Update From Your Community Engagement Committee
This September, during our Annual Meeting, the Board kicked off the search for participants to join our new Long-Range Planning Community Engagement Committee to help inform our planning for the Co-op’s future and what the next 10 years might look like.
Over the past year, our Steering Committee, a subcommittee of six Board members, met with Greg, our General Manager, to learn more about the issues and opportunities facing our Co-op, explore how other co-ops have approached similar questions, and begin thinking about what our future may look like.
This Community Engagement Committee, or CEC, is an important next step in this work.
The CEC is responsible for helping to organize community listening sessions, focus groups, surveys, and other opportunities for member-owners and the broader community to share their vision for the Co-op’s future. Its goal is to design and facilitate a variety of opportunities to gather perspectives, ideas, concerns, and hopes from across our community so they can inform the development of the Co-op’s Long-Range Plan, which will be written by the General Manager.
Applications for the committee were open from September 9 through October 3 to anyone in our community who wanted to participate in this work, whether or not they are currently a Co-op member-owner.
We were excited to receive 14 applications for the four open seats. The applicants reflected a wide range of experiences and perspectives, including tenured Co-op staff, longtime and newly relocated Addison County residents, people with experience working within our local food system, and people who have worked to address food insecurity in our community.
In October, the Steering Committee reviewed each application and considered the skills, experiences, and perspectives each person could bring to the work of connecting with our many stakeholders, including member-owners, community partners, vendors, staff, and Addison County residents.
We were impressed by the strength and variety in the applicant pool, which led to enthusiastic conversations and some genuinely difficult decisions. We are grateful to everyone who applied and excited to welcome Lindsey Berk, Hannah Hoopaugh, Kacie O’Connell, and Will Stevens to the Community Engagement Committee.
They will be joined by current MNFC Board members Kristin Hocker, Erin Buckwalter, Barbara Hofer, and Amanda Warren, along with Greg, our General Manager.
With the formation of the CEC, the Board’s Steering Committee has completed its work and will now disband. We are thankful to all six Board members, Caryne Eskridge, Ed Blechner, Kristin Hocker, Erin Buckwalter, Barbara Hofer, Amanda Warren and former Board Member Cody Mears, who helped develop this process and lay the groundwork for the next stage of community engagement.
The CEC will begin meeting in November. Stay tuned for more information about the Co-operative Conversations and how you can participate later this winter and into the spring.
We are excited to see this next phase of the work begin and look forward to sharing updates as the process continues.
In Cooperation,
The MNFC Board of Directors
Still have questions? Reach out to the Board: Board@middlebury.coop or 802.388.7276 ext 377
