The Democracy At Work Institute and Cooperative Fund of the Northeast are pleased to announce that Joe Marraffino will join the staff of CFNE as a loan officer for the eastern Upstate New York region, leaving his position as DAWI’s Program Manager for the Workers to Owners program. This personnel transition strengthens an already robust organizational affiliation between CFNE and DAWI. We are committed to working more closely together to develop collaborative programs that enact our shared strategic priorities for racial equity and ecosystem growth. In recent years, the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, and Adirondacks have seen significant growth in cooperative development, including worker cooperative conversions. Both CFNE and DAWI have active projects in the region and are excited for Joe to continue to expand an ecosystem of support for this growth. Joe is not leaving the shared ownership community, just shifting his role within it. Since starting at DAWI in 2014, he has contributed enormously to DAWI’s growth, providing hands-on technical assistance to businesses, developing invaluable tools, supporting the Workers to Owners collaborative, and most recently helping roll out the NYC Owner to Owners hotline. He now brings the same facilitative leadership, skill as a trainer, and expertise in cooperatives to CFNE’s work. Joe is much beloved by his DAWI co-workers, who will miss him dearly but also look forward to continuing our work together in this new capacity. Prior to working at DAWI, Joe worked for GreenStar Food Co+op.