Inducted: 2004
Known as an effective consumer advocate, community activist and government advisor, Allen Thurgood-Connolly works to bring cooperative solutions to areas such as housing, banking, community building, food supply, senior issues and energy. He is a true believer in the value of cooperation.
While Executive Director of Cooperative Housing Services and Coordinator of the Coordinating Council of Cooperatives, he helped form a coalition of housing cooperatives to work on the concerns of more than 500,000 New York City families. This dedication to the co-op model helped weave a community fabric where only bricks and mortar existed before.
Over the years he has used his political savvy and outstanding persuasive power to benefit cooperatives on such varied issues as expansion of credit union membership, equitable taxation of cooperative housing, national energy policy, food safety, preservation of New York City's public water system, and creative social programs for seniors. In addition, he has tirelessly exchanged ideas and enthusiasm across co-op sectors, between states and regions, and through countless international initiatives.
Always the visionary, Thurgood-Connolly pioneered the first urban electric utility cooperative in the nation, 1st Rochdale Cooperative. As its founder, chairman, and chief executive, he has grown the cooperative into an unquestionable success that serves its members and stands as a model for effective energy solutions.