Community investor shares are a class of shares in a California 📝Worker Cooperative held by people who are not worker-members, giving them an economic stake in the business while leaving control with the workers.
📝California AB 816 created the class in 2015 to open worker cooperatives to outside capital without surrendering democratic control. A holder, called a 📝Community Investor, is "a person who is not a worker-member and who holds a share" (Corporations Code §12238). The cooperative's articles or bylaws set the terms. The shares can be structured to resemble preferred stock economically, with a defined dividend or return, but their voting power is limited to approval rights over a merger, sale of major assets, reorganization, or dissolution, and never includes the right to propose such an action (§12253). Patronage distributions remain reserved for 📝Worker-Members.
Selling these shares is a securities transaction. AB 816 raised California's registration exemption for membership sales from $300 to $1,000; broader offerings generally need qualification or another exemption. The 📝Key Changes to the Law place the class among the act's other reforms. This is a general explanation as of 2026, not legal advice.