Being a Grower, Made Me An Artist; Cooperatives Roundtable: Perspectives on Starting a Cooperative Business in TN

R’Yana Michele (she/they) is a Black Southern Hoodoo healer, organizer, abolitionist, and earth steward. She has worked for 10 years equipping organizers and communities to build power and dignity by developing strategies and practices that transform the way we live, work, and play. They envisioned a liberated cooperative land space for black people in Nashville and organized with the Black Land and Liberation Initiative to bring Nashville in as an anchor partner. The Water Bear Cooperative Land Project was founded in 2021 and formally launched with 8 members in 2022. Her role has been lead land steward and member-owner. In this role, they have been responsible for visioning, strategic planning, organizing membership, fundraising, group facilitation, operations/systems development, and land management. R’Yana currently offers her gifts at the national level as the Internal Weaving Director (Chief of Staff) of the New Economy Coalition and as an Affiliate Trainer for Race Forward. Past roles have included Southern Regional Organizer of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Webinar Host and Facilitator for The Icarus Project (now Fireweed Collective), and Program Associate for the Black Led Movement Fund at Borealis Philanthropy.