Central England Co-op President named in ‘Top 100 Women co-operators in the world’ list

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 20/10/2020


The President of Central England Co-op has been named as one of the ‘Top 100 Women co-operators in the world’ by a leading organisation.

Elaine Dean, who has served as Society President for the past three years, features as part of the distinguished list by She-Coops, a self-help movement aimed at raising women’s active participation in co-operatives around the world.

The former teacher, who lives in Mickleover with her husband Peter, has had a passion for the co-operative movement from a very young age and takes great pride in showcasing the work of Central England Co-op not just across the UK, but across the globe.

She also holds the unique honour as she is the first woman from Derby to be President of Central England Co-operative.

Elaine said: “I was delighted to hear that I was named as one of the ‘Top 100 Women co-operators in the world’ by She-Coops as it reflects well on Central England Co-op and helps continue our aims to showcase the amazing work we do for our members and communities on a global scale.”

Elaine was elected Central England Co-op President in May 2017 and was then re-elected to the role in both 2018 and 2019.

She is responsible for the leadership of the Board to ensure the Society carries out its commitment to be a successful co-operative business and to serve the best interests of the members by determining policies and strategies.

Elaine is also proud of her work to better promote women and gender equality within Central England Co-op and beyond by being part of the Co-operative Women’s Challenge 2020 and presiding over three Women’s Voices events.

Away from the Society, Elaine takes on several other interesting roles including being vice-Chair of Co-op News, the industry publication that reports on the movement across the globe.

She has also been involved with football supporters’ trusts and was the first elected Chair of the Rams Trust. She was also Vice Chair of umbrella body Supporters Direct.

Joy Abasi-Ubong, She-Coops Global Director, said: “Elaine Dean is an enthusiastic personality and leading global influencer for Women Development in Co-operatives. She is an Astute, Assertive, and Affectionate (AAA) leader of one of UK's leading and reputable Co-operatives.”

 

Notes to editors

Picture caption: Elaine Dean, Central England Co-op Society President.

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.

 

Co-operatives have always been there for their communities; they were formed to protect them and help them flourish. 

 

Our 7,550 colleagues who serve Members and customers work hard to ensure that co-operative values, principles and spirit flow through everything we do to help support and improve our local communities.

 

Owned by hundreds of thousands of Members, we have over 400 trading outlets across 16 counties including West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. 

 

We are proud of our reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.

 

We invest a percentage of our trading profit into local communities through our Community Dividend Fund scheme, have donated over £1.3 million to our corporate charity partner Dementia UK and also operate a pioneering food redistribution partnership with FareShare Midlands so unsold food goes to those in need.

 

Visit www.centralengland.coop for more information or follow us on Facebook or Twitter using @mycoopfood

 

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

 

Phone - 01543 421390

 

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop