• Contact the Co-op Board

    Email the Co-op Board of Directors:

    board@coopmarket.org

  • Hilary Shook: Co-President

    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.

  • Allison Blechman: Co-President

    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 Gelvin: Member

    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.

  • Testing

    Brian Kassof: Treasurer

    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.

  • Patrice Lee: Member

    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.

  • Jamie Guzmann: Member

  • Callen Christensen: Secretary

    Callen is a naturalist, musician, farmer, and forager. He's passionate about nutrition, health, farming/gardening, mycology, and ecology and has always worked in this capacity. He currently runs a wild foods foraging co-op called the Chaga Co-op, is conducting sustainability research on chaga fungus, helped to start up a local hydroponics and mushroom farm, and works as a local food advocate including the establishment of a food hub working group for Interior Alaska. He is a founding organizer of the Fairbanks Fungi Festival. He teaches with Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District’s AFFECT Farmer Training Program, and is working with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to evaluate barriers to USDA AMS funds for BIPOC food producers nationwide. He drives a school bus through Goldstream as his day job, and lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, lower Tanana Dene lands, with his wife and son. He loves making music, XC skiing, snowboarding, backpacking, and climbing.

Next Board Meeting scheduled

for 12/17/2024

The meeting ID is 213 748 0408, and the password is: community

You can access the meeting via this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2137480408?pwd≤MhJXW9cKtY3TSPTUyS91QrogiGVxQK.1&omn=87377381725

In 2019, the Co-op Market Board of Directors passed an amendment to the bylaws reducing the number of seats on our board of directors from nine to seven. This change appeared on the 2019 ballot and was approved by Co-op Market Owners.

For more information on the bylaws, please email board chair Hilary Shook.

  • Bylaws (as approved by Owners October 19, 2019)

Bylaws