistance to cooperatives by conducting financial modeling,  developing marketing plans, feasibility studies, and business plans.  Before joining ACDC, Andrew administered international aid programs in the Russian Far East, earned a  JD, and worked in rural Alaska on various economic development projects.

Margaret Lund is an independent consultant specializing in the areas of community development finance and shared ownership strategies.  Throughout her 30-year career, Margaret has worked with enterprises in every major cooperative sector including credit unions, consumer co-ops, housing co-ops, worker co-ops, healthcare, agriculture and small business cooperatives.  Prior to launching her consulting practice in 2008, Ms. Lund spent 16 years as a small business lender to cooperatives.  Currently, she is one of three trustees overseeing the Cooperative Charitable Trust, a catalyst for research and innovation in worker ownership. Ms. Lund is the author of numerous practical publications including “Solidarity as a Business Model: A Multi-stakeholder Cooperative Model”.

Principal/Owner, The Co-op Consultant. 

Stuart brings over 45 years of dedication to independent grocery stores and food co-ops. Stuart Reid was the founding Executive Director of Food Co-op Initiative, where he created the vision and programs that became the heart of the startup food co-op movement. Throughout his career, he has managed deli departments, produce, specialty cheese, and even swept floors. Stuart has successfully led both startup and established grocery stores through growth and expansion. Additionally, he has served as a purchasing manager for food distributors and provided technical assistance to hundreds of grocery stores, both new and operational, including the Sitka, Kodiak, and Fairbanks food co-ops. Whether you need guidance on feasibility, marketing, or leadership and governance, Stuart offers personal support rooted in extensive experience.

Yaso Thiru is currently a Professor of Accounting and Management at Alaska Pacific University and teaches corporate financial analysis and organization development. After years of teaching accounting in the context of profit maximization alone, she now explores how profits can be a tool for social and environmental justice. She has contributed to global research on social enterprise models and is currently working on an initiative to scale multistakeholder business models in Alaska through employee/community-owned cooperative structures. Her most recent engagements include worker cooperative development and studies in community wealth building. Yaso is currently doing grant funded business development for a childcare worker cooperative in Alaska. 

Joel Cladouhos is an entrepreneur and sustainable development activist. At ACDC, Joel coordinates a monthly call between Alaskan food co-ops and is completing research on food security.

CooperationWorks! — or CW for short — is the Center of Excellence for cooperative business development. CW is a dynamic and innovative national cooperative created to grow the cooperative model across the United States. CW members, a national network of Cooperative Development Centers, work together to revitalize communities through effective cooperative enterprise development. Members provide expertise across all aspects of cooperative development, including feasibility analysis, business plan development, training and education. The network enables members to share expertise, develop and refine best practices, and to regularly engage in peer-to-peer learning.

NWCDC is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3), organization devoted to assisting new and existing cooperative businesses in every sector. NWCDC primarily supports cooperatives in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho but has also supported projects as far away as Alaska and Hawai’i. Founded by cooperatives in 1979, the Center has grown into the Northwest’s leading provider of services for co-op business development. We have a long history of collaborating with communities, governments, economic development agencies, and other cooperatives, sharing expertise and building cross-sector support for new and existing cooperatives

Established in 2008, ROC Northwest is a program of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center serving residents of Manufactured Housing Communities. ROC Northwest helps residents form cooperative business, secure financing, and purchase the community in which they live. ROC Northwest is supported by the wider ROC USA Network, of which we are a Certified Technical Assistance Provider. ROC USA affiliates have been working to foster resident ownership for over thirty years and support over 200 communities.