Louis Doering Keynote Luncheon
at the NFU College Conference on Cooperatives
held annually in conjunction with CoMinnesota and
hosted by the Ralph K. Morris Foundation
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Each year during National Farmers Union's premier cooperative education event, cooperative guests from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) area join the conference participants for casual networking over lunch before hearing from the conference keynote.
Brief introductions also provide the guests in attendance--many of them members of CoMinnesota, a cross-sector group promoting cooperative engagement--with updates on their cooperative colleagues and their organizations.
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The Louis Doering Keynote Luncheon is typically held on the Friday afternoon of the NFU College Conference on Cooperatives in mid-February. Contact the Ralph K. Morris Foundation to learn more.
About Louis (Louie) Doering
In 2024, the National Farmers Union and the Ralph K. Morris Foundation recognized the legacy of a lifelong cooperative convener & conversation starter, Louis Doering, whom we unexpectedly lost in March of 2023, by renaming the NFU College Conference on Cooperatives (CCOC) keynote lucheon in his honor. You can read more about Louie here.
Louie Doering was key to the origin story of this joint luncheon which introduced area cooperators to the conference's college student participants--and to each other--first through the New Visions-New Ventures (NVNV) group back in 2002 and later through CoMinnesota.
Having invited Senator David Landis to speak at his credit union's annual meeting, Louie wondered if the Senator's historical portrayal of Senator George Norris--a cooperative champion--might also be of interest to the CCOC and Twin Cities cooperative audience. The CCOC invited local cooperators from NVNV to join the students for infomal networking over lunch before the keynote, and a new tradition was born. Each year, a luncheon provides a great opportunity for students to interact with cooperative guests, for those cooperative guests to meet and catch up with each other, and for everyone gets to hear a great speaker.
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It seemed fitting to recognize Louie's conviviality, his hospitality, and his championing of the next generation of cooperators in this way. Louie always called the NVNV guest speakers "conversation starters." We carry on that cooperative conversation, as Louie, if he were still with us, would no doubt encourage us to do--with his characteristic chuckle and warm smile.
