Call for Rochdale Pioneers Award nominations 2024 open
The Rochdale Pioneers are regarded as the prototype of the modern cooperative society and the founders of the Cooperative Movement.
KAMPALA, July 25, 2024 – Nominations are open for the International Cooperative Alliance’s Rochdale Pioneers Award, the highest honour that the ICA bestows.
The purpose of the Award is to recognise, in the spirit of the contribution of the Rochdale Pioneers, an individual who has contributed to innovative and financially sustainable cooperative activities that have significantly benefited cooperative members. Under special circumstances, a cooperative organisation can be recognised.
The award will be presented in New Delhi, India, from 25 to 30 November 2024, when cooperators from around the world convene for the biennial ICA Conference “Cooperatives Build Prosperity for All” and General Assembly.
Nominations are invited from member organisations of the ICA, and from organisations in solidarity with the cooperative movement. Nominees must be current or former members or employees in an ICA member organisation or in one of that organisation’s members or affiliates. If an organisation is nominated, rather than an individual, it must be an ICA member organisation or one of that organisation’s members or affiliates.
A nominee’s achievements must:
Visibly demonstrate benefit to the global cooperative movement: Be innovative; Be financially sustainable and of a permanent nature; Be a leader in the cooperative movement; Demonstrate commitment to the cooperative principles
Selection of the final awardee will be made by an ICA Board-appointed committee. To be considered, fully completed forms and required documents must be received by August 31, 2024.
The Rochdale Pioneers are regarded as the prototype of the modern cooperative society and the founders of the Cooperative Movement.
In 1844 a group of 28 artisans working in the cotton mills in the town of Rochdale, in the north of England established the first modern cooperative business, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society. The weavers faced miserable working conditions and low wages, and they could not afford the high prices of food and household goods. They decided that by pooling their scarce resources and working together they could access basic goods at a lower price. Initially, there were only four items for sale: flour, oatmeal, sugar and butter.
The Pioneers decided it was time shoppers were treated with honesty, openness and respect, that they should be able to share in the profits that their custom contributed to and that they should have a democratic right to have a say in the business. Every customer of the shop became a member and so had a true stake in the business. At first the coop was open for only two nights a week, but within three months, business had grown so much that it was open five days a week.
Past Rochdale laureates
2001
Dr. Verghese Kurien [India]
2003
Francisco Luis Jiménez Arcila [Colombia]
Lloyd Wilkinson [UK]
2005
Hans Dahlberg [Sweden]
Yehudah Paz [Israel]
Ian MacPherson [Canada]
2007
Esther Gicheru [Kenya]
Pr. Ungku A. Aziz [Malaysia]
Francisco Ceballo Herrero [Spain]
2009
Ivano Barberini [Italy] 2011
Lee Jong-koo [Korea]
Pr. Florencio Eguía Villaseñor [Mexico]
2012
Roberto Rodrigues [Brazil]
2013
Plunkett Foundation [United Kingdom]
2015
Dame Pauline Green [United Kingdom]
2017
José Carlos Guisado [Spain]
2019
Howard Brodsky and Kim Byeong-won [United States and Republic of Korea]
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