CoLab was founded in 2010 in Ithaca, New York by Ralph Cutler and Rylan Peery, and incorporated as a worker-owned, self-governed cooperative in 2011. From the first, our mission has been to use technology to create and support social, economic, and environmental justice. We believe in our clients, and their ability to effect change.
Our first international CoLabr joined in 2012 and today we are 100% virtual, with workers in Taiwan, India, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Canada, the United States, Colombia and Brazil.
Our Values
Collaboration
All of us are better than any of us.
Creativity
Freedom to imagine = fulfillment
Inclusivity
All perspectives are better than one
Justice
What gets us up in the morning
Community
Social connection = joy
Heart
Lead with compassion
Innovation
Otherwise, it’s just a job
Mindfulness
Stop. Breathe. Listen.
Transparency
The alternative is profit at all costs. Ick.
A mosaic of our diverse, global team expressing their unique personalities with smiles, hobbies, or focused looks.
What our clients say
The value of what CoLab has built is incredible. I have a solid, stable, professional communication apparatus. That is so important, because it is the number one way that people engage with me who want to hire me, such as art collectors, museums, and universities.
Favianna Rodriguez Artist and Activist
In our partnership with Colab we quickly learnt that, from a design perspective, it wasn’t just taking existing lessons and putting them on the site. That didn’t translate; it was too flat and didn’t engage. CoLab helped us nuance our storytelling and enhanced what we were trying to do.
Benton Greene Program Manager Apollo Theater
When we’ve needed it, CoLab has been able to slot in and inject resources. We don’t hand off projects; we work together on them, but not to the detriment of our daily work. This whole system of team augmentation has just been really smooth.
Tatjana Salcedo Digital Comms Director University of Vermont
