Concurrent Education Session

TUE-A03: Collective Strength: Building a Worker-owned Design Firm Cooperative

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

8:30am – 9:45am ET

Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 146C

1.25 PDH, LA CES/non-HSW, AICP, FL

Lead Speaker(s)

Heidi Thomas, PLA, ASLA (she/her/hers)

Founding Principal
EnviroCollab
Baltimore, Maryland

Session Guide

Speaker(s)

Taji Amani

Business Relationship Steward
Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy
Baltimore, Maryland
Parag Rajendra Khandhar, Esq. (he/him/his)

Principal
Gilmore Khandhar, LLC
Baltimore, Maryland

Seeking equity and diversity, landscape architecture professionals are increasingly exploring alternative business models. This session presents a case study of one firm’s transition to cooperative worker-ownership, addressing legal, financial, and cultural tools for workplace democracy. Panelists will discuss aligning equity in practice with equity for design industry workers.

Learning Outcomes:

Understand the benefits and challenges of operating a worker-owned cooperative design firm.
Understand financial and legal tools for implementing workplace democracy in landscape architecture firms.
Connect to literature resources, peer advising networks, and management techniques for establishing and sustaining shared governance of your company.
Understand the economic justice functions of cooperatives, and opportunities they offer for supporting strong and resilient local economies.