Co-op History
The Durham Bicycle Cooperative (“the Co-op”) was founded in 2007 as an all-volunteer community bike workshop located in downtown Durham, North Carolina. In 2015, the organization launched a major campaign to renovate and move to the current space at 1612 Acadia Street in Duke Park neighborhood.

We provide bicycle repair skill-sharing and an earn-a-bike program, as well as various community outreach programs including free helmet distribution for children and youth, and programs to provide bicycles to children in partnership with the City of Durham. The Co-op is a 501(c)3 nonprofit built on a collective model, where volunteer shop coordinators manage open-shop work sessions and skilled volunteer mechanics dedicate time to assist patrons with fixing up their bicycles. Patrons can either purchase or earn a Co-op membership through volunteering, and can purchase or earn a bicycle for low cost.

Board Structure & Responsibilities
The Co-op is based on a “working board” model where board members fill necessary roles to sustain the shop operations, cultivate a healthy financial standing, inform our membership base of organizational activities, and create a sense of community by hosting special events and membership meetings (currently virtual due to COVID-19) but planning on back in person meetings in the future.

Because of our “worker collective” roots, the Co-op operates on a consensus-based decision-making platform, hosting monthly meetings open to all members. At the monthly meetings, board members and core volunteers discuss a variety of topics, consense around common goals or decisions, and vote, as needed, to address organizational needs. There are also committee meetings held as needed to discuss items and move projects forward outside the monthly meetings.

The time commitment to attend the monthly meeting and committee meetings (if any) is approximately 2-4 hours per month. In addition to participating in monthly and committee meetings, it is expected that each board member will fill a role to contribute to the Co-op’s well-being.

Board Roles & Term
Board elections are held annually in December with Board terms of 2 years. The Co-op seeks to
fill the board roles listed below to keep the organization functioning at its best, and also strives
to represent the diversity of the Co-op’s general membership in the selection of board members.
We encourage people of all races, genders, gender expressions, ethnicities, cultural
backgrounds, religions, and abilities to apply and participate in the board.
Board roles include:

• Secretary
• Treasurer
• And may also include:
• Operations lead
• Events / public outreach lead
• Equity lead
• IT lead
• Development coordinator
• Communications coordinator
• Volunteer / “shop vibe” coordinator
• Donations coordinator

Skills that the Co-op seeks in board candidates could include:

• Accounting / bookkeeping
• Nonprofit or business management
• Fundraising, development, or grantwriting
• IT / software / web Development
• Communications / marketing / social media
• Neighborhood liaison
• Bike knowledge/ mechanical skills
• Teaching and training
• Volunteer coordination
• Event coordination
• Membership development
• Customer service
• Community and government partnership relations
• Legal expertise

Board Member Expectations:

1. Attend at least 75% of Co-op monthly meetings.
2. Make an annual financial contribution to the Co-op at the level that is reasonable for each individual.
3. Support the Co-op’s mission, purposes, goals, policies, and programs in an inclusive and collaborative manner.
4. Help recruit other nominees to the Board who can make a contribution to the progress of the organization.
5. Serve actively on committees of the Board.
6. Attend activities and events sponsored by the Co-op whenever possible.
7. Sign a conflict of interest policy and notify the board should a potential conflict of interest arise in the future.