Tell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above? (Bullet list recommended.)
- Environmental Engineer, C&S Companies (2019-2023)
- Project management and coordination
- Project estimation and budgeting
- Technical Writing
- Grant Writing
- Sustainability documentation and processes
- Leadership Buffalo Rising Leaders Class of 2021
- Young Professionals for Olmsted Parks Class of 2022
- Fundraising, volunteer event planning
- Buffalo Olmsted Parks Giving and Awareness Committee Member (2022 - Present)
- Fundraising, event planning, networking
- Small Business Owner and COO; Life Itself, Inc. (2023 - Present)
- PSIA Certified Ski Instructor (2015 - Present)
On top of the “resume-esque” list above, I have been a long time supporter of the Co-op and have been a Buffalo-native since birth. I remember coming to the Co-op for the first time as a young adult and seeing the produce labels that mentioned where the food was grown and the farm’s location. I remember how it struck me. I remember thinking “This is how it should be.”, and then beginning to question how and where the other larger format grocers acquired all of their goods. I have lived quite the transient lifestyle since college, but Buffalo has always been my home base, and the Co-op is one of those places that makes this City so special to me.
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
I believe the Lexington Co-op should serve as a community hub, which provides equitable access to local, sustainably sourced foods and goods. As a business, the Lexington Co-op should serve as a vehicle in which the vision of its owners can be realized. As someone who has a passion for environmental sustainability and food equity, I have come to realize that local food sourcing is one of the most impactful decisions that a consumer can make on a daily or weekly basis to benefit their region’s environmental health as well as their personal health. In addition, the local economy also benefits. To me, this is the beauty of cooperative market grocery stores. It is a place where people can come and know they are supporting local and that their dollar is put back into local businesses with integrity. The Lexington Co-op also has a unique opportunity to provide education to its community related to nutrition and food sourcing. I believe education is an integral piece in addressing food equity and nutritional deficiencies in local communities.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
Alex BrennenTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
I have a diverse background which includes the following leadership experiences:
•Current board member of Lexington Co-op, appointed in May 2023 and completed Cooperative Board Leadership Training 101.
•Experience leading and serving on the Board of Directors for local nonprofit professional associations and committee member for HOA.
•Long-term and service-oriented career in the hospitality, foodservice, facilities management, and financial services industries.
•Over 20 years’ professional experience in facilitation, training, teaching, workforce and talent development, human resources, and operations management.
•MS in creative problem solving, creativity, and change leadership and BS in business management.
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
The roles that the Lexington Co-op should serve in WNY are to remain a pillar of the community through continual efforts to grow our presence, membership, and partnerships with local producers and vendors. Providing formal and informal educational opportunities both in store and throughout the community covering topics such as nutrition, our commitment to sustainability, and the importance and impact of buying locally produced food and products.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
I have no conflicts of interest at this time.
incumbent, appointed by the Board to fill vacancy, May, 2023
Cristina MasucciTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
Experience:
• 17+ years of experience in marketing, sales, business development and operations in both startup and corporate settings.
• 10+ years of experience in training and facilitating or strategic planning and innovation.
• Founder of Strategik Minds. Strategik Minds offers group facilitation services, customized workshop development and innovation interventions.
• Partner at JECA Natural Foods Corporation DBA JECA Energy Bars
• Adjunct Faculty for the Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI)
• Adjunct Faculty at Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia. commitment to sustainability, and the importance and impact of buying locally produced food and products.
Skills:
• Marketing
• Sales
• Operations
• Problem Solving
• Market Research
• Creativity & Innovation
• Project Management
• Leadership
• Teaching/Facilitating
Professional Formation
• Master’s degree in Creative Studies and Change Leadership
• Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Development
• Diploma Course in Positive Psychology
• Diploma Course in Creative and Strategic Leadership
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
The roles that the Lexington Co-op should serve are:
• To make high-quality food accessible for every member of our community.
• Generate awareness of the importance and impact of supporting local businesses.
• To model and lead for inclusion, customer service, product quality and community engagement.
• Bring in innovative food options whose producers are genuinely interested in impacting quality nutrition.
• Be an advocate for local makers to get exposure, recognition and growth.
• To encourage and support makers to continuous improvement in order to offer the very best food options to our communities.
incumbent, appointed by the Board to fill vacancy, August, 2023
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
I am a minority owner of JECA Energy Bars, which is currently sold at the Lex Co-op.
Karina LoeraTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
Personally and professionally, I’m passionate about local food and small business. As a Lexington board member since 2016, currently vice president, I’ve been honored to work with fellow board members and co-op management to help shape the trajectory, growth, and vision of our business.
Our co-op employs hundreds of Western New Yorkers, supports many more through its purchasing and business model, drives dollars towards local producers, and makes darn good chocolate cookies. At this juncture, I believe my experience and skills are adding value to the board’s governance, so I’ve chosen to run for reelection.
Professionally, I work in the independent grocery sector as an owner and manager of a (worker-owned) firm providing design and operational support to cooperatives, grocers and community-driven enterprises. My relevant skills and experience include:
• Seven years of board service to Lexington Co-op (current vice president)
• Cooperative governance training and experience, including Policy Governance, Lexington’s governance system
• Friendly, collaborative work style
• Clear communicator
• Experienced working with local farms and purveyors
• Regular leader and student of cooperative industry trainings
• Food co-op/grocery operations
• Former employee of Lexington and East Aurora co-ops
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
Historically, Lexington Co-op has created access to foods and options not available elsewhere to shoppers, market access to local producers, and demonstrated a true commitment to bettering our area.
Today, our co-op is emerging from the pandemic grocery era and also beginning a new chapter as a unionized co-op. As our business and the industry grow and evolve, the role of the board and management now is to ensure that the co-op of our future is a relevant reflection of what our community wants, needs and expects.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market. I provide professional services within the independent grocery/cooperative support field.
Heather Lazickas incumbentTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
• Cooperative Business Developer with 5 years of experience incubating, financing, and supporting co-ops in Buffalo and Western New York
• Current and previous membership on several local co-op Board of Directors
• Professional experience in meeting facilitation, consensus decisionmaking, and conflict resolution
• Longstanding residence in Buffalo’s West Side, with deep relationships in the community and an understanding of the community’s economic and social needs
• Leadership experience in local political and labor organizing
• Lexington Co-op Owner and regular shopper since 2015
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
• The Lexington Co-op should serve as a model for what a workplace can and should be: a deeply democratic, member-controlled, radically inclusive institution that is directed by, and accountable to, its workers and owners
• The Co-op should be committed to providing the community with affordable, accessible, quality products, determining what is offered based on the needs of the community
• The Co-op should support small, local producers by choosing local farmers and vendors over large corporate farms and distributors whenever possible
• The Co-op should use its resources to materially support social and economic justice initiatives in Buffalo, as well as supporting Buffalo’s cooperative business community
• The Co-op should prioritize accessibility and inclusivity in all of its business practices
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
Candidate did not disclose any conflicts of interest.
Michael HeubuschTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
I’m currently serving as president of the Lexington Co-op board of directors and hope to continue as president if I am elected again. As president, I lead the board while the Co-op staff unionized and continued to lead the board while the Co-op negotiated and ultimately signed its first union contract. I’ve worked with fellow board members on a wholesale update of the Coop board’s policy register (our method for monitoring the general manager, adopted by the board in 2022) bringing more agility to the organization and modernizing our compliance monitoring. I’ve helped to establish multiple committees, including the successful elections committee, which recruited a record 17 candidates for last year’s board election. I pride myself on being a collaborative, open-minded leader and have worked with fellow board members to create more leadership opportunities for the whole group, even the most junior board members. We’ve recently begun the work of revisiting and updating the Co-op’s ends policies. If elected, I will see that initiative through to completion to ensure the Co-op’s on the right track for the future.
Outside of my work with the Co-op, I’m the co-founder and CEO of Block Club, a branding, strategy, and content agency. I’m also a partner in Buffalobased Oxford Pennant.
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
First and foremost we’re a membership-based organization. We need to provide access to healthy, reasonably priced, and local (whenever possible) food for our members and the broader community. Beyond that, we should continue to serve as a model for other businesses and non-profits in the WNY community.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
No conflicts.
Patrick Finan incumbentTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
I have always had a passion for food and hence studied Food & Fermentation technology. I worked for food processing companies like Coca Cola & Rich Products Corporation and producing indulgent foods which are not so healthy for consumers causing various health issues. After realizing the ill effects of processed foods, I decided to pursue my passion of holistic & lifestyle medicine. I now work at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus in the Food as Medicine field planning a study that will provide medically tailored meals, nutrition workshops and mindfulness workshops. I also work at WEDI (Westminster Economic Development Initiative) providing technical assistance to business owners at the West Side Bazaar. I also provide support to Providence Farm Collective for their business-related workshops. We have also hosted workshops by Cooperation Buffalo and have a better understanding now of the cooperative model. I am also on the Erie County Arts & Culture Board and understand how the Board operates. I recently attended the Meet the Makers event and enjoyed it thoroughly. I would love to serve of the Board of the Lexington Coop as I love the wholesome and vibrant products. I am vegetarian and love cooking and like to use fresh fruits and vegetables always. I am also a part of the Regional Leadership Team for FoodFutureWNY and am passionate about a sustainable food system. I love being in the Community and would like support the mission and vision of the Co-op for continued growth for member owners and the community at large.
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
Lexington Co-op Markets play a huge role in Western New York’s cooperative economy. With the 2 locations in Western New York, members are able to enjoy fresh produce and products. Lexington Co-op can focus on the growth and benefits for member owners by providing good service, good prices & good quality. Bring the community together for events and promoting healthy eating. Support local farms and producers and help build a sustainable food system. Help community groups get support. Provide better access to healthy food. Provide healthy cooking classes for the community. Encourage community, ownership, shared values, and democratic participation. Provide economic benefits & the social reward of coming together to create, nurture, and sustain a valuable enterprise that fulfills their values. Provide benefits to other co-op stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers). Cooperatives are a reminder that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.
Purnima MohanPlease list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market. I have no Conflict of Interest with the Lexington Cooperative Market
Tell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
As someone who is a passionate bread baker and pizza maker, I have considered joining the Board for a few years. I have been a member/owner for over a decade, and some of the skills I could offer, as well as experience which would benefit the Co-op and Board, if selected, would be:
Former co-owner of brick and mortar bakery on Grant Street, B. Ferrante’s Bakery. Not only was I responsible for the production of the baked goods we offered, I sourced the ingredients (using local as often as possible) and supplies, worked the store and interacted with our diverse customer base, and did the accounting for the company. Currently licensed cottage bread baker with NYS (as B. Ferrante’s Bakery). Working exclusively with sourdough, I have run several pop-up events in the area (pre-pandemic), and have worked to create relationships with independently owned businesses throughout the community. In my position as a legal secretary with Hodgson Russ LLP: I am part of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, of which I am extremely proud. My work on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee allows me to engage with my co-workers in a meaningful way. Some of my responsibilities on the committee include drafting and sending Firm correspondence related to issues in this area, as well as to encourage them to participate, when possible, at the community level. Most recently, I worked on the Committee during Pride month, as well as follow up on how to be an advocate and better ally for the LGBTQ+ community throughout the year (post-Pride).I draft monthly articles promoting events within my practice group, and work directly with our Marketing Dept. with the online publication of same. I feel I possess: strong organizational skills, the ability to effectively communicate, and a personal dedication to responsible and ethical decision making.
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
I think that the Co-op has a unique role in the community, as it continues to serve Buffalo and WNY in a way no other store in the area can. The Co-op offers an opportunity for everyone (not solely member/owners) to have access to local products, including produce, meat, dairy products, dry goods, etc., that are of a high quality, and, when possible, sustainably produced. Within our community, the Co-op helps to set a framework for economic, social and cultural needs to be met on a very real level. As for the future, by staying true to its core values, the Co-op’s role in the community can only grow and continue to strengthen. I feel passionate about this, and as a Board member, that being a steward of Co-op’s core values will ensure that the Co-op continues to grow in diverse ways and that it will continue to serve all members of the community through maintaining fair and equitable practices (as an employer and a member/owner run business), as well as offering high quality and sustainable goods to its customers.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
I have read the bylaws, and I have no conflicts of interest withe Co-op.
Sarah GilmartinTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
I have worked in business for the last 10 years including time as a staff accountant and inside and outside sales. I currently work as a freelance business consultant where I work with small businesses to help streamline their operations in social media, sales and administrative services.
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
I think the Lexington Co-Op is an invaluable entity for the WNY community by proving fresh, healthy, local food to the communities surrounding them. I would love to be a board member and help the Lexington Co-Op grow and thrive.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
None
Stacie SingletonTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
• Bachelors in anthropology, Masters’ of Public Health from UB
• Lived in Buffalo for nearly a decade in North Buffalo, Amherst, Elmwood, Allentown, and the Westside
• Experience in community support with contact tracing and case investigation, as well as tobacco cessation work
• Years of leadership, not management, experience
• Volunteer at the North Buffalo Food Pantry
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
I believe that the Co-op should be a space for the Buffalo community to turn to for clean food and a better understanding of how to use it. It should also be a partner to local farms and organizations to promote clean and healthy food. Lastly, it should ensure that is able to continue operations and meet more Buffalo residents where they are now and in the future.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
No potential conflicts of interest
Thomas ForesterTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
Greetings! I would like to experience a position on the board for the Lexington coop. A native to Buffalo, NY, I have been shopping in the store since I was a young girl living across from the original bulk market on Lexington Ave., decades ago. With access to fresh grains, flours, spices, herbs and other local artisan items it has forever shaped the way I eat, feed those I love and cultivate healthy self-care practices. I am intentional, passionate, creative and innovative these qualities combined with the skills of leadership, collaboration, effective communication and relationship building place me in a strong position for fulfilling a position with the Board. Furthermore, I hold the capacity to articulate well, which allows me to advocate for the best interests of the collective. I truly believe I can offer the community a shift in perspective rekindling the ancient practices that once sustained and brought abundance to our communities. The perspective we hold directly influences our moment-to-moment choices. Especially, what we eat, how we engage with food preparation to cultivating and preserving. Not only with food, also, with one another. I would like to share my wisdom in the community, expand and grow through connecting with others, and serve as a pillar of light offering spiritual guidance as we experience and progress towards the great paradigm shift! I am a retired Educator in the Buffalo Public School System. I hold a Master of Science In Education, a Certified Practical Homeopath, An emerging Ayurvedic Health Counselor and Practitioner, a Certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach, A Yoga Therapist, Energy Alchemist and LightWorker. Affiliated with the National Ayurvedic Medical Association serving on the student sub-committee. Soma Ashram is a new business concept I am cultivating blending the beautiful Life Science of Ayurveda, Yoga Therapy including Pranayama, Mantra and Meditation —tools and practices for bringing balance to the body, mind, spirit grounded in the Yog- Vedantic tradition along with one to one MultiDimensional Guidance, Ayurvedic Cooking and Catering. Special Trainings and practices I have been initiated into are rooted in with Psychospiritual Institute, Sattva Yoga Academy, Canisius College, Practical Homeopathy with Joette Calabrese, Matthew Wood Institute Of Herbalism. Deep Gratitude for the invitation to apply for this unique position. Namaste.
Vella
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
Community outreach and food accessibility for all. All member/owners should be required to engage and commit to working in the store in exchange for up- keeping membership and the cooperative should run fully like an authentic cooperative in the community it is serving. Co-Op can also create and sustain it’s own garden/farm to deliver fresh produce and partner more with local food delivery systems such as MAPS and Fresh Fix to lower costs to consumers, become more self reliant and profitable. This is to speak to a few roles. The possibilities are infinite.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market. Candidate did not disclose any conflicts of interest.
Elizabeth “Vella” CataniaTell us about your skills, experience, or training that would make you an ideal Lexington Co-op Board member, as described above?
• I already serve on the board for the Coalition for Economic Justice.
• I have 7 years experience in the labor movement, including organizing at the Co-op.
• I have talked to hundreds of member owners over the last year, getting their perspective on how to best improve the co-op.
• I know the majority of workers at the Co-op, and believe I have relationships no other candidate could offer to the board.
What role(s) should the Lexington Co-op serve in the WNY Community?
The Co-op should be the premier grocer for the communities it serves. It should be a place that offers owners the best possible benefits to share in a sustainable and thriving co-op. The co-op should be a premier living wage employer in Buffalo, and be a model of an employer that provides opportunity to all.
Please list all potential conflicts of interest you have with the Lexington Cooperative Market.
I work for Workers United, the union which represents Co-op employees. I am temporarily doing direct work with the co-op while a permanent person is being found to maintain the day-to-day work of representation.
William H. Westlake