Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductee, Tom Webb Reflects on Advancing Cooperative Education and Global Leadership

September 18, 2025 - This episode of Everything Co-op continues our tribute to the 2025 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees with a special conversation featuring Tom Webb. Tom shares insights from his lifelong work advancing cooperative education and global leadership and explores the enduring value and unique advantages of the cooperative business model. Tom Webb’s career spans cooperative sectors in Canada and the United States, from grocery to IT, multistakeholder co-ops to credit unions. His most enduring legacy lies in education, a cornerstone of the Co-operative Identity. As Director of the Extension Department at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Webb recognized the need for a graduate program focused on cooperative management. After years of persistence and collaboration, he established the Master of Management: Co-operatives and Credit Unions (MMCCU) at Saint Mary’s University, now the world’s leading English-language graduate program in cooperative business, offered fully online. The program’s success, built on Webb’s networking and support from co-op leaders in Canada, the U.S., and the UK, laid the foundation for the International Centre for Co-operative Management (ICCM). Today, ICCM offers degrees, certificates, executive training, study tours, and applied research, and is governed by the Co-operative Management Education Co-operative (CMEC), an international multistakeholder co-op with 80 members in 10 countries. Webb also founded the Centre of Excellence in Accounting and Reporting for Co-operatives (CEARC), advancing co-op specific financial and sustainability reporting. Though officially retired, Webb continues teaching, consulting, and writing. His book, From Corporate Globalization to Global Cooperation, captures a lifetime devoted to advancing cooperation. For his lifelong dedication and personification of cooperative values, Tom Webb will be inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame on October 9 in Washington, DC. For tickets visit Heroes.coop website.