SkyDeck Education
We Build Cooperatives
Through Education
Imagine a community where people don’t just talk about starting a cooperative. They leave the classroom with a team, a plan, and a clear path to funding. Our courses combine structure with hands-on practice, so every session helps move a real project forward instead of just adding another transcript.
The Problem & How We Solve It: Facilitators, Circles, and Credit Unions
Start a Co-op Today!
Most programs train people who already work for a cooperative. We train people to start one. Colleges and credit unions both want to build member capacity, but they rarely connect their efforts. SkyDeck Education brings them together with a clear process that turns trained people into a funded, active group.
Educational Partnership Circle:
Built With Institutions, Not Around Them
Every cooperative begins with an Educational Partnership Circle, a direct partnership between TREC and a college or university. The school keeps its curriculum, credentials, and its name on the work. TREC supplies SkyDeck Education, the software that powers the training. No outside vendor takes over the program. There is no long-term revenue cut. The institution remains the owner, and we provide the platform that enables the program.
Facilitators and Content Creators: Trained Side by Side
Within this partnership, the Educational Partnership Circle trains two types of people on the same platform, each with tailored coursework. Facilitators learn how to design the learning experience. Content Creators learn how to deliver it, both on camera and online. They use the same circle and software, but develop two different skill sets.
Facilitation Circle: Where the Plan Becomes Real
After training, Facilitators and Content Creators form a Facilitation Circle. The Educational Partnership Circle continues to support their learning. Next, architects, developers, and future project leaders join in. They use SkyDeck Education to connect the coursework to a real plan, not just a hypothetical one.
Credit Unions: Where the
Funding Lives
Credit unions complete the process. They provide the marketplace where the Facilitation Circle and Content Creators can access funding tools to turn a plan into property, equipment, or land.
WHY THIS MATTERS NOW
Education Without a Path Is Just Information
Many programs explain what a cooperative is. Few show people how to start one, and even fewer connect that learning to the credit unions and funding tools a new cooperative needs from the very beginning.
A trained Facilitator can set up a working Facilitation Circle in just a few months. Building what comes next, like a farm, health center, or equipment co-op, takes years, just like any real project. Our work ends where theirs begins, so we can bring this path to the next community.
Learning by Consent, Not by Grade
Cooperative Learning already encourages people to learn together rather than compete. We redesigned it using Sociocracy, the same decision-making model that guides the cooperatives created through this education. A skill is not certified by a test alone; it is recognized by peers who have seen someone use it.