Worker Run

Proudly worker run!

When you support North Country Food Alliance (NCFA), you’re supporting a worker-run organization. This means that the people doing the actual work on the ground are the ones making the decisions; we have no executive director or upper management. This is important, because too often in non-profits (especially large ones) there exists a severe disconnect between the people running the organization and the people that the organization aims to serve. This can contribute to a lack of understanding for the people seeking services, a disregard for their dignity as human beings, and programs that fall short in meeting their needs.

In addition, at large non-profits it is common for the executive director and upper managers to make huge, six-figure salaries. This further contributes to the alienation between the organization and its intended beneficiaries. It is also unethical for people at the top to collect enormous salaries while entry-level workers receive poverty wages, which is unfortunately all too common. At NCFA, everyone falls under the same pay structure; and though our workers receive a living wage, no one is given a management salary. This frees up more money to serve our community; our total annual payroll for all our employees is less than most salaries for a single executive director or upper manager at a large nonprofit. In some cases, our entire cash budget is less than the salary of a single executive officer!

At NCFA, each individual is empowered to bring their talents to the organization, and we work together as a team to get everything done. This model keeps workers accountable to each other, improves interpersonal relations and team morale, and brings greater transparency to the workplace. We encourage you to support worker democracies—at your workplace and ours!