Reflections from Co-Co Founders on Celebrating Women

When the co-founders began to imagine what The Co-Co was going to look like it was vitally important that all women felt welcome and equal. We wanted a place where women (and men) of different cultures, colors, ages, and interests would be comfortable, and ideas and community would naturally flow. We wanted this place for us, for our members and also for the future generations of women to be an example of a new way to work. One member, Erin, has described it as “I met so many women at The Co-Co who I would not have met in my previous life. I became friends with women 20 years older, women from different towns, women of different religions and backgrounds and not just women whose children match up with mine.” When you work from home and live in the suburbs sometimes your life can become very insular and we wanted to open that world up to everyone.

As with every well run organization with a focus on equality, the culture starts from the top. The five co-founders may look similar on the outside, especially since three of us are various shades of blonde, but we all come from different backgrounds and bring disparate skills to our work. Suzanne and Lauren are business school people, Lynne is asocial worker and a lawyer, and Suzanne and Christine are nonprofit management experts. Each of our voices is valuable and necessary and heard equally. We need the hard and soft skills to meet the needs of our members. This tapestry of skills is evident in the breadth of programming we provide, but also in the way our processes are run on a day to day basis. We have built a sanctuary that is warm, interesting, welcoming, inclusive and gives everyone a place to be productive while allowing for growth.  A place to get things done!