Better communities
through better business

Deliver is an innovative cooperative organization seeking novel ideas for remedying broad social issues by prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion.

With inspiration from creative contributors, Deliver focuses on targeted solutions for addressing such social and business challenges, including:

Economically challenged communities
Household energy costs
Supply chain diversity and inclusion
Employment diversity
Improved health & wellness
Positive environmental impact
Sustainable product & service lines

As a business cooperative, we believe the best ideas come from the collaboration of bright people working together to solve big problems. We also see great advantage in developing diversity deep through the business to build more sustainable future.

Why Deliver?

Consider this:

One in three

Americans
have no savings

and

46%

of Americans say they
do not have enough money
to cover a $400 emergency expense

yet,

nearly half

of consumers
can’t get an affordable loan
to cover an emergency

Our objective: level the playing field

By focusing on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), we aim to level the playing field and alleviate poverty in marginalized communities that are separated by economic resources, further upset by times of uncertainty and disruption.

Diversity • Equity • Inclusion + Poverty

DEI and Poverty are two issues that impact every individual, organization and community. Social determinants of poverty contribute to imbalanced economic development among communities. And issues of DEI fuel those disparities, and it's important to look beyond the surface to get to a full advantage in the marketplace, among regulators and for greater engagement among your members.

Myth:

Poverty is a singular, uniform problem.

Poverty is not the same for everyone. Different characteristics of poverty call for different approaches and remedies.

While we can’t tackle all social determinants at once, the Deliver model allows us to work together to determine effective paths for nurturing ideas built on diversity, equity and inclusion to alleviate poverty, improve lives and create value for households, small businesses and communities.

How does Deliver work?

Innovation

Collaboration of new voices to address poverty with DEI

Research

Test ideas for effectiveness and gauge potential success

Application

Deliver a successful product solution to the market

Delivering Success

The goal of Deliver’s business model is to help every community and each organization and their members. To ensure success, all ideas considered by Deliver are tested against seven key success factors. All product solutions must be:

1.

Inclusive: Open and available to all members
2.

Scalable: Available to as many members as possible
3.

Relevant: Applicable and make a material difference in members’ lives
4.

Innovative: Participation of creative thinkers and untraditional approaches
5.

Sustainable: Endurance to explore opportunities and address long-term challenges
6.

Marketable: Competitive delivery, price and experience
7.

Reasonable: Easily understood and practical

Current Projects

Project Deliver serves as a catalyst for ideas and initiatives bringing DEI to the forefront while easing the pains of poverty for individuals and families in our communities. Here’s what we are working on now:

The burden of high energy bills in low-income households and communities of color can cause some to transition into economic poverty or extend their duration in those conditions of distress. More than 90% of the persistent poverty counties are served by electric cooperatives, where energy burden is most intense. In five states, leading electric cooperatives are offering inclusive utility investments in home energy upgrades that generate economic benefits for member-owners.

Learn more

About us

Who is Deliver?

Deliver is the product of two not-for-profit, member-owned cooperatives with the courage to propose big ideas and the aspiration to solve big problems.

We see a myriad of social challenges and opportunities to improve them with a get-it-done attitude, backed by tried and true methods of deployment. Simply put, we aspire to address the complex issues that separate us and use them to bring us together in resolution.

Leading with cooperative roots, Deliver takes an egalitarian approach to addressing real member needs by focusing on DEI. This collaborative approach creates opportunity for more cooperatives, and other public, private, non-profit and for-profit organizations, to join us in bettering individuals’ lives and building better, more sustainable businesses, products and services.

To see some sound research on the impacts of DEI, you can read the reports in the downloads section.

Please provide us with an email address in order to access the reports*:

* We will not share your information with any third parties; any contact by us will be extremely limited.

Cooperatives

Seven Cooperative Principles serve as a foundation for a cooperative’s operations. These Cooperative Principles guide us as institutions and as individuals.

Voluntary membership

Democratic member control

Member economic participation

Autonomy and independence

Education, training, and information

Cooperation among cooperatives

Concern for community

Deliver’s philosophy is based specifically on the 6th Cooperative Principle, Cooperation Among Cooperatives — the spirit of the cooperative movement.

As experts in cooperative energy and cooperative finance, Roanoke Electric Cooperative and Local Government FCU have joined together to make Deliver, LLC a reality.

Key Players

Curtis Wynn

After working so closely with my colleagues on the Project Deliver team, I have a clear understanding of how we can “Better Communities through Better Business”. Poverty and exclusivity are two very real issues hampering many rural and urban communities today. The collective capacity that electric cooperatives and credit unions have to address these issues is clearly beyond anything I could have imagined. We are better equipped than any other entities to provide creative solutions to make a difference for the people who “own” our organizations – and that is extremely exciting. As I get closer to the end of my 40 plus year electric cooperative career, I want to be a part of something special that impacts the lives of those who are less fortunate than most. Project Deliver is that something special.

Maurice Smith

Contact info

I have had the privilege of working in the cooperative sector for more than 40 years. My current role with Local Government and Civic Federal Credit Unions expands my core beliefs in the connection between financial resources and quality of life. My exposure with North Carolina local governments cements my perspective that real solutions are possible when communities are empowered with practical tools. A business model that empowers its members to engage in democratic, self-help, classless principles—in my view—is superior to other approaches. As a fan of cooperative ideals, and a self-proclaimed cooperative nerd, I am avid about my beliefs. Project Deliver exerts a few truths. First, everyone wants a quality life. Second, for various reasons, some of our neighbors face stubborn, persistent resistance to achieving life improvements. Finally, we have the wherewithal to help people rise above their station. Project Deliver convenes the best minds and most optimistic people to make a real difference.

Denise Gatling

During my 30-year career in corporate finance and diversity, I provided an interfaced expertise that advanced the economic development of domestic and international communities through the richness of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Without question, entities that foster diversity and embrace inclusion open doors for a stronger innovative environment, an increased financial performance and an enhanced problem solving community. In that spirit, Deliver creates the ideal opportunity to incorporate DEI best practices for stronger, self-sustaining communities. I am delighted to be a part of it.

Michael Spink

Working in credit unions has allowed me to support individuals and families that don’t often get a break, working to move them along a path others may take for granted. With Deliver, we go even deeper. Deeper into facing challenges experienced by those marginalized by systems and structures that aren’t designed to work for them, and in doing so, we’re building better businesses for our communities and the people in them—after all, we’re all in this together.

Adam Schwartz

I am a true believer that cooperatives offer a real solution for the challenges we face. As both an economic model and social association co-ops allows us to put our values into practice to serve our communities. I am so excited about Deliver because it harnesses the power of two of the largest co-op sectors, electric co-ops and credit unions. I have worked with co-ops in all sectors over the past 30 years constantly looking for ways to make sustainable progress in the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Deliver gives that vision a strategy to execute.

Better communities
through better business

Better communities
through better business