This article was originally written in collaboration with Jo Meunier and was featured in Allwork.Space
Feature image The Farm Coworking, Style Me Pretty Event. Grabbed from The Farm Coworking Facebook Page.
The flexible workspace industry is no stranger to charity work, which is clearly evident in the ongoing expansion of the All Good Work foundation. Its most recent Hosts include Cohere Coworking in Fort Collins, Colorado, and The Farm Coworking in SoHo, New York City, which are now both ready to welcome their first nonprofit Residents.
Launched earlier this year, All Good Work is a charitable platform that matches verified social causes with flexible workspace across the world. One of its founders, Tony Bacigalupo, has been actively spreading the word to recruit new workspace ‘Hosts’ and encourage social enterprises to apply for space.
“I had the opportunity to meet Tony during GCUC Canada, where he explained the benefits of joining All Good Work,” said Lucas Seyhun of The Farm Coworking. Since opening in 2013, their membership has become exclusive to digital healthcare technology companies, and Lucas is keen to offer some of their space to social enterprises.
In fact, as a regular participant in non-profit work, he needed little persuasion.
“We are known to donate our venue to a number of technology-based nonprofit organizations. These events power up our community and also help align The Farm with reputable charities.”
This, says Lucas, is beneficial to all parties. It allows them to welcome motivated social entrepreneurs and helps The Farm “to paint a great picture on the marketplace” as a thought leader and charitable entity.
“The companies who join us will also organically benefit from our great services and community,” he added.
For Angel Kwiatkowski at Cohere Coworking in Fort Collins, who also learned of All Good Work at GCUC Canada in Montréal, giving back has become their raison d’être.
“Many of us have worked the late night shift at the Food Bank, sorting cans, and we had a successful fundraiser for the Red Cross after our region was devastated by a flood a few years ago,” Angel explained.
“As Cohere matures and maintains a stable membership base, it’s important for us to give back to a non-profit who may not be able to afford a full price membership.”
Now more than six years into the coworking business, Cohere is always “bordering on full” and has developed an established membership of remote workers, freelancers and non-profits. The space “feels more like home than work”, which lends itself to a community-rich environment that’s friendly and nurturing – the ideal environment to support a social enterprise.
Both The Farm in NYC and Cohere in Fort Collins are now ready to welcome their first local non-profit enterprise through the All Good Work foundation.
Know a social or charitable organization that could use a great workplace to develop their cause? Direct them to AllGoodWork.org where they can apply for residency with an approved Host like Cohere or The Farm.
