After years of coworking operators learning some of the business’s most expensive lessons through trial and error, two longtime industry leaders are creating a formal place to teach those lessons before others have to repeat them.
Liz Elam, Founder & CEO of GCUC, and Jonathan O’Byrne, Founder & CEO of For The Plot, launched the Coworking Institute on Thursday in partnership with GCUC, creating a new platform focused on professional education, shared industry knowledge, credentials and ongoing operator development.
“The Institute will give our industry a permanent home for professional education, shared knowledge, credentials, and community. It’s time,” Elam said in announcing the launch.
The Coworking Institute is organized around three primary areas: operator education, a coworking wiki and professional membership. Its education offerings range from introductory training for people preparing to enter the business to advanced coursework for experienced owners and senior executives.
For O’Byrne, the Institute grew out of a basic problem facing a sector that has developed much of its operating knowledge through experience rather than formal professional training.
“The idea began with a simple question: Why isn’t there comprehensive education for coworking practitioners?” O’Byrne said in his announcement of the launch.
He pointed to the growing number of people entering coworking, including landlords considering franchises and management agreements, as one reason that access to industry-specific education has become more important.
“We founded the institute to codify the learnings of the operators, founders and experts who have actually built this industry,” O’Byrne said.
Coworking MBA Targets Experienced Operators
At the center of the new education platform is the Coworking MBA, an advanced program aimed at operators and senior leadership teams.
The first cohort is scheduled to begin Jan. 18, 2027. The live, online program runs for 10 months and includes 10 modules, with tuition for the founding cohort set at $8,500. Applicants generally need at least two years of coworking or flexible workspace experience, and the Institute says ideal candidates include founders, owners, operating partners and senior leaders with responsibility for major business or financial decisions.
The curriculum covers positioning, marketing, sales and revenue, product strategy, operations, community, technology, legal and corporate structuring, financial fundamentals and dealmaking. Participants complete work using their own businesses, culminating in a portfolio and capstone assessment rather than attendance alone. Successful graduates receive the CMBA professional credential and a verified badge from the Institute.
“The MBA will also carry two themes throughout the program: practical AI capability and mental health. We cannot build sustainable coworking companies without building sustainable leaders,” Elam said.
The teaching roster includes operators and executives from organizations including Creative Density, Perfect Office Solutions, CreativeCubes.Co, Industrious, Coworking Convos, GCUC, Second Home and SkyeCo.
Education Starts Before A Coworking Space Opens
The Institute is also targeting people who have yet to open a location, along with landlords and newer operators, through its Coworking Foundation program.
The four-week, live online program has no experience requirement and covers seven areas: the coworking business model, location and market analysis, positioning and feasibility, legal and corporate structure, design for revenue and retention, team building and technology. Cohorts are expected to begin every two months starting in November 2026, with tuition currently listed at $2,500.
The curriculum is designed in part to address decisions operators frequently make before opening, including site selection, lease and agreement structures, financial assumptions, floor plans and technology purchases. The Institute specifically identifies aspiring operators, landlords considering coworking, career changers and recently opened operators among the intended participants.
AI education is another component of the launch. The Institute’s AI for Leaders program currently offers a two-hour executive briefing priced at $299 and a more extensive live program priced at $4,800. The latter includes seven working sessions and five clinics, with the next cohort scheduled from Oct. 20, 2026, through Jan. 21, 2027.
Beyond formal coursework, the Institute has introduced the Coworking Wiki, a searchable knowledge resource covering areas such as access control, building technology, connectivity, coworking operating systems, member management, billing, analytics and AI tools. The current public index contains 27 categories and 27 published articles, with additional access included as part of Institute membership.
The membership program is intended to continue professional development after formal coursework through an operator community, educational resources, expert sessions and networking. MBA graduates can also choose graduate membership after completing the program.
The launch gives coworking a more formal professional-development structure at a time when operators are managing increasingly complex questions around real estate agreements, technology, AI, profitability, leadership and expansion.
For Elam, the goal is ultimately to improve the level of knowledge available across the sector.
“Let’s raise the floor for the entire coworking industry, together,” she said.
