Who We Are
Devco supports and develops Canadian co-operatives.
We enable you to contribute to your community’s vitality using co-operative models.
We see Co-operation as a framework for transforming social, economic and environmental activity so that communities are at the center rather than on the margins.
Devco provides the information and guidance co-ops need to get the best possible start on the road to sustainability.We also assist older co-ops to achieve their goals more effectively.
Our training enables Community Economic Development practitioners to become excellent co-op developers.
Marty Frost is a founding member of Devco. A recognized leader in the field, Marty has worked in every aspect of the co-op sector: as general manager of a large worker co-op for a decade, as an advisor to provincial and federal government policy-makers, and as a consultant to dozens of new and existing co-ops.
Marty is a board member of the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation (CWCF) and Chair of the investment committee for the CWCF’s $1.5 million dollar Tenacity Fund for worker co-op development.
Melanie Conn has been involved in co-op and community economic development in British Columbia since 1971, and has been a member of Devco since 1998. As an educator and consultant, Melanie has provided technical assistance for dozens of organizations and individual projects as well as for provincial and federal government departments.As the original director of Simon Fraser University’s Certificate for CED Professionals, she has promoted the utilization of the co-op model as a powerful tool for community vitality in the face of the increasing challenges of globalization.
Melanie is also a founding member of the Canadian Women’s CED Council and a director of Genuine Progress Index-Pacific.
