Officers

Black Farmer Fund

Amanda Everich (she/they) is a facilitator, visual artist and collaborator from The Bronx, NY (unceded Munsee Lenape land.) She is rooted in ten years of work for land, food and farming justice. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from The City College of New York, education training from The Loris Malaguzzi Center in Reggio Emilia, Italy, herbalism training with La Mala Yerba, farm training with the Rock Steady Farm Pollinator Program and is a graduate of Farm School NYC. She works at Black Farmer Fund as Community Facilitator and Education Manager supporting black owned farming and food businesses in the northeast. Her work is guided by learning from land stewards, jazz, improvisation and the power of storytelling to create the liberated worlds we will build.

Action OSH

Chris Fox is a worker owner in Action OSH, an immigrant-led, unionized, worker-owned co-op of health and safety trainers. They are an industrial social worker of Dominican-American heritage who began working in the immigrant worker rights movement in 2014. Chris a proud member of the United Steelworkers (USW) union Local 4-318 and serves on the executive board of the local. They are also a leader in the USW Co-op Council with the aim to bring more worker-owned co-ops into the union and help the rest of the union understand and join the co-op movement. Additionally, Chris is also a member of the Executive Committee of the USFWC Union Co-op Council and co leads the technical assistance team. Chris previously worked on NYC NOWC staff as the Operations Manager from 2018 to 2020 and is especially proud to be serving as an interim board member through the end of 2024. Chris live in Flatbush, Brooklyn with their dog Olive and in their free enjoys soaking up nature, eating delicious things and playing with their nephews.

Oasis Solidarity Collective

Félix E. Gardón Rivera is an interpreter/actor/artist/activist. Gardón is a queer economic justice activist and a language advocate and an experienced trainer and facilitator that has held various positions to develop new leadership and trainers in multiple topics on economic, gender, social, and justice. They were one of the co-founders and co-chairs of Queers for Economic Justice, worker/ owner of Caracol Language LLC, and Robert W, Maggs Designs LLC among others. They also worked as Director of Education/Advocacy for SAGE (Services and Advocacy for LGBTQ Elders,) Program Coordinator Specialist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, where they developed the Standards for Cultural Competency for the Ryan White Tittle 1 programs in NJ, Director of Education for AVP, and direct service member of the SRLP collective providing language access services for legal clinics in NYC for the transgender community.

Felix is also an actor artist and co-founded the Puerto Rican Actors troupe Los Cuatro Gatos. For 15 yrs they were part of the Medicine Show Theatre, the oldest experimental theater group in NYC. They studied with the renowned Greek artist Omiros and has shown in various galleries in Philadelphia and NJ.

Wholehearted Bookkeeping

Nicole is a bilingual WOC native to Washington Heights. As a first generation American, she has seen the effects of systemic inequality firsthand. She has worked with other worker cooperatives providing administrative support and dipped her toe in Finance when establishing a cooperative coffee shop in NYC. She is a self-taught bookkeeper with 3 years experience.

Radiate Consulting NYC

Franklin Salazar has been in the cooperative space for 4 years. First as a member of the Sunset Scholars in Sunset Park and now with Radiate Consulting NYC. Originally from Colombia, Franklin has always been involved on his community and defended the rights of immigrants like himself.

Goumel Coop

Melissa Toussaint is a compassionate public servant, advocate, resource connector, and educator dedicated to strengthening cooperative structures and uplifting underserved communities. Currently a worker-owner of Goumel, a Haitian-focused food cooperative, Melissa is also a Community Action Network (CAN) Coordinator with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), where she passionately supports maternal health initiatives across the city. With a Master’s degree in Sexual Reproductive Health, she brings both expertise and empathy to her work, supporting vulnerable communities through her roles as a doula, parenting class facilitator, ESL instructor, and mentor for immigrant youth. Melissa’s commitment to cooperatives is deeply rooted in her family’s story; inspired by her grandmother, a farmer and entrepreneur in Haiti, she believes in the power of economic independence and community self-reliance. Currently pursuing her PMP certification, Melissa is eager to contribute her project management, organizational skills, and community-building expertise to the NYC NOWC board, where she seeks to amplify resources, promote sustainable practices, and champion the cooperative movement across New York City.

Shared Capital Cooperative & Valley Alliance of Worker Co-operatives

Adam Trott is the Director of Member Relations for Shared Capital Cooperative, a national CDFI loan fund that connects co-ops and capital to build economic democracy. He is also the Executive Director of the Valley Alliance of Worker Co-operatives, a co-op of worker co-ops that supports, develops and educates about and for worker co-operatives. Adam spent 13 years as a worker-member of Collective Copies, a worker collective and union shop western Massachusetts and served on his union’s Regional Executive Board. He received a Masters in Co-operative and Credit Union Management from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2019. His research is about the impact and power of co-operative associations in North America and throughout the world. Adam has had the pleasure of several board appointments including the Eastern Coordinating Council (organizing group for the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy), founding board member of the Cooperative Capital Fund, United Electrical Workers Union Local 274 representative to the Northeast General Executive Board, founding member of the Valley Co-operative Business Association and more.