Our Board of Directors meets at 6 p.m. every 2nd Monday at the Literacy Council of Alaska/Forget-Me-Not Books on Gaffney Road. These meetings are open to all Owners and to the general public. In addition, the board hosts an Eat & Greet social during Owner Appreciation Days. To contact the board, please email board@coopmarket.org.
Meeting Minutes
Anduin McElroy – Chair
Anduin believes the food she eats should not only be tasty and healthy, but also meet certain ethical, environmental and social guidelines (e.g., local, organic, Fair Trade). She became an Owner and then a board member shortly after moving to Fairbanks in 2013.
She describes herself as “a bit of a policy wonk” and enjoys helping improve processes – valuable qualities as the co-op board has transitioned to governing and worked to define its roles.
Anduin has served on several boards, including the Southwest Oklahoma Literacy Council and the Greater Grand Forks (ND) Community Theatre. Currently a stay-at-home mom, she has worked as a planner and technical writer and has pursued graduate work in Earth System Science and Policy, specializing in renewable energy and land use policy.
Anduin believes “co-ops must measure themselves according to the well-being of the community and the natural world.” Beyond ethical reasons, she shops at Co-op Market “because it’s easier.” She said, “I can find unique, specialty items along with staples in one place… Because the co-op has product selection guidelines, I know I can trust everything in the store. I don’t need a ton of choices, I just need good ones – and at Co-op Market, they’re all good.”
Chase Nelson – Vice Chair
Growing up in Sitka and Luck, WI – a fishing town and a farming town – Chase says good local food is a part of him. “In a state full of independent people, it’s a shame we have to import so much of our food and household products,” he said.
The co-op’s emphasis on improving the local food economy is one reason he became an Owner shortly after the store opened in 2013 and then joined the Board of Directors that October.
An engineer specializing in water and wastewater, Chase is involved in several community development efforts. He is the state director for Engineers Without Borders, traveling abroad annually for community infrastructure development projects. He serves as the Alaska chairperson for Water for People, a service organization providing clean drinking water to the impoverished. He also travels around Alaska to work on community development.
Chase is focused on continuing the store’s upward sales trend, paying down our debt and increasing the percentage of local products sold. He said, “Through my 7-year career as an engineer and project manager, I have learned how to manage budgets and manage people. I bring knowledge of what fiduciary responsibility means.”
Richard Seifert – Treasurer
A Co-op Market Owner since 2008, Richard has served as the board treasurer for the past six years.
“I am proud to have contributed to the found
ing and development of our co-op,” he said. “It is one of the best community projects I have ever been involved with, and I want to give more to it.”
Rich believes that cooperation “is of utmost importance to our future,” and said, “Everything about the co-op is what I want to support: expanded healthy products, cooperative community ownership and investing in my own food supply.”
A retired university professor, Rich is a consultant/teacher in energy efficiency, solar design and indoor air quality. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from West Chester (PA) State University and a master’s in engineering physics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Stephen Anderson
A Fairbanksan since 1974, Stephen Anderson grew up on a small family farm in Tennessee. “We raised most of our own vegetables and a variety of berries and fruits for our jams and preserves,” he said. “All our milk came from a cow I helped milk once a day from the time I was 8 until 16, and most of our red meat from a calf we’d raise and have butchered every other year.” This background gave him an appreciation for simple, locally raised foods.
Stephen became an Owner before the co-op opened because “it prioritizes locally grown products when available, and it also provides a local alternative in its management and policies.”
Currently the Building Plans Examiner for the City of Fairbanks Building Department, Stephen has extensive experience in plumbing and heating construction, installation, repair and service. He owned and operated Anderson Mechanical from 1989 to 2003 and has been a shop steward for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers since 2005. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources from UAF in 1976. He is an active member of Toastmasters.
Stephen is concerned about sustainability, and he said his experience as a shop steward taught him about cooperation for common interests. He wants to make more sustainable, healthier groceries available to everyone, and he believes the co-op can do that.
Annmarie Billingsley
Annmarie first became interested in organic and sustainably produced food when she moved to Portland for law school. “I was already a vegetarian, and as I learned more about factory farming and concentrated feeding operations, I quickly became immersed in the slow food movement,” she said.
Billingsley volunteered with the Northwest Environmental Defense Center’s Sustainable Agriculture group and worked on a federal appeal against Monsanto. She also joined the Animal Law Clinic, which “used environmental laws like the Clean Water Act to create expensive barriers for factory farms.”
In Fairbanks since 2010, Annmarie is an attorney and owns and manages her own law firm, Chena Legal LLC. She also teaches family law in the paralegal program at UAF Community and Technical College. She holds a B.A. in Rhetoric and Communication Studies and Spanish from the University of Richmond and a J.D. with a certificate in Environmental Law and concentration in Animal Law from Lewis and Clark Law School.
Heather Conklin
Heather describes herself as a Jack-of-all-trades: architect, chef, wife and mother, board member and volunteer. “All of my jobs, whether paid or volunteer, have an aspect of bringing people together,” she said. “My new favorite word, communitarianism, is ‘a philosophy based upon the belief that a person’s social identity and personality are largely molded by community relationships.’”
In her seven years in Fairbanks, Heather said she has “come to love not only the constant flux and beauty of our natural surroundings but also the variety and true uniqueness of the individuals who choose to call Fairbanks their home. Today, I am who I am because of the helping hands who support me and my family as we go about our daily lives in Fairbanks.”
She believes that as a subset of our community, Co-op Market has an opportunity to “support its neighbors, help grow our local economy, feed our community healthy food and support their spirit.” She said, “We are a community of over 3,000 people with like-minded thoughts about what is important to ourselves, our families and our community. I would like the opportunity to be a working part of this forward-thinking, growing organism that has a true chance to make a difference to thousands in Fairbanks.”
Heather holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Idaho and an Associate’s Degree in Culinary
Arts from Le Cordon Bleu College, Chicago. She has extensive volunteer, fundraising and board experience with community organizations including the Fairbanks Children’s Museum, Boreal Sun Charter School, Chinook Montessori Charter School, Alaska Mission of Mercy and UAF Georgeson Botanical Garden.
Hans Geie
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Hans was formerly an economist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He has been involved with cooperative education since 1996 and risk
management outreach and education for fisheries and agricultural producers since 2002. As a farmer in Delta Junction he has produced potatoes, hay, canola, and barley. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Alaska Farmers Union. With these multiple roles, he is on the forefront of production, policy, and feasibility of fisheries and agriculture in Alaska, with many industry contacts.
After spending his formative years growing up on family farms in Minnesota, he received his first degree in Agricultural Business Management (specialty in Cooperative Management) from Southwest State University (SSU), Marshall Minnesota in 1982. During his tenure at SSU, he was deeply affected by the implosion of the farm economy happening in the Midwest, and how important the Farmers Union cooperative movement was in helping farmers who were in distress. He moved to Washington State University (WSU) to attend graduate school, and worked for WSU Extension Service until he completed his journey to Alaska in Jan
uary 1992.
After receiving a MS in Natural Resources Management at UAF in 1994, he entered employment at UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences. With an additional appointment to UAF Cooperative Extension Service specializing in risk management outreach to Alaska producers in 2004, he achieved faculty rank in 2005.
With this education and background, Hans brings an intimate knowledge of agriculture and fisheries in Alaska, and a detailed knowledge of policy and commodity markets.
Jodi Tansky
After working as a registered nurse for 10 years, Jodi Tansky is currently a stay-at-home mom pursuing a certificate in holistic nutrition. “My passion is using nutrition to heal our bodies and helping people
to attain the highest level of wellness for themselves by offering motivation, support and resources.”
Jodi said she wants to serve on the board because she’sinterested in “developing a locavore mindset.” Stating that she is a locavore, she said her family harvests much of their food, and “we try to buy as many local products as possible, knowing that we’re getting nutritionally dense food while supporting local farmers and businesses so they can be sustainable in our community for years to come.”
She is interested in community outreach. “Community members want to know that they are getting more than local, organic and specialty foods. My belief is they desire these connections – nutritional education programs, cooking classes and a holistic support system.”
Jodi holds a B.S. in Nursing from Armstrong Atlantic State University and served as an emergency nurse at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital from 2007-2015. She is secretary of the Alaska Emergency Nurses Association and in 2013 was named Alaska Nurse of the Year in the Education category by the Alaska Chapter of the March of Dimes. In 2012-13, she chaired the FMH Emergency Department Education Committee and co-chaired the FMH Housewide Education Committee.
Tracy Woller
A newcomer to Fairbanks, Tracy became an Owner shortly after moving here from Soldotna in October 2014. She is “passionate about nutrition, nutritional healing, and building community.”
Tracy is the patient care coordinator at a local dental office and is a nationally certified massage therapist. She said, “When I eat well, I feel well, and I enjoy helping others do the same.” She wants to find ways to “make Co-op Market accessible to a broader consumer base” and to educate the community on the value of conscious eating, noting that “making good decisions about what to eat doesn’t have to be mysterious or difficult.”
Tracy said she shops at Co-op Market because of the 7 Cooperative Principles – and because the co-op is created by like-minded, caring people.” She feels a responsibility to “give back to my community what I have learned. By helping others, we help ourselves.”
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Mary Christensen – General Manager
Mary grew up on a cattle ranch in South Dakota. Founded in 1945 by her grandfather and father, this successful enterprise gave Mary a foundation in business fundamentals. Mary owned and operated retail gift stores, now exclusively located near the entrance of Denali Park, for 18 years. She brings years of retail and marketing experience, extensive knowledge of retail store start-up, a wealth of educational resources for setting up a food co-op and an avid interest in creating an efficient, well run, and well loved retail operation to the position of General Manager.
Mary is well organized and capable of managing multiple tasks and focus. She recognizes the value of planning and of maximizing Co-op Market’s potential.
Mary served as Board Member and Treasurer for Co-op Market from August 29, 2009 until January 17, 2011, when she resigned her seat to become Project Manager.
On April 23, 2012 she accepted the position of General Manager.
