daily Co-op’s board election 2020

Why would you like to serve on the Daily Groceries Co-op Board? 

I want to serve on the Daily Groceries Co-op board because I love Athens. As a member of the Athens community, involvement with local organizations and groups I care about has been crucial to my life here. I’m connected to Daily as a shopper and as an employee, granting me a perspective that will help the board as Daily grows and changes. As a board member I will work hard to make Daily an even more integral and community-minded business in Athens.

How can you and your life experiences bring value to the Daily Groceries Co-op board? 

Part of what I love about living in Athens is the amount of community building I’ve been able to do here. The project I’m most proud of is Quaint, which is an artistic approach to healing for LGBTQ+ survivors and advocates. I’ve been able to connect with and help amplify the voices of local queer artists by curating and marketing exhibits, organizing open mic sessions, and giving LGBTQ+ folks in Athens a place to talk openly about their art and their healing. As a gay trans man, this project means a lot to me and nothing has made me happier than seeing it thrive.

I also have experience working with Daily’s local farmers and local partners. I’ve had the opportunity to work on the land with Smokey Road Farms, one of Daily’s local produce providers. Getting to work with the owners to help develop their brand & expand has been meaningful as I pursue my longterm goals. Alongside working at Daily, I’m also am a manager at The Grit, one of Daily’s local partners. The first-hand experience I have as someone on the other end of the local partners program has allowed me to see the ways Daily is connected to so many of the places that make Athens what it is. The relationships I’ve been able to cultivate with the people who collaborate with Daily, or have potential to do so, are relationships I could bring with me to the board in a way that I am certain will benefit Daily and its partners.

Describe your experiences working collaboratively in a group setting. 

The time I spent in Athens as a student was full of collaborative experiences that really set me up for the work I’m doing now. During my time at UGA, I served as a PR rep for one student board and as president of another. 

The PR position solidified my goal to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. It taught me how to create meaningful, accessible, and successful events that filled real community needs.

As a board president, the most valuable thing I learned is that leadership is just a role like any other in an organization. Leadership requires experience, knowledge, and most crucially, the ability to listen. I was able to learn how integral it is that every level of participation is regarded as equally important and equally necessary - whether you show up as an attendee or a board member. I was best in my role when I was listening to what my other board members found valuable, and was able to help them accomplish their own goals.

As I continue to grow as an organizer, what I value most is the sharing of information and ideas with those around me. Creating a space where people are able to speak and I am able to learn is something I hope to do for the rest of my life with passion and patience.

The Daily Groceries Co-op Board does not deal with operational matters. It does deal with overall policies that identify and guide the mission of the organization. How do you see the board maintaining and expanding on the broader vision for the Co-op? 

Nowhere else provides what Daily does, or has the potential that Daily has. I want to join the board in order to expand on the important community work Daily is doing to achieve its mission of being a welcoming place to shop and work, to intentionally source food, and to nourish a kind, engaged community. I will help Daily continue making strides in food accessibility and food justice. In order to accomplish this, I plan to focus on strengthening local ties between the Co-op, local farmers, local partners, and local orgs like the Community Fridge, Athens Mutual Aid, and Nuci’s Space to help Daily grow.

How can Board members better represent the opinions of the membership and the larger Athens community? 

I feel the Daily Co-op board needs to be more diverse and more accessible for the board to be able represent the opinions of the membership and the larger Athens community. If the board is going to reflect Athens, it should look like Athens - which means more gender, race, and class diversity must be represented. A wider variety of experience and a more expansive set of perspectives would allow the board to better serve Athens. 

I would also like to see the Daily board become more accessible to members. As an employee and member the board has not felt very accessible to me, and I know that in order to best serve Athens we need a board that sees accessibility as a key part of its functioning. Boards need folks who are ready to ask members what they need and use their time and connections to make things happen for the people they represent, and I know Daily’s board could give me the tools and experiences to learn how to do this well for our community.