Meet the Board of Directors
Last updated
Last updated
Patron Member | 2023 - 2025
Nick Smallwood was born in Washington DC on November 1960 and is now CEO & President of Courier Corporation of Hawaii (CCH), which he has been since January 2000
Mr. Smallwood sits on the boards of Western Motor Tariff Bureau and the Hawaii Executive Association. He has three sons, David, Connor, Pierce.
Mr. Smallwood is also responsible for the start up of several companies. As a consultant to individuals seeking guidance and counseling, he helped Accenture Courier of Dallas, Texas, Courier Connection of Los Angeles, Tags Hawaii of Honolulu, Mainland Express of Honolulu, Garden Isle of Kauai and recently CCH Kauai, all achieving great success.
Mr. Smallwood grew up in Washington DC and then as a young adult resided in South Central Los Angeles. With no money for college and no formal training he still managed to become a young entrepreneur who knew growing up that hard work and common sense would be his foundation and that his will would get him where he dreamed of going.
Camille is working to build a democratic economy in service to US social justice movements including organizations advancing Black liberation, immigrant rights, food justice, and the US labor movement. She specializes in cooperative start-up development, managing complex worker-centered initiatives, supporting existing businesses to become worker-owned, as well as policy advocacy and drafting.
In partnership with Chicago organizers, Camille helped found ChiFresh Kitchen, a worker cooperative food service contracting business which is owned and determined primarily by formerly incarcerated folks living in the south & west sides of Chicago. She is currently a nonvoting shareholder and management consultant for ChiFresh.
Camille is also a board member of Shared Capital Cooperative, Urban Growers Collective, EG Woode, Obran Cooperative, and the Interaction Institute for Social Change. She is a member of the Council of Cooperative Economists and an advisor for Certified Employee Owned. She is an executive fellow with the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, where she co-directs the Project on Unions and Worker Ownership with Sanjay Pinto.
Before starting Upside Down Consulting, Camille served as the Associate Director of The ICA Group, the Director of Field Building at the Democracy at Work Institute and the Director of Research at the National Center for Employee Ownership. She has a law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law where she was awarded a human rights fellowship and graduated cum laude.
Umesh Manwara, is a commerce graduate, from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Growing up in the middle of rough terrain of Maharashtra, I developed a deep appreciation for nature and the thrill of exploring new trails on two wheels. My passion for off road motorbikes ignited during my teenage years and has remained unwavering ever since.
Currently, I hold the position of Site Lead - Manager at Kalindee Home Health in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. In this role, I oversee the smooth operation of processes and provide assistance to teams as needed. Alongside my managerial duties, I manage various HR responsibilities including recruiting new hires, facilitating onboarding processes, handling payroll, organizing team-building activities, addressing employee concerns, ensuring optimal resource utilization, and conducting regular one-on-one sessions with process executives to drive progress effectively.
My involvement with OBRAN commenced through a series of organizational transitions involving Epitome, Apollo Home Health, Kalindee Health Care, and ultimately OBRAN.
To me, OBRAN represents more than just a professional connection; it symbolizes a shared dedication to constructing a better economy founded on democracy, solidarity, humanity, innovation, and balance to ensure ongoing growth and prosperity for employees and communities.
My decision to run for the board stems from the opportunity it presents to explore and learn about OBRAN—a transformative force in the world of business and ownership that embodies values of equity, cooperation, and community impact. As a worker-owned cooperative, OBRAN serves as a beacon of empowerment for its members, customers, and communities. Its essence lies in fostering profitable, useful, and impactful businesses that act as catalysts for positive change. Through its distinctive model of worker ownership and governance, OBRAN offers individuals the chance to share in profits and actively engage in decision-making processes.
Greg Beyna is a jack of all trades. He’s made a living as a tour guide in our nation’s capital city, driving a forklift for a big box retailer, fundraising for his alma mater, coordinating volunteers for a small non-profit, and working as a temp for a variety of workplaces before becoming a staffing manager himself. Currently he is serving Direct Support Professionals in central Maryland as the lead of Core Staffing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
I am an experienced attorney and educator with degrees from Pennsylvania State University (BA Sociology) and the University of Notre Dame Law School (JD).
Prior to joining Obran, I was General Counsel of Seed Commons, Equal Exchange and the ICA Group. I also have worked with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, the African Development Bank, New Communities Inc and the Open University of Tanzania. In my private practice I have represented Downtown Crenshaw Rising in their attempt to purchase the $140 million Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall, the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, the Cross Atlantic Chocolate Collective, Us Lifting US, and N’COBRA among other social impact and economic justice organizations.
Currently I serve on the board of directors of the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast, Coops for a Better World, and the International African Arts Festival.
I was the 2021 inductee into the Cooperative Hall of Fame and a recent recipient of the Malcolm X Black Unity Award. I live in Philadelphia with my wife and teenage daughter.
I have known Obran from its conceptual inception as I was one of Joseph’s original thought partners. Since then, it has been exciting, inspirational and fruitful to witness and contribute to Obran’s amazing growth.
As a member of the board, I will focus on Education and Governance and mostly on providing governance education. Continuous education is one of the core principles of cooperative existence. Because of our size, growth rate and unique organizational design we need to be in constant awareness of and engagement with our governance structure. I favor Project Based Learning and participatory sharing as the preferred approaches to providing cooperative education.
