Bob Davis
For most of my adult life I have been involved in community engagement through union organizing, co-op work, and by living & working in collective situations. Along the way I have attended dozens of workshops in co-op development, community/union organizing, consensus/collaborative decision-making, anti-oppression work, open space technology and management theory & practice.
- Organized unions in the warehouse and healthcare industries in the mid-west.
- Helped establish food-buying clubs that evolved into food co-ops in the 1970’s.
- Served on co-op boards and union/community support committees into the early 1980’s.
- Lived and worked as a chef in the UK, India and Australia in the mid 80’s.
- Moved to the Northwest in 1987. Owned and operated a country inn and small restaurant in the Columbia River Gorge.
- Re-engaged with the co-op movement when we moved to Portland, OR in 1998.
Over the past twelve years I have been developing and using my skills to train co-ops & non-profits in formal consensus decision making processes, co-op governance, anti-oppression work, worker self-management, and using open space technology to explore and resolve issues. Most of my work has been as a long-term Board member of Peoples Food Co-op, advanced consensus training with C.T. Butler and social justice work with Sisters Of The Road in Portland. I have also done short-notice board governance work for Alberta Co-op. Currently I’m participating the United States Federation of Worker Co-ops’ Democracy at Work Network training program for peer advisors.
