Justice Speaks: March 7, 2012
Grassroots Community Organizing: Worker Cooperatives
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
12:50–1:50pm
Room W520
Click
here to watch a video of this event.
Gowri
Krishna, Clinical Teaching Fellow at the Community Economic
Development Clinic, Fordham Law School
Vanessa
Bransburg, Cooperative Coordinator at the Center for Family
Life
Teresa Bacilio (Perez), Founding Member of
Sí, Se Puede! Coop
Grassroots community organizing has many different meanings to many different people. On Wednesday, March 7, 2012, the Justice Action Center hosted a lunch panel with individuals who work towards social justice through worker cooperatives.
Grassroots community organizing is just one example of how lawyers and other professionals work together to empower communities to achieve long-term sustainability, and the worker cooperative movement in New York City is no exception. The panel included Gowri Krishna from the Community Economic Development Clinic at Fordham Law, Vanessa Bransburg from The Center for Family Life, and Teresa Basilio (Perez), a founding member of Sí, Se Puede! Women's Cooperative.
The panelists discussed: the process of creating worker cooperatives, the benefits and challenges of creating such cooperatives, and the role for legal professionals.
Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
This program was approved for one hour of CLE credit in
professional practice for both transitional and non-transitional
attorneys.
About the Speakers:
Gowri Krishna,
J.D., Clinical Teaching Fellow, Community Economic Development Clinic,
Fordham Law School
Professor Gowri Krishna's research, writing and
teaching interests include transactional lawyering in support of community
organizing; creating community-based institutions primarily in communities
comprised of low-wage, immigrant workers; and cross-cultural
lawyering.
Professor Krishna received her A.B. in Social Thought & Analysis and Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2001, and her J.D. from Fordham Law School in 2006.
During law school, Professor Krishna interned in the Family Law Unit of Queens Legal Services; the Womens' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union; at the public-interest firm of Lansner & Kubitschek; and with U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis. At Fordham, she was a Louis Stein Public Interest Scholar, a Joseph R. Crowley Scholar, a Notes & Articles Editor of the International Law Journal, and a board member of the Domestic Violence Advocacy Center.
After law school, she was awarded an Equal Justice Works Fellowship from 2006-2008 to work in the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, where she remained as a staff attorney prior to joining the Law School's faculty. At the Urban Justice Center, Professor Krishna provided transactional legal support (e.g., contract drafting and negotiating, corporate, tax, real estate and regulatory compliance matters) to numerous community-based organizations. Her work also focused on forming worker cooperatives made up of low-wage, immigrant workers.
Vanessa Bransburg, LMSW, Cooperative Coordinator,
Center for Family Life
Vanessa Bransburg, LMSW, has been the
Cooperative Coordinator at the Center for Family Life in Brooklyn, NY
since February 2008. She provides incubation support and consultation to
three Sunset Park Worker-Owner Cooperatives and one Collective
as well as other evolving cooperatives around NYC. Vanessa has also
been a leader in the development of the NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives
("Nick Nock") since its inception in December 2009.
Teresa Bacilio (Perez), Founding Member, Sí, Se
Puede!
Teresita Perez, originally from Mexico, lives in Sunset Park,
Brooklyn, with her three children. Eight years ago, Tere was one of the
founding members of the Sí, Se Puede! Coop. She is currently on the
leadership committee, where she serves as treasurer, and is also a member
of the office management committee.
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