NCBA - National Cooperative Business Association
09/05/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/05/2024 11:22
Cooperative Hall of Fame inductee spotlight – Dr. Christina Clamp
Dr. Christina Clamp, Educator and Researcher
- Activist ScholarDr. Christina Clamp is a leading co-op scholar whose pioneering work is grounded in the values of civil rights, social justice and an inclusive economy. She is best known for her research on Mondragon, the world's largest worker cooperative. The results of her deep interviews with Mondragon managers and founders continue to inform human resource strategies for worker co-ops worldwide. Her extensive list of publications includes, most recently, a collection of 30 essays highlighting the story of Mondragon and its ongoing influence in the U.S.
- Cooperative EducatorDr. Clamp is known as a "superb educator" who has left "a permanent, positive legacy of young leaders." She was hired in 1981 by Southern New Hampshire University to create a master's program in community economic development for mid-career professionals. Rather than write a master's thesis, her students tackled real-world problems-completing projects that benefit their own communities. Forty years later, thousands of SNHU Center for Cooperatives and Economic Development alumni are at work on community development projects around the world.
- Cooperative WorkerIn her career, Dr. Clamp has not been content to be a person who studies and teaches about co-ops. She is a true field leader, working in deep partnership with community groups to support existing and developing co-ops. In New Hampshire, she helped establish a farmer's market co-op. In New Orleans, she helped train faith-based groups. In North Carolina, she assembled training for Black-led community development corporations.
Attend the induction dinner and ceremony as a sponsor
Dr. Christina Clamp is among five outstanding cooperative leaders who will receive the cooperative community's most prestigious honor on October 3, 2024, when they are inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame at the Hamilton Hotel in Washington, DC.
Dr. Christina Clamp
Educator and Researcher
As a leading educator and researcher for cooperatives for more than 40 years, there are few sectors in the cooperative movement left untouched by Dr. Christina Clamp. From cutting-edge research on worker and shared-services cooperatives to training generations of cooperators to building and connecting cooperatives to broader movements for community economic development and the social solidarity economy, Chris is a steadfast champion of cooperatives.
Chris began her tenure as a professor at Southern New Hampshire Universityin 1981 where she created a master's program in community economic development designed to serve mid-career professionals and a certificate in cooperative development. Over the years, her efforts have led to the development of a farming cooperative of Somali refugees in Maine and a network of rural village-based cooperatives in Cameroon, to name a few.
Best known for her research on Mondragon (the world's largest worker cooperative), Chris increased the understanding of how the network has addressed globalization and informed worker cooperative human resource strategies. But worker cooperatives haven't been her only focus. A business school case study she researched about CCA Global Partnersled Chris to co-author a book on shared-services cooperatives, pioneering research on the use of purchasing, marketing, processing and distribution in the business, finance, health and public sectors of the U.S. economy. She documented how state and federal governments create financial incentives to promote shared-service strategies that help countless groups lower expenses and better meet service needs.
For decades, Chris has also been a vital educator of the cooperative community. Among her many past students are John Holdsclaw IV, Micha Josephy, Noemi Giszpenc, Ajowa Ifateyo, Candace Robinson, Mitty Owens, Juan Leyton, Tanya Gracie and 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductee Linda Leaks.
Anticipating retirement from Southern New Hampshire University in 2023, Chris remains active in research. She recently co-edited a collection of 30 essays highlighting the story of Mondragon and its ongoing influence in the United States called Humanity @ Work & Life: Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience. Her extensive scope of activities and publications reflect the depth and breadth of her unwavering commitment to cooperatives and community-based ownership.