Willy Street Co-op - East

The Eight Cooperative Principles that guide our daily work are deeply grounded in equity and inclusion, underscoring our commitment to a fair and just world. Principle One, “Voluntary, Open Ownership,” affirms our openness to all—embracing people of all genders, social backgrounds, races, political beliefs, and religions. This principle is a promise to break down barriers and create a truly welcoming space for everyone. Principle Seven, “Concern for the Community,” drives us to actively support the sustainable development of the communities we serve. Principle Eight, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” is a guiding light, urging us to mirror the rich diversity of our community in our staff, customers, partners, and suppliers. By prioritizing equity and inclusion, we are building a culture where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, contribute, and feel valued. Through these principles, we are creating a cooperative where every individual’s uniqueness enriches our collective success. In the fourth quarter of 2026, theOwner & Community Engagement Workgroupcompleted the following projects: TheRetail & Supply Chain Strategy Workgrouphas been focused on through quarter 2 of 2025: TheEmployee Engagement and Development Workgroupis tasked with two goals. Our employees reflect the demographics of the communities we serve and that we become an employer of choice through a culture of acceptance, inclusion, and respect. In 2024 we held several workgroup meetings focused on re-defining how this workgroup could best help engage and develop employees. Our previous efforts focused on creating events for employees to meet at and creating workplace opportunities for cross departmental social interaction. While we are satisfied with our efforts, we sought to better align our work with the Co-op’s strategic plan initiatives. To support the strategic plan initiatives, the workgroup will focus on supporting the Co-op’s DEI focus, core organizational training, and career development efforts. We are working to identify ways to partner with the UE 1186 on employee engagement and retention efforts. On a forward looking basis the workgroup is in the process of selecting new members to become leaders of our new vision.  We expect to go through some re-development work in the near term tasks like metric identification and annual survey development. We are also eager to bring back an annual in person staff gathering. Weannounced in our March newsletterthat we’ve added an Eighth Cooperative Principle: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” TheInternational Cooperative Alliance(ICA) outlines seven cooperative principles by which cooperatives put their values into practice. The ICA is considering adopting the eighth principle listed below; we and many other co-ops have already chosen to adopt it. MESSAGE FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER As the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion is being questioned on a national level, we remain relentless in building on our long history of honoring our values and the cooperative principles. We would like to assure Owners and our communities that we will continue to uphold and pursue the transformational values of diversity, equity, and inclusion now and always. –Anya Firszt, General Manager, Willy Street Co-op DEI Strategic Goals & Objectives Check outDEI Dashboardfor metrics related to these goals and objectives. As reported in theAugust 2020 GM Reportin the Co-op newsletter, theReader. In July 2020, Willy Street Co-op partnered with Step Up: Equity Matters, a local consulting firm that will work to provide us a framework for positive change to further our ongoing commitment to identifying and eliminating systemic racism in the workplace. Step Up will work with Willy Street Co-op staff and the Board to build equity capabilities by: Executive summary as reported in theMay 2021 GM Reportin the Co-op newsletter, theReader. In April/May 2020, Step Up concluded their scheduled assessment of the Co-op’s leadership