Zen Trenholm is the Local Initiatives Organizer with the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) building capacity, partnerships, and resources to scale employee ownership across the country. He currently supports the Legacy Business Initiative which focuses on preserving small businesses through conversions to employee ownership.

Prior to DAWI he was an organizer for climate justice and a director at the California Student Sustainability Coalition. At UC Berkeley, he co-founded the Student Environmental Resource Center and after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Cooperative Business Development, he returned to his alma mater to launch a course on cooperative entrepreneurship.