Our Investments
The Working World invests in cooperatives and the worker-owners who drive them.
Over the years, we have invested in and supported many cooperatives throughout New York City. Here are just a few examples.
Bright Learning Stars
Bright Learning Stars is a worker-owned cooperative daycare located in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. The cooperative was born out of a collaboration between parents and daycare workers reacting to the sudden closure of a neighborhood daycare business in 2016. The worker-owners at Bright Learning Stars worked with The Working World to create a business plan, identify a suitable location, and get their license. They opened in 2018, expanded in 2019, weathered a six-month shut-down during the pandemic, and came back stronger than ever. The worker-owners have been able to pay themselves an end-of-year profit share for three years in a row, and are almost done paying off their loans with The Working World. Bright Learning Stars stands as an example of how cooperative ownership can help workers build wealth in a low-income industry such as childcare.
DONNA
DONNA is a worker-owned cocktail bar and restaurant located in the West Village, Manhattan. The company converted to cooperative ownership and moved from its original location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn during the pandemic, with support from The Working World and the founder and former owner, Leif Young Huckman. The Working World financed its relaunch in May of 2023, with funding for start up costs and working capital. This cooperative is generating income and offering participation in decision making for approximately 14 workers, creating a model for shared ownership in a historically exploitative industry that plays a huge role in the NYC economy.
The Drivers Cooperative
The Drivers Cooperative (TDC) is a driver-owned rideshare and transportation cooperative based in New York City, competing with Uber and Lyft—two corporations backed by endless capital and run on exploited labor. TDC is transforming the rideshare sector by offering better pay and ownership to drivers and facilitating a green transition in the industry. This transformation is being carried out with the owners firmly in the driver’s seat of this movement. The Working World (TWW) collaborated with TDC early in their inception, providing valuable feedback as they diligently refined their model. In 2021, TWW also invested in TDC’s first crowdfunding campaign, raising over $1.6 million by the time the campaign concluded. In 2023, TWW invested in a line of credit for the Driver’s Cooperative. If you ask us, The Drivers Cooperative is wholeheartedly carrying out their mission: “to end exploitative conditions in the for-hire vehicle industry through system change—putting drivers in the driver’s seat of the platform economy.”
Brooklyn Stone & Tile
Brooklyn Stone & Tile is a stone and tile fabrication and installation company based in Brooklyn since 2018. The team is made up of highly experienced experts in the field who consistently deliver the highest quality of service. The Working World financed the start-up of this business in 2018 and continues to provide capital and technical assistance as the cooperative navigates growth. Brooklyn Stone & Tile has becoome a powerful exemplar for the community wealth-building power of employee ownership and has hosted numerous visits by elected officials and community leaders as well as events and workships in partnership with other NYC-based cooperatives.