From the Board

LOOKING BACK LOOKING FORWARD

BY JURI JENNINGS, BOARD PRESIDENT

Hello from your board president!

Alright now, I’m going to try not to talk about the pandemic in this article, but we’ll see how long I can go. I’ve set this mini challenge for myself because recently my body has maxed out on how much bad news it can take before transforming into one of those super-spooky demons from old Japanese folklore. Let me focus on the positive changes in the air with the new year of 2022, which is also The Food Co-op’s 50th anniversary! Wow, 50 years. Holy gadzooks!

SAVE THE DATE Date: Wednesday, May 4th Place: Jefferson County Fairgrounds Time: 4pm - 9pm

The celebration is on our actual birthday : )

It goes without saying that this will be an outdoor event, and we have hired The Production Alliance to guarantee a fun and safe time for all!

Now a little bit of what the board did in 2021, so we can tie that story into what we have lined up for the new year. To start, we held one-too-many meetings staring at each other through a tiny screen on an online platform called Zoom. You might have heard of it. Jokes aside, it has actually been pretty challenging to develop a sense of team spirit when we can only meet online, so the board has been trying to meet in person in smaller groups through our mentorship program. We have also talked about how we can incorporate more team building in 2022 by revisiting our co-op’s seven values:

Inclusion, Respect, Participation, Integrity, Love, Stewardship, Resiliency.

Our board’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion steering committee has been meeting once a month to prepare to dive into a substantive conversation when we tackle the job of renewing the Co-op’s Strategic Plan in 2022. This past year we’ve been studying together—reading books and listening to podcasts; attending DEI related conferences, workshops, and classes; and holding teambuilding sessions to practice talking about controversial subjects. So we are as ready as could be to tackle the Strategic Plan with the guidance and knowledge we have acquired. This will be a big step forward for us.

Also, most of us have just been appointed in new roles, such as Claire becoming a vice president (graduating from her role as secretary), Owen retiring as president and taking the treasurer’s role, Lisa (our emeritus board member who has been so supportive) continuing to fill in as our secretary, and myself becoming board president after being vice president for two years. And then, of course, there is Dave (also known as the Front End manager at the store), who is such a valuable voice in our group and who brings real-time insights, and our newest member, Michael, who is a natural at being a board member with his diverse background and with the clarity and calmness he offers the group. It usually takes time to really become comfortable in new roles, whether as a board member, officer, or committee chair, so we like to assign new roles slowly and give training. This means we are continuously recruiting to make sure we do not overload ourselves and so we have enough time to train a board candidate or board member in the new role.

In summary, here is what we are up to in 2022: 1) Reviewing and renewing our Strategic Plan 2) More team building 3) Strengthening recruitment

And yes, I didn’t talk about the pandemic. I can hear my 2.5 year old son cheering, “Mama, you did it! Good job!” Please take a moment to pat your own backs for ALL that you have done in 2021, perform a chi-gong shake of your body to get rid of all the excess negativity one might have accumulated, and lastly, meditate upon something that brings you joy.

With sincere joy, Juri Jennings Board President Working together to nourish our community