Tell us about yourself, including any volunteer or professional experiences that might be relevant to board service. In particular, if you have any experience with oversight of an organization’s budget or financial performance, please include that information here.
I’m a small business owner with a varied professional background and a love for the Takoma Park community, this co-op in particular.
My most relevant experience is my prior service on this board. I am in the final months of my first three-year term and am now quite knowledgeable about this cooperative, the store we run, and how the board operates. During the past three years, I have never missed a board meeting, and have served at some point on every committee we have. I currently co-chair our active expansion committee. I served as Board Secretary last year and Vice President this year. I remain very committed to contributing to the future of the coop through board service. On the board, probably my most important contribution has been helping us get serious about exploring a possible second location, including as the co-chair of the expansion committee. In that committee, we have spearheaded several important initiatives that will position us well to undertake expansion if/when we decide to do so, including exploring various aspects of feasibility, revising our “ends” statements, ensuring our rationale for expansion is solid, studying what went wrong with the old store on Grubb Road, consulting with other co-ops about their expansion projects, improving our board communications to membership, and bringing on the right expert consultants to help prepare us for expansion.
Outside of board service, I’m a person whose career has had several different chapters already. I’m currently the owner of HouseMouse Books, a small used bookshop on Carroll Ave in Takoma Park that coexists with two partner shops in a shared space called Laurel Leaf. It’s a business that is many degrees smaller and simpler than the co-op, but has given me a good understanding of the challenges and opportunities of running a small business, including budgeting and financial performance, and this has definitely been useful on the board.
Prior to small business ownership, I spent 12 years at the Department of State, where I worked in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, spending my last few years there as Deputy Director of the Office of Europe. In that work, I gained a good understanding of the democratic principles that also underpin the work of cooperatives, and also worked on multimillion dollar foreign assistance budgets.
Before that, I was a high school teacher, where I learned a lot about how to communicate information and how to get a group of individuals rowing in the same direction. This also comes in handy in our board work.
Why are you interested in serving on the Board?
The co-op continues to inspire me and give me hope that another way of doing business is possible – one that prioritizes humanity and the environment over profits. My first term on the Board was a really interesting, educational, enjoyable experience. I’ve learned so much about how cooperative enterprises and boards operate, about the grocery industry in general, and about the ‘behind the scenes’ operations of our store. Balance sheets and profit and loss statements are no longer intimidating, and policy governance is no longer an enigma. In short, I’m firing on all cylinders now and I’d like the opportunity to use all that I’ve learned to continue to benefit the co-op that I love, a part of what makes living in Takoma so great.
The co-op has entered into a really important period as the board has committed to seriously exploring options for a second store expansion. This is one of the biggest decisions this cooperative will ever make, and the Board should be full of committed, experienced people willing to put in the work to make this a success. If elected, I pledge to do my very best to use all I’ve learned to help steer the co-op through this process.
What is your favorite co-operative principle and why?
My favorite cooperative principle is “concern for community.” I believe that “concern for community” is probably the most important way that a cooperative grocery store differs from other grocery stores. While we must be profitable in order to exist, maximizing profitability is not the co-op’s reason for existence. Instead, we are guided by a set of really beautiful principles about the kind of world and community we would like to see. This leads us to work in ways that an organization driven solely by profit would not do, such as by supporting local food systems, being an excellent employer, working to reduce plastic packaging and food waste. The co-op is a beloved part of our community because it was made by us and for us, and reflects our values. The co-op’s concern for community is why I am proud to serve on the board.
What does the expression “diversity and equity “ mean to you and why is it important in the context of an organization like the coop? How are the ideas of equity and diversity reflected in your everyday life?
To me, “diversity and equity” means that people with different life experiences and backgrounds should have the same opportunity to participate in and exert influence in our society. In some cases, this can require the concerted dismantling of longstanding systemic barriers to equal participation. Diversity and equity are important concepts for all organizations, including the co-op, because it ensures that different perspectives are considered in decision making and helps avoid the blindspots that homogenous groups can have. As a person of relative privilege in our society, I try to maintain awareness of unconscious biases, to consider and learn from others whose experiences differ from my own, and try to grow and improve if I have fallen short.
Check the following areas which you have experience
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Group process and/or group decision-making |
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Meeting facilitation |
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Public speaking |
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Writing newsletter articles |
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Strategic planning |
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Accounting and/or finance |
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Project management |
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Online file sharing and calendars (Google) or website editing or management |
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Volunteer programs |
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Past and/or present participation on a board of directors |
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Retail and/or Other Business experience |
| Legal training and/or experience | |
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Equity, belonging, inclusivity and accessibility |
| Other |