Four Co-op Leaders Named For Induction Into Hall of Fame

WASHINGTON—Four outstanding cooperative leaders—Pete Crear of the Credit Union National Association, Robert Kabat, formerly with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and the late housing co-op advocates Charles and Eva Rappaport—will receive the cooperative community’s highest honor next April 20, when they are inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame recognizes those whose contributions to cooperative enterprise are “genuinely heroic.” Two committees of national co-op leaders select the inductees, who typically draw a stand-room only crowd to the Ballroom of Washington’s National Press Club for the induction ceremony.

The Cooperative Hall of Fame was established by the National Cooperative Business Association and is now administered by the Cooperative Development Foundation, a national foundation that uses cooperatives to help people improve their lives. The Hall of Fame is housed in the offices of the National Cooperative Business Association in Washington but can also be visited on the web at www.heroes.coop.

For sponsorship or registration information, contact Liz Bailey at 202-383-5459 or ebailey@cdf.coop. Following are detailed descriptions of the accomplishments of Crear, Kabat and the Rappaports.

Pete Crear
Executive Vice President of External Relations

Credit Union National Association
Pete Crear has been a passionate promoter of cooperative enterprise for more than 40 years. The breadth of his contribution is reflected in the words used to describe him: organizer, statesman, educator, ambas-sador, advocate, mentor and leader. His skill as an organizer resulted in the establishment of numerous credit unions in many states, including close to 20 in metropolitan Detroit alone, which brought the first stable, non-predatory financial services to the inner city and its mostly minority population. His states-manship has been evident throughout his career as he repeatedly demonstrated an ability to read the politics of situations, apply his senses of humor and fairness, and broker compromises that produced solutions. His commitment to education is evident in the major role he played in establishing CUNA’s partnership with the National Endowment of Financial Education, which now brings financial education to nearly 1,000 high schools across the country. Crear has been CUNA’s respected and effective ambassador to the credit union and cooperative communities, as well as to the consumer community. His leadership in the Consumer Federation of America has raised consumer awareness of all cooperatives. As an advocate, he has convinced others of the role of credit unions in addressing the nation’s economic and social problems, he has forged coalitions to bring legislative support on issues across all cooperative sectors and he has been a champion of initiatives like the .coop Internet domain, which is positioning co-ops for 21 st century communication. Pete has been a mentor to individuals throughout his career and was instrumental in creating the African-American Credit Union Coalition’s mentoring program. As a leader, Pete has had the vision and commitment to lead both credit unions and the national cooperative community through periods of intense change and dynamic opportunity.

Robert “Bob” Kabat

Robert Kabat Associates
Bob Kabat is credited with creating a culture of continuing cooperative education within the electric cooperative industry. As Director of NRECA’s Management Services Department for 40 years, Kabat put in place the management programs and consulting services that have enabled electric and telephone cooperatives to thrive in a changing utility environment. No single person has been more instrumental in the development of effective governance and management expertise within this cooperative sector. Literally thousands of locally elected directors have benefited from the “institutes” that he established to provide training on the duties and responsibilities of board members. Still in use today is the unique model he developed, with assistance from the Rural Electric Management Development Council, for evaluating management effectiveness for general managers and CEOs. He developed the Management Internship Program, a six-week university-based training program on all aspect of electric cooperative management that graduates more than 60 students a year and is conducted at the business school of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Recognizing the essential role played by local attorneys as advisors to cooperative management and boards, he created an annual forum and established a periodical, Legal Reporting Service, to keep them apprised of emerging issues and was instrumental in establishing the Electric Cooperative Bar Association. He developed a consulting service to help NRECA’s members create effective wage and salary plans that continue to allow electric cooperatives nationwide to attract and retain highly talented employees. Through NRECA’s International Program, also established by Kabat, more than 70 million people in 49 countries have benefited from assistance that brings electricity to rural areas through the electric cooperative model. Kabat has also made the time to serve on the boards of NCBA, CDF, CFA, and National Consumers League and as a delegate to the board of CARE. Now retired, Bob continues to provide consulting services and advice to the cooperative community.

Charles & Eva Rappaport (Deceased)

Housing Cooperative Volunteers
For more than 30 years, Charles and Eva Rappaport were tireless volunteers and influential leaders of the New York City and national housing cooperative community. Charlie served as president of the Federation of 213s—later the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives—founded in the 1950s by 100 moderate-income co-ops. Eva served as the organization’s executive director, working as editor, writer, conference coordinator and membership director in their home office. In a city where a third of all ownership housing is in cooperatives, Charlie was a strong advocate and made sure housing cooperatives were heard on issues like asbestos, lead, energy and citywide labor contracts, as well as real estate tax abatements for veterans and senior citizens. While much of their focus was on New York City, the Rappaports advocacy has been felt throughout the country. Charlie directed his attention to the national level, where he led the Federation’s successful campaign to separate 213 premiums from all other FHA insurance funds and create the Cooperative Management Housing Insurance Fund as a true mutual. Forty years later, the Fund is still returning patronage dividends to Section 213 cooperative housing corpor-ations. Influenced by the Federation’s advocacy and the example of New York City’s successful 213 program, Congress passed legislation in the late 1950s that allowed use of market rate Section 213 insured mortgages to convert rental properties to cooperative home ownership. Several years later, Congress further expanded the co-op housing program and enabled the construction of another 150,000 units of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families. Firm believers in the power of an educated cooperative board, the Rappaports made training of housing cooperative boards one of their top priorities and for years conducted training through National Association of Housing Cooperatives. Both Charlie and Eva served on the NAHC board until their deaths in 1997 and 2000, respectively.