AltGen, the co-operative that supports 18 to 29-year-olds to set up their own co-ops, has launched a network of young entrepreneurs
AltGen was founded as an alternative to competitive and poorly-paid career paths, instead encouraging young people to establish businesses built on collaboration and solidarity.
Young people are exploring how the co-operative model can create a more equal, democratic and sustainable economy
Its first network of young UK co-operative entrepreneurs has now been launched, some members of which were part of the Young Co-Operators Programme that AltGen ran in 2015 in partnership with Co-operatives UK. The network will educate and empower other young ‘co-operators’ through peer to peer learning and by sharing resources. The AltGen team has also spoken to more than 3,000 young people at career fairs and workshops across the country and in March, opened the doors of its new co-working space in Borough, central London.
Co-director Constance Laisné said: “In the past two and a half years AltGen has acquired a national and international reputation as a changemaker: we put youth on the agenda of the international co-operative movement. Young people are increasingly exploring and practicing how the co-operative model and principles can create a fairer and more equal, democratic and sustainable economy.”
