Email the Co-op Board of Directors:

board@coopmarket.org

Hilary is a deputy center manager of the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center, collaborating to ensure the efficient response to emergency incidents. In her work, she instructs dispatch courses and serves on local and national committees. She coordinates the Feds Feed Families food drive at Alaska Fire Service.

I moved to Fairbanks from a small coastal town in Northern California in 2005, where I had begun to garden in the temperate climate. Once in Fairbanks, the farmer’s markets and our Alaskan garden was my savior during the summer months. My longing for a smaller, more specialty grocery store focusing on natural, organic, and local products was met by the inception of the Fairbanks Co-op. The available items were enticing, and the core values of concern for community, sustainability and fairness matched my outlook. I believe in the mission, became a founding member. The Co-op is my favorite store to shop at– friendly staff, calm and courteous shoppers, and shelves stocked with seasonal, local (when possible), interesting, clean and healthy foods. I joined the board in 2023 to further my involvement with the Fairbanks community and help maintain the sustainability of the Co-op. As a registered nurse with 18 years plus experience working in this community, I feel I can utilize the relationships I’ve developed, knowledge and education as a medical educator, and passion for Fairbanks to help achieve the Co-op mission.

Art is employed by the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, working on a wide variety of projects throughout Alaska. He holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from UAF and is working on a master’s degree in remote sensing. He has also worked in retail, including the produce and bakery departments at Fred Meyers, and knows that grocery is a tough business. He enjoys cooking, browsing the cookbooks in bookstores and perusing the shelves in small, out-of-the-way grocery stores.

Brian loves the co-op because it makes Fairbanks a better place to live and provides access to healthy, sustainable, ethically sourced food. He has experience working in self-governance as a board member at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks and has participated in governance at UAF. He credits his academic training in history with helping him develop strong analytical and communication skills, as well as an eye for detail.

As a director I hope to help keep it financially sound, on track to meet goals, and in a position to expand. I hope to lend expertise in finances, marketing, and outreach within our community and beyond. I will work to expand our ability to accommodate more vendors and potentially expand to provide crop storage for better food security.

Briana Walters is a first-generation Alaskan with a lifelong history in the Fairbanks area. She is the director of the Office of Management & Budget at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from UAF and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Alaska Southeast. She enjoys searching for new recipes to feed her husband and three sons and believes the Co-op is the best, first choice for local produce, meats and dairy. A board member since 2022, she is interested in expanding the Co-op’s reach within Fairbanks and the surrounding communities, and welcoming new owners and shoppers.