Community Wealth Building Practicum: Building Worker Cooperatives in Baltimore
Course Description:
 4 credit opportunity for FT and PT MBAs
 Primarily based at Smith campus in Baltimore
 Combination of class sessions and group meetings
 Interdisciplinary teams of masters students from business, law, and social work
The Evergreen Cooperatives have created quality jobs for some of the hardest-to-employ residents of
several inner-city Cleveland neighborhoods. As enterprises designed to meet several of the City’s largest
nonprofit organizations’ purchasing needs, the cooperatives are also helping ensure that dollars do not
leak out of the community and instead benefit local people and their neighborhoods. Similar to
Cleveland, Baltimore’s most marginalized neighborhoods are also home to some of the city’s most
powerful nonprofit institutions, which currently spend billions of dollars a year on goods and services.
Could we help nurture worker-owned cooperatives that could meet West Baltimore’s anchors’
procurement needs and create quality, empowering jobs for unemployed city residents?
Last semester, teams of MBA and Master of Social Work students worked together to analyze the
potential of several business ideas that had been suggested by members of the West Baltimore
community. Through this multi-pronged research process, the teams identified several cooperatives that
could succeed in West Baltimore, as well as several other promising concepts. The top ideas were
presented for vetting to a multidisciplinary group of mentors including social entrepreneurs, community
members, law faculty, and workforce development practitioners. Consensus emerged around the
potential of several ideas, including:
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A Greenhouse
Furniture Recycling/Refurbishment
Compost Collection, Processing, and Sales
Interior Property Demolition
Landscaping with a focus on storm water management
During the Spring semester, teams of masters students from business, law, and social work will work
hand in hand with a designated community partner to move forward with launching one of those
businesses. Key team tasks will include:
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Instruction on the worker cooperative model
Further financial and market analysis
Research on funding options and construction of financing proposals
Community outreach and education
Workforce training
Physical site identification and research into regulatory requirements
This program provides students with the opportunity to:
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Learn about the worker cooperative business model
Work collaboratively across professional disciplines to start real businesses
Cultivate relationship-building and leadership skills
Apply project management principles in real, dynamic situations
Present their work to multiple stakeholders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors
Application Process:
To apply, students must send a resume and a statement of interest in the course to Sara Herald,
Assistant Director of the Center for Social Value Creation, at sherald@rhsmith.umd.edu. Sara will
conduct brief interviews to understand each candidate’s skill set and interest in the practicum.
The selection process will favor students who demonstrate the following attributes:
 Passion for applying the tools of business to achieve social impact
 Project management skills
 An understanding of and appreciation for stakeholder and community engagement
 Adaptability in a fast-paced, rapidly-changing environment
 A level of maturity and professionalism that will favorably represent the Smith School
Students must be selected to be able to officially enroll in the course and will be enrolled via Testudo by
MPO.
Key Dates:
10/24/2014: Student applications open
10/31/2014: Student applications close
11/3/2014 – 11/7/2014: Selection interviews
11/10/2014: Selections announced
11/13/2014: Deadline for students to accept offer
Project Requirements:
Team Charter
Each team should have a team mission that all team members can use as the guiding principles
throughout the semester. In this course setting, the charter should reflect the desire to work as a team,
the importance of prioritizing the needs of different stakeholder groups, a commitment to being
thorough and thoughtful, and ensuring the highest levels of quality and professionalism. It will also
include how you intend to work with each other, how you will communicate in the team as well as to
the advisor, and set norms for resolving disputes. Team charters should be signed by all members.
Statement of Work
This deliverable defines the scope of work, spells out the research and analysis approaches and specifies
deliverables including key milestones and due dates. MBA course content areas should be plainly visible
(tools, techniques, models, etc.).
Midterm Presentation
Teams will present their progress midway through the semester to the community partner and
practicum leaders. This progress should include secondary research conducted so far (including
footnotes) and any first-hand research students have conducted.
Final Report and Presentation
The final presentation summarizes the research findings and conclusions, the analysis performed, and
the managerial recommendations of the team. The presentation outlines the original statement of work
and the brief history of the project. Greater emphasis should be given to new information and analysis
developed since the mid-term presentation. The presentation should also touch on data collection
methods and analytical tools or models employed. The presentation should tell a logical, well-developed
story that pulls the project activities together into a complete package.
Final Paper
The final paper consists of detailed and substantiated descriptions of the original scope, the research
approach, specific data collection methods, and analytical tools or techniques used. The report provides
sufficient detail to understand where results come from and what analysis the recommendations are
based on. Appendices contain the statement of work, any data collection surveys or questionnaires, raw
data or information, and output from statistical or financial analysis if relevant. Proper referencing and
citation style expected; no plagiarism will be tolerated.
Peer Evaluations
This grade is determined based on the input from a student’s team members. All students are asked to
evaluate their team members at the midterm point and end of the semester on several attributes and
provide an overall grade recommendation. This is a critical component to each student’s grade.
Accordingly, if there is any team dysfunction, it is best to address this early on in the semester while
there is still time to fix any problems.