The All 4 Each program a suite of youth, cooperative and community engagement initiative presented by the Ontario Cooperative Association (On Coop) was awarded the award of excellence in the mobilization and involvement category by the International Summit of Cooperatives.
The Top Coop award was presented to Kerr Smith, education manager of On Coop by Charles Gould, director general of the International Cooperative Alliance, during an awards ceremony held in Quebec City on Oct. 7.
“It is an incredible honour to be recognized with an international award for All 4 Each,” said Kerr Smith, education manager of On Coop.
“This affirms that the various components of All 4 Each combine to produce a sustainable, efficient and effective program for mobilizing and connecting coops and credit unions with their local schools.”
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 cooperative community and graduates of On Coop’s Cooperative Young Leaders program, thereby building solid relationships between cooperatives/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 that align with the Ontario school curriculum.
Other components of All 4 Each include ‘train the trainer’ mentorship sessions for professional development of coop sector leaders and youth presenters, fully-developed presentations on coops and credit unions as society’s ‘best kept secrets’ and the “Create A Coop Challenge,” a provincial competition which encourages young people to research and then create their own cooperative 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.
