MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Ahzjah “Netjer” Simons is a Cooperative Ecosystem Architect, Digital Transformation Strategist, Media Activist, and Community Wealth-Building Advocate with more than 20 years of leadership experience spanning cooperative enterprise, organizational management, communications, marketing, digital innovation, and community media.

 

She serves as President of DigiCo Global Business Solutions LLC, Founder of Co-op Cosmos Consulting, and Co-Executive Director of the Georgia Cooperative Development Center, where she helps communities, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and cooperatives develop the systems, strategies, and relationships necessary to build sustainable and equitable economies.

 

A recognized leader in the cooperative movement, Ahzjah made history as the first Black woman to lead Sevananda Natural Foods Market, one of the largest consumer food cooperatives in the Southeast. During her fifteen-year tenure in leadership roles including Board President, Member Services and Marketing Manager, and General Manager, she helped guide the organization through significant growth and one of the most challenging periods in its history, the COVID-19 pandemic, while strengthening operational resilience, member engagement, and values-centered leadership. She later became the first Black woman elected to the Board of Directors of National Cooperative Grocers and received the 2022 Consumer Cooperative Management Association Cooperative Service Award in recognition of her transformational leadership and contributions to the cooperative sector.

 

Through her work with Georgia Cooperative Development Center, Co-op Cosmos Consulting, and DigiCo Global, Ahzjah supports startup, emerging, and established enterprises with cooperative development, governance, strategic planning, digital readiness, technology adoption, shared services, and ecosystem design. Her work bridges traditional community development with future-focused approaches that help organizations adapt, innovate, and remain mission-aligned in a rapidly changing world.

 

With deep roots in community radio, media activism, and storytelling, Ahzjah believes that stories are essential infrastructure for social and economic change. Through projects such as Women in Cooperation and the development of Co-op Nation Network, she works to amplify diverse voices, share cooperative best practices, strengthen collaboration, and increase public awareness of community-centered ownership models.

 

Across all of her work, Ahzjah is committed to advancing cooperation, strengthening local economies, fostering digital resilience, and helping people and organizations build the capacity, culture, and connections needed to create lasting impact. Her work sits at the intersection of shared ownership, digital innovation, personal transformation, and narrative change—four powerful forces for building a more equitable and resilient future.

Read a message from Ahzjah here.