As a leading educator and researcher for cooperatives for over 40 years, there are few sectors in the cooperative movement left untouched by Dr. Christina Clamp. From cutting edge research on worker- and shared-services-cooperatives to training generations of cooperators to building and connecting cooperatives to broader movements for community economic development and the social solidarity economy, Chris is a steadfast champion of cooperatives.
Chris began her tenure as a professor at Southern New Hampshire University in 1981 where she created a master’s program in community economic development designed to serve mid-career professionals and a certificate in cooperative development. Over the years, her efforts have led to the development of a farming cooperative of Somali refugees in Maine and a network of rural village-based cooperatives in Cameroon, to name a few.
Best known for her research on Mondragon (the world’s largest worker cooperative), Chris increased the understanding of how the network has addressed globalization and informed worker cooperative human resource strategies. But worker cooperatives haven’t been her only focus. A business school case study she researched about CCA Global Partners led Chris to co-author a book on shared-services cooperatives, pioneering research on the use of purchasing, marketing, processing, and distribution in the business, finance, health, and public sectors of the U.S. economy. She documented how state and federal governments create financial incentives to promote shared-service strategies that help countless groups lower expenses and better meet service needs.
For decades, Chris has also been a vital educator of the cooperative community. Among her many past students are John Holdsclaw IV, Micha Josephy, Noemi Giszpenc, Ajowa Ifateyo, Candace Robinson, Mitty Owens, Juan Leyton, Tanya Gracie, and 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductee Linda Leaks.
Anticipating retirement from Southern New Hampshire University in 2023, Chris remains active in research. She recently co-edited a collection of 30 essays highlighting the story of Mondragon and its ongoing influence in the United States and globally: Humanity @ Work & Life: Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience. Her extensive scope of activities and publications reflect the depth and breadth of her unwavering commitment to cooperatives and community-based ownership.