Internal Capital Accounts Primer with Christie Lam

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Want to understand how member equity actually works inside your cooperative? Internal Capital Accounts (ICAs) are the foundation of financial participation in most worker co-ops — but they’re often misunderstood, underutilized, or disconnected from the lived experience of members.

Join us for this practical and accessible deep dive into ICAs with Christie Lam, Senior Cooperative Business Consultant on ICA’s Cross Program Team. Christie supports worker buyouts of businesses, coaches existing co-ops, and provides strategic consulting across the employee ownership industry, particularly through facilitation and interactive workshops. In this session, she’ll walk through how Internal Capital Accounts function, how they can support member engagement and long-term wealth-building, and how to communicate their value to your team.

Whether you're a startup, in growth mode, or ready for a financial refresh, this session is for you.

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What We'll Cover:

• The purpose and structure of Internal Capital Accounts
  
  
• Patronage allocations and member equity over time
  
  
• Best practices for managing, tracking, and communicating ICAs
  
  
• Case examples and visual tools
  
  
• Live Q&A with Christie Lam
  
  

Who Should Attend:

• Worker-owners, especially treasurers and financial leads
  
  
• Coop developers and TA providers
  
  
• Anyone responsible for coop finances, governance, or onboarding
  
  

Interpretation:
Live interpretation from English to Spanish will be available.

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Cost:
Free for NYC-based worker coops and participants in ICA’s technical assistance programs.

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Register now and get set to build financial clarity that strengthens your collective ownership.

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About LevelUp Coops

LevelUp Coops returns for FY26 with a powerful new season of workshops for worker co-ops and employee-owned businesses. This year, we’re covering Internal Capital Accounts (Sept 24), Integrated Capital Tools (Dec 10), and the Ownership Model Canvas (Mar 11).

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Join us to strengthen your coop’s finances, governance, and business strategy — and build jobs worth owning.

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Free for NYC-based coops. Interactive. Actionable. Grounded in solidarity.

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#LevelUpCoops #WorkerOwnership #CoopFinance #CoopGovernance #EconomicDemocracy

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