Howard Brodsky Receives 2019 Rochdale Pioneers Award

Dalton, GA, October 17, 2019-Howard Brodsky, co-founder, chairman and co-CEO of CCA Global Partners, has been named the 2019 recipient of the international Rochdale Pioneers Award. 

Recognized as the "Nobel Prize of Cooperative Business,” the Rochdale Award is given out every two years to an individual who has made the greatest impact across the world through the innovations of shared ownership, specifically through the cooperative business model that anchors value with members, employees, customers, and their communities. 

This honor is presented by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), a consultative organization of the United Nations. In its history, the ICA has recognized only 16 individuals with Rochdale Awards for their commitment to cooperatives around the world.  

Brodsky received the award on October 16 in Kigali, Rwanda during the biennial ICA Global Cooperative Conference. The conference was expected to have delegations from 106 countries in attendance.

This recognition highlights Brodsky’s career of innovation by re-envisioning conventional business through shared ownership. Dedicated to what he calls the contemporary cooperative business model, Brodsky has transformed family businesses in the United States in an array of industries by structuring the companies as cooperatives-where putting people first, not profit, and leading with values is the task of every day.

Brodsky co-founded CCA Global Partners in 1984, bringing scale to entrepreneurial family businesses by creating an international enterprise of 15 unique cooperative businesses in multiple sectors of the economy from home furnishings, business services, sports retail stores, to childcare, nonprofits and more. Together, they serve one million small businesses in four countries and 20,000 childcare centers across America.

Beyond his innovations domestically, Brodsky has emerged as a leader in the global cooperative movement, founding Cooperatives for a Better World (CFBW), a not-for-profit dedicated to sharing the benefits of shared ownership and the cooperative business model.  CFBW has partnered with cooperatives in 14 countries, reaching over a quarter of the world population.