On October 7th, CCEDNet member the Ontario Co‐operative Association (On Co‐op) was awarded the TOP·COOP Award of Excellence in the Mobilization and Involvement category by the International Summit of Cooperatives for their innovative All 4 Each program ‐ a suite of youth, co‐operative and community engagement initiatives.
“It is an incredible honour to be recognized with an international award for All 4 Each,” said Kerr Smith, Education Manager of On Co‐op after being presented the award by Charles Gould, Director General of the International Co‐operative Alliance. “This affirms that the various components of All 4 Each combine to produce a sustainable, efficient and effective program for mobilizing and connecting co‐ops and credit unions with their local schools.”
About All 4 Each
All 4 Each is a unified brand of fully-developed, informative, interactive and entertaining resources, presentations and lessons designed to be delivered by leaders from the co‐operative community and graduates of On Co‐op’s Co‐operative Young Leaders program, thereby building solid relationships between co‐operatives/credit unions and their local teachers and youth.
The All 4 Each program builds awareness of the co‐operative model and values among high school students through professionally-written lessons and activities which seamlessly align with the Ontario school curriculum. Other components of All 4 Each include ‘train-the-trainer’ mentorship sessions for professional development of co‐op sector leaders and youth presenters, fully‐developed presentations on co‐ops and credit unions as society’s ‘best kept secrets’ and the Create A Co‐op Challenge, a provincial competition which encourages young people to research and then create their own co‐operative enterprise (at least on paper).
The All 4 Each program is a huge success in Ontario and elements of the program are used in other provinces. It has even been translated into French. There is considerable international interest in franchising the program. “All 4 Each has been described as lightning in a bottle by those in the education system,” Smith says. “So far, we have partnered with Ontario co‐ops and credit unions to reach more than 5,000 high school and 600 university students and the demand for the program means that there are many opportunities for other credit unions and co‐operatives to come on board.”
The TOP·COOP award is the most recent recognition for All 4 Each. In 2012, Smith received the Association of Cooperative Educators‘ William Hlushko Award to Young Cooperative Educators for his work in creating All 4 Each, and in 2013, the US‐based Co‐operative Communicators Association recognized “From Beards To Eternity: Our Co‐operative History,” the All 4 Each historical component with its the ‘Best Presentation’ award.
CCEDNet extends our warm congratulations to On Co-op for this well deserved honour!
For more information:
Kerr Smith, Education Manager
Ontario Co‐operative Association
450 Speedvale Avenue West, Suite 101, Guelph, ON N1H 7Y6
ksmith at ontario.coop | 519.763.8271 x29
https://www.facebook.com/pages/All-4-Each-Create-A-Co-op-Challenge/217335921652935 www.ontario.coop
https://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/lifelong_coop_learning/all_4_…
@ontariocoops @All4Each
