Pura Vida: A Snapshot of Costa Rica’s Thriving Cooperative Culture

  In late February 2025, I joined a cooperative studies tour of Costa Rica led by the International Centre for Cooperative Studies of St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Cooperative Management Program of Universidad FUNDEPOS in San Jose. Twenty-three participants spent two weeks learning about cooperative businesses in Costa Rica. For many […]

Documenting the Miracle of Financial Service Continuity by Puerto Rican Savings and Loan Cooperatives after Hurricane María’s Devastation

I travelled to Puerto Rico twice after Hurricane María struck the island, observing the near total destruction of the infrastructure and discussing the possibility of the development of renewable energy cooperatives as a component of a sustainable future. During those visits, I came to appreciate the strength of Puerto Rico’s mutual insurance capacity, in particular […]

Finding Common Ground for Consumer Cooperatives

In early December 2021, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), the global apex organization for cooperatives, held its 33rd World Cooperative Congress in Seoul, Korea. Cooperators from around the globe participated both on-site and virtually. The theme of the Congress was Deepening Our Cooperative Identity. At the time, I was the Chair of the ICA Cooperative […]