<div>Megabrain Comics began as a tiny boutique shop in Rhinebeck and is now a multi-purpose gaming and work space in the heart of Red Hook. To celebrate our growth and changes over the past seven years, and to continue our mission of supporting historically underrepresented communities, we are planning on converting from a privately-owned comic book shop to a worker-owned cooperative!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What is a worker-owned cooperative?</strong>
</div>
<div>A worker cooperative (co-op) is a values-driven business that puts worker and community benefit at the core of its purpose.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They are businesses owned and run by the people who work in them, also referred to as members or worker-owners and they operate for the benefit of those members and the surrounding community.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Worker cooperatives empower employees by giving them direct ownership and control over their workplace, something that can be especially valuable for historically underrepresented workers. Decisions are made through a democratic process where all worker-owners have a say within the structure of a board of directors.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Cooperatives are a great way to bring democracy into the workplace. They can be built from scratch, but they can also be created by converting existing businesses into worker-owned cooperatives. For retiring business owners or entrepreneurs, selling a business to employees is a way to strengthen the business while getting a return on investment.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Some great examples of other worker-owned cooperatives include Red Emma’s Bookstore in Baltimore, MD, Alvarado St. Bakery in Petaluma, CA, and The Feminist Press publishing company in NYC and we want to follow on the path they’ve set!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What does this GoFundMe support?</strong>
</div>
<div>We will engage an experienced cooperative transition team that will work with us to ensure a smooth process.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Step 1: Transition Support</strong>
</div>
<div>Working with a transition team to and steering committee to guide the initial development and formation of a worker cooperative, including outlining decision-making processes.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Step 2: Financial &amp; Business Education</strong>
</div>
<div>Training and educating employees/the future worker-owners on basic money management &amp; budgeting and banking as well as educating them about basic financial statements.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Step 3: Documentation</strong>
</div>
<div>One of the most important steps to ensure a well running operation in the future is documentation of a management plan, a worker-owner handbook and cooperative by-laws. All things that take a lot of time and labor.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Step 4: Hand over the keys!</strong>
</div>
<div>Once the transition team assists in negotiating a final value and price of the business and the financing is secured, upon approval by the future worker-owners the keys are handed over and the board of directors is elected.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Step 5: Transition Support 2.0</strong>
</div>
<div>Once the worker co-op has been launched, it’s important to have regular check-ins about the business and to maintain clear and open communication. The structures put in place are not only for current employees but for future employees as well. You want to make sure there are processes in place for training those employees in what it means to be a cooperative and lay out plans for growth. All of this requires ongoing training and monitoring.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>So why are we fundraising?</strong>
</div>
<div>We want to start this move with a clean slate! Our fundraiser will help:
</div>
<ul>
<li>Pay off a lender loan acquired during our move to Red Hook
</li>
<li>Clear out outstanding vendor / utility invoices so new co-op owners can start without the burden of old unpaid invoices
</li>
<li>Give financial support to old and new workers during the transition period
</li>
</ul>
<div>Any help you may be able to offer in getting us to our goal would be very much appreciated by not only us, but also by the many friends, neighbors and families that depend on our shop as their third space and safe space.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you,
</div>
<div>Jean Michel
</div>
<div>Owner (For now), Megabrain Comics
</div>
<div>New York's Only Black-Owned Comic Book Store
</div>

Robert Pulvermacher

Catherine Viega

Anonymous

Rebecca Lurie

Tina Ye

Elizabeth Garrigue

LJ McCaw

Hazaiah Tompkins

Nick Edwards

Janine Babcock

Jesse Bodine

Dana Kalfas Bodine

Maxine Coleman

christine lee

Dana Larkin Mitchell

Allison Schmidt

Cynthia Blum

Timothy Scott

Help Megabrain Become A Worker-Owned Cooperative!

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

be_supporter_comments_enabled_supported_funds

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Megabrain Become A Worker-Owned Cooperative!

Still $10,455 to go. Help us build momentum.