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Due to COVID-19 we are switching to a Virtual Meetup event instead. For those outside of Melbourne, take this as an opportunity for everyone around Australia to gather around this month!

This event will be recorded

In the background of the banking royal commission starting at 2017 and the uncovering of banking misconduct by the big four banks in Australia, there is a need for the public to be able to trust that corporations will work in the interest of all stakeholders.

For this month of March, Designing Open Democracy will be joined by Anthony McMullen from Co-operative Bonds, to talk about how we can step beyond Corporate Social Responsibility towards a corporate structure with a fundamentally more democratic economic structure.

The first half of this event with be a short primer by Anthony McMullen to get newcomers up to speed about what Co-operatives is and why it matters.

Afterwards a panel led by Anthony McMullen will be held to discuss about the state of co-operatives in Australia and how co-operatives can gain traction against traditional forms of business structures.

# Speakers Biography

## Antony McMullen (Co-operative Bonds)

Antony McMullen is a Melbourne based co-operative entrepreneur and expert in co-op development, policy and enterprise for common good, with qualifications in social impact (social entrepreneurship) and community development.

Co-founder of Co-operative Bonds, his consultancy specialises in offering expert advice and support to help build and grow many other co-operatives.

He is also secretary and co-founder of Co-op Incubator, as well as co-founder of the cooperative network in Melbourne - 888 Co-operative Causeway.

In addition he also collaboratively prepared the Co-operative and Mutual Enterprise (CME) governance framework for the Australian Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals in 2018.

Serving as Vice-President of the Victoria Day Council (that administers the Victorian of the Year award), he also holds qualifications in social impact (social entrepreneurship) and community development.

## Sean Bezard (Earthworker Cooperative)

Sean Bezard is a membership officer at Earthworker Cooperative in addition to being an Earthworker representative on the Redgum Cleaning Coop board.

Volunteering with Earthworker for 6 years in a range of fields in every capacity, he hopes to bridge the divide between economic and environmental concerns.

Most of all, he is driven by a strong belief in every project with a core philosophy that emphasizes the importance of a collaborative economy to foster a more holistic and inclusive democracy.

## Ian McBurney (bHive)

Ian McBurney is an ecological sustainability educator, entrepreneur, facilitator, speaker, MC and author.

His specialty is change practice: how do we inspire others around us?
Ian spent 5 years in the early 2000s at Vox Bandicoot (http://voxbandicoot.com.au/) in Melbourne, delivering the famous environmental theatre program to ten thousand students, workplace culture change training to six thousand staff in local government and manufacturing.

You can find him on Twitter (https://twitter.com/liveecological), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Liveecological/), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmcburney/), or at www.ianmcburney.com (http://www.ianmcburney.com/)

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# Event Title
Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility towards Economic Democracy (Cooperatives)

# Event Date
2020-03-27 @ 7pm AEST (8am GMT)

# Location
Online. To join, head to http://live.designingopendemocracy.com

# Podcast
Also take note that we now have a podcast channel called "Designing Open Democracy". You can find us in any of your favourite podcast app.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/designing-open-democracy/id1492656241

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