Sarah Kaplan
Because of Sarah’s interest in worker-owned and stakeholder-owned economies, Sarah has built an area of expertise in democratic business ownership. Sarah has served a wide variety of cooperatives, worker-ownership transactions, and community wealth-building vehicles. Sarah also regularly serves benefit corporations and other businesses seeking to make a difference, as well as nonprofits. In order to help these enterprises start, grow, and thrive, Sarah’s work includes legal entity structuring, and the strategy, compliance, and documentation needed to raise investment capital.
Sarah is a Sustainable Economies Law Center Fellow, and a long-time active member of the Sociocratic governance of the Cooperative Professionals Guild. Sarah has a J.D. Magna Cum Laude from Chicago-Kent College of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Princeton University.
Project Highlights
- Served as corporate counsel to Obran Cooperative, the first widely-known cooperative holding company in the U.S., upon its formation.
- Structured numerous preferred share investments into food cooperatives and worker cooperatives, such as Food Shed Co-op, Phoenix Food Co-op, ChiFresh Kitchen, Pecan Milk Co-op, and others.
- Assisted with drafting groundbreaking Regulation A+ offering by cooperative community development financial institution, Shared Capital Cooperative.
- Served as buyer’s counsel or seller’s counsel in over a dozen co-op conversion transactions. Examples include Nick’s Pizza in Oakland CA, Bluestem Building and Restoration in Chicago, IL, and New Prairie Construction in Urbana, IL.
- Counsel for several real estate investment cooperatives.
Publications and Media
- Author: Entity Choice (Chapter 3) and Securities/Capital Raising (Chapter 7) in the Sustainable Economies Law Center: Worker Cooperative Law Practice Guide (2021).
- Guest Instructor: Presentation: Legal and Tax Environment for Cooperatives, for Cooperation Works training given on October 15, 2021.
- Featured: Everything Co-op: Sarah Kaplan, Partner at Cutting Edge Counsel, Shares Legal Strategies that Impact & Empower Social Enterprises (September 15, 2022)
In addition to empowerment through cooperation, Sarah also loves gardening, riding bikes, and baking and eating pie.