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The 2019 National Cohousing Conference in Portland, Oregon was a huge success. For information about future conferences visit the CohoUS website and subscribe to the newsletter. You can view and download a souvenir PDF with photos and more info about the conference.
Thursday, May 30
 

8:00am PDT

Registration and Breakfast on your own
Thursday May 30, 2019 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

8:15am PDT

ALL DAY - Tour - West Portland, lunch included - SOLD OUT!
Jude Foster, longtime Portland Cohouser and Neil Planchon will lead a day-long tour out to West Portland to visit Green Grove, Trillium Hollow, Cascadia Commons - where we will also have lunch prepared and hosted by residents - followed by a tour of Daybreak back in town.

Green Grove Cohousing Community, an intergenerational community still seeking new members, is currently building on five-acre semi-rural setting close-in to a historic college town in the wine country of NW Oregon with Mt. Hood view and abundant wildlife, 26 miles from Portland. Large, lovely historic common house newly refurbished with geothermal heating and cooling, plus energy efficient features. Established trees, landscaping, community art studio, orchard, garden, wood shop, and outbuildings with easy access to wooded trails, and lots of open space for additional outdoor amenities. The first three free-standing homes between 900 sq. ft and 1400 sq. ft. are completed, and three more are scheduled to begin construction in July 2019, and available for pre-sale. Three additional buildable tracts are also available. http://greengrovecoho.org
Trillium Hollow is one of Portland’s most long standing cohousing community established in 1998. At Trillium we value participation and community spirit. We recycle, we compost, we care for our humble 3 ¾ acre wooded property and we care about each other. We work hard at being a community. It takes an emotional hardiness to thrive here and we love it.  Our main building holds 28 condominium units ranging in size from studios to four bedroom town houses. There is also a separate 29th Unit. We have a hot tub with adjoining shower and bathroom. Our spacious 5000 sq. ft. Common House serves as a place for community meetings and bi-weekly meals. It holds three guest rooms, two children’s play rooms and a modest library. We have a community garden and underground parking in the main building which is also equipped with an elevator. https://trilliumhollow.weebly.com/
Cascadia Commons was established in 2000, Cascadia Commons includes a dedicated wetlands and songbird habitat, optional shared meals in the beautiful dining hall, a furnished workshop for creative projects, comfortable guest quarters, expansive patios equipped with BBQ and hot tub, child centered play spaces (both indoors and out), a gathering room for games and movie viewing, a spacious aerie for yoga or meditation, cozy library with fireplace for relaxation, and shared gardens with veggies and flowers.  We have 26 households, a 3,400 sq. ft common house and 1 acre wetlands and bird sanctuary, play areas, parking, community garden, a woodshop, and more. http://cascadiacommons.com

Daybreak Cohousing is a 10 year old, dense, urban village in North Portland with a physical design that encourages social interaction. Our 30 homes have most of the features of conventional homes plus we also enjoy extensive common facilities.  We also enjoy a reasonable amount of open space for our urban setting. A huge, 50-year-old maple is at the center of our property. We have open green areas, gardens, a roof terrace, small gathering areas, play areas, a large outdoor terrace off the 7,000 sf ft common house. http://www.daybreakcohousing.org/index.html

Speakers
avatar for Neil Planchon

Neil Planchon

Cohousing: Tour Leader / Research Network, Life Coach / Nonprofit Tech Consultant
Neil is a co-developer and founder of Swan's Market Cohousing (est. 2000). He currently co-parents the CaliCoho Summit team which gathers residents of California Cohousing residents every couple months. He is a former Cohousing Association Board and Staff member who was responsible for running and growing the National Cohousing Bus tours program... Read More →
avatar for Jude Foster

Jude Foster

Montessori owner/guide, Trillium Hollow
Jude has lived in Trillium Hollow, in Portland Oregon, for twelve years. Earlier in her life, she spent most of her 20’s and 30’s immersed in two different, earth-based and spiritual communes, one small, one large. She is a parent of three, grandparent of two, and a long-time Montessori guide.  In her community, her... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 8:15am - 4:30pm PDT
Tour Bus Stop

9:00am PDT

Creating Your Cohousing Site Design
This intensive gives you a hands-on experience of the participatory design process typically used to create cohousing. After a presentation on cohousing site design, participants work together to create site plans, using to-scale blocks on urban and rural sites. You can bring a base plan of your site to use.

Speakers
avatar for Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus Architect
Mary Kraus, AIA, LEED BD+C is a cohousing architect and facilitator who has worked with over two dozen communities in the US and Canada over the past thirty years. She was a founding board member of the Cohousing Network (now Coho US). She lives at Pioneer Valley Cohousing, the first... Read More →


Thursday May 30, 2019 9:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Studio

9:00am PDT

How to Become a Cohousing Architect
As evidenced by the birth of the cohousing movement in the US, Architects are often the visionary leaders who inspire groups to action. However, there are too few architects to grow the cohousing movement. In this workshop, current cohousing architects will help the next generation of architects prepare to successfully engage with their future clients. This session is intended for architects only.

Speakers
avatar for Bryan Bowen

Bryan Bowen

Caddis PC
Bryan Bowen is an architect dedicated to the design of buildings and neighborhoods that explore how we may live more lightly upon our earth in beautiful and healthy environments. Bryan's niche is cohousing, though his work includes single-family homes, affordable housing, mixed-use... Read More →
avatar for Grace Kim

Grace Kim

Principal Architect - Conference CoChair, Schemata Workshop
Grace Kim is co-chair of this year's Cohousing Conference and a founding principal of Schemata Workshop and began her architectural career in Chicago before returning home to Seattle. Grace is a consensus builder, helping her clients and project stakeholders envision how a completed... Read More →


Thursday May 30, 2019 9:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria II

9:00am PDT

Marvelous Meetings by Design
Join us for this interactive workshop on key design skills, such as: choosing topics, lively ways to explore issues, effective delegation, and more. If your meetings have 20+ people sitting in full group discussion for 2 hours, you are missing out. Learn new options in this fun, participatory session.

Speakers
avatar for Tree Bressen

Tree Bressen

Tree Bressen has been blessed with a calling to help groups function well.  For the past two decades she has served a wide variety of organizations, including many cohousing communities at all stages of development.  She is also the founder of the nonprofit collective that produced... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 9:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Council

9:00am PDT

Power Dynamics
Learn a new framework for transforming conflict in your Community

Speakers
avatar for Bill Aal

Bill Aal

Tools for Change
Bill is deeply involved in social and environmental justice work with a focus on agricultural sustainability and social healing. As part of Tools for Change, he is known for his activism and training in the service of racial and gender justice. Versed in opening the heart and imagination... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 9:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Executive

9:00am PDT

ALL DAY - Facilitation 301 - The Hard Stuff
This workshop will focus on facilitating those meeting moments when good technique and an understanding of group dynamics can make the largest difference in the outcome. We will highlight where the heavy lifting is done, how to handle those moments well, and why certain approaches work better than others. Note: This is a beyond-the-basics facilitation skills intensive that assumes general knowledge of the role of facilitator.

Speakers
avatar for We Can Work it Out

We Can Work it Out

Facilitators, Sarah Ross & Mary King
Mary & Sarah first met when they moved into Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI in 2003. Since then they have been learning from, and building on, each others' strengths as both community members and as professional collaborators.Mary & Sarah developed a passion for sharing the skills... Read More →
avatar for Laird Schaub

Laird Schaub

Canbridge
Laird has lived 41 years in intentional community, mostly at Sandhill Farm, an income-sharing community he helped found in 1974. He launched a career as a group process consultant in 1987, and has worked with more than 150 intentional communities (including 70 cohousing groups), both... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Directors

9:00am PDT

ALL DAY - Senior Cohousing Part 1
Learn about what senior cohousing is, why it is important, and how you can start one in your community.

Speakers
avatar for Charles Durrett

Charles Durrett

Architect, Author, McCamant & Durrett Architects
Architect and author Charles Durrett brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. He pioneered the cohousing movement in North America, and teaches architects and community leaders how to start successful cohousing communities around the globe. Durrett authored The Senior... Read More →


Thursday May 30, 2019 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria III

9:00am PDT

ALL DAY - Sociocracy/Dynamic Governance for Cohousing
Do you want to live in community that is both effective and egalitarian? Try sociocracy - a governance approach used successfully world-wide.Come learn consent decision-making processes, organizational designs and feedback methods for resilient and regenerative communities. Participants will leave with a big vision and practical tools to use right away.

Speakers
avatar for Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Co-Founder, Sociocracy For All
Jerry Koch-Gonzalez co-founded Sociocracy For All, an international movement-service organization that provides resources, training, and networking focused on non-oppressive egalitarian decision-making and governance. He co-authored the sociocracy handbook Many Voices One Song: Shared... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Forum

10:30am PDT

Networking and Coffee Break
Thursday May 30, 2019 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

12:30pm PDT

Lunch on your own
Thursday May 30, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
Off Site

1:30pm PDT

Conflict Resolution
With people comes conflict. We will wrestle with when you can help, what are personal vs. community issues, what to do to help, what is privacy vs. secrets, and when to call in outside professionals. Introductory family systems theory, sharing our experiences, small group work on real cohousing scenarios.

Speakers
avatar for Elizabeth (Liz) Magill

Elizabeth (Liz) Magill

Mosaic Commons Cohousing
Liz joined Mosaic Commons Cohousing in 2002 and moved in 2009. She's been on the Community Support team since early on. Her day job is as a pastor, writer, and workshop leader, helping people address the hard things in life.  Facebook... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Executive

1:30pm PDT

Designing the Common House
The Common House is the heart of every cohousing community - and it should be designed to foster and support communitas (or the spirit of community). Architect Grace Kim is internationally known for her research and design of cohousing common houses and will share the key strategies for designing yours.

Speakers
avatar for Grace Kim

Grace Kim

Principal Architect - Conference CoChair, Schemata Workshop
Grace Kim is co-chair of this year's Cohousing Conference and a founding principal of Schemata Workshop and began her architectural career in Chicago before returning home to Seattle. Grace is a consensus builder, helping her clients and project stakeholders envision how a completed... Read More →


Thursday May 30, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria II

1:30pm PDT

How Communities Can Address Racism, White Privilege, and Social Justice
We'll examine the impact of racism and white privilege on our culture, our lives, our communities, and our bodies, and Joe will offer a framework for understanding racism and the special responsibilities that white people have for addressing racism and working for racial justice.

Speakers
avatar for Joe Cole

Joe Cole

As a Facilitator and Consultant, Joe Cole supports communities and non-profit organizations in developing cooperative skills, collaborative governance, and conflict transformation.  Joe has a PhD in Philosophy, and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Peace and Conflict... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Council

1:30pm PDT

Three Aspects of a Healthy, Thriving Community
What Diana has found in her 25 years researching and teaching internationally about cohousing and other kinds of intentional communities re how communities can achieve their goals effectively, which (most of the time) results in happy, fulfilled community members. A lively, visual presentation with frequent participant interaction and small group discussions.  Topics will include
     (1) What Diana calls the "Three Aspects of a Healthy, Thriving Community," including the basic foundation of all three (and the secret small aspect many groups don’t know about). 
     (2)  "The Visionary Idealist - Practical Experience Scale Over Time." 
     (3) An approach to renters in cohousing with an agreement: "Rights & Responsibilities of Renters and Owners."  
      Diana will also touch briefly on relatively unknown but effective methods for helping one’s community, including member surveys, petitions, and . . . one way to work effectively with exceptionally challenging community members. 
      Diana is author of the book Creating a Life Together and has been a workshop presenter at Coho/US conferences since 2003.

Speakers
avatar for Diana Leafe Christian

Diana Leafe Christian

Diana Leafe Christian, Workshops & Consultants
Diana Leafe Christian is author of Creating a Life Together, about forming successful cohousing communities and other kinds of intentional communities, and Finding Community. She speaks at cohousing and ecovillage conferences, offers consultations, and leads workshops internationally... Read More →



Thursday May 30, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Studio

3:00pm PDT

Networking and Beverage Break
Thursday May 30, 2019 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

5:00pm PDT

Dinner Dine Arounds
Dine Arounds are a chance to go out to dinner with 5-10 folks from the conference at nearby restaurants. We will select places and make a reservation and people can sign up at the registration desk when they arrive. You must get yourself to the restaurant and pay for your own meal.

Who: conference attendees (and their travel companions)
What: we will make dinner reservations for tables of 8-12
Where: at a local restaurant (some walkable, other easily via Uber/Lyft)
When: Thurs dayMay 30 seatings available at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm
Why: this is a great way to get to know other conference attendees and enjoy a bit of Portland

There will be choices of various types of cuisine and levels of pricing (cost is your responsibility)
Sign ups will be found at the Information table by Registration in the Grand Ballroom Foyer.

Thursday May 30, 2019 5:00pm - 10:00pm PDT
Off Site
 
Friday, May 31
 

8:00am PDT

Registration and Breakfast on your own
Friday May 31, 2019 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

8:00am PDT

HALF DAY - Tour - Affordable Strategies - SOLD OUT!
Eli Spevak, a local affordable Cohousing developer and resident, will lead a half-day to Peninsula Park Commons – a 10-unit condo project which includes significant sustainability features; Cully Grove – a 16 townhouse and detached home new construction project opened in 2013 with a substantial urban garden -  and Mason Street Townhomes – a newly constructed 14-home community incorporating common space, green building features and affordability. Eli will discuss the various strategies he uses to achieve affordability and environmental sustainability.

Peninsula Park Commons is a nine-unit combination of rehabilitation of an existing apartment building and new construction. apartment building located in the heart of the Piedmont Neighborhood. In the summer of 2004 the property was converted to condominiums, and units were sold to individuals, couples, and families. https://penparkcommons.wordpress.com

Cully Grove opened in 2013 is multi-generational solar powered garden community in NE Portland. On nearly 2 acres at NE 48th and Going St. 16 homes and a shared common house surrounds a large garden. This “farm in the city” provide fun and bountiful gardening for urban homesteaders of all ages. https://cullygrove.org

Mason Street is a newly constructed, 14-home, eco-friendly, condominium community designed in partnership with Communitecture which includes a common building, central courtyard, a guesthouse and secure indoor & outdoor areas. Design of the site and its common amenities is intended to facilitate community building and interaction among residents. http://www.masonstpdx.com


Speakers
avatar for Eli Spevak

Eli Spevak

Architect, Orange Splot Development
Eli Spevak has been developing affordable housing communities in Oregon for 25 years, starting as a volunteer construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity. In 2006, he launched Orange Splot, LLC to build new models of community-oriented, affordable, green housing development... Read More →

Tour Leaders
avatar for Neil Planchon

Neil Planchon

Cohousing: Tour Leader / Research Network, Life Coach / Nonprofit Tech Consultant
Neil is a co-developer and founder of Swan's Market Cohousing (est. 2000). He currently co-parents the CaliCoho Summit team which gathers residents of California Cohousing residents every couple months. He is a former Cohousing Association Board and Staff member who was responsible for running and growing the National Cohousing Bus tours program... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 8:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Tour Bus Stop

8:00am PDT

HALF DAY - Tour - East Portland - In Town
Neil Planchon and Lew Bowers, both experienced Cohousers, will lead a tour focusing on urban gardening, sustainability and Senior Cohousing visiting Columbia Ecovillage, Ankeny Row and PDX Commons

Columbia Ecovillage is an urban cohousing community in the Cully neighborhood of northeast Portland, cultivating supportive relationships with each other, our community, and the Earth. Our 37 homes are condominiums, renovated in 2008 from a 1970s apartment complex for energy efficiency and healthy air quality. The 3.73 acre site provides ample space for large gardens, nut and fruit trees and grapes and berry patches. Growing food on their land is a major community value. https://columbiaecovillage.org

Ankeny Row is a senior, net-zero pocket community recently constructed on a small urban infill site. It includes six craftsman-style townhomes, a shared common building and a garden and courtyard. All of the buildings were designed as Passive Houses, utilizing a combination of super-insulated and airtight construction, heat-recovery ventilation and passive solar heating. As a result, the buildings’ heating loads have been reduced by 90% compared to typical new homes. The buildings will produce all of their own energy from rooftop solar arrays, allowing them to achieve net-zero energy performance.  https://ankenyrow.wordpress.com

PDX Commons is a newly constructed, 27-unit, senior project is located on a ½ acre urban infill site in Southeast Portland. The values include cohousing, walkable urbanism and aging in community. Our concrete and steel building is four stories with “stacked flats” and over 5000 SF of common space. We enjoy a container garden on a large second floor patio and a Sky Deck with a “farm on the roof.”The Community eats together several times a week and enjoys numerous other community activities. Our site also includes a 1,000 SF retail space facing the street. https://www.pdxcommons.com



Tour Leaders
avatar for Lew Bowers

Lew Bowers

Certified Cohousing Consultant, PDX Commons
Lew Bowers is a founding member of PDX Commons. He is also a Certified Cohousing Consultant through Katie McCamant’s 500 Communities Program. Currently he is assisting Adams Creek Cohousing get started in Hood River and Our Home get started in North Portland. In an earlier life... Read More →
avatar for Neil Planchon

Neil Planchon

Cohousing: Tour Leader / Research Network, Life Coach / Nonprofit Tech Consultant
Neil is a co-developer and founder of Swan's Market Cohousing (est. 2000). He currently co-parents the CaliCoho Summit team which gathers residents of California Cohousing residents every couple months. He is a former Cohousing Association Board and Staff member who was responsible for running and growing the National Cohousing Bus tours program... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 8:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Tour Bus Stop

9:00am PDT

Class Issues Arise: Let's Deal with Them
In this workshop we will surface the class issues that arise in the course of forming a co-housing community and explore some ways of consciously working with them in a way that builds rather than divides community.

Speakers
avatar for Jennifer Ladd

Jennifer Ladd

Jennifer Ladd Consulting/Class Action
Jennifer Ladd lives at Rocky Hill Cohousing and is co-founder of and senior trainer for Class Action, an organization that inspires action to end classism and extreme inequality by providing change-makers with tools, training and inspiration to raise awareness and shift cultural beliefs... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 9:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Executive

9:00am PDT

Conflict: Fight, Flight, or Opportunity
Why do we conduct meetings as if working rationally is the only option? As humans we are emotional beings, too, and we miss out on both information and energy when we disallow feelings as welcome input. While most of us haven’t been raised to work constructively with strong emotions, it can be done!

Speakers
avatar for Laird Schaub

Laird Schaub

Canbridge
Laird has lived 41 years in intentional community, mostly at Sandhill Farm, an income-sharing community he helped found in 1974. He launched a career as a group process consultant in 1987, and has worked with more than 150 intentional communities (including 70 cohousing groups), both... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 9:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Council

9:00am PDT

Let's Launch
Whether you are just beginning to form your group, need to re-energize your efforts, or you just need those last few members, this intensive will give you tried and true marketing and sales tools to ensure your community's launch. Topics covered will include a broad range of best practices including how to create a strategic marketing plan and how to turn interested people into committed members.

Speakers
avatar for Shelly Parks

Shelly Parks

CoVision Consulting
Shelly Parks spent a career leading professional sales and marketing teams in retirement living start-ups. In 2017, she founded CoVision Consulting to share her skills and knowledge with forming and developing cohousing groups.  As Shelly partners with groups, her goal is to always... Read More →


Friday May 31, 2019 9:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Studio

9:00am PDT

ALL DAY - 3 Simple Tools and 1 Community Process
Sometimes simple practices can lead to big shifts in community relationships. Based in the theory of Imago Relationships, these tools can be used in meetings, between two people, or in conflict resolution for big impact. These tools are simple enough to learn in a day and share with your community, but I didn't say "easy".  We'll start practicing in session and give you all the support you need to master them over time.  
After practicing the basic skills in the morning, we’ll use the afternoon to apply them in a group process that guides communities to the heart of difficult topics and creates a sense of connection at the same time. At the end of the day you will be equipped with a powerful tool for increasing connection and reducing conflict in moments of change or important decisions. 

Speakers
avatar for Karen Gimnig

Karen Gimnig

CohoUS Staff, Cohousing Facilitator
Karen Gimnig supports communities in building richer relationships as the foundation for effective process and collaborative living.  Connected communities need safe spaces, strong relationship skills and authentic communication. Karen guides communities to: Engage conflict productively... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Forum

9:00am PDT

ALL DAY - Moving Through Hard Times
Every group faces plenty of conflicts and other challenges. Sustaining community for the long haul calls for skills in maintaining resilience and connection through tough times. This session will offer a variety of tools for getting unstuck, building mutual respect, moving from complaint to collaboration, and conflict resolution.

Speakers
avatar for Tree Bressen

Tree Bressen

Tree Bressen has been blessed with a calling to help groups function well.  For the past two decades she has served a wide variety of organizations, including many cohousing communities at all stages of development.  She is also the founder of the nonprofit collective that produced... Read More →
avatar for Tasha Harmon

Tasha Harmon

New Perspectives Coaching, Training and Facilitation
Tasha Harmon has spent over 30 years facilitating change. She works as a coach with individuals, relationships, and teams of all sizes, helping them identify and shift out of old and unproductive patterns, and into more creative and nurturing choices.  She is also a facilitator of... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Directors

9:00am PDT

ALL DAY - Senior Cohousing 101 Part 2
Learn about what senior cohousing is, why it is important, and how you can start one in your community.

Speakers
avatar for Charles Durrett

Charles Durrett

Architect, Author, McCamant & Durrett Architects
Architect and author Charles Durrett brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. He pioneered the cohousing movement in North America, and teaches architects and community leaders how to start successful cohousing communities around the globe. Durrett authored The Senior... Read More →


Friday May 31, 2019 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria III

9:00am PDT

ALL DAY - The Cohousing Development Process - Lessons from 30 years in the trenches
This workshop will introduce participants to roles and responsibilities of various players during the development process: Who does what and when do we need them. How long will it take (walking thru a typical development timeline). Do we need a developer? How to get the highest value out of your consultants. What is the groups most valuable work during each phase. How do we raise the money?

Speakers
avatar for Jim Leach

Jim Leach

CohoUS Board VP, Wonderland Hill Development Company
Jim Leach is president of Wonderland Hill Development Company and has lead the company in developing over 20 cohousing communities in the Colorado, California, Arizona, and Washington. He is a builder with over 50 years of experience in the design, construction and development of... Read More →
avatar for Katie McCamant

Katie McCamant

Architect, Author, CoHousing Solutions
Katie McCamant brings the depth and diversity of her 30+ years of experience as an architect, developer, and cohousing resident to her clients. She is coauthor of Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, the authoritative book which introduced cohousing to the English... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 9:00am - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria I

10:30am PDT

Networking and Coffee Break
Friday May 31, 2019 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

11:00am PDT

Q&A - Parenting in Cohousing
What is it like to raise children in community? Is there free babysitting? Will everyone interfere in my parenting? How much support can I ask for and what is expected of me? On this panel we will discuss the joys and opportunities of parenting in Cohousing as well as the reality of the ways it can really challenge parents at times.

with Joelle Cowan - Winslow Cohousing

Speakers
avatar for Adesina Cameron

Adesina Cameron

Mortgage Loan Advisor, Fairway Independent Mortgage
Before coming to the Mortgage industry, Adesina spent most of her career working in natural food grocery, sustainability, social justice and healthy eating education. After buying her own home she was so impressed with the impact her mortgage broker made on her life that she decided... Read More →


Friday May 31, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria II

12:30pm PDT

Lunch on your own
Friday May 31, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
Off Site

1:15pm PDT

HALF DAY - Tour - Affordable Strategies
Eli Spevak, a local affordable Cohousing developer and resident, will lead a half-day to Peninsula Park Commons – a 10-unit condo project which includes significant sustainability features; Cully Grove – a 16 townhouse and detached home new construction project opened in 2013 with a substantial urban garden -  and Mason Street Townhomes – a newly constructed 14-home community incorporating common space, green building features and affordability. Eli will discuss the various strategies he uses to achieve affordability and environmental sustainability.

Peninsula Park Commons is a nine-unit combination of rehabilitation of an existing apartment building and new construction. apartment building located in the heart of the Piedmont Neighborhood. In the summer of 2004 the property was converted to condominiums, and units were sold to individuals, couples, and families. https://penparkcommons.wordpress.com

Cully Grove opened in 2013 is multi-generational solar powered garden community in NE Portland. On nearly 2 acres at NE 48th and Going St. 16 homes and a shared common house surrounds a large garden. This “farm in the city” provide fun and bountiful gardening for urban homesteaders of all ages. https://cullygrove.org

Mason Street is a newly constructed, 14-home, eco-friendly, condominium community designed in partnership with Communitecture which includes a common building, central courtyard, a guesthouse and secure indoor & outdoor areas. Design of the site and its common amenities is intended to facilitate community building and interaction among residents. http://www.masonstpdx.com 

Tour Leaders
avatar for Eli Spevak

Eli Spevak

Architect, Orange Splot Development
Eli Spevak has been developing affordable housing communities in Oregon for 25 years, starting as a volunteer construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity. In 2006, he launched Orange Splot, LLC to build new models of community-oriented, affordable, green housing development... Read More →
avatar for Neil Planchon

Neil Planchon

Cohousing: Tour Leader / Research Network, Life Coach / Nonprofit Tech Consultant
Neil is a co-developer and founder of Swan's Market Cohousing (est. 2000). He currently co-parents the CaliCoho Summit team which gathers residents of California Cohousing residents every couple months. He is a former Cohousing Association Board and Staff member who was responsible for running and growing the National Cohousing Bus tours program... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 1:15pm - 5:15pm PDT
Tour Bus Stop

1:15pm PDT

HALF DAY - Tour - East Portland - In Town - SOLD OUT!
Neil Planchon and Lew Bowers, both experienced Cohousers, will lead a tour focusing on urban gardening, sustainability and Senior Cohousing visiting Columbia Ecovillage, Ankeny Row and PDX Commons

Columbia Ecovillage is an urban cohousing community in the Cully neighborhood of northeast Portland, cultivating supportive relationships with each other, our community, and the Earth. Our 37 homes are condominiums, renovated in 2008 from a 1970s apartment complex for energy efficiency and healthy air quality. The 3.73 acre site provides ample space for large gardens, nut and fruit trees and grapes and berry patches. Growing food on their land is a major community value. https://columbiaecovillage.org

Ankeny Row is a senior, net-zero pocket community recently constructed on a small urban infill site. It includes six craftsman-style townhomes, a shared common building and a garden and courtyard. All of the buildings were designed as Passive Houses, utilizing a combination of super-insulated and airtight construction, heat-recovery ventilation and passive solar heating. As a result, the buildings’ heating loads have been reduced by 90% compared to typical new homes. The buildings will produce all of their own energy from rooftop solar arrays, allowing them to achieve net-zero energy performance.  https://ankenyrow.wordpress.com

PDX Commons is a newly constructed, 27-unit, senior project is located on a ½ acre urban infill site in Southeast Portland. The values include cohousing, walkable urbanism and aging in community. Our concrete and steel building is four stories with “stacked flats” and over 5000 SF of common space. We enjoy a container garden on a large second floor patio and a Sky Deck with a “farm on the roof.”The Community eats together several times a week and enjoys numerous other community activities. Our site also includes a 1,000 SF retail space facing the street. https://www.pdxcommons.com


Speakers
avatar for Neil Planchon

Neil Planchon

Cohousing: Tour Leader / Research Network, Life Coach / Nonprofit Tech Consultant
Neil is a co-developer and founder of Swan's Market Cohousing (est. 2000). He currently co-parents the CaliCoho Summit team which gathers residents of California Cohousing residents every couple months. He is a former Cohousing Association Board and Staff member who was responsible for running and growing the National Cohousing Bus tours program... Read More →
avatar for Lew Bowers

Lew Bowers

Certified Cohousing Consultant, PDX Commons
Lew Bowers is a founding member of PDX Commons. He is also a Certified Cohousing Consultant through Katie McCamant’s 500 Communities Program. Currently he is assisting Adams Creek Cohousing get started in Hood River and Our Home get started in North Portland. In an earlier life... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 1:15pm - 5:55pm PDT
Tour Bus Stop

1:30pm PDT

Cohousing 101
If you are new to cohousing, this session is for you and can help you have a more successful conference experience.

Cohousing architects Grace Kim (Schemata Workshop) and Laura Fitch (Fitch Architecture + Planning) will review the characteristics of cohousing, commonly used vocabulary (aka jargon), governance structures, cohousing resources, benefits of cohousing, examples of built communities, how to navigate the conference, and who’s who in the cohousing world.

The same session will be offered on both Friday and Saturday to make sure all who are interested can attend.

Speakers
avatar for Laura Fitch

Laura Fitch

Principal Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community Design
Laura Fitch is a founding principal of Fitch Architecture & Community Design in Amherst, Massachusetts and a 24-year resident of Pioneer Valley Cohousing.  Fitch specializes in energy-efficient building design for homes, commercial properties, and smart growth communities.   She... Read More →
avatar for Grace Kim

Grace Kim

Principal Architect - Conference CoChair, Schemata Workshop
Grace Kim is co-chair of this year's Cohousing Conference and a founding principal of Schemata Workshop and began her architectural career in Chicago before returning home to Seattle. Grace is a consensus builder, helping her clients and project stakeholders envision how a completed... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Galleria II

1:30pm PDT

Creating A Comprehensive And Engaging New Member Orientation
Effectively welcoming and integrating new members is a critical function of thriving communities. Yet, too often it’s done in a haphazard or incomplete manner, resulting in confusion and frustration for new and old members alike. We will address length, format and content issues and support you in creating a draft New Member Orientation that’s just right for your community. Join us for what we hope will be a lively presentation and discussion.

Speakers
avatar for We Can Work it Out

We Can Work it Out

Facilitators, Sarah Ross & Mary King
Mary & Sarah first met when they moved into Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI in 2003. Since then they have been learning from, and building on, each others' strengths as both community members and as professional collaborators.Mary & Sarah developed a passion for sharing the skills... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Studio

1:30pm PDT

Guerilla Consensus
The core of consensus is the belief that everyone has a piece of the truth. Nice theory, right? But putting that into practice and creating a culture that supports consensus going well is not a simple thing. This workshop focuses on the attitudes and cultural frameworks that make consensus—or any participatory decision-making—a positive experience instead of a gauntlet.

Speakers
avatar for Yana Ludwig

Yana Ludwig

Yana Ludwig Training and Consulting
Yana Ludwig is a cooperative culture pioneer, intentional communities advocate and anti-oppression activist. She serves on the board of the Fellowship for Intentional Community and works as a local chapter coach for Showing Up for Racial Justice. Her latest book, Together Resilient... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Council

1:30pm PDT

Managing Big Construction Remediation Projects
OMG!   The Sky is FALLING!?!?!?!?  (OR the roof, or the siding, or the door sills,...)

Construction defects and materials malfunctions can cause tremendous and widespread damage to our buildings. What can you do when they show up during the first year of occupancy?  What about the first 10 years?  What can you do after the builder liability reaches the Statute of Limitations?  What can you do when you are building to help avoid them later?  
How do you manage the remediation project? What professional resources do you need?  How can you help your community hang together during the monumental stress of such a project?  These questions are crucial to structuring and managing for a large, disruptive (re)construction project. 
How can you avoid or minimize the risk associated with these projects? The roles of repair, maintenance and reserves.

Why attend this intensive:    Come to this program to hear lessons learned from The Big Projects in several communities and share your own experiences as well.
  • The technical side:  resources to know about for new, forming groups, for settling in and sustaining communities;  tips for avoiding problems in new communities and down the road.
  • The community side:  How to help your community manage the disruption and stress; tips about structuring the project to support decision-making and transparency; Tools and approaches for strengthening community cohesion in the face of huge challenges.
  • What happens once the project is over--taking maintenance and reserves seriously. 
Those designing new structures and those living in communities with aging structures will hear stories about communities who planned, managed and paid for major remediation construction project, and survived.

Speakers
avatar for Helen Spector

Helen Spector

member, Trillium Hollow
Helen Spector has just completed managing a large defect remediation project at her home community of Trillium Hollow. As an organization development consultant she has worked with clients in a wide variety of industries for 40+ years, in engagements including:•    Strategic... Read More →



Friday May 31, 2019 1:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Executive

3:00pm PDT

Networking and Beverage Break
Friday May 31, 2019 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

3:30pm PDT

Speed Networking
Speed Networking - Just like speed dating, to help individuals get to know each other.

Speakers
avatar for Ann Lehman

Ann Lehman

CohoUS Board | Conference CoChair, Slow Yoga 4 Savvy Bodies, Zimmerman Lehman
Annie, raised on the East Coast, has worked in the public interest arena for more than 40 years as a lawyer, executive director and community organizer. As a CoHo Board member she was selected to be Co-Chair of this Conference. She started her career running a storefront legal office... Read More →


Friday May 31, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Galleria II

5:00pm PDT

Hotel Reception
Friday May 31, 2019 5:00pm - 7:00pm PDT
Atrium Ballroom Hilton Portland Downtown

7:00pm PDT

Cohousing: Creating Community One Neighborhood at a Time
Invite your friends in the Portland area to learn about cohousing at this free public talk by Grace Kim.

This free public talk by architect and cohousing expert Grace Kim of Schemata Workshop in Seattle is included in your conference registration. Please invite your friends in the Portland area to come and learn about the loneliness epidemic and how living in a cohousing community can make a difference.

This free public talk will be held at nearby First Unitarian Church, Main Street Sanctuary - 1211 SW Main St.  Non-conference attendees can reserve free tickets on Eventbrite.  

Listen to Grace's TED Talk before you attend -  How cohousing can make us happier & live longer  

Speakers
avatar for Grace Kim

Grace Kim

Principal Architect - Conference CoChair, Schemata Workshop
Grace Kim is co-chair of this year's Cohousing Conference and a founding principal of Schemata Workshop and began her architectural career in Chicago before returning home to Seattle. Grace is a consensus builder, helping her clients and project stakeholders envision how a completed... Read More →


 
Saturday, June 1
 

6:00am PDT

Yoga
Bring your own yoga mat or use a provided towel from the hotel. This one hour yoga class will get your day off to a great start before breakfast. No experience necessary.

Yoga
avatar for Ashley Rigas

Ashley Rigas

Yoga Instructor; OTD Student, OTD - Pacific University
I am in the second year of an occupational therapy doctorate program, where my research interests are rooted in finding sustainable housing solutions for an aging population. The areas I am most interested in learning about are maintaining quality of life, influencing aging in place... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 6:00am - 7:00am PDT
Skyline II

8:00am PDT

Opening General Session w/breakfast
Dr. Jarvis will give a brief presentation on national efforts in the UK to combat isolation, including a new Minister for Loneliness and the Campaign to End of Loneliness and how cohousing fits in with this.

Speakers
avatar for Dr. Helen Jarvis

Dr. Helen Jarvis

Newcastle University
Helen Jarvis is Reader in Social Geography at Newcastle University. She has published three books on cities, housing, gender and work/life balance, and numerous articles and book chapters on pragmatic utopias, alternative visions of home and family life, and age-friendly community... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom Hilton Portland Downtown

9:00am PDT

Cohousing 101
If you are new to cohousing, this session is for you and can help you have a more successful conference experience.

Cohousing architects Grace Kim (Schemata Workshop) will review the characteristics of cohousing, commonly used vocabulary (aka jargon), governance structures, cohousing resources, benefits of cohousing, examples of built communities, how to navigate the conference, and who’s who in the cohousing world.

The same session will be offered on both Friday and Saturday to make sure all who are interested can attend.

Speakers
avatar for Laura Fitch

Laura Fitch

Principal Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community Design
Laura Fitch is a founding principal of Fitch Architecture & Community Design in Amherst, Massachusetts and a 24-year resident of Pioneer Valley Cohousing.  Fitch specializes in energy-efficient building design for homes, commercial properties, and smart growth communities.   She... Read More →
avatar for Grace Kim

Grace Kim

Principal Architect - Conference CoChair, Schemata Workshop
Grace Kim is co-chair of this year's Cohousing Conference and a founding principal of Schemata Workshop and began her architectural career in Chicago before returning home to Seattle. Grace is a consensus builder, helping her clients and project stakeholders envision how a completed... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Galleria III

9:00am PDT

Cohousing Design
Learn about cohousing design and why it is important to the functionality of a cohousing community.

Speakers
avatar for Charles Durrett

Charles Durrett

Architect, Author, McCamant & Durrett Architects
Architect and author Charles Durrett brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. He pioneered the cohousing movement in North America, and teaches architects and community leaders how to start successful cohousing communities around the globe. Durrett authored The Senior... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Parlors A&B

9:00am PDT

Financing Solutions for Cohousing Home Buyers
What's your house payment? What you pay the bank? NOPE - you need to account for maintenance, transportation costs (location) and utilities. Learn about Energy Efficient Mortgages.

Speakers
avatar for Dave Porter

Dave Porter

PorterWorks
Dave Porter is a nationally recognized trainer and consultant with over 3 decades of leading, real estate and sales leadership experience. His presentations are fun and informative.  Facebook... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Directors

9:00am PDT

Q&A: Creating Affordability and Income Diversity
This session will be for anyone that is interested in having a range diverse of income levels in their cohousing community. Attendees will learn about the importance of partnerships, home-ownership and rental subsidy programs, land trust models, approaches to making HOAs more affordable and making a percentage of units in our communities permanently affordable.  

Additional Q&A expert Katie Ulrich: Proud Ground

Moderators
avatar for Alicia DeLashmutt

Alicia DeLashmutt

Our Home, Inclusive Community Collaborative
The Founding Neighbor of Our Home, Inclusive Community Collaborative, Alicia has over 16 years of community involvement as a disability inclusion and housing advocate. She is the proud mother of a fabulous and strong-willed teenage girl who experiences complex disabilities. Her daughter... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Adesina Cameron

Adesina Cameron

Mortgage Loan Advisor, Fairway Independent Mortgage
Before coming to the Mortgage industry, Adesina spent most of her career working in natural food grocery, sustainability, social justice and healthy eating education. After buying her own home she was so impressed with the impact her mortgage broker made on her life that she decided... Read More →
avatar for Joren Bass

Joren Bass

Senor Development Manager, UD+P
A “boots on the ground architect,” Joren is every bit as comfortable and capable with a pencil or computer as with a framing hammer in hand. Adept at managing every phase of the building process, Joren collaborates with Avi Ben-Zaken and Leslie Louis to manage UD+P projects from... Read More →
avatar for Eli Spevak

Eli Spevak

Architect, Orange Splot Development
Eli Spevak has been developing affordable housing communities in Oregon for 25 years, starting as a volunteer construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity. In 2006, he launched Orange Splot, LLC to build new models of community-oriented, affordable, green housing development... Read More →
avatar for Joe Wykowski

Joe Wykowski

Portland, OR, Community Vision
Joe Wykowski is the Executive Director of Community Vision in Portland Oregon, a person centered organization providing individual supports to over eighty individuals and families. For five consecutive years Community Vision has been recognized as one of the Best 100 Non-Profits to... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Galleria II

9:00am PDT

Strengthening Community Bonds through Sharing Circles
Sharing Circles are a highly effective activity for strengthening community bonds. In this session, we will experience a Sharing Circle together, and we will explore the many ways the Sharing Circle format can be used in small and large-group settings to expand our interpersonal connections and deepen our sense of community.

Speakers
avatar for Joe Cole

Joe Cole

As a Facilitator and Consultant, Joe Cole supports communities and non-profit organizations in developing cooperative skills, collaborative governance, and conflict transformation.  Joe has a PhD in Philosophy, and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Peace and Conflict... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Council

9:00am PDT

Q & A: Living in Cohousing now that the honeymoon is over
This Q&A session to share insights from those living in established communities as to what community life is like 'after the honeymoon is over'. Some questions that might arise as far as "now that the we're all moved in, and settled down, how do we continue to get to know each other on a deeper level, and what will the future hold?"


Speakers
avatar for John Rymers

John Rymers

Highline Crossing Cohousing Community
John Rymers, M.A., LPC has been living at Highline Crossing Cohousing Community (www.highlinecrossing.org) since its inception in 1995. He is active in the community and is currently a member of the Buildings Team. John has witnessed the good, bad and the ugly of forming and maintaining... Read More →
avatar for Therese Kunzi-Clark

Therese Kunzi-Clark

Conference Programs, Winslow Cohousing
Therese started her community life being raised in a small village in Switzerland. She left the confines of her country in 1978 . A decade later she return to her roots becoming a founding member of Winslow Cohousing on Bainbridge Island. She's a meditator, an artist with a passion... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Parlors C

9:00am PDT

Cohousing Interventions on Loneliness Across All Ages
This session will open with a presentation focussing on the prominence that cohousing is enjoying in the UK due specifically to concern for loneliness, notably the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness.  The presentation includes a review of the evidence of social isolation and loneliness as a complex problem and on opportunities and challenges for housing-based interventions, focussing on evidence of intergenerational and senior cohousing from international interdisciplinary research. The session allows for a 40 minute presentation followed by interactive discussion structured by two provocations - both for cohousing groups and for researchers improving the evidence base for the impact of shared space and social processes on loneliness in cohousing and through cohousing outreach. 

This talk will present a meta-analysis of social science literature (largely reviewing UK and USA research, policy and empirical studies) to explore the social impact of cohousing on loneliness across all ages. The aim is to identify from a comparison of senior and multi-generational cohousing research, alongside 'neighbourly designed' conventional housing options, interventions that promote mutual support and wellbeing to reduce the multiple and complex risk of loneliness.

Speakers
avatar for Dr. Helen Jarvis

Dr. Helen Jarvis

Newcastle University
Helen Jarvis is Reader in Social Geography at Newcastle University. She has published three books on cities, housing, gender and work/life balance, and numerous articles and book chapters on pragmatic utopias, alternative visions of home and family life, and age-friendly community... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Senate

9:00am PDT

Surviving and Thriving in Your First Year
Reviewing the lessons learned in the First Year. Four members of Quimper Village, completed in late 2017, will share highlights and challenges of their first year in residence and how the community approached them.  Panelists are Carolyn Salmon - Governance, Legal & Finance, Mena Quilici - Community Life, Cheron Dudley - Communications & Membership Development, Mack Boelling - Buildings & Grounds, Moderator - Alexandria Levitt, Sage Senior Cohousing Advocates.  There will be time for Q&A.

Speakers
avatar for Alexandria Levitt

Alexandria Levitt

President, Levitt Coho
Alexandria Levitt is the President of Levitt Coho, working to develop Senior Cohousing in Southern California. Levitt is also President of SAGE Senior Cohousing Advocates, a non-profit which works to support the development of more senior cohousing neighborhoods in the United States... Read More →
avatar for Carolyn Salmon

Carolyn Salmon

Executive Officer, Quimper Village Senior Cohousing
Carolyn Salmon is a founding member and resident of Quimper Village Senior Cohousing in Port Townsend, WA.Team Leader of Finance & Legal Team and served on Construction Interfaced Team.Carolyn is convinced that cohousing offers seniors the kind of community life that supports and... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Galleria I

9:00am PDT

Death in Our Community: Can we ever be ready?
Mortality is a reality that we all too often attempt to deny, even in intentional communities. Let’s discuss ways that we can help each other be prepared for death, including making end-of-life decisions as well as how communities might care for our dying and create ritual to cope with loss.

Speakers
avatar for Gretchen Brauer-Rieke

Gretchen Brauer-Rieke

CodaConversations
Gretchen Brauer-Rieke, RN, MSN spent 23 years practicing as a certified nurse-midwife and several more years as a nurse-educator before discovering a new passion for end-of-life education.  Becoming increasingly aware that patients and families often struggle over how to deal with... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Executive

9:00am PDT

This is Delegated to the Ones I Love
Does your group have trouble filling committees slots? Do committees get discouraged that their work is redone in plenary? It doesn’t have to be that way! We’ll walk through the elements needed to prevent plenary agendas from being overloaded and to set up so that committee work is respected.

Speakers
avatar for Laird Schaub

Laird Schaub

Canbridge
Laird has lived 41 years in intentional community, mostly at Sandhill Farm, an income-sharing community he helped found in 1974. He launched a career as a group process consultant in 1987, and has worked with more than 150 intentional communities (including 70 cohousing groups), both... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Forum

10:30am PDT

Networking and Coffee Break
Saturday June 1, 2019 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

11:00am PDT

How to Build a Great team
While the magic of cohousing is the unique social contract created within the community, it begins fundamentally as a real estate development project. However, most people don’t decide to live in cohousing because they want to be a developer, and most potential cohousers have never managed a development project.

Creating a cohousing community is a complex yet ordered process that requires a strong collaborative team effort. Understanding the process is an important first step. Knowing who needs to be on your team throughout the process is equally important.

Speakers
avatar for Jayni Allsep

Jayni Allsep

Allsep Planning
Jayni Allsep  is recognized as an experienced planner with strong problem-solving skills. She has over 25 years of project management and professional planning experience with public and private sector clients in California, and she has served as planning consultant for several... Read More →
avatar for Linda Herman

Linda Herman

Principal/Owner, LInda Herman Consulting
Linda Herman is the principal and owner of Linda Herman Consulting, a project management and development consulting firm that provides the expertise to plan and manage real estate development projects. LHC has  completed a 41 unit co-housing project for active adults in Oakland... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria I

11:00am PDT

Introduction to Sociocracy for Cohousing
An introduction to Sociocracy, an especially effective self-governance and decision-making method for people building, living in, or maintaining cohousing communities. Topics include: 
   (1) A Sociocracy Overview Mindmap with colorful, evocative graphics to helppeople get a big-picture view of Sociocrasy relatively quickly.
   (2) A presentation about and hands-on exericses to demonstrate using feedback loops in proposals. This means including questions to later measure and evaluate the proposal after it's implemented. This apect of Sociocracy, which helps groups feel confident in trying out ideas and proposals, can be used by cohousing communities that don't use Sociocracy, if they use one of the modified forms of consensus other than classic, traditional consensus.
        Diana Leafe Christian is a longtime Sociocracy trainer for intentional communities, and author of the book, Creating a Life Together.

Speakers
avatar for Diana Leafe Christian

Diana Leafe Christian

Diana Leafe Christian, Workshops & Consultants
Diana Leafe Christian is author of Creating a Life Together, about forming successful cohousing communities and other kinds of intentional communities, and Finding Community. She speaks at cohousing and ecovillage conferences, offers consultations, and leads workshops internationally... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria II

11:00am PDT

Market Your Community Story to People You Want
Starting a Community? Need to attract future buyers? This workshop will teach you how to define your community markets with a good story and get out your message inexpensively with traditional and social media.

Speakers
avatar for Alan O'Hashi

Alan O'Hashi

Whole Brain Thinker and General Do-Gooder, Boulder Community Media (BCM)
Alan O'Hashi spreads his storytelling methods to help communities target people they want through the power of story. After getting laid off a job after 9/11, the risk-taker decided to work for himself and make movies. He melded what he learned as a nonprofit development director... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Council

11:00am PDT

The Loneliness Epidemic and What to Do About It
This lecture will include human needs for interaction, support, and sense of belonging and the dangers of social isolation. Both theory and current research will be highlighted as it relates to social and physical well being.

Speakers
avatar for Matthew Hicks

Matthew Hicks

Matthew Hicks ND, MS is a physician at an integrative mental health clinic in Portland, Oregon. He has a long standing interest in helping people achieve their best mental, emotional, and physical health, and believes that community is an important ingredient. He completed a master... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Executive

11:00am PDT

Cohousing Friendly Regulations
As we deal with the City, County, State and Federal governments in getting our projects started, there could be comprehensive Plans, Zoning codes, building code, subsidies, loan guarantees, etc.—all government instruments—that could benefit Cohousing just as similar provisions now benefit agriculture, defense and a myriad of other activities in our nation. We should be asking and lobbying government entities to better support cohousing in the future.

Speakers
avatar for Matthew Gebhart

Matthew Gebhart

Portland State University
Matthew Gebhardt is an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies & Planning and Real Estate Development at Portland State University, having previously worked as a senior associate at an interdisciplinary consulting firm managing a variety of planning, development, and design projects... Read More →
avatar for Dean Smith

Dean Smith

Evergeen State Sustainable Communities
Dean is one of the founders of Sunnyside Village Cohousing in Marysville, WA.  In the course this effort he enumerates the difficulties of getting cohousing started and suggests solutions in local, state and national policies.  Facebook... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Senate

11:00am PDT

Q & A: Recruiting Families
This Q&A session to explore what some communities (both forming and established have done to actively recruit families. You might hear questions such as "Are open house a way to get the word out? Should we hang flyers at local schools? What else can we do?!"

With Experts:
Joelle Cowan
Megan Shea
John Caye

Moderators
avatar for Karen Gimnig

Karen Gimnig

CohoUS Staff, Cohousing Facilitator
Karen Gimnig supports communities in building richer relationships as the foundation for effective process and collaborative living.  Connected communities need safe spaces, strong relationship skills and authentic communication. Karen guides communities to: Engage conflict productively... Read More →

Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Parlors C

11:00am PDT

Take the Pain Out of Your Annual Budget Process
Come learn how budget setting can be a predictable, transparent process that supports participation and creates a container for addressing and resolving differing views. We'll share a cohousing friendly customizable spreadsheet as well as our "secret ingredient" for reducing stress during budget meetings and empower you to create a timeline and process designed for success. This workshop will help you transform your community’s budgeting into an annual community-building event instead of a major pain in the butt.

Speakers
avatar for We Can Work it Out

We Can Work it Out

Facilitators, Sarah Ross & Mary King
Mary & Sarah first met when they moved into Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI in 2003. Since then they have been learning from, and building on, each others' strengths as both community members and as professional collaborators.Mary & Sarah developed a passion for sharing the skills... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria III

11:00am PDT

Who Cleans the Common House Toilets? And other questions
Over the last five years Harmony Village has developed a system to collectively manage our collective workload. It relies on trust, respect and a nifty spreadsheet we'd be happy to share. This presentation gets 'in the weeds' of why we manage community labor and the nitty-gritty details of how.

As discussed in the presentation: if you would like to download your own version of the WILOP tool, log into a google account and then navigate to: http://bit.ly/WILOPTool  .   Copy the 'WILOP Manager' and 'WILOP Template' file into your own google account, and then you can edit.  Instructions are in the files.  Let me know if you have questions!  CoHousingTools@gmail.com

Speakers
avatar for Micah Allen

Micah Allen

As an engineer passionate about cohousing, Micah is curious about how technology can streamline the tedious tasks so we can focus our time and energy on relationships. The most important aspects of our communities cannot be organized on a spreadsheet, but some critical details can... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Forum

11:00am PDT

Age-friendly is human friendly - Design for successful aging within cohousing
Is your new or existing community ready for aging members?
We will discuss how cohousing design (and other senior housing models) can support aging members, so that they can stay engaged as challenges increase.
We will also dive into architectural details that eliminate barriers and prevent segregation and isolation.

Speakers
avatar for Laura Fitch

Laura Fitch

Principal Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community Design
Laura Fitch is a founding principal of Fitch Architecture & Community Design in Amherst, Massachusetts and a 24-year resident of Pioneer Valley Cohousing.  Fitch specializes in energy-efficient building design for homes, commercial properties, and smart growth communities.   She... Read More →
avatar for Ruth Neeman

Ruth Neeman

LWDA
Ruth Neeman is a registered architect with more than 30 years of experience in planning, design and research focusing exclusively on environments that enable elders and support independence and aging with dignity.Her project experience includes new construction and renovations of... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Directors

11:00am PDT

Sustainability and Resilience in Cohousing
Most cohousing communities strive for sustainability. With the increase in climate-change-related emergencies, many are realizing the importance of resilience as well. This session will cover strategies for designing and living more sustainably and resiliently, and will include a case study of life in cohousing during a 4-day power outage.

Speakers
avatar for Bryan Bowen

Bryan Bowen

Caddis PC
Bryan Bowen is an architect dedicated to the design of buildings and neighborhoods that explore how we may live more lightly upon our earth in beautiful and healthy environments. Bryan's niche is cohousing, though his work includes single-family homes, affordable housing, mixed-use... Read More →
avatar for Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus Architect
Mary Kraus, AIA, LEED BD+C is a cohousing architect and facilitator who has worked with over two dozen communities in the US and Canada over the past thirty years. She was a founding board member of the Cohousing Network (now Coho US). She lives at Pioneer Valley Cohousing, the first... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Parlors A&B

12:30pm PDT

Lunch on your own
Saturday June 1, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
Off Site

1:30pm PDT

Cohousing Unit Design
What is the typical range of size and type of housing units in cohousing communities? Do certain layouts work better in cohousing? How do you support community at the front door and privacy within the house? What about healthy, green materials? To answer these questions, Laura will show examples from many communities (urban and rural). Then, we will have an open discussion about unit design with Laura answering questions from both the perspective of her experience as a cohousing architect and 25 years living in a small standard cohousing unit.

Speakers
avatar for Laura Fitch

Laura Fitch

Principal Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community Design
Laura Fitch is a founding principal of Fitch Architecture & Community Design in Amherst, Massachusetts and a 24-year resident of Pioneer Valley Cohousing.  Fitch specializes in energy-efficient building design for homes, commercial properties, and smart growth communities.   She... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Galleria I

1:30pm PDT

Financing your Cohousing Development
Understanding the basics of real estate financing and how communities finance their developments.

Speakers
avatar for Jim Leach

Jim Leach

CohoUS Board VP, Wonderland Hill Development Company
Jim Leach is president of Wonderland Hill Development Company and has lead the company in developing over 20 cohousing communities in the Colorado, California, Arizona, and Washington. He is a builder with over 50 years of experience in the design, construction and development of... Read More →
avatar for Katie McCamant

Katie McCamant

Architect, Author, CoHousing Solutions
Katie McCamant brings the depth and diversity of her 30+ years of experience as an architect, developer, and cohousing resident to her clients. She is coauthor of Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, the authoritative book which introduced cohousing to the English... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Parlors A&B

1:30pm PDT

Integrating New Members
Whether your community has lived together for 20 years or is just now hiring an architect, you will have the opportunity for welcome new members. Integrating them into your group takes time and intention, but in the end how much you do may matter less than doing the right things. This session will guide you in creating a welcome and orientation process that targets your efforts on the most effective practices.

Speakers
avatar for Karen Gimnig

Karen Gimnig

CohoUS Staff, Cohousing Facilitator
Karen Gimnig supports communities in building richer relationships as the foundation for effective process and collaborative living.  Connected communities need safe spaces, strong relationship skills and authentic communication. Karen guides communities to: Engage conflict productively... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Council

1:30pm PDT

Promoting Your Community with a Digital Tool Box
Learn what makes an engaging website, how to do an E-Newsletter that will inspire and want people to know more about your forming group, how to use Facebook as a great marketing tool, and other proven ways you can use the internet to promote your community.

Speakers
avatar for Sean Morris

Sean Morris

Sean Morris is an affiliate of Kathryn McCamant’s 500 Communities Program – a initiative to equip the next generation of cohousing professionals with the skills to get cohousing built. Sean is a economist with a background in database management and data science. Before joining... Read More →
avatar for Shelly Parks

Shelly Parks

CoVision Consulting
Shelly Parks spent a career leading professional sales and marketing teams in retirement living start-ups. In 2017, she founded CoVision Consulting to share her skills and knowledge with forming and developing cohousing groups.  As Shelly partners with groups, her goal is to always... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Executive

1:30pm PDT

Making Cohousing Affordable in the 21st Century
Making Cohousing more affordable - successful strategies and planning ahead
As documented in 2007, cohousing communities have been strikingly resourceful in reducing costs and keeping home prices down for their original members. But for several reasons, "the market" serves fewer people, and within our movement, many would like to see our movement reaching greater racial and economic diversity.

With slides, handouts, and discussion, participants will get:
  1. descriptions of successful strategies and specific federal programs and how to use them.
  2. navigating challenging financing and permitting systems, and public perceptions of "affordable housing."
  3. making "the case" for your community with neighbors, financiers, and local decision-makers
  4. tools for seeing the bigger picture (environmental scans and power analysis)
  5. why and how we/the movement can be federating and allying to open up more types of financing and have more social influence

Speakers
avatar for Wendy Willbanks Wiesner

Wendy Willbanks Wiesner

Executive Director, Partnerships for Affordable Cohousing
As Executive Director of Partnerships for Affordable Cohousing Wendy:Identifies national models, opportunities and best practices that can inform local efforts. Utilizes standardized legal and financial documents to simplify project planning and development, while at the same time... Read More →
avatar for Betsy Morris

Betsy Morris

Principal/Co-/founder, Planning for Sustainable Communities/Cohousing California
Community Planning Consultant and researcher with special interest in planning for sustainability and affordability for communities.


Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Galleria III

1:30pm PDT

Q & A: Share your community Meals experience
Love your community meals? Struggling to make your meal program work? Come and share your experience and learn from others what works, what challenges persist, and what benefits your community gets from gathering for eating together on a regular basis.

Read about Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing's unique meals program.

Speakers
avatar for Sheila Hoffman

Sheila Hoffman

Conference CoChair, Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing
Sheila has been an active participant in building the Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing community since 2010. In addition to doing community outreach and marketing she lead the initial food team assuring that everyone would get nutritious and delicious meals.  She loves the walkabil... Read More →
avatar for Helen Spector

Helen Spector

member, Trillium Hollow
Helen Spector has just completed managing a large defect remediation project at her home community of Trillium Hollow. As an organization development consultant she has worked with clients in a wide variety of industries for 40+ years, in engagements including:•    Strategic... Read More →
avatar for Alan O'Hashi

Alan O'Hashi

Whole Brain Thinker and General Do-Gooder, Boulder Community Media (BCM)
Alan O'Hashi spreads his storytelling methods to help communities target people they want through the power of story. After getting laid off a job after 9/11, the risk-taker decided to work for himself and make movies. He melded what he learned as a nonprofit development director... Read More →
avatar for Oz Ragland

Oz Ragland

Cohouseholding Project
Oz has lived at Songaia Cohousing and a new, adjoining community since 1992. He leads the Cohouseholding Project (cohouseholding.org), a collaborative effort to define, support, and promote a more sustainable model for sharing homes. This will be the first presentation of project findings and will including cohouseholds within cohousing communities - Songaia has 4... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Parlors C

1:30pm PDT

Are We Having Fun Yet?
We place a lot of emphasis in cohousing on meetings and process. But what about fun? Participants will be encouraged to share about what they do in their community to have fun and develop traditions. All levels of cohousing will get some creative ideas to take home, and have FUN in this session.

Speakers
avatar for Ronnie Rosenbaum

Ronnie Rosenbaum

Cohousing Professional, Harmony Village
Ronnie Rosenbaum has lived in a cohousing community in Golden, Colorado since 1997 and in an intentional community for five years in the 1970s.  A professional mediator with many years of experience assisting communities, organizations and families, she consults, facilitates and... Read More →
avatar for John Rymers

John Rymers

Highline Crossing Cohousing Community
John Rymers, M.A., LPC has been living at Highline Crossing Cohousing Community (www.highlinecrossing.org) since its inception in 1995. He is active in the community and is currently a member of the Buildings Team. John has witnessed the good, bad and the ugly of forming and maintaining... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Directors

1:30pm PDT

Cohousing as a Social Enterprise
Considering cohousing as social enterprise provides a framework for greater long-term sustainability. This session will review strategies cohousing communities use to increase economic diversity, build equity, and reduce living expenses for members while serving the wider community.

Mark Musick will introduce the concept of cohousing as a social enterprise and provide examples from decades of experience at Vashon Cohousing.

Raines Cohen has visited 113 cohousing communities over the past 20 years. Formerly with Swan’s Market Cohousing, he is currently a member of Berkeley Cohousing. Based on his interest is in the crossover between cohousing and ecovillages, he will highlight examples around the country.

Tom Smyth is a member of Touchstone Cohousing in Ann Arbor. He will introduce “Gather,” an online platform designed to facilitate the sharing of meals, work, and other resources to make communities more fun and effective.

Speakers
avatar for Mark Musick

Mark Musick

Vashon Island Cohousing
Mark grew up in a small town on the shores of Puget Sound. He co-founded the regional Tilth Association in 1974 and for ten years he was a member of a pioneer Community Land Trust farm. Forced to quit farming by the late effects of childhood polio, in the mid-1980s he moved to Seattle... Read More →
avatar for Raines Cohen

Raines Cohen

Cohousing Coach, Cohousing Californina
Raines Cohen is a Northern California Regional Organizer with Cohousing California, a regional umbrella group fostering the creation of green intentional neighborhoods (ecovillages) throughout the state.He has spent a quarter century launching grassroots nonprofit organizations and... Read More →
avatar for Tom Smyth

Tom Smyth

Gather, Touchstone Cohousing
Tom Smyth is the creator of Gather, "The App for Community". He is also a founder and worker-owner at Sassafras Tech Collective, a worker cooperative tech consulting firm specializing in work for non-profit and social justice clients. He holds a Ph.D in computer science from Georgia... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Senate

1:30pm PDT

PANEL - Learning from International Cohousing (1 of 2)
Panelists from Germany and Israel share their cohousing experiences.

Moderators
avatar for Sky Blue

Sky Blue

Fellowship for Intentional Community
Sky Blue is the Executive Director of the Fellowship for Intentional Community. Over the last 20 years he has lived in, worked with, and consulted for numerous communal and cooperative groups and organizations, and has visited dozens of communities and cooperatives, in the US and... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Eugenie Stockmann

Eugenie Stockmann

Green Fabric / Co-operation Housing
Eugenie is a sustainability expert and passionately pursues better quality, more affordable and sustainable development. In 2016 she founded Green Fabric, a hub that facilitates and promotes sustainable community building & living. This venture builds on the successful completion... Read More →
avatar for Michael LaFond

Michael LaFond

Director, Institute for Creative Sustainability, Berlin|CoHousing
Common Good Community Developer, Project Manager, Urban Activist, CoHousing Expert based in Berlin, Germany. Studying, supporting and publicizing relationships among self-organized housing, urban development processes and sustainability. Projects include the books CoHousing Cultures... Read More →
avatar for David Mencher

David Mencher

Cohousing Israel
Born in US, 50+ years in Israel.  Have lived on Kibbutz, enjoyed diverse professional experience: farmer, research biochemist (PhD), teacher, Chiropractor (DC); currently Patent Attorney in Biotechnology. Extensive participation in community-oriented projects, among the founders... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Galleria II

1:30pm PDT

Power and Leadership
Has your group discussed what qualities you want in people filling leadership roles? Do you talk about how power is distributed among members and define its healthy uses? Can you talk openly about the perception that power has been misused? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you have problems.

Speakers
avatar for Laird Schaub

Laird Schaub

Canbridge
Laird has lived 41 years in intentional community, mostly at Sandhill Farm, an income-sharing community he helped found in 1974. He launched a career as a group process consultant in 1987, and has worked with more than 150 intentional communities (including 70 cohousing groups), both... Read More →


Power pdf

Saturday June 1, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Forum

3:00pm PDT

Networking and Beverage Break
Saturday June 1, 2019 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

3:30pm PDT

If You Market, They Will Come: Essential Tools for Sales and Marketing
This session will be an overview of several Client Relations Management (CRM) platforms that will help you collect, store, and access information about new members to engage them as effectively as possible.

Speakers
avatar for Sean Morris

Sean Morris

Sean Morris is an affiliate of Kathryn McCamant’s 500 Communities Program – a initiative to equip the next generation of cohousing professionals with the skills to get cohousing built. Sean is a economist with a background in database management and data science. Before joining... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria III

3:30pm PDT

Options and Upgrade Programs
How your community can get the highest value out of your construction team. So many people don’t understand how they can best support the construction of their communities and end up spending money and time in a way that is detrimental to their goals. Heavy on specific details about how to organize your options program and organize your group to get the best out of your team.

Speakers
avatar for Katie McCamant

Katie McCamant

Architect, Author, CoHousing Solutions
Katie McCamant brings the depth and diversity of her 30+ years of experience as an architect, developer, and cohousing resident to her clients. She is coauthor of Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, the authoritative book which introduced cohousing to the English... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Parlors A&B

3:30pm PDT

PANEL : Forming, Building, Built: How 3 Urban Communities are Making City Cohousing Work
Panelists from three different Urban Communities (Our Urban Village, Capitol Hill Cohousing and Driftwood Cohousing) present some concepts as to what they did to make city cohousing work so successfully. Hear about the challenges (and benefits) of urban cohousing, as well as the three different approaches these cohousing groups took to make the real estate development feasible.

Moderators
avatar for Kathy Sayers

Kathy Sayers

Our Urban Village
Kathy spent most of her professional career working in communications, first as the owner of her own company, then in medical research at a major hospital.  Having moved every two years as a child, she had a longing for deep roots and cohousing caught her imagination. She and three... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Mike Mariano

Mike Mariano

partner, schemata workshop | architecture and urban design
Mike Mariano is a founding principal of the practice, an architect with a passion for design and resilient communities. He understands the complexity of the development process, and in the studio provides thoughtful design leadership for high-performance buildings and neighborhoods... Read More →
avatar for Mackenzie Stonehocker

Mackenzie Stonehocker

Hive & House Consulting
Mackenzie Stonehocker is a founding partner of Hive & House Consulting, as well as a burning soul for Driftwood Village Cohousing in North Vancouver, British Columbia.  As a Registered Professional Planner with a Masters in Environmental Design, she builds more resilient urban communities... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria I

3:30pm PDT

Cohouseholding in Cohousing: Shared Households within Larger Communities
Cohousing is a successful model for the development/operation of a type of intentional community. Cohouseholding is a new model for shared households which articulates key success factors for sustainable shared households, including co-ownership and co-design. This workshop presents the model and explores the creation of cohouseholds within cohousing communities.
 
Oz Ragland leads the Cohouseholding Project (cohouseholding.org), a collaborative effort to define, support, and promote a more sustainable model for sharing homes. This will be the first presentation of project findings and will including cohouseholds within cohousing communities - Songaia has 4!

Speakers
avatar for Oz Ragland

Oz Ragland

Cohouseholding Project
Oz has lived at Songaia Cohousing and a new, adjoining community since 1992. He leads the Cohouseholding Project (cohouseholding.org), a collaborative effort to define, support, and promote a more sustainable model for sharing homes. This will be the first presentation of project findings and will including cohouseholds within cohousing communities - Songaia has 4... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Senate

3:30pm PDT

Creating a Conflict Resolution Team
Got Conflict?
With people comes conflict. We will wrestle with when you can help, what are personal vs. community issues, what to do to help, what is privacy vs. secrets, and when to call in outside professionals. Focus is on how to create a team to handle conflict, and what to do in team meetings.

Speakers
avatar for Elizabeth (Liz) Magill

Elizabeth (Liz) Magill

Mosaic Commons Cohousing
Liz joined Mosaic Commons Cohousing in 2002 and moved in 2009. She's been on the Community Support team since early on. Her day job is as a pastor, writer, and workshop leader, helping people address the hard things in life.  Facebook... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Parlors C

3:30pm PDT

PANEL: Growing Food
Urban and rural cohousing communities around the country are discovering creative ways to grow garden-fresh fruits and vegetables. Representatives from several different communities will describe ways their gardens nourish participants and their communities as a whole. Bring your questions and participate in the discussion.

Speakers
avatar for Mark Musick

Mark Musick

Vashon Island Cohousing
Mark grew up in a small town on the shores of Puget Sound. He co-founded the regional Tilth Association in 1974 and for ten years he was a member of a pioneer Community Land Trust farm. Forced to quit farming by the late effects of childhood polio, in the mid-1980s he moved to Seattle... Read More →
avatar for Dean Smith

Dean Smith

Evergeen State Sustainable Communities
Dean is one of the founders of Sunnyside Village Cohousing in Marysville, WA.  In the course this effort he enumerates the difficulties of getting cohousing started and suggests solutions in local, state and national policies.  Facebook... Read More →
avatar for Susan Fries

Susan Fries

PDX Commons
Susan Fries is a co-founder and Membership Coordinator of PDX Commons, a 55+ cohousing community in Portland OR. She had previously thrived while living in an cooperative house in graduate school, so when it was time to downsize, cohousing was the perfect choice. Begun in 2013, with... Read More →
avatar for Nola Hitchcock Cross

Nola Hitchcock Cross

Milwaukee Area Cohousing
Owner & Managing attorney, Cross Law Firm, SC, Milwaukee, WI; handled legal work for housing, consumer & worker cooperatives, co-living groups & land trustsFounded Riveredge Housing Cooperative in 1976 in Milwaukee, a row of 10 townhouses & gardens, with first mortgage from National... Read More →
avatar for Ole Errson

Ole Errson

Kailash Ecovillage
Ole cofounded Kailash Ecovillage, a rental model cohousing community accessible to lower income Portland residents, in 2007. Its main focus is food production and includes on-site composting of all kitchen and garden wastes as well as a permitted humanure composting and urine diversion... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Council

3:30pm PDT

PANEL - Learning from International Cohousing (2 of 2)
Three members of Rancho LaSalud Village Cohousing in Mexico and Kathy MacGrenera, founding member of Quayside Village the first urban cohousing community in North Vancouver, BC will talk about their cohousing experiences.

Moderators
avatar for Yana Ludwig

Yana Ludwig

Yana Ludwig Training and Consulting
Yana Ludwig is a cooperative culture pioneer, intentional communities advocate and anti-oppression activist. She serves on the board of the Fellowship for Intentional Community and works as a local chapter coach for Showing Up for Racial Justice. Her latest book, Together Resilient... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Kathy McGrenera

Kathy McGrenera

Quayside Village Cohousing
Kathy was a forming member of Quayside Village Cohousing in North Vancouver, the first urban cohousing project in Canada, where she has lived for the past 21 years. She works full-time as a facilitator and project management team member with Cohousing Development Consulting supporting... Read More →
avatar for Jaime Navarro

Jaime Navarro

Co-Founder & CEO, Rancho La Salud Village Cohousing
Co-Founder and CEO of Rancho La Salud Farm and Village, a USDA Certified Organic Farm and Sustainable Cohousing Development at Ajijic Lake Chapala in western Mexico. Born and raised in Guadalajara he has university degrees from Mexico and the United States in engineering, management... Read More →
avatar for Catherine Stephenson

Catherine Stephenson

Rancho La Salud Village Cohousing
Catherine was born and raised in Portland and spent most of her life living there.  She owned a Couture Dressmaking business for 35 years in inner S.E. Portland, and for 17 years she was an Adjunct Professor in Apparel Design at the Art Institute of Portland.  When she and her husband... Read More →
avatar for Sarah Villalobos

Sarah Villalobos

Rancho La Salud Village Cohousing
Co-founder of Rancho La Salud Farm & Cohousing Village with her husband Jaime Navarro since 2001. Born and raised in Guadalajara Mexico she is currently serving as Administrative Director of the family business undertakings, that is, The Farm and The Cohousing projects. Previously... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria II

3:30pm PDT

Replacement Reserves - Taking the Worry Out of Your Future
Don’t wait until the roofs are leaking for a cash call – be prepared! Hear from expert Lyons Witten on how to keep your community’s buildings and finances in good shape for generations. He will explain the importance of setting up replacement reserves (RR) from the date of move in, what is typically in an RR spreadsheet, where RR money is invested, and how the spreadsheet is updated annually. Your community will benefit greatly from a healthy RR account!

Speakers
avatar for Lyons Witten

Lyons Witten

Pioneer Valley Cohousing
Lyons Witten, 24-year resident, chairman of the Buildings Grounds Circle and a member of the Finance Circle of Pioneer Valley Cohousing (Amherst, MA), will present useful information on how to keeping your community running smoothly.  From fascinating meal sign-up sheets to complicated... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Executive

3:30pm PDT

Aging in Intergenerational Cohousing
I will present an update on our aging group, AGOG, and further suggest that this session include others who would like to share on the topic of aging in intergenerational cohousing. At an earlier conference I reported on AGOG (Actively Growing Older Gracefully), the aging group at Rocky Hill Cohousing, as part of a large discussion on this topic.

Speakers
avatar for David Entin

David Entin

Rocky Hill Cohousing
David had two careers: anti-poverty and higher education.  He is retired and has lived at Rocky Hill Cohousing, Northampton, MA, since its inception in 2005.   David has been a regular participant in the Actively Growing Older Gracefully (AGOG) group since its beginning in 2013... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Forum

3:30pm PDT

Building Mutual Respect and Trust
Mutual respect and trust are essential parts of healthy and productive communities. But how do we create that? This workshop will give you concrete tools for cultivating trust and respect, laying the foundation for nurturing successful relationships within your cohousing community. Content overview:
  • Highly participatory
  • Story-based exercise on what makes us feel respected and trusted
  • Exploration of what happens when we feel respected and trusted, to ground us in what’s important about this
  • Curiosity as a path to developing mutual respect and trust – framing and quick tools
  • Story-based exercise to explore how easy it is to make inaccurate assumptions, what happens when we do and how to interrupt our tendency to do so.
  • Tool: Using powerful questions to help ourselves and others get to/stay in curiosity, surface assumptions, and build understanding, respect and trust.


Speakers
avatar for Tasha Harmon

Tasha Harmon

New Perspectives Coaching, Training and Facilitation
Tasha Harmon has spent over 30 years facilitating change. She works as a coach with individuals, relationships, and teams of all sizes, helping them identify and shift out of old and unproductive patterns, and into more creative and nurturing choices.  She is also a facilitator of... Read More →



Saturday June 1, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Directors

5:45pm PDT

Evergreen Neighbor Pre-Show
Jokes, balloons, prizes! Coming together to support the cause of more connection, more community and more cohousing has never been more fun!  Arrive early for our keynote dinner to claim a great seat and help us turn a few dollars a month (yours!) into an evergreen approach to changing our world.  Or just come to hear cohouser and storyteller, Alan O'Hashi share an exciting vision for the world we are creating.


Speakers
avatar for Karen Gimnig

Karen Gimnig

CohoUS Staff, Cohousing Facilitator
Karen Gimnig supports communities in building richer relationships as the foundation for effective process and collaborative living.  Connected communities need safe spaces, strong relationship skills and authentic communication. Karen guides communities to: Engage conflict productively... Read More →
avatar for Alan O'Hashi

Alan O'Hashi

Whole Brain Thinker and General Do-Gooder, Boulder Community Media (BCM)
Alan O'Hashi spreads his storytelling methods to help communities target people they want through the power of story. After getting laid off a job after 9/11, the risk-taker decided to work for himself and make movies. He melded what he learned as a nonprofit development director... Read More →
avatar for Karin Hoskin

Karin Hoskin

Executive Director, National Cohousing Association
I am the Executive Director for the Cohousing Association of the US. I live in the Wild Sage Cohousing Community in Boulder Colorado (for 15 years so far!)


Saturday June 1, 2019 5:45pm - 6:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom Hilton Portland Downtown

6:00pm PDT

General Session Dinner w/ Keynote Courtney Martin
Courtney Martin will speak about her experience living in cohousing and explore how people are redefining the American dream (think more fulfillment, community, and fun, less debt, status, and stuff).

Speakers
avatar for Courtney Martin

Courtney Martin

Temescal Commons, Banquet Keynote
Courtney Martin has been called “one of our most insightful culture critics and one of our finest young writers” by Parker Palmer, and her writing has been described as “varied, transformational, and necessary for us all” by Jane Fonda and “a hardcover punch in the gut... Read More →


Saturday June 1, 2019 6:00pm - 8:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom Hilton Portland Downtown
 
Sunday, June 2
 

6:00am PDT

Yoga
Bring your own yoga mat or use a provided towel from the hotel. This one hour yoga class will get your day off to a great start before breakfast. No experience necessary.

Yoga
avatar for Ashley Rigas

Ashley Rigas

Yoga Instructor; OTD Student, OTD - Pacific University
I am in the second year of an occupational therapy doctorate program, where my research interests are rooted in finding sustainable housing solutions for an aging population. The areas I am most interested in learning about are maintaining quality of life, influencing aging in place... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 6:00am - 7:00am PDT
Skyline II

8:00am PDT

Breakfast on your own
Sunday June 2, 2019 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Off Site

9:00am PDT

Marketing a New Senior Housing Project
PDX Commons in Portland, OR conceived, designed, and successfully marketed a 27-home senior cohousing development in only four years. Hear from those who did it: how they sold out before the doors even opened. Lessons for future communities, senior or not.

Speakers
avatar for Susan Fries

Susan Fries

PDX Commons
Susan Fries is a co-founder and Membership Coordinator of PDX Commons, a 55+ cohousing community in Portland OR. She had previously thrived while living in an cooperative house in graduate school, so when it was time to downsize, cohousing was the perfect choice. Begun in 2013, with... Read More →
avatar for Jim Swenson

Jim Swenson

PDX Commons
Jim Swenson had a career in communications: a journalist, filmmaker, media producer, writer, director, communications manager. Jim was responsible for developing communications and outreach campaigns for several government entities, non-profits and private sector enterprises.  Jim... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Studio

9:00am PDT

Planning and Designing for Urban Cohousing
Using two recently completed urban cohousing communities as case studies, the audience will gain an understanding of how the intentional actions of individuals acting in consensus of the group successfully created a resilient urban community and new home. Comparing and contrasting the two paths through urban community building, design, financing, and design the attendees will see the hurdles and successes of each project.

Speakers
avatar for Joren Bass

Joren Bass

Senor Development Manager, UD+P
A “boots on the ground architect,” Joren is every bit as comfortable and capable with a pencil or computer as with a framing hammer in hand. Adept at managing every phase of the building process, Joren collaborates with Avi Ben-Zaken and Leslie Louis to manage UD+P projects from... Read More →
avatar for Mike Mariano

Mike Mariano

partner, schemata workshop | architecture and urban design
Mike Mariano is a founding principal of the practice, an architect with a passion for design and resilient communities. He understands the complexity of the development process, and in the studio provides thoughtful design leadership for high-performance buildings and neighborhoods... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Broadway II

9:00am PDT

Understanding Zoning Codes To Find a Site Efficiently
As we work with forming communities around the country, one of their largest hurdles is finding a site. This session is meant to give you tools for evaluating the feasibility of a piece of property quickly and technically, so you can make clear headed decisions.

Speakers
avatar for Bryan Bowen

Bryan Bowen

Caddis PC
Bryan Bowen is an architect dedicated to the design of buildings and neighborhoods that explore how we may live more lightly upon our earth in beautiful and healthy environments. Bryan's niche is cohousing, though his work includes single-family homes, affordable housing, mixed-use... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Directors

9:00am PDT

When the Developer Leads the Way
As groups form to create a cohousing community, a big question to answer is - do you need a developer? And a separate but related question is - can you build a successful cohousing community if the project is initiated and developed by a developer, not the community? In this session, we will examine 3 different cohousing project scenarios in which developers were involved to answer these questions.

Speakers
avatar for Eric Cress

Eric Cress

Principal, UD+P
An engineer and designer by training, Eric is drawn to innovative new ideas that make our communities better places to live. At UD+P, Eric concentrates on acquisition, development, and finance. He oversees budgets and the acquisition-to-construction phase of new projects.Before UD+P... Read More →
avatar for Linda Herman

Linda Herman

Principal/Owner, LInda Herman Consulting
Linda Herman is the principal and owner of Linda Herman Consulting, a project management and development consulting firm that provides the expertise to plan and manage real estate development projects. LHC has  completed a 41 unit co-housing project for active adults in Oakland... Read More →
avatar for Jim Leach

Jim Leach

CohoUS Board VP, Wonderland Hill Development Company
Jim Leach is president of Wonderland Hill Development Company and has lead the company in developing over 20 cohousing communities in the Colorado, California, Arizona, and Washington. He is a builder with over 50 years of experience in the design, construction and development of... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Galleria III

9:00am PDT

Emotional Resilience
Have you had the fight about outdoor cats? Living together means we inevitably disagree. In this experiential workshop we use Nonviolent Communication (NVC) to practice listening from the heart so we stay present and engaged. We’ll also review other practices that can strengthen the emotional capacity of communities we love!

Speakers
avatar for Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Co-Founder, Sociocracy For All
Jerry Koch-Gonzalez co-founded Sociocracy For All, an international movement-service organization that provides resources, training, and networking focused on non-oppressive egalitarian decision-making and governance. He co-authored the sociocracy handbook Many Voices One Song: Shared... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Forum

9:00am PDT

Q & A: Growing Up in Community
Ever wonder what it's like to be a kid living in cohousing? Hear from a variety of CoHo youth about their experiences in cohousing. Get their perspective on the challenges and value of living in a multi-generational community. Learn directly from youth how to make a community that enriches the lives of its youngest members, and fosters involvement as children become teens.

Moderators
avatar for Catya Belfer

Catya Belfer

Catya Belfer is part of Mosaic Commons, about an hour west of Boston in Berlin, Massachusetts.   Cat works as a techie project manager and also builds websites for cohousing groups and others. She is passionate about building connections between people and has been involved in intentional... Read More →

Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Broadway I

9:00am PDT

Aging in Community: New Roles & Opportunities for Elders
New roles and opportunities for elders in cohousing.

Speakers
avatar for Raines Cohen

Raines Cohen

Cohousing Coach, Cohousing Californina
Raines Cohen is a Northern California Regional Organizer with Cohousing California, a regional umbrella group fostering the creation of green intentional neighborhoods (ecovillages) throughout the state.He has spent a quarter century launching grassroots nonprofit organizations and... Read More →
avatar for Oz Ragland

Oz Ragland

Cohouseholding Project
Oz has lived at Songaia Cohousing and a new, adjoining community since 1992. He leads the Cohouseholding Project (cohouseholding.org), a collaborative effort to define, support, and promote a more sustainable model for sharing homes. This will be the first presentation of project findings and will including cohouseholds within cohousing communities - Songaia has 4... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Council

9:00am PDT

Getting the Work Done (1 of 2)
Mary Kraus, Architect for and a 25-year resident of Pioneer Valley Cohousing and Lyons Witten, 25-year resident chairman of the buildings and grounds committee of Pioneer Valley Cohousing, will present useful information on how to actually keep your community running smoothly. From various work systems, to mundane meal sign-up sheets and complicated replacement reserve studies, they have lived the experiment and dream of cohousing! With plenty of time for questions, and a wealth of insights and examples from various communities, this session will give you valuable tools to set up an effective work system for your community.

Speakers
avatar for Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus Architect
Mary Kraus, AIA, LEED BD+C is a cohousing architect and facilitator who has worked with over two dozen communities in the US and Canada over the past thirty years. She was a founding board member of the Cohousing Network (now Coho US). She lives at Pioneer Valley Cohousing, the first... Read More →
avatar for Lyons Witten

Lyons Witten

Pioneer Valley Cohousing
Lyons Witten, 24-year resident, chairman of the Buildings Grounds Circle and a member of the Finance Circle of Pioneer Valley Cohousing (Amherst, MA), will present useful information on how to keeping your community running smoothly.  From fascinating meal sign-up sheets to complicated... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Galleria I

9:00am PDT

PANEL: The Latest Findings from Cohousing Research Network
The Cohousing Research Network (CRN) seeks to strengthen the rigor and reach of cohousing research. In this session, CRN researchers will present their latest theories and findings, including what cohousing teaches us about managing "the commons", results from recent nation-wide cohousing surveys, and comparisons between cohousing, conventional condominiums, and co-living.

Moderators
avatar for Heidi Berggren

Heidi Berggren

Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
Heidi M. Berggren, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Her current research focuses on the cohousing movement, with an emphasis on its connections to civic and political engagement... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Diane Margolis

Diane Margolis

Cohousing Research Network, CRN/ University of Connecticut
Diane is a fouDiane photonding member of Cambridge Cohousing and former member of Coho/US Board of Directors. She coauthored the Report on the Survey of Cohousing Communities, 2011. Diane is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. She has published research... Read More →
avatar for Chuck Maclane

Chuck Maclane

Independent Consultant
Chuck Maclane, Ph.D.  Chuck retired from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) after 34 years as a Personnel Research Psychologist and is now a consultant to public and private organizations. He has been a member of the Cohousing Research Team since 2012. His career has focused... Read More →
avatar for Angela Sanguinetti

Angela Sanguinetti

Director, Cohousing Research Network
Angela Sanguinetti is Director of the Cohousing Research Network (CRN) and a member of the Coho/US Board of Directors. At CRN, Angela seeks to strengthen the rigor and reach of cohousing research. In her day job, Angela is a Research Environmental Psychologist at University of California... Read More →
avatar for Neil Planchon

Neil Planchon

Cohousing: Tour Leader / Research Network, Life Coach / Nonprofit Tech Consultant
Neil is a co-developer and founder of Swan's Market Cohousing (est. 2000). He currently co-parents the CaliCoho Summit team which gathers residents of California Cohousing residents every couple months. He is a former Cohousing Association Board and Staff member who was responsible for running and growing the National Cohousing Bus tours program... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Galleria II

9:00am PDT

Resale: Are you Smiling or Frowning?
Struggling with RESALES? Not struggling but not quite sure how to go about setting up a RESALE PROGRAM? This short workshop is for YOU! We will have an in-depth look at how Takoma Village Cohousing organized and launched their successful resale program resulting in new residents who were well educated and informed about cohousing and in particular about living at TVC. And ... how we raised $76,000 in donations in 4 years from grateful sellers. Lots of time for Q & A!

Speakers
avatar for Ann Zabaldo

Ann Zabaldo

Member of the Board, Mid Atlantic Cohousing
Ann Zabaldo is a pioneer professional in the cohousing movement. She specializes in outreach education, marketing, and fueling the fires of burning souls. She was a consultant to EcoHousing Corporation for the development of award winning Eastern Village Cohousing in Silver Spring... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT
Executive

10:30am PDT

Networking and Coffee Break
Sunday June 2, 2019 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer Hilton Portland Downtown

11:00am PDT

PANEL - Getting the Most Out of Your Professionals
It starts as a love fest but ends in a fight over fees. What happened? During this session panelists will share key lessons from their collective experiences managing cohousing developments including: How a group can work most effectively with their professionals. What professionals will your group need to get your project built? How can you help get the highest value out of their work, and they don’t go broke.

Speakers
avatar for Joren Bass

Joren Bass

Senor Development Manager, UD+P
A “boots on the ground architect,” Joren is every bit as comfortable and capable with a pencil or computer as with a framing hammer in hand. Adept at managing every phase of the building process, Joren collaborates with Avi Ben-Zaken and Leslie Louis to manage UD+P projects from... Read More →
avatar for Mike Mariano

Mike Mariano

partner, schemata workshop | architecture and urban design
Mike Mariano is a founding principal of the practice, an architect with a passion for design and resilient communities. He understands the complexity of the development process, and in the studio provides thoughtful design leadership for high-performance buildings and neighborhoods... Read More →
avatar for Katie McCamant

Katie McCamant

Architect, Author, CoHousing Solutions
Katie McCamant brings the depth and diversity of her 30+ years of experience as an architect, developer, and cohousing resident to her clients. She is coauthor of Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, the authoritative book which introduced cohousing to the English... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria II

11:00am PDT

PANEL - WheelChairs, Neurodiversity, and Hearing Aids, Oh My!
Seeking to be more diverse? Need help understanding people with special needs in your community? Still looking for people to purchase homes in your community? The largest minority in our country, citizens with disabilities, are often the most invisible. Join us to explore the symbiosis of intentional *neurodiversity in cohousing.

*Neurodiversity is the diversity of cognitive function; inclusing intellectual and developmental disability, dementia, Alzheimer, traumatic brain injury, PTSD, mental health, etc...

Speakers
avatar for Alicia DeLashmutt

Alicia DeLashmutt

Our Home, Inclusive Community Collaborative
The Founding Neighbor of Our Home, Inclusive Community Collaborative, Alicia has over 16 years of community involvement as a disability inclusion and housing advocate. She is the proud mother of a fabulous and strong-willed teenage girl who experiences complex disabilities. Her daughter... Read More →
avatar for Desiree Kameka

Desiree Kameka

Autism Housing Network
Ms. Kameka’s work is focused on researching housing models, advocating on issues of autism in adulthood and is a recognized disability housing expert and keynote speaker. Ms. Kameka is cited in media outlets such as The Atlantic, Rolling Stone Magazine, NPR and ABC News. She has... Read More →
avatar for Joe Wykowski

Joe Wykowski

Portland, OR, Community Vision
Joe Wykowski is the Executive Director of Community Vision in Portland Oregon, a person centered organization providing individual supports to over eighty individuals and families. For five consecutive years Community Vision has been recognized as one of the Best 100 Non-Profits to... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Executive

11:00am PDT

PANEL: Sustainability
A panel about how to build Cohousing sustainably & how sustainability relates to creating community and aging in place.

Moderators
avatar for Michael Royce

Michael Royce

Ankeny Row
Michael co-authored Sustainable Homes for the 21st Century. He is a retired lawyer, renewable energy company owner and founder of Green Empowerment, an organization promoting renewable energy and sustainable development in Asia, Latin America and Africa.  Facebook... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Alex Boetzel

Alex Boetzel

Director of Operations and Sustainability, Green Hammer
With over 25 years of experience in construction and building science, Alex Boetzel is a Certified Passive House Consultant and has consulted on dozens of LEED, Passivhaus, high-performance and zero energy projects in the US as well as in Europe. He plans and executes Green Hammer’s... Read More →
avatar for Erica Dunn

Erica Dunn

Director of Design, Green Hammer Design Build
Erica is an award-winning architect who has designed five net-zero energy homes, two net-zero energy pocket neighborhoods, and the Living Building Certified Tasting Room at Cowhorn. She has served on the Portland chapter of the AIA's Board of Directors and been a Co-Chair for the... Read More →
avatar for Dr. Jane Nichols

Dr. Jane Nichols

Department Chair/Professor, High Point University
Dr. Jane L. Nichols is an associate professor and department chair of interior architecture/design at High Point University. Nichols earned a PhD in Sustainability Education from Prescott College, a MSD and MA from Arizona State University, and a BA from Governor’s State University... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Broadway I

11:00am PDT

Community Sponsored Presentations - Are You Looking for a Community?
Are you searching for a community? Interested to know what is out there? Join us at this networking event! Sponsoring (thank you for supporting CoHo USA) Forming Communities will each have a 5 minutes to pitch their community to you, most are forming and actively looking for new members, some communities need residents, or waiting lists! There will be time for questions, and if you've found 'the one' you now know who to contact!

Speakers
avatar for Karin Hoskin

Karin Hoskin

Executive Director, National Cohousing Association
I am the Executive Director for the Cohousing Association of the US. I live in the Wild Sage Cohousing Community in Boulder Colorado (for 15 years so far!)


Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria III

11:00am PDT

PANEL: Pay or Play
Participation and work issues are challenges for most communities. Two long-time cohousing residents with very different experiences in developing a “Pay or Play System” in their respective communities will share about the history, the processes utilized, and resulting outcome in trying to implement a more equitable way to get the work done and encourage participation.

Speakers
avatar for John Rymers

John Rymers

Highline Crossing Cohousing Community
John Rymers, M.A., LPC has been living at Highline Crossing Cohousing Community (www.highlinecrossing.org) since its inception in 1995. He is active in the community and is currently a member of the Buildings Team. John has witnessed the good, bad and the ugly of forming and maintaining... Read More →
avatar for Ronnie Rosenbaum

Ronnie Rosenbaum

Cohousing Professional, Harmony Village
Ronnie Rosenbaum has lived in a cohousing community in Golden, Colorado since 1997 and in an intentional community for five years in the 1970s.  A professional mediator with many years of experience assisting communities, organizations and families, she consults, facilitates and... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Directors

11:00am PDT

Q&A: Diversity in Cohousing
This panel will include a diverse group of folks who will share their experiences (both positive and not so positive ) of life in cohousing. A safe space to share true feelings and thoughts in relation to to helping Cohousing be a welcoming place to all.

Speakers
avatar for Alan O'Hashi

Alan O'Hashi

Whole Brain Thinker and General Do-Gooder, Boulder Community Media (BCM)
Alan O'Hashi spreads his storytelling methods to help communities target people they want through the power of story. After getting laid off a job after 9/11, the risk-taker decided to work for himself and make movies. He melded what he learned as a nonprofit development director... Read More →
avatar for Adesina Cameron

Adesina Cameron

Mortgage Loan Advisor, Fairway Independent Mortgage
Before coming to the Mortgage industry, Adesina spent most of her career working in natural food grocery, sustainability, social justice and healthy eating education. After buying her own home she was so impressed with the impact her mortgage broker made on her life that she decided... Read More →
avatar for Yana Ludwig

Yana Ludwig

Yana Ludwig Training and Consulting
Yana Ludwig is a cooperative culture pioneer, intentional communities advocate and anti-oppression activist. She serves on the board of the Fellowship for Intentional Community and works as a local chapter coach for Showing Up for Racial Justice. Her latest book, Together Resilient... Read More →
avatar for Crystal Byrd Farmer

Crystal Byrd Farmer

Diversity Consultant
I'm Black, polyamorous, autistic, and disabled. I work with intentional communities and sex positive organizations to help them be more inclusive. Educating is easy for me; embodiment is not! I'm excited to be volunteering with the Consent Team.



Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Broadway II

11:00am PDT

The Intentional Community Social Movement and how Cohousing plays (or can play) a part
Cohousing is part of a family of models for community that include housing co-ops, ecovillages, land trusts, as well as Transition Towns, cooperative businesses, and more. This session will explore the important niche Cohousing fills in this movement and how it can have an even greater impact on world.

Speakers
avatar for Sky Blue

Sky Blue

Fellowship for Intentional Community
Sky Blue is the Executive Director of the Fellowship for Intentional Community. Over the last 20 years he has lived in, worked with, and consulted for numerous communal and cooperative groups and organizations, and has visited dozens of communities and cooperatives, in the US and... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Council

11:00am PDT

Creating Traditions through Celebrations and Ceremony
How do people in cohousing create traditions? How do we mark the major life events of our members, such as births, coming-of-age, marriages and deaths? How do we celebrate community events, such as groundbreaking or community anniversaries? How about birthdays, new jobs or people moving in or moving out?

Speakers
avatar for Catya Belfer

Catya Belfer

Catya Belfer is part of Mosaic Commons, about an hour west of Boston in Berlin, Massachusetts.   Cat works as a techie project manager and also builds websites for cohousing groups and others. She is passionate about building connections between people and has been involved in intentional... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Studio

11:00am PDT

Getting the Work Done (2 of 2)
Mary Kraus, Architect for and a 25-year resident of Pioneer Valley Cohousing and Lyons Witten, 25-year resident chairman of the buildings and grounds committee of Pioneer Valley Cohousing, will present useful information on how to actually keep your community running smoothly. From various work systems, to mundane meal sign-up sheets and complicated replacement reserve studies, they have lived the experiment and dream of cohousing! With plenty of time for questions, and a wealth of insights and examples from various communities, this session will give you valuable tools to set up an effective work system for your community.

Speakers
avatar for Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus

Mary Kraus Architect
Mary Kraus, AIA, LEED BD+C is a cohousing architect and facilitator who has worked with over two dozen communities in the US and Canada over the past thirty years. She was a founding board member of the Cohousing Network (now Coho US). She lives at Pioneer Valley Cohousing, the first... Read More →
avatar for Lyons Witten

Lyons Witten

Pioneer Valley Cohousing
Lyons Witten, 24-year resident, chairman of the Buildings Grounds Circle and a member of the Finance Circle of Pioneer Valley Cohousing (Amherst, MA), will present useful information on how to keeping your community running smoothly.  From fascinating meal sign-up sheets to complicated... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Galleria I

11:00am PDT

Healthy Communities Evolve Across Time
Healthy communities need to balance honoring the past and the established procedures, while continually incorporating new people, fresh ideas and emerging leaders. Using insights from family systems thinking and participants historical story telling, participants will get a balcony view of their community and share insights they gain.

Speakers
avatar for Betsy Waters

Betsy Waters

Coaching4Communities
The Rev. Dr. Betsy Waters is a professional coach and organizational consultant, practicing that as a school psychologist, a UCC pastor, and now as a student seeking Professional Coaching Certification through the ICF.   She has created and facilitated leadership development groups... Read More →



Sunday June 2, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
Forum

12:30pm PDT

Structured Networking w/ Lunch
Closing lunch will be an opportunity for a moderated conversation with other members from your geographic region or specific affinity groups such as LGBTQ and POC. Please find the table that works best for you.

Sunday June 2, 2019 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
Grand Ballroom Hilton Portland Downtown

1:30pm PDT

Closing General Session - The Future of Cohousing PANEL
Where is cohousing headed? What can we expect in the coming years? Panelists will explore these questions in what is sure to be a fascinating look into the future.

Moderators
avatar for Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Co-Founder, Sociocracy For All
Jerry Koch-Gonzalez co-founded Sociocracy For All, an international movement-service organization that provides resources, training, and networking focused on non-oppressive egalitarian decision-making and governance. He co-authored the sociocracy handbook Many Voices One Song: Shared... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Eric Cress

Eric Cress

Principal, UD+P
An engineer and designer by training, Eric is drawn to innovative new ideas that make our communities better places to live. At UD+P, Eric concentrates on acquisition, development, and finance. He oversees budgets and the acquisition-to-construction phase of new projects.Before UD+P... Read More →
avatar for Charles Durrett

Charles Durrett

Architect, Author, McCamant & Durrett Architects
Architect and author Charles Durrett brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. He pioneered the cohousing movement in North America, and teaches architects and community leaders how to start successful cohousing communities around the globe. Durrett authored The Senior... Read More →
avatar for Dr. Helen Jarvis

Dr. Helen Jarvis

Newcastle University
Helen Jarvis is Reader in Social Geography at Newcastle University. She has published three books on cities, housing, gender and work/life balance, and numerous articles and book chapters on pragmatic utopias, alternative visions of home and family life, and age-friendly community... Read More →
avatar for Grace Kim

Grace Kim

Principal Architect - Conference CoChair, Schemata Workshop
Grace Kim is co-chair of this year's Cohousing Conference and a founding principal of Schemata Workshop and began her architectural career in Chicago before returning home to Seattle. Grace is a consensus builder, helping her clients and project stakeholders envision how a completed... Read More →
avatar for Dana Pillai

Dana Pillai

Villager
Dana is a co-founder of a startup technology company that explores social interaction and its potential for the positive. Formerly at President at Delos, he led the research team that created the WELL Building Standard, a tool that addresses aspects of the built environment that impact... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 1:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
Grand Ballroom Hilton Portland Downtown

3:30pm PDT

Community Open Houses -
Seven cohousing communities will be holding open houses from 3:30 – 5 pm on Sunday June 2 (Green Grove  –  2 pm- 6 pm). Stop by after the Conference, meet more cohousers, take a tour, view homes and find out more about how cohousing really operates. To learn more about these communities, consider signing up for a Pre-Conference Bus Tour.  This page lists all open house communites with their address for directions as well as their websites.

Sunday June 2, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Off Site

3:30pm PDT

Unplugged Session w/ Katie
Katie McCamant, one of our respected experts, was there from the very beginning, helping Cohousing grow. Come to this session with your questions! Hear from Katie about lessons learned. An informal group chat.

Speakers
avatar for Katie McCamant

Katie McCamant

Architect, Author, CoHousing Solutions
Katie McCamant brings the depth and diversity of her 30+ years of experience as an architect, developer, and cohousing resident to her clients. She is coauthor of Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, the authoritative book which introduced cohousing to the English... Read More →


Sunday June 2, 2019 3:30pm - 5:00pm PDT
Galleria II
 
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