Esther West is a Loan Officer at Shared Capital Cooperative and proud Chicana/x. Specializations include cooperative organizing, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and environmental justice. She has been a worker-owner at Equal Exchange and is a current worker-owner of The Ajani Group, and has taught in the Environmental Studies Department at San Francisco State University. Esther has researched and mapped cooperatives, including Latinx and rural cooperatives, with Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, as a Cooperative Development Specialist at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, and for various other projects. Work includes Latinx Co-op Power in the U.S., Collective Action in Rural Communities, and additional policy and planning research she co-authored that has been published in peer reviewed journals. Besides a BA from Xavier University, Esther holds two Masters Degrees in Urban Planning, Design & Development and Environmental Studies, and has a GIS Masters Certificate from Cleveland State University. Past Board roles include the USFWC, MadWorC, and Listen Up! Youth Media.
Esther’s interest in running for the ACE Board is to support its work in supporting cooperation and communities through education. She would advocate for increased youth engagement, building our cooperative education with BIPOC cooperative communities, and to build connections amongst relevant educational institutions. Another goal would to be to increase connections in Mexico to build upon the already robust North American network of ACE.