Who We are
The Community Purchasing Alliance (CPA) is a network of local cooperatives that leverage the buying power of community institutions to accelerate progress towards sustainability, equity, and justice.
Our story begins after hearing the same story over and over again from local houses of worship in Washington, DC: “We spend more money on electricity bills than our clergy’s salary.”
What started as a 12 party collective energy purchase in 2011 grew to become a full-fledged cooperative in 2014. Today the Community Purchasing Alliance is a successful network of purchasing co-ops. We have local co-ops in Washington DC, Massachusetts, and Ohio as well as cooperative purchasing in Connecticut, Illinois, and across the country.
As a network, we support over $20 million in annual purchasing, with more than half supporting local small businesses and those owned by people of color. Schools, retirement communities, housing co-ops, and other non-profits add their purchasing power to the congregations who continue to benefit from the savings, insights, and solidarity our group purchasing programs provide.