Solid State X Toronto Chinatown Land Trust: Sharing Knowledge on Co-op Hubs and Community Organizing

Our friendship with the Toronto Chinatown Land Trust has developed into an energetic partnership to build economic and housing justice in Surrey and Toronto. We’re developing ways to pilot a customized culturally-relevant version of Solid State’s development model in Toronto’s Chinatown to support informal racialized worker-led businesses with a plan to launch 2 co-ops in 2025. We’re also engaging in mutually beneficial knowledge and skills exchange to support each others’ equitable housing and economic development goals.

Gaza Media Co-op Continues to Build Internal Systems

Gaza Media Co-op (GMC) is a web design, development, branding and graphic design co-op founded in Gaza, Palestine in collaboration with Solid State. GMC had been steadily working towards establishing their services, about to launch in 2023, only to be interceded by the genocide that continues to plague their homes and communities. Members of GMC are still working across several countries with the majority of their members staying in Gaza.

They relaunched their efforts in December 2025 with the leadership of Mohammed Zaqout and despite the ongoing atrocities and genocide in Gaza, GMC continues to push forward, despite everything. We have designed an innovative model to bring jobs, training, and revenue directly into Gaza while working with clients internationally and providing high quality services.

Solid State in Sousse, Tunisia

Solid State has now launched a Tunisian co-op project in collaboration with HIVE12 and Association Jeunes Leaders (AJL) in Sousse, Tunisia, and with the support of Islamic Relief Canada.

We will be launching our first two co-ops with low-income Tunisian women in 2025, with the goal of building a long-term relationship and co-op training hub.

Mahado Hassan and Syed Khawar will be travelling to Sousse in July 2025 to launch and lead this project, and Ichraf Jarry from HIVE12 will be visiting Surrey shortly afterwards so that each organization can learn from one another and build our strategies collaboratively.

ACAPC Lease Land and Start Working It

The African Canadian Agricultural Producers Co-operative (ACAPC) is a 17-person co-op that has recently signed a lease on a two-acre plot of land in Surrey that they are actively working on.

As founding worker-owner Edgar Ondati puts it:

“ACAPC has been extremely motivated by and proud of the support we have received, and humbled by the tools and resources we have been able to mobilize. So many of our members have been spending years trying to get into farming with no success, but together we have created amazing chemistry with our whole support team, and Solid State has provided a paradigm shift in engagement and support.

It has been challenging to get members to work around busy schedules and competing obligations – and we have been looking for land for a whole year - but now, working together on the land has been extremely energizing, and paired with the financial and planning support from Solid State, things are now moving very quickly, and we plan to bring produce to market very soon."

City in Colour Continue to Facilitate Safer Work Places for Racialized Women Workshops

“Racialized immigrant women in British Columbia often face significant barriers to fair employment, despite being educated and skilled. Many are pushed into low-wage, precarious jobs where they experience discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and limited awareness of their legal rights. A lack of trust in the legal system, language and cultural barriers, and precarious immigration status further prevent them from seeking help or asserting their rights in the workplace. These challenges—compounded by deskilling and systemic racism—leave many women vulnerable to exploitation and harm.”                                                                                                                                                - City in Colour Cooperative

This is why City in Colour continues to host workshops with partnering organizations to identify and make plans to improve working conditions for racialized women in different workplaces.

GenConnect’s Simran Garcha and Simranjit Gill won Surrey Board of Trade’s Top 25 Under 25 Award

GenConnect’s Simranjit Gill and Simran Garcha won Surrey' Board of Trade’s top 25 under 25 this May for their impactful work in the Surrey community. These two impressive young women have been anchors in the Solid State community since our early days and we’re extremely proud to see their work and experiences celebrated by a wider network of professionals!