Caroline Shenaz Hossein – The Conversation

Wesleyan University students wait as a delivery of shares of cheese in a cheese co-op are unloaded and shared in Middletown, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

December 14, 2025

Co‑operatives empower people — and students need to know about them

Michelle Stack, University of British Columbia and Caroline Shenaz Hossein, University of Toronto

Universities need to move away from competing over rankings, and instead focus on building a collaborative educational system that puts collective well-being first.

The University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall in Toronto, Ont. Universities must shift towards co-operative governance which fosters collaborative approaches to teaching, research and grappling with the crises we collectively face. (Shutterstock)

February 21, 2024

Universities should respond to cuts and corporate influence with co‑operative governance

Michelle Stack, University of British Columbia and Caroline Shenaz Hossein, University of Toronto

Universities should shift toward co-operative governance structures that foster collaborative approaches to teaching and research, which can help tackle the crises we collectively face.

The BlackNorth pledge seems to be more about image than action. Few Canadian corporations have Black people at the helm. (Shutterstock)

August 25, 2021

Canada’s corporations fail to meet the BlackNorth pledge, and we’re not surprised

Caroline Shenaz Hossein, University of Toronto and Megan Pearson, York University, Canada

A recent survey has found that only a few of the 205 firms who signed the BlackNorth Initiative have actually diversified. Fundamentally, their idea of reform is not about tackling systemic racism.

It’s time to acknowledge the varied forms of co-operativism, mutual aid, self-help groups and ROSCAs that are important to the vitality of civic life. (Shutterstock)

March 8, 2021

Banking co‑ops run by Black women have a longtime legacy of helping people

Caroline Shenaz Hossein, York University, Canada

Thousands of racialized women around the world run mutual aid co-ops to help each other and develop their communities.

Racial bias and exclusion hinders the potential of the social economy sector. Nastuh Abootalebi /Unsplash

October 21, 2019

Spotlight on economic and social innovation marred by racial bias and exclusion

Caroline Shenaz Hossein, York University, Canada

Although Black, Indigenous and people of colour have been shown to do more with less resources, government funding to bolster social and economic innovation doesn’t tend to reach these communities.

Small business owners provide a service by offering goods not found elsewhere and employing local community members. Here, a sari shop window in Toronto’s ‘India Bazaar.’ Ian Muttoo/https://www.flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/

August 12, 2018

Why immigrant Mom & Pop Shops are really social ventures

Caroline Shenaz Hossein, York University, Canada and Semhar Asres Berhe, York University, Canada

We may celebrate the contributions of newcomers of the past; however, we make the integration process difficult. Some immigrants turn to business to fill the gaps for themselves and their community.

Black people often have a hard time accessing loans for their businesses. Many Black Canadians are engaging in mutual aid groups or peer-to-peer banking institutions. (Shutterstock)

May 7, 2018

Banking while Black: The business of exclusion

Caroline Shenaz Hossein, York University, Canada

Black Canadians encounter systemic bias when banking and can have a hard time obtaining loans for their businesses. Mutual aid co-operatives can offer some true alternatives.

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