NYC School of Data 2026

Erik Forman is a social entrepreneur, researcher, and policy professional. As an entrepreneur, he pioneered the use of worker-owned high-growth tech-enabled startups as a tool for system change, co-creating The Drivers Cooperative, the first driver-owned rideshare platform cooperative in the United States, as well as People’s Choice Communications, an Internet Service Provider built with striking cable technicians to bridge the digital divide.Before turning toward cooperative development as a strategy for system change, Erik was active as a labor organizer for over a decade. He was a rank-and-file leader in the first nationally-scaled unionization effort at Starbucks from 2006-2012, as well as in a landmark NLRB election campaign at Jimmy John's, and has trained over 1,000 union organizers across the world.Erik now serves as Director of Housing Policy for the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, a $7.3 billion social impact fund that invests union pension dollars in 100% union-built affordable housing, including cooperative housing. He continues to support the growth of the co-ops he co-founded as an advisor and through Driver Systems PBC, a purpose-built technology provider and cooperative business incubator.Erik holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the CUNY Graduate Center. He teaches at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies in New York City. He is a fellow at the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership at Rutgers University and a Research Affiliate at the Institute for the Study of the Cooperative Digital Economy at the New School.