// About
The home the industry built for itself.
The Coworking Institute exists because operators kept asking the same questions, in the same back-channels, and getting different answers every time. We built the place those answers live.
Fig. 02A permanent home
FoundersOperators · Builders · Mentors
// The gap
Why we founded it.
Coworking has been around for nearly two decades, and yet most operators still learn the hardest lessons of their business the expensive way. The good information is locked inside a handful of veterans, a few private Slack groups, and conference hallway conversations.
That’s a structural failure, not an individual one. There has never been a permanent, neutral institution dedicated to coworking operator education and standards. So we built one.
// Our mission
Raise the floor on what it means to be a coworking operator.
We exist to make the industry’s hardest-won knowledge accessible, structured, and current — through education, an open wiki, and a membership that connects serious operators with the suppliers, brokers, and investors who serve them well.
// The founding team
Operators. Founders. Builders.
Jonathan O'Byrne
Co-Founder
Serial coworking founder who built and exited Collective Works in Singapore. Led operator turnarounds, developed coworking software, and structured institutional JVs across Southeast Asia. Former senior executive at IWG.
Liz Elam
Co-Founder · Founder, GCUC
Built GCUC into the global standard for coworking community and education — 50+ conferences across six continents. Exited operator (Link Coworking, Austin). Unmatched industry network.
// Partners & supporters
Built with the industry, not at it.
The Institute is developed in partnership with GCUC and supported by a growing network of operators, vendors, and conference partners committed to better standards. Want to support the work?
Get in touch →