Learning, Collaboration, and Shared Practice in Minneapolis
What to Expect at ACE Institute 2026
For 75 years, ACE Conferences have built a community of co-op educators! Whether you’re a cooperative owner, staff member accountable for education, academic or consultant we’ve come together to advance cooperative education through shared learning and collaboration!
The ACE Institute 2026 in Minneapolis continues this tradition! This cooperative education conference connects participants from across Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico to share strategies, learn from each other and make new friends!
The conference is also a really great way to learn from educators in the local co-ops that are doing really fun things!
Here’s what you can expect:
- Welcome Reception – opening night – join us to say hello to your fellow Co-op Educators!
- 2 full days of session learning with sessions decided on by you!
- 1 full day of co-op tours – meet some of the local cooperators and learn how they are doing education in their spaces!
- A big 75th Anniversary Party! Let’s celebrate being connected in an Educator Community for 75 years and the collective impacts we’ve made!
Celebrating 75 Years: Shaping the Future of Co-op Education
This years theme is Celebrating 75 Years: Shaping the Future of Co-op Education
2026 Topics under this theme include:
Past and Future of Cooperative Education
Reflecting on 75 years of how educators and practitioners bridge theory and lived practice, develop practical tools, and share knowledge to build effective, resilient co-ops, and exploring what lessons carry forward for the next generation of co-op practitioners.
Cooperation Under Pressure
Understanding how cooperatives operate as stabilizing forces within stressed communities, and how cooperation among co-ops strengthens collective impact in the face of social, economic, and climate-related challenges.
Advocacy, Influence, and Public Relevance
How cooperatives push past indifference, influence decision-makers, and assert relevance in crowded or skeptical environments.
Call for Proposals!
We invite proposals for sessions that engage, challenge, and inspire cooperative educators and practitioners across sectors.
What we're looking for
We welcome proposals that fit the above topics and/or are:
- Connected to our theme and themes in cooperative education
- Grounded in real practice and experience
- Thoughtful and reflective
- Practical and actionable
- Engaging and participatory
- Cross-sector and intergenerational
- Honest about challenges as well as successes
Session formats may include workshops, facilitated discussions, panels, case studies, skill-building sessions, or other interactive approaches. Standard session length will be approximately 60–75 minutes.
We especially encourage proposals that reflect the diversity of the cooperative movement and that connect across sectors, communities, locales, and generations.
Submission Guidelines
Presenters will be notified of decisions in late April. The draft program will be finalized in early summer.
As we mark this 75th anniversary, we are particularly interested in sessions that help us reflect honestly on our history while equipping us for the work ahead. We hope you will consider sharing your experience, insight, and perspective with the ACE community.
We look forward to learning with you in Minneapolis.
Become an institute sponsor today!
Sponsor the future of Co-op Education
In 2026, the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) marks 75 years of advancing cooperative education across Canada, the United States, and Puerto Rico. Founded in Minnesota in 1952, ACE was built by cooperative educators committed to strengthening research, teaching, and professional practice in Cooperatives.
Today, ACE continues that work through its institutes, conferences, and shared learning initiatives—including the upcoming ACE Institute which will be held in Minneapolis!
As we celebrate our milestone, we are also investing in the next generation of co-op educators. Contributions to our 75th Anniversary Campaign will help:
- Provide scholarships for educators and emerging practitioners
- Support the 2026 ACE Institute in Minneapolis
- Strengthen cooperative education resources and core operations
- Seventy-five years of cooperative education didn’t happen by accident. It happened because institutions chose to invest in shared learning and collaboration.
Join us in shaping the future of cooperative education today!
To donate more than $10,000 click this link.
ACE Awards
Every year, the Association of Cooperative Educators acknowledges the outstanding work of co-operative educators. We have five categories. It is not required to give an award in each category every year, but we want to make sure to recognize people in our field of cooperative education and development who merit recognition.
An abbreviated description of each category is below.
- The Jessica Gordon Nembhard Cooperative Education and Training Award: The award acknowledges the efforts of an individual or organization for their ongoing work in educating others about cooperatives. This is a longstanding award renamed in 2022 to acknowledge the incredible contribution of Jessica Gordon Nembhard to cooperative education.
- The William Hlushko Award to Young Cooperative Educators:
The Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) established this award in 1978 to acknowledge and recognize outstanding achievement of young cooperative educators who are members of the organization and are below the age of 35. Many awardees have gone on to make major contributions to the field. - The Reginald J. Cressman ACE Award:
The Award recognizes an ACE Member who demonstrates outstanding commitment to staff development as exemplified by long-time cooperator Reginald J. Cressman. - The John Logue ACE Award:
The Award, which honors John Logue, founder of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, recognizes an individual or organization whose educational programs, technical assistance, or research acts as a catalyst for change by creating innovative cooperatives. - The William Nelson Contribution to ACE Award:
The Award recognizes an individual or an organization that adds significant value to ACE. This is a longstanding award renamed in 2016 to acknowledge the incredible contribution of William J. Nelson to the association. - The Mary ᒥᐊᕆ Nirlungayuk ᓂᓪᓗᖓᔪ Award in Cooperative Governance:
This award is granted for an individual or organization that has contributed to Board Governance education. This award was created in 2025 in honour of Mary ᒥᐊᕆ Nirlungayuk ᓂᓪᓗᖓᔪ Inuit Elder, Cooperative Educator and Vice-President of Governance and Member Relations at Arctic Co-operative.
Silent Auction
As a part of our 75th Anniversary celebration, ACE Institute 2026 will again feature our regular Silent Auction in support of cooperative education scholarships and programming.
The auction will showcase items and experiences donated by cooperatives, educators, partners from across Puerto Rico, Canada and the United States! Proceeds will help expand access to the ACE Institute and strengthen cooperative education intiatives for emerging practitioners and educators.
It’s a chance to support the future of cooperative education while celebrating the Co-operative Community!
Interested in donating something to our silent auction? Let us know in this form today!
Other Conferences
We are so excited!
There’s lots going in in Minneapolis this summer not just ACE! Immediately before our conference there are two other really great conferences that we hope you’ll explore including:
Minnesota Cooperative Summit - July 28-29, Duluth Minnesota
The second annual Minnesota Cooperative Summit will:
- Understand the economic resiliency and long term sustainability of co-ops
- Learn about the power and versatility of the cooperative model
- Engage in Minnesota’s rich history of cooperation to do better together
- Gain inspiration from creative co-op success stories
Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO) - July 23-26, Minneapolis
Democracy in the Ashes: Voices of Resistance, Songs of Transformation
This is a deeply participatory, joyful, and rigorous gathering rooted in the work of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal—bringing together cooperative folks, educators, artists, organizers, and movement builders who are actively practicing democracy, equity, and collective care in hard times.