CO N N E CT I O N S
BY PHIL CASKEY, PRESIDENT & CEO
WOMEN AND COOPERATIVES In honor of Women’s Equality Day on Aug. 26, let’s take a look at the roles women play in cooperatives, around the world and right here at home. Even though women in the U.S. and U.K. were not allowed to vote until the early 1900s, women were granted equal voting rights in the first modern-era cooperative, the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. Established in 1844 in Rochdale, England, the co-op’s founders agreed that women should have equal voting rights. Treating women equally has been baked into our cooperative DNA right from the start. And the cooperative business model continues to champion women’s equality across the globe. The bulk of the electric cooperative workforce has traditionally been filled by men, but over time, women have stepped into more and more jobs across the industry spectrum.
Cooperatives, co-ops have an increasingly positive impact on women and their inclusion in the labor force, and they enhance women’s ability to achieve positions of authority, both within and outside of the co-op. In Ohio, a woman leads the power plant that provides electricity to Consolidated and 23 other co-ops in the state. Here at Consolidated Cooperative, women make up 35% of our total workforce and half of our leadership team. We also have one woman serving on our board of trustees, and overall, 28 women work hard to help make the co-op run smoothly. Treating everyone equally and ensuring folks have fair opportunities is the cooperative way of doing business. I am thankful to work with such a dedicated and hardworking group of women.
According to a 2015 global study conducted by the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of
Carla Thomas, left, and Van Lehman work in Consolidated’s operations department, helping to make sure your utility services are on 24/7.
AUGUST 2021 • OHIO COOPERATIVE LIVING 19