Esther West

Office Hours:  Tuesdays from 3 pm - 4 pm. Email Professor West for Zoom links for office hours or to schedule an appointment.

Biography

Esther West brings a life-long passion environmental and community development from urban planning, worker-cooperative and academic perspectives. Besides being a Lecturer in the Environmental Studies Program at SF State, this proud Xicana/x is a worker-owner and co-founder of Ajani Cooperative, where she supports cooperatives and researches with Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard of CUNY. In her previous position as Cooperative Development Specialist at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, Esther provided technical assistance to cooperative conversions, home care, and other cooperatives, conducted market analysis, and researched Latinx cooperatives, national cooperative development, and created several databases and analytical cooperative maps. She additionally brings five years of first-hand worker ownership experience from Equal Exchange and various urban planning and political engagement experiences, such as primary data collection and planning analysis for Cleveland Metroparks and Cincinnati's Tri-State Trails. Esther holds a Masters in Urban Planning and Environmental Studies from Cleveland State University and Bachelors from Xavier University, and her research has been published in various academic publications. She is currently on the Board of MadWorC, Listen Up! Youth Media and is Vice President of the Board of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives.