OUR TEAM
PATRICK CONLON
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Patrick got his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Cal State Fullerton. Patrick has owned business over the last decade but noticed the traditional business structures limited the options of his employees if they made valuable contributions. He got interested in Worker Cooperatives by listening to Dr. Richard Wolff in 2013 which inspired him to bring him to Orange County, Ca to a speaking engagement. During the pandemic he creating the concept of Shop.coop to help support the effort help worker cooperatives grow but also use the surplus to help knew cooperatives succeed.
DR. LISABETH RYDER
ORGANIZER
Dr. Lisabeth Ryder has been a mechanic and small business owner, a university teacher and anthropologist, plus a database analyst and computer programmer. She has also been a life-long social justice, environmental and human rights activist, and has been involved in both community and political organizing. She has worked for organized labor over two decades, having worked for both SEIU and AFSCME. She has been involved in cooperatives since the early 1970’s. She is a co-founder and co-owner of LUCI LLC, a developer and incubator of worker cooperatives in Southern California and co-chairs the Union Co-op Council for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.
JUSTIN ANTHONY KNAPP
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR
Justin Anthony Knapp is a knowledge worker with experience in the civic, private, and public sectors. He has Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science, is skilled in web design, and knows conversational Spanish. His employment background is in food service, education, and renewable energy and he has held management positions in a locally-owned restaurant and a start-up manufacturing company. He has managed over $10 million in grants for early-stage companies.