North American Students of Cooperation

North American Students of Cooperation
Name	North American Students of Cooperation
Abbreviation	NASCO
Formation	1968
Type	Cooperative federation
Headquarters	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Region served	United States, Canada
Membership	Student housing cooperatives, worker cooperatives

North American Students of Cooperation is a federation that supports student housing cooperatives and cooperative development across the United States and Canada. Founded in the late 1960s, it provides training, loans, networking, and advocacy for member cooperatives and affiliated projects. NASCO has influenced cooperative practice through education, regional organizing, and connections with broader cooperative movements and institutions.

History

NASCO emerged amid social movements in the 1960s and 1970s alongside organizations such as Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, Grey Panthers, United Farm Workers, and National Welfare Rights Organization. Early founders drew on precedents including Cooperative League of America, Antigonish Movement, and The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. In the 1970s and 1980s NASCO worked with campus groups near University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of California, Berkeley, McGill University, and University of Toronto to establish house cooperatives and alternative housing collectives influenced by models from Twin Pines Housing Co-op and Pine Hill Co-op. During the 1990s NASCO expanded training in partnership with entities such as National Cooperative Business Association, International Cooperative Alliance, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, and regional networks in the Northeast Cooperative Development Initiative. Post-2000, NASCO engaged with community land trusts like Dudley Neighbors, Inc. and policy arenas shaped by the Community Reinvestment Act and municipal affordable housing initiatives in cities such as New York City, Chicago, Toronto, and San Francisco.

Organizational Structure and Governance

NASCO functions as a nonprofit federation with a structure comparable to federated cooperatives like Cooperative Development Foundation and National Co+op Grocers. Its governance has featured a board of directors elected by member co-ops, committees modeled on practices from Mondragon Corporation and bylaws influenced by International Co-operative Alliance principles. NASCO’s staff and volunteer system parallels programs operated by AmeriCorps and training frameworks used by Green Worker Cooperatives and Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. Legal forms employed by member projects vary among incorporations in states like Michigan, California, New York (state), and provinces including Ontario and Quebec. NASCO has collaborated with legal aid entities such as Legal Services Corporation and cooperative attorneys associated with National Consumer Law Center.

Member Cooperatives and Projects

Member houses and affiliated organizations span campuses and cities, with examples historically including co-ops near Harvard University, Columbia University, Yale University, Princeton University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and smaller liberal arts colleges such as Amherst College and Swarthmore College. NASCO networks extend to Canadian groups around University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, and Queen’s University. Projects include urban housing collectives inspired by Upper West Side Co-op efforts, cooperative cafes influenced by La Maquina, and worker-owned ventures modeled after Cooperative Home Care Associates and Union Cab of Madison. NASCO has fostered startup support similar to programs by Shared Capital Cooperative and loan funds like Oikocredit USA.

Programs and Education

NASCO runs educational offerings comparable to workshops by Greenbelt Foundation and training curricula used by Cooperative Development Institute. Programs include summer trainings, governance workshops, consensus facilitation modeled after Sociocracy practices, and cooperative housing management courses resonant with curricula from National Association of Housing Cooperatives. NASCO’s educational resources have been cited alongside materials from The Working World and guest trainings with activists from Food Not Bombs and organizers from Industrial Workers of the World. NASCO also participates in conferences with groups like Twin Cities Cooperative Business Association and academic symposia at University of California, Santa Cruz and University of Minnesota.

Funding and Financial Model

NASCO’s revenue streams combine membership dues, training fees, loans, grants, and donations, resembling mixed funding models used by Nonprofit Finance Fund, Rockefeller Foundation grant programs, and regional community development financial institutions such as Local Initiatives Support Corporation. NASCO has administered small loan funds and collaborated with credit unions like Rainbow Health Co-op Credit Union and cooperative lenders similar to Shared Capital Cooperative Finance Corporation. Grant partners have included foundations such as Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and regional philanthropic entities. NASCO advises member co-ops on financial tools used by New Economy Coalition groups and municipal subsidy programs administered by offices in Seattle, Boston, and Minneapolis.

Impact and Criticism

Advocates credit NASCO with strengthening cooperative housing ecosystems linked to campus life at institutions including University of Colorado Boulder, University of Oregon, and McMaster University, and with contributing to local cooperative economies alongside organizations such as Cooperation Jackson and ROC USA. Critics, including voices associated with tenant advocacy groups like Right to the City and scholars at Harvard Kennedy School, have argued NASCO-affiliated co-ops sometimes face challenges in scaling, governance conflicts resembling those documented in case studies from Stanford Social Innovation Review, and financial vulnerability similar to small nonprofits studied by Urban Institute. Debates have engaged municipal regulators in Boston Housing Authority and landlord-tenant reforms in San Francisco Board of Supervisors hearings. NASCO continues to adapt policies in response to external critiques and internal member feedback influenced by cooperative practice literature from Elinor Ostrom-related research centers and cooperative scholars at University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Category:Cooperative federations