Breakout Sessions by Track

Rooted in Resistance: The History of Food Cooperation Among People of the Global Majority

Allanah Hines, Community Food Systems Strategist & Intercultural Equity Consultant

The legacy of food and agricultural cooperation among people of the global majority throughout U.S. history is often overlooked. From mutual aid networks and land trusts to farming cooperatives and community-owned grocery stores, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and immigrant communities have long used cooperative strategies to reclaim food sovereignty, resist economic exclusion, and build collective resilience.

This session will trace this deep-rooted history beyond the modern food co-op movement, highlighting examples of agricultural cooperatives, community kitchens, and mutual aid food systems shaped by the lived experience and leadership of marginalized communities. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the power of cooperation as a tool for liberation, survival, and inspiration to carry this work forward.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

• Recognizing the historical breadth of cooperative food systems led by people of the global majority by identifying key examples of food and agricultural cooperative among Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and immigrant communities throughout U.S. history, beyond the Rochdale pioneers
• Gaining insight into how cooperative models have been used to resist economic exclusion, reclaim land and food systems, and build collective resilience within marginalized communities throughout history
• Inspiration and practical perspective on how historical models can inform current and future efforts in community-owned food systems, mutual aid, and cooperative development

Who Should Attend: Everyone

Format: Presentation session

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Two Models, One Mission: Food Service Strategies from Skagit Valley Food Co-op and PCC Community Markets

Tracy Marik, Senior Director, Merchandising Fresh, PCC Community Markets
Lisa Gilden, Prepared Foods Director, Skagit Valley Food Co-op

Prepared foods and food service can be one of the most dynamic—and complex—departments in a food co-op. It drives traffic, increases basket size, builds brand identity, and creates daily connection with members. It can also strain labor models, supply chains, food safety systems, and margin targets.

In this session, leaders from Skagit Valley Food Co-op and PCC Community Markets will share two distinct food service models operating at different ends of the operational spectrum—each designed to reflect their co-op’s scale, community, labor philosophy, and financial structure.
Skagit Valley Food Co-op operates a scratch-made, chef-driven program with food prepared on site in a production kitchen adjacent to the store and served primarily behind the counter. Their model emphasizes culinary craft, flexibility, direct staff expertise, and strong local sourcing relationships. PCC, by contrast, operates a predominantly self-service deli model across multiple locations, primarily partnering with trusted third-party food service operators who work within PCC’s ingredient standards and approved supply chain. This model prioritizes scale, operational consistency, food safety rigor, labor sustainability, and predictable margins while maintaining alignment with co-op values.

Together, we will explore:
1) Labor structures and culinary staffing models
2) Margin management and shrink control
3) Food safety and regulatory complexity
4) Capital investment requirements
5) Member expectations and brand alignment
6) Local sourcing integration
7) When outsourcing enhances mission—and when it doesn’t

Rather than framing one approach as superior, this session will demonstrate how each model is a strategic fit for its co-op’s size, capacity, financial goals, and community expectations. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of the trade-offs inherent in different food service
structures and a framework for assessing what model best fits their own co-op.

The session will conclude with extended Q&A and structured audience sharing to surface additional models, innovations, and lessons from co-ops of varying sizes.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Assess Food Service Model Fit – Identify key decision factors (scale, labor market, capital capacity, supply chain, brand identity) that
  determine whether scratch, hybrid, or outsourced models are appropriate for their co-op.
• Evaluate Financial Trade-Offs – Compare margin structures, labor ratios, shrink risks, and capital investment requirements across food
  service models.
• Design a Strategic Food Service Framework – Draft a high-level decision framework to guide future food service investments or operational
  adjustments at their co-op.

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Store Department Staff – grocery, wellness, deli, meat, etc. Operations leaders, Prepared foods and deli managers, Finance leaders, Board members evaluating capital investment decisions

Format: Presentation

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Value with Values: Merchandising in a Price-Sensitive, Values-Driven Environment

Justine Johnson, Senior Director of Merchandising, PCC Community Markets
Rebecca Robinson, Quality Standards Manager, PCC Community Markets

Co-ops are built on values. But today’s shoppers are also navigating unprecedented price sensitivity. Inflationary pressures, shifting household budgets, and increased competition have intensified the tension between affordability and product integrity.

How do we remain uncompromising on standards while staying accessible and competitive?

This session brings together merchandising leadership and quality standards expertise from PCC Community Markets to explore how a food co-op can intentionally design programs that deliver both value and values.

We will examine the operational and philosophical balancing act required to maintain high standards, such as certified organic, high animal welfare, local sourcing, and inclusive trade, while also meeting members’ expectations around price and everyday affordability.

Rather than positioning integrity and price as opposing forces, this session will demonstrate how thoughtful assortment strategy, supplier partnerships, pricing architecture, and clear standards governance can allow co-ops to achieve both.

Topics will include:

• Defining non-negotiable product standards and where flexibility exists
• Building a tiered assortment strategy without compromising identity
• Using private label and scale strategically
• Negotiating with suppliers while upholding co-op principles
• Managing margin expectations across categories
• Communicating value beyond price
• Avoiding “values dilution” in competitive environments

Our Quality Standards Manager will share how product guardrails protect brand trust and long-term differentiation. Our Merchandising Leads will discuss the financial modeling and category management strategies that make integrity sustainable at scale.

Attendees will leave with a clearer framework for aligning merchandising, pricing, and standards, so that affordability efforts do not erode trust, and values commitments do not isolate price-sensitive shoppers.

The goal is not perfection. The goal is intentionality, clarity, and alignment.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Define “Value” Through a Co-op Lens
• Distinguish between price-based value and mission-based value, and articulate how both influence shopper trust and loyalty.
• Apply a Values-Based Assortment Framework
• Identify clear decision criteria for balancing organic, animal welfare, local, and inclusive trade standards with margin and price expectations.
• Design a Balanced Pricing Architecture
• Outline a practical approach to tiering, private label strategy, and supplier partnership models that support both integrity and affordability.

Who Should Attend: General Managers, Department Managers, Administrative Department Staff – marketing, human resources, finance, IT, etc.

Format: Presentation Session

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Walkthrough Level Up. How we leveraged a common retail practice to elevate our Co-op in every way

Tim Bartlett, General Manager/ CEO, Lexington Co-op
Seth Brown, Store Manager Elmwood, Lexington Co-op

Last October, we embarked on an intensive 6 month project to train every supervisor and manager to conduct an effective walkthrough.

The project began with a mix of frustration with the current reality and a vision for something better. Our GM had returned from a three month sabbatical spent visiting other co-ops & grocers. On his travels, he was inspired by the excellent facing, conditioning and abundance he saw at other stores and knew he needed to come up with a plan to elevate his Co-op. While customer satisfaction remained high, sales growth lagged behind the national average.

The GM was unhappy. So he sat down and wrote a vision:

“It’s October 2026 and our store managers have been doing 3 excellent walkthroughs a day for the past year. Every manager and supervisor is trained and effective at looking at the store through our customers’ eyes, making the list, prioritizing the list, delegating the list and checking the list. As a result, our stores always meet or exceed our standards. The stores are always full & faced, clean & friendly, and staff always have projects they are working on.

Our walkthrough discipline has translated to other systems as well: we never place an order before the department is fully stocked, and we work full sections at a time, leaving them faced and perfect when we’re done. We’ve identified and resolved a long list of systemic problems over the past year.

It all started with our Walkthrough Level-Up; a year long project to teach every manager and supervisor in the store how to do a great walkthrough, starting with the GM and Store Managers. The GM’s daily walkthroughs with the store managers felt intense at first but quickly became a fun part of the daily routine. We’re even looking at the back rooms on a daily basis, which has helped bring inventory down, turns up and shrink down.”

Over the past 6 months, we have leaned into this vision and found success in the Walkthrough Level-Up. Managers and Supervisors are now better trained to see the store from the customer’s perspective, effectively identifying gaps in standards and quickly correcting them. Daily conditioning is at an all-time high and the whole store now consistently operates at a high level, even without the Store Manager or GM present. We attribute this to our commitment to intense, focused walkthroughs and want to share and teach others in the success we’ve found in this process.

During this workshop we will walk you through our approach to the walkthrough system from both the GM and Store Manger perspectives. We will talk through the lessons we’ve learned along the way, the way we translate the walkthrough process as a training tool to every manager and supervisor on the team, the ways it has instigated meaningful system changes, and our plans for where this system can take our Co-op next.

 

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

During this session, attendees can expect to take away tips for how to use the Daily Walkthrough System as a tool for:

1. Effective management of a shift: How to see the store from the customer’s perspective and how to make the list, prioritize the list, delegate the list, check the list, and celebrate progress.
2. Effective Coaching to the Ideal: Use every walkthrough to clarify standards and reaffirm expectations- constantly re-state your vision and either praise or identify gaps. Stay future focused and action-oriented.
3. Diagnosing systems gaps to elevate the entire store experience- backroom management, staff & task scheduling, ordering cadence and pars, merchandizing opportunities, customer service and more!

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Store Department Staff – grocery, wellness, deli, meat, etc.

Format: Workshop

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Product Mix: “Hybrid” Relevancy, Differentiation and Margin

Heather Lazickas, Partner, seven roots
John Tashiro, General Manager, City Market Co-op
Chris Dilley Director of Startup Support, Food Co-op Initiative. and Former GM/IGM for PFC Kalamazoo, Detroit PFC and Gem City Market

Food co-ops today operate in an intensely competitive grocery landscape while also being looked to as models for addressing food access and affordability in low-income and low-access neighborhoods. At the same time, co-op shoppers and organizers are more diverse than ever—in background, taste, and expectations.

Many co-ops now function as hybrid stores, where shelves might feature organic local produce alongside Triscuits, Cheerios, or Takis.

In this session, operators and co-op leaders will share lessons from their journeys creating, converting, and managing hybrid stores. We’ll dig into questions of sourcing, community relevancy, and margins. Expect candid conversation from the trenches about navigating today’s evolving marketplace.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1) Understand the changing landscape of consumer grocery purchasing as it relates to store product mix

2) Understand the variables associated with a hybrid mix, and how to consider its merits for attendees’ stores and communities.

3) Consider how current store challenges and community needs may relate to product mix choices.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Presentation Session

Unions-What’s it all about?

Tyler Burch, HR Director, Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op
Stephanie Merriman, Owner/Trainer, Merriman Management Support

Many co-ops partner with labor unions—relationships that can strengthen our workplaces and test our leadership. Join Tyler Burch and Stephanie Merriman for a dynamic, discussion-based session designed for managers, GMs, CEOs, and HR who want practical tools for building productive union relationships while protecting co-op autonomy and upholding the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Through real-world scenarios and peer exchange, participants will gain confidence navigating union–management dynamics, addressing challenges proactively, and reinforcing a shared commitment to employee representation and organizational success. We’ll focus on the essentials, using the CBA as the foundation of the relationship, understanding management and staff rights, navigating just cause and grievances, strengthening steward relationships, and preparing for successful negotiations.

Participants are encouraged to come ready to share experiences and leave with actionable strategies that can be put to work immediately.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

Participants will walk away:

• Better informed on using the CBA as the cornerstone for protecting management’s rights while honoring employee representation.
• Equipped with actionable steps for managing in a union environment.
• With a stronger understanding of grievances and recommendations for essential elements in contract negotiations.

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Administrative Department Staff – marketing, human resources, finance, IT, etc.

Format: Teaching Session

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Re-Invigorating Your Service Culture: Becoming Rooted in Service

Kim Lund, Senior Manager of Service Experience, PCC Community Markets

In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, many co-ops have felt a subtle but significant shift in store energy. During the height of the pandemic, distance and safety protocols were necessary to protect our communities. Yet even as restrictions lifted, many organizations have struggled to fully restore the natural warmth, spontaneity, and sense of belonging that once defined their service culture.

This presentation explores how co-ops can intentionally rebuild connection—between staff and shoppers, across departments, and within their broader communities—by becoming deeply rooted in service.

We will examine the barriers that often stand in the way of meaningful engagement today. These may include operational pressures, staffing shortages, burnout, unclear expectations, transactional metrics, or simply the lingering habits formed during years of physical distancing. Reinvigorating service culture requires more than asking staff to “be friendlier.” It requires clarity, alignment, and a shared philosophy embedded into daily operations.

Drawing from our experience developing and implementing a “Rooted in Service” training framework at PCC Community Markets, this session will share practical tools for:

• Defining what service truly means within your cooperative context
• Identifying cultural and operational barriers to connection
• Embedding service expectations into leadership practices and store systems
• Aligning teams around a shared service philosophy
• Re-energizing staff around purpose and community impact

Participants will learn how a clearly articulated service philosophy can serve as a unifying foundation—supporting morale, improving member experience, strengthening retention, and deepening community trust.

This session is designed as a presentation with time for discussion and peer reflection. Attendees will leave with practical insights, guiding questions, and a simple framework to begin assessing and rebuilding their own service culture.

Reinvigorating service is not about returning to the past—it is about intentionally shaping a culture that meets today’s realities while staying grounded in cooperative values.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Define a Service-Minded Culture
• Articulate what a service philosophy means within their organization and how it connects to cooperative identity and mission.
• Assess Barriers to Connection
• Identify operational, cultural, and structural barriers that may be limiting staff engagement and community connection.
• Build a Practical Framework for Renewal
• Outline a clear, step-by-step approach for reinvigorating service culture through leadership alignment, training, and daily operational practices.

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Store Department Staff – grocery, wellness, deli, meat, etc.

Format: Presentation session

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The Evergreen Pipeline: Succession Planning Through a Culture of Coaching

Rita York Hennecke, Coach and Facilitator, Lead with Rita
Seth Naumann, General Manager, The Merc Co+op

In the 2026 landscape of the “Great Reshuffle,” leadership is no longer a fixed chair—it is a renewable resource. As workforce mobility increases and staff rethink their career paths, the most resilient food co-ops are moving beyond “break-glass-in-case-of-emergency” binders.

This workshop transforms succession from a static document into a vibrant leadership practice, shifting your co-op’s culture from reactive hiring to a proactive “coach-and-grow” mindset that builds strength at every level.

Reframing the Leadership Pipeline

This session is designed for operational leaders and Board members to explore how a culture of coaching unlocks the potential of the existing team and ensures that invaluable institutional wisdom stays within the organization. We focus on expanding leadership capacity—equipping staff with the strategic thinking and emotional intelligence required to lead in complex environments. For Boards, we provide a real-world case study from The Merc Co+op that serves as a reflective model for managing GM turnover.

We specifically examine how to mitigate unconscious bias by replacing “gut-feeling” promotions with transparent criteria and “Resource Flooding”—intentionally surrounding emerging leaders with cross-functional exposure and Board visibility to expand social capital for leaders from historically underrepresented communities.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. Identify Emerging Talent: Learn to use a structured rubric to spot potential leaders—within staff or the Board—based on their strategic thinking and adaptive capacity, rather than just their technical skills.
2. Draft an Initial Succession Map: Start a living document for a key role that identifies necessary mentorship steps and essential wisdom to be shared, providing a foundation for future development.

3. Practice Everyday Coaching Skills: Use “Speed Coaching” exercises to try out simple, inquiry-based questions that can turn routine check-ins into small but meaningful opportunities for leadership growth.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Workshop

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Finding True North – How Trusting Your Leadership Instincts Transforms Workplaces

Melinda Schab, General Manager, Moscow Food Co-op
Laura King, Leadership Coach, Laura King Consulting

Part 1 – Case Study – Finding True North for Melinda Schab, GM Moscow Food Co-op

The employee opinion surveys told the truth before I was ready to hear it. In my early years as General Manager of the Moscow Food Co-op, our results were unremarkable — and the reason, I eventually had to admit, was me. Not my intentions, not my work ethic, not my knowledge of the industry. Me: a leader who had stopped trusting herself.

What followed was one of the most important journeys of my professional life. Under real pressure — from a difficult board relationship, from leadership training that never felt authentically mine, from personal circumstances that had quietly dismantled my confidence — I had learned to override my instincts in favor of external inputs. A candid conversation with a trusted consultant changed the trajectory. Her hard truth was simple: stop looking outside yourself for the leader you already are.

In the case study, I’ll share how the Moscow Food Co-op went from underwhelming survey results to three consecutive cycles of exceptional marks, and what actually drove that transformation. Not the books. Not the trainings. The slow, sometimes painful work of building a workplace where people are seen as complete human beings, where relationships are never transactional, and where a GM who knows all 90-plus of her employees by name — and something that matters to each of them — models the culture she wants to create.

You’ll leave with a frank account of what wasn’t working and why, a concrete set of practices for building psychological safety and trust, and an honest reckoning with what it costs — and what it’s worth — to run an organization that refuses to treat people as expendable.

Part 2 – Workshop – Strategies and practices for finding your true north and cultivating trust

In the interactive workshop portion participants will engage in paired exercises, reflective writing and small group activities. We’ll explore how self-trust is at the core of creating a culture of trust.  How can you cultivate trust with your customers if you don’t have it within your organization, leadership team, Board of Directors or yourself?

This is both co-op case study in the truest sense as well as an interactive workshop. We will explore how trust has been at the center of finding true north. Trusting oneself, and cultivating trusting teams, leaders, and board members. We look forward to exploring what most leaders don’t talk about.

This is a session about leadership from the inside out. It is for every co-op GM who has ever stood in front of their team and wondered if they were enough. The answer, it turns out, was always yes.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

• Attendees will learn specific approaches to leadership that contribute to increasing trust and psychological safety in the workplace.
• This session offers an exploration of human-centered leadership. Attendees will leave with clear action steps to apply to their role and co-op.
• Participants will learn skills to center self-trust and perspective-taking while leading during complexity.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Workshop

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Shared Leadership, Stronger Co-ops: Lessons from Collective Management

Harry Levine, Collective Member, Olympia Food Co-op
Maureen Tobin, Collective Member, Olympia Food Co-op
Lesley Farmer, Collective Member, Board member, Alberta Cooperative Grocery
Christopher DeAngelis, Collective Member, People’s Food Co-op

Three Northwest co-ops with experience in collective management will briefly share an overview of their structures and some ideas about how this team approach cultivates resilience, inclusion and success. The workshop aims to help participants run more productive and equitable meetings and explore skills to build feedback and understanding between teams. The workshop will share methods that allow effective problem solving in the moment through a collaborative, supported and decision-building approach to be more open about power dynamics such as race & gender. This approach also helps create future leaders through development and mentorship. Collaboration that is able to truly hear more voices leads to better decisions, fostering organizational decision making that takes a wider view than individual views.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1) Introduction to and practice with tools and roles for running productive/equitable meetings and enhancing communication

2) How to give and receive feedback between teams for organizational benefit, moving outside the narrower interest of one’s own team/position

3) Understanding how collaboration that truly hears more voices leads to better decisions with an organizational view

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Store Department Staff – grocery, wellness, deli, meat, etc.

Format: Workshop

Growing Impact: Building Sustainable Fundraising Systems for Lasting Community Benefit
How a round-up at the register model transforms everyday transactions into long-term local food system resilience.

Andrea Stafford, Director of Marketing and Outreach, The Food Co-op Port Townsend

What if community impact wasn’t a one-time initiative — but a system?

At The Food Co-op in Port Townsend, WA, a simple idea — rounding up at the register — evolved into a structured, sustainable Farmer Fund that has distributed over $160,000 in grants to multiple farmer in a small community in Jefferson County. What began as a modest donation concept is now a permanent, operationalized program embedded into the co-op’s infrastructure, governance, and community strategy.

This session explores how co-ops can move beyond short-term fundraising efforts to build durable systems that create measurable, long-term community benefit.

Participants will learn how we designed and implemented a sustainable funding model that:

• Aligns with our Ends policies and cooperative values
• Operates through transparent governance and grant review structures
• Integrates seamlessly into POS systems and daily operations
• Builds trust with farmers, producers, staff, and member-owners
• Strengthens local food resilience and economic interdependence
• Supports both diversity of products and diversity of people.

We will share lessons learned — including operational barriers, board engagement, technology hurdles, committee structure, communications strategy, and impact measurement. Attendees will see how intentional system design allowed our program to grow from raising a few hundred dollars annually to generating over $100,000 across multiple community initiatives.

More importantly, this session will help co-ops ask the bigger question:

How can we build systems that reflect what our community values most?

Whether your co-op prioritizes food access, small farm viability, climate resilience, equity in ownership, or cooperative development, this workshop offers a replicable framework for turning shared values into sustainable, operational programs that last beyond individual leaders or board terms.

Community impact doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

1. Design a sustainable community funding system aligned with their co-op’s Ends, Goals, Values and operational capacity.
2. Develop governance and review structures that ensure transparency, equity, and community trust.
3. Create an implementation roadmap for integrating community investment programs into daily store operations.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers, Administrative Department Staff – marketing, human resources, finance, IT, etc.

Format: Workshop

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The Cascade Lab: Experimenting with Cooperation to Build Community Power

Danielle Scallin, Human Resources Training Coordinator, Briar Patch Food Co-op
Mark Mulcahy, Regenerative Retail Specialist, Organic Options

In a time of economic uncertainty, social change, and environmental challenge, cooperative workplaces are being asked to do more than adapt—they’re being asked to lead. The Cascade Lab is a hands-on, experiential session designed to help co-op employees explore how cooperation, shared leadership, and collective action can create ripple effects that strengthen teams, organizations, and the communities they serve.

This interactive “lab-style” session invites participants to step out of traditional presentation mode and into experimentation. Through facilitated activities and rotating lab stations, attendees will experience how small, intentional actions—when rooted in cooperative values—can cascade into lasting impact. Participants will explore shared leadership, peer mentoring, and inter-cooperative collaboration as practical tools for cultivating resilient, inclusive, and engaged teams.

Grounded in cooperative principles and real-world workplace dynamics, The Cascade Lab reflects what many of us have experienced firsthand—that community power doesn’t start at the top, but in everyday moments of trust, shared ownership, and showing up for one another across departments, roles, and perspectives.

Participants will leave not only inspired but equipped with concrete strategies and a personal “cascade commitment” they can carry back to their co-ops—turning shared values into shared power.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

• Explore how cooperative principles come alive through shared leadership and collective action.
• Experience hands-on activities that demonstrate how small actions can create cascading impact within teams and communities.
• Learn practical strategies for peer mentoring, collaboration, and inclusive leadership.
• Reflect on their own role in cultivating an evergreen, resilient workforce.
• Leave with a clear, actionable commitment to spark a cooperative “cascade” in their own workplace.

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Store Department Staff – grocery, wellness, deli, meat, etc.

Format: Workshop

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Growing for Good: A Replicable Co-op Model Supporting Farmers and Food Access

Rachel Tefft, Senior Manager, Community Food Systems, PCC Community Markets
Joey Lu, Food Access Manager, Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Market
Olivia Jackiewicz Farm to Community Program Manager, Harvest Against Hunger

As federal and state funding streams for hunger relief and small farm support face increasing uncertainty, co-ops are uniquely positioned to step into the gap. What role can food co-ops play in stabilizing regional farm economies while simultaneously expanding access to fresh, local food for communities experiencing food insecurity?

This panel session will spotlight Growing for Good, a collaborative model led by Neighborhood Farmers Markets, Harvest Against Hunger and PCC Community Markets that connects co-op shoppers, local farms, and hunger relief partners to create a values-aligned, community-funded solution.  Growing for Good intentionally directs funds to local farms to grow culturally relevant, high-quality produce that is then distributed through hunger relief organizations (HROs), strengthening both farm viability and food access simultaneously.

Rachel Tefft, Senior Manager of Community Food Systems at PCC, will share the history and evolution of the Growing for Good program—how it was designed, how it is funded, and how it aligns with PCC’s cooperative purpose. Joining Rachel on the panel will be partners from Harvest Against Hunger and Neighborhood Farmers Market, who will share their roles in building and operating the program, including intentional matching of farm and hunger relief partners and ensuring equitable distribution of funds. The session may also include participating farmers and HRO partners to provide their perspective of the program benefits and challenges.

Panelists will explore:

• How the funding model works (retail activation, shopper donations, and partner coordination)
• Creating partnerships based on cultural relevance and community need
• Measuring impact for both farm resilience and food access
• Lessons learned in scaling and sustaining the program
• How Growing for Good has been able to be a part of building a more resilient local food system and what is next for this program
• Feedback from co-op staff and customers

This session will emphasize that Growing for Good is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but a replicable framework adaptable to co-ops of varying sizes and regions.

In a time when public funding is shrinking, co-ops can leverage their community ownership model to catalyze local solutions that have a real impact on their local food system. Participants will leave with practical insights and inspiration to explore similar farm-to-food bank partnerships in their own communities.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1) Understand the Model Structure

Describe how a co-op-led farm-to-food access program can be structured to support both producers and hunger relief partners.

2) Identify Key Partnerships and Infrastructure Needs

Recognize the critical roles of growers, HROs, and retail partners in building a successful program.

3)Exchange Peer Models and Ideas to Support Farms and Food Access

Participants will have the opportunity to share and learn from peer co-ops’ approaches to supporting local farms and addressing hunger and identify ideas adaptable to their own communities.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers, Administrative Department Staff – marketing, human resources, finance, IT, etc.

Format: Presentation

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Rooted in Narrative: Cooperative Media and the Importance of Storytelling

LeAnna Nieratko, CEO/GM, Erie Food Co-op, and Garlic and Roses
Mike Houston, CEO/GM, Takoma Park Silver Spring Food Co-op and Garlic and Roses
Tyler Kulp GM, East End Food Co-op and Garlic and Roses Co-op
Jeremy DeChario, CEO, Syracuse Cooperative Market and Garlic and Roses

Food co-ops are built on democratic participation and shared ownership, allowing community needs to guide how we run our stores. While large retailers prioritize profit, food co-ops strive to serve as long-term community assets. Garlic and Roses is rooted in the idea that narrative, like food, is part of our shared infrastructure and deserves cooperative stewardship.

Media shapes culture. Culture shapes participation. Participation shapes democracy. When the stories that circulate about our work are limited to metrics or promotional language, we miss opportunities to build belonging and shared identity. Informal leadership moments, mutual aid stories, governance quirks, sector lore, and everyday acts of cooperation often go undocumented even though these are the narratives that help people feel connected to a movement.

This session explores cooperative media and storytelling as tools for strengthening democratic culture across the co-op ecosystem.

Participants will examine the news gap within cooperative ecosystems and consider how cooperatively owned media can serve as movement-accountable cultural infrastructure; adaptive, responsive, and rooted in our shared values. We will explore how intentional storytelling can:

• Increase engagement with governance and democratic processes
• Strengthen trust across organizations and geographies
• Reflect cooperative principles in tone and practice
• Reinforce belonging across diverse identities and roles

The session will introduce design principles for meaningful storytelling, including consent, power awareness, and inclusion. Special attention will be given to how humor and warmth can humanize leadership without undermining accountability, and how storytelling can “punch up” rather than exclude.

Using examples from cooperative media initiatives, participants will imagine their own co-ops as part of a larger root system, uncovering connective stories that can bring us together. The workshop includes an interactive component in which attendees identify untold stories within their own organizations and communities in order to sketch how those stories might be shared in ways that strengthen collective culture.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. Articulate why community-owned media matters
2. Analyze the “news gap” in cooperative ecosystems
3. Identify the stories waiting to be told in their own co-ops and communities.

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Administrative Department Staff – marketing, human resources, finance, IT, etc.

Format: Presentation Session

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Stronger Together: Building Bridges Across Race

Jade Barker, Leadership Development Consultant, Columinate
Molly Snell-Larch, Board Development Consultant, Columinate

Despite claims to the contrary, our co-ops have not historically been particularly welcoming to people of color. In 2017, “Everyone Welcome? Personal Narratives About Race and Food Co-ops,” co-operators described vastly different experiences and perspectives, divided sharply by race. White co-editor Pat Cumbie was surprised to discover that not everyone in the cooperative community experienced the same “culture of caring” she had. Despite having a rich cooperative history (see “Collective Courage: A History of African American Economic Thought and Practice”), Black Americans were rarely seen in our food co-ops.

However, over the last two decades, food coop demographics have shifted significantly. Fueled in part by the disappearance of grocery stores in areas historically (and currently) designed to exclude blacks from primarily white communities, the food co-op movement has seen a steady increase in the appearance of non-white faces. But the mere presence of multiple races doesn’t automatically create an inclusive space.

Based in part on Tom Kochman’s “Black and White Styles in Conflict,” this workshop explores some of the ways working across race can be difficult and how to transform this difficulty into a crucible from which a stronger cooperative movement can arise.

Participants will learn about how culturally distinct individuals typically relate to one another in groups, and how to create spaces where all voices are not only heard but also incorporated into a shared understanding that creates a welcoming, inclusive culture that respects the dignity of all people, fosters our cooperative principles, and furthers our aspirations: an organization that values people and planet over profit.

In this interactive workshop, the black and white co-presenters will share what they’ve observed in their cooperative work and invite attendees to share their challenges and triumphs as they work to build bridges across race. Attendees will leave with a greater understanding of potential pitfalls and the hoped-for benefits of building alliances across race. Participants will also have the opportunity to build relationships with others facing the same challenges while increasing their tolerance for engaging in these necessary conversations.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. A greater understanding of racial and cultural differences relevant to their roles in their organizations.
2. Ways to mitigate misunderstandings across these differences
3. An increased ability to tolerate the social discomfort of difficult conversations

Who Should Attend: Everyone

Format: Workshop

 

Who Holds the Holder? The Board’s Role in Preventing GM Burnout

Gabrielle Davis, Equity, Inclusion & Community Engagement Manager, National Co+op Grocers and Board Treasurer, Detroit People’s Food Co-op

Burnout among GMs in food cooperatives is often viewed as a personal capacity issue rather than a governance concern. Yet board decisions about expectations, timelines and accountability structures significantly shape the sustainability of the GM role. This is especially true during leadership transitions, such as when a new GM follows a long-tenured or founding manager and inherits established systems, relationships and informal norms. This session invites board members to examine how organizational design, culture and transition practices can unintentionally concentrate responsibility in one position over time. Participants will explore how to balance visionary leadership with realistic capacity, strengthen shared accountability and create support systems that allow both new and long-standing GMs, and their co-ops, to thrive for the long term.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. Examine how board behavior and decision-making influence workload, emotional labor and leadership sustainability, particularly during periods of leadership transition.
2. Apply strategies for designing clearer boundaries, shared responsibility, and capacity-based expectations that support GM sustainability across leadership changes.
3. Identify governance practices and cultural norms that increase burnout risk for GMs, including role creep, heroic leadership expectations, and challenges that arise when transitioning after a long-tenured or founding GM.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors

Format: Teaching Session

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Leadership Laboratory: Sharing Creative Strategies and Success Stories for Board Leadership Development

Ollie Cultrara, Board member and co-Treasurer, Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op
Steve Trombulak, Board member and Treasurer, River Valley Co-op

Are board elections a source of stress, with difficulty attracting member-owners to run? Does your board struggle to retain new board members? Are the board officers the only ones who understand the full scope of the officers’ roles and responsibilities?

Serving on a board of directors can be an incredibly rewarding way to practice leading with cooperative values on an impactful, local level. However, serving on a board can also be intimidating or inaccessible for a variety of reasons. Co-ops can struggle to recruit and retain board members that bring new perspectives when what it means to serve on the board or in an officer role is opaque or out of reach.

When a variety of viewpoints are represented and board members feel a sense of belonging and empowerment, boards can make stronger decisions that help their co-ops successfully navigate periods of growth or stress. The goal of this session is for board leaders to build skills for bringing new voices into the fold and developing creative, collaborative leaders so our co-ops can continue to lead the way in increasingly complex times.

We will begin the workshop with an introduction to approaches taken to leadership development by two different co-ops: Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op in western Vermont and River Valley Co-op in western Massachusetts. These case studies will highlight these co-op’s specific approaches to managing board recruitment, retention, and training, with attention to fostering board composition across a range of backgrounds including occupation, age, race, gender, and socioeconomic security. These case studies will serve to stimulate conversation among workshop participants about their own challenges and approaches, with the goal that we all will learn and share from the whole.

This workshop aims to foster an environment of collaboration and shared problem-solving. Participants will be asked to write down a leadership challenge facing their co-op’s board that we will use as additional case studies. Collectively, we will share real examples of success stories and generate new practical and creative strategies for recruitment, retention, and leadership development to address these challenges. We will use interactive components like one-on-one introductions and think-pair-share discussions to support participation and allow everyone’s voice and ideas to be heard. Rather than being prescriptive of what all boards should do, the case study format will provide opportunities to reflect and practice thinking outside the box in a supportive environment. Participants will leave feeling more connected, inspired, and empowered to try new ideas and will bring tangible strategies back to their co-op boards.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. Participants will learn (and share) new strategies for board leadership development, recruitment, and retention.
2. Participants will develop skills for thinking creatively to solve challenges their boards are facing and be empowered to experiment and think outside the box.
3. Participants will build connections and collaboration across co-ops for sharing replicable or adaptable ideas, swapping success stories, and seeking support.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers, Department Managers

Format: Workshop

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Fair Pay, Fair Power: Addressing Gender Bias in Co-op Leadership and Governance

Jeanie Wells, Co-op Leadership Consultant, Mighty Community Markets
Sarah Dahl, Human Resources Consultant, Workforce Equity, LLC

Cooperatives are built on principles of equity and shared power — yet many still struggle with gender pay disparities and unspoken expectations that shape who is trusted, heard, and promoted.

Why?

Even in mission-driven workplaces like ours, cultural norms about leadership quietly influence compensation and credibility. These dynamics often go unnoticed and unnamed, even in communities that see themselves as models in the community for focusing on equity. With the unprecedented rate of GM turnover in our sector and the growing gap between co-ops looking for new GMs and the current available supply of qualified GMs, we are at a critical inflection point where we need to acknowledge inequities, and work to ensure we are all supporting fair treatment and compensation for the GMs of today and tomorrow.

This session invites co-op leaders and board members to examine the gap between intention and impact. Grounded in real examples and real data from the food co-op sector, we will examine:

• Patterns of gender pay disparities and how they emerge even in mission-driven organizations;
• How bias, often subtle or unintentional, influences hiring, promotion, evaluation, and leadership credibility;
• The “double bind” female leaders frequently face and its impact on retention and effectiveness;
• How boards can avoid perpetuating inequities in hiring and oversight practices;
• What it takes to move from “we care about equity” to enacting measurable change.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

This session uses real world data and scenarios gathered from our work throughout the retail grocery co-op sector. It is presented in an interactive and actionable way, to help today’s co-op leaders change this persistent trajectory. Attendees will leave this session with:

• A deep understanding of the persistent issues of gender-based inequity in our sector,
• An understanding of how to prevent inequities from coming into our organizations, through education and processes for budgeting and negotiations around – pay negotiation, budgeting for GM salaries.
• How to notice and intervene when gender based inequities may be at play  in our workplaces and board rooms,
• Understanding how to move forward when personal biases surface.
• Ideas for supporting new GMs advocate for themselves.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Teaching session

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The Leadership Cascade: Strengthening GM-Board Partnerships for Cooperative Resilience
Jasmin Woodside, Board President, First Alternative Co-op
Wynston Estis, Co-op Transition Specialist, Running Start Consulting LLC
Mark Tarasawa GM, First Alternative Co-op

Strong governance begins with trust and clarity at the highest levels of leadership. In times of change, the relationship between a General Manager (GM) and Board President can either create friction or unlock a cascade of cooperation that strengthens the entire organization. This session explores practical strategies for building alignment between these two critical roles—ensuring that governance and operations work in harmony to advance cooperative values and community impact.

Our perspective is grounded in lived experience. In 2024, our co-op faced an unexpected GM retirement. The Board, led by its President Jasmin Woodside, had to make difficult decisions quickly—hiring an interim GM (Wynston Estis) not only stabilized operations but also helped the Board strengthen its governance practices in new ways and gave it the time necessary to exercise due diligence in the recruiting process of the new GM. This intentional collaboration created a smoother transition and ultimately led to a successful internal hire for the permanent GM role. Through this process, we learned firsthand how clarity, trust, and shared leadership can transform a challenge into an opportunity for growth.

Through open communication established in weekly check-in meetings that featured topics of the moment, coffee and scones, Jasmin and Wynston formed a trusting relationship. These informal meetings created room for open, honest conversations about difficulties that were sometimes tough to navigate. By strengthening the GM and President relationship and respect for each roles’ complexities, we were able to tackle some delicate topics. One of the ongoing priorities for this board is ensuring our business practices reflect a commitment to belonging for all people that want to participate in the Co-op, including people of the global majority, indigenous, non-binary, current and future owners and customers.

As Board President, Jasmin also welcomed GM input on committee work that supported developing processes and agendas. Additionally, boundaries between governance and operations were reexamined for better clarity. The culture of staff was also a concern that had to be addressed. This is an area that boards are frequently cautioned to avoid to preserve the lines of management authority. Yet the board and the GM are responsible for the health and safety of the Co-op as a workplace. This is a topic that can strain the working relationship between the GM and the Board if there isn’t a strong commitment to mutual success. Overall, during the tenure of the IGM and into now the permanent GM, the work of shared leadership between the BoD and GM at First Alternative has increased the ability of both roles to impact the Co-op’s current success and plans for the future. In this session, we’ll share lessons learned and actionable tools for:

• Building trust and alignment between GM and Board President.
• Applying governance frameworks that support clarity and shared leadership.
• Embedding DEI principles into executive-level collaboration.

Participants will engage in guided discussions and role-play scenarios to practice strategies for strengthening leadership partnerships. When leadership works together, cooperatives thrive—not just internally, but across the communities they serve.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. Implement three practical strategies for GM–Board alignment that strengthen governance.
2. Apply a governance framework to clarify leadership roles and responsibilities.
3. Design an inclusive leadership approach that amplifies diverse voices and community needs.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Workshop

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From Vision to Action: Designing Strategic Planning Processes That Actually Work

Holly O’Neil, Facilitator and Co-op Development Consultant, Crossroads Consulting

Cooperatives have always been on the cutting edge of economic and social change—this moment calls us to lead again.  As economic pressures, workforce shifts, and community needs evolve, food co-ops are being called to demonstrate their relevance in new and visible ways. Strategic planning—when intentionally designed—can become a powerful engine for the cascade of cooperation, helping co-ops deepen community impact, strengthen partnerships, and bring member vision and shared purpose to life.

In this highly interactive workshop, co-op development consultant Holly O’Neil guides participants through the essential elements of effective, inclusive strategic planning and helps them design an approach tailored to their co-op’s size, culture, and stage of development.

Grounded in real-world practice, the session features three contrasting food co-op case studies, including the highly innovative work of Orcas Food Co-op, illustrating how thoughtful planning processes can strengthen board–GM partnership, engage staff meaningfully, activate member voice, increase the co-op’s visibility and relevance in its community, identify opportunities for collaboration with peer co-ops and mission-aligned partners, align Policy Governance with strategy, and move from vision to implementation and accountability.

With an emphasis on peer learning and practical application, most of the session is devoted to guided discussion and hands-on planning time. Participants will leave with a draft Plan-to-Plan roadmap and clear awareness of NCG strategic planning tools, benchmarking supports, and advisory resources.

This workshop is especially valuable for boards, general managers, and senior leaders seeking to strengthen governance effectiveness, clarify the board’s role in strategic planning, and build high-functioning board–management partnership while expanding the co-op’s community impact.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

Participants will be able to:

• Identify the core elements of an effective and inclusive strategic planning process and recognize how strong planning increases a co-op’s relevance, resilience, and community impact—regardless of organizational size or capacity.
• Analyze how three food co-ops—including Orcas Food Co-op—designed and implemented their strategic plans, including governance–operations alignment, staff and member engagement strategies, and opportunities for cooperation among cooperatives and community partners.
• Develop a customized, right-sized Plan-to-Plan roadmap outlining next steps, roles, engagement methods, and relevant NCG resources that co-ops of varying sizes and resource levels can realistically implement.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Workshop

Better Together: The story of two food co-ops unifying through consolidation

Catherine Downey, CEO, Rivers Cooperative Markets (Mississippi Market Co-op)
Sara Morrison, Chief Integration Officer, Rivers Cooperative Markets (River Market)
Luke Engel, Board Co-Chair, Rivers Cooperative Markets 
Molly Phipps, Board Co-Chair, Rivers Cooperative Markets 

What does it really take for two successful food co-ops to become one? This session shares a practical, look at the recent consolidation of Mississippi Market Co-op and River Market Community Co-op, now operating together as Rivers Cooperative Markets. Designed for food co-op leaders, this session offers a candid “how-to” of the process, from the first exploratory conversations to the owner vote and implementation, with honest reflections on what worked, what we would do differently, and what we learned along the way.

Since opening in 1979, Mississippi Market Co-op has served Saint Paul, Minnesota with three neighborhood stores owned by more than 18,000 community members, guided by cooperative principles and a commitment to local, organic, and sustainably produced food. River Market Community Co-op, founded in 1978 in nearby Stillwater, Minnesota, is a community-owned grocery with more than 7,900 owners and a strong focus on supporting local growers, producers, and makers. Rooted in shared values and a commitment to their communities, the two cooperatives came together to explore what deeper cooperation could make possible.

Participants will walk through the key stages of the consolidation process, including:

1. Beginning conversations and developing clear “why” statements from leadership, grounded in Cooperative Principle 6: Cooperation among cooperatives
2. Forming a joint board-management committee to guide due diligence, build a shared framework, and report back to both boards
3. Communicating with staff, owners, and the public through meetings, town halls, media outreach, and in-store messaging
4. Preparing for and carrying out the owner vote, embodying Cooperative Principle 2: Democratic member control

Presenters will also discuss known unknowns, unexpected surprises, financial considerations, and the resources required to make consolidation feasible. The session will provide space for discussion about when consolidation makes sense, when it does not, and how to evaluate potential partners.

Learning Outcomes:
Participants will:

1. Explore what is possible through deeper cooperation, including whether consolidation or partnership could make sense in their own region.
2. Identify key areas to understand about a potential partner before beginning the process, including finances, culture, governance, and leadership alignment.
3. Understand the resources, planning, and support needed to make a consolidation process realistic, affordable, and successful.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors,General Managers or Department Managers
Format: Presentation

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Turning on a Dime
Using the right data points to predict success and simplify messaging for loyalty, promotions, as well as crisis response, using the DIME process.

Heather Q Hay, IT Manager, Belfast Community Co-op
Jamie Cermak, Marketing Manager, Belfast Community Co-op
Gina Ferendo, Store Operations Manager, Belfast Community Co-op
Doug Johnson, General Manager, Belfast Community Co-op

Operators running a successful food co-op today have many challenges.  Operators benefit from abilities to adapt quickly and to utilize technology and systems efficiently. Data tells the story of where we’ve been and can help us predict outcomes. Knowing what resources are available and how to pinpoint what is helpful to answering your questions is key to success.

In this workshop we’ll identify data points to predict success and simplify messaging for loyalty, promotions, as well as crisis response, using the DIME process.

There are various ways you can think about “turning on a dime” – as a turn of phrase, it means to respond quickly with limited options or space – something that many co-ops can relate to. You can also consider the phrase from a monetary perspective – How do you turn on a dime – increase profits and increase your marketing reach?

You can also use Turning on a DIME as a way to guide decision making – using the DIME process:

• Data/Define – Explore what is happening and define the business need
• Inform/Investigate – finding the story in the data
• Message/Margin – Using a clear message to drive sales and how that can improve overall margin performance.
• Execute/Examine – Following through and judging success – metrics that matter

Knowing what resources are available and how to pinpoint what is helpful to answering your questions is key to success. We use data to help create rules for a new loyalty program by predicting use and helping refine the marketing message.  We use data to identify how we can best support our local food banks and community in times of increased food insecurity. We are able to follow up on our successes by setting metrics and tracking results.

In the Turning on a DIME session, the senior leadership team from the Belfast Community Co-op will explore each step of the DIME process and encourage attendees to apply what they learn throughout the session using a complementary workbook (available both physically and digitally) that they may bring back to their co-ops to share with their teams and peers.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. A structured method for examining and defining business needs, streamlining a message, and measuring results
2. A workbook to bring back to the co-ops to help them share their experience and educate others.
3. Focused time to think about a business need that they identify during the session.

Who Should Attend: General Managers or Department Managers, Store Department Staff – grocery, wellness, deli, meat, etc.

Format: Teaching Session

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Capitalizing the Co-op: Building the Capital Stack for Expansion and Relocation

Matthew Stanley, General Manager, Astoria Co-op
Roderick McCulloch, Loan Officer, Shared Capital Cooperative
Damilola Odetola Vice President, National Cooperative Bank
Alan Singer, Senior Loan Officer, Leaf Fund
Michelle Schry, Strategic Development Director, National Co+op Grocers

Food co-ops undertaking relocations, expansions, or major remodels face a common challenge: assembling a capital stack that is large enough, resilient enough, and credible enough to support transformative projects. Construction costs continue to rise, lending standards have tightened, and lenders are looking closely at balance sheet strength, equity contribution, and risk mitigation.

This session focuses specifically on how co-ops can successfully capitalize major projects by aligning internally raised community capital with external financing.

The first portion of the session offers a co-op and General Manager perspective on campaign readiness and execution, focusing on why capital campaigns matter for major projects and how they align with cooperative principles. It reviews primary sources of campaign capital — including member loans, preferred shares, and fiscal sponsorship models — along with key legal, governance, and regulatory considerations, timelines, budgets, and essential campaign roles.

Drawing on real co-op examples and financial benchmarks, participants will examine practical strategies for raising member and community investment. The session clarifies how these capital tools operate on the balance sheet and influence leverage and debt ratios. It also addresses campaign timing, organizational readiness, and the role of relationship-building and early commitments in generating momentum, along with practical approaches to broadening participation so that campaigns are accessible across income levels and reflective of the full diversity of the co-op’s membership and community.

The second portion of the session brings in representatives from cooperative and community-focused lenders to share the external capital perspective. Panelists will discuss how capital campaigns influence underwriting decisions, how different forms of equity and subordinate capital are evaluated, and what signals lenders look for when assessing project readiness and long-term viability. The panel will also clarify key financing concepts such as subordination (senior debt versus member debt), loan covenants and debt service coverage requirements that may affect dividend payments, and the importance of maintaining strong lender relationships through regular financial reporting and proactive communication. Together, the presenters will explore how internal and external capital function as an integrated capital stack — and how thoughtful campaign design can materially improve financing outcomes.

The final segment will be dedicated to audience Q&A, allowing participants to explore specific project scenarios and practical next steps relevant to their own co-ops.

The session includes real numbers, real structures, and candid lessons learned from completed campaigns — including reflections on Astoria Co-op’s successful capital project and the strategic decisions that shaped its financing structure. Participants will leave with a practical self-assessment checklist to evaluate their co-op’s readiness for a major capital project and a clearer understanding of how community-rooted capital, when broadly supported, strengthens both the balance sheet and lender confidence.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1) Diagnose capital campaign readiness across leadership, governance, financial, and organizational dimensions. Participants will be able to use a structured capital-readiness framework to assess their co-op’s preparedness for a member capital campaign. They will be able to identify strengths, surface hidden risks, and distinguish between areas that require refinement versus those that present material campaign risk.

2) Evaluate how community capital structures affect underwriting, repayment capacity, and long-term financial stability.

Participants will be able to explain how member loans, preferred shares, and other forms of community capital influence leverage, debt service coverage, covenant compliance, and lender confidence. They will leave better equipped to align campaign design with realistic financial projections and repayment capacity.

3) Apply integrated capital stack thinking to board and leadership decision-making. Participants will be able to articulate how internal capital campaigns and external financing function as an integrated capital stack and use this understanding to guide board conversations, sequencing decisions, and go/no-go determinations for major projects.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Presentation

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The Perils, Pitfalls, and Potential Positive PR of Political Positions: A Tale of Two Portlands

Marc Brown, Secretary, People’s Food Cooperative
Hether Jonna, Board Consultant, Columinate
Martha Lefebvre, Vice President, Portland Food Cooperative
John Crane, General Manager, Portland Food Cooperative
Malorie Harshaw-Hess, Internal Development Manager, People’s Food Cooperative

Many new wave consumer cooperatives were forged from the fires of protest.  Indeed, many consumer cooperatives began as a form of protest against the industrialization of the food industry.  However, as consumer cooperatives have grown and matured, their owners and customers have defied easy categorization.  Many cooperatives have struggled with taking political positions through advocacy and purchasing decisions.  Does a cooperative risk alienating some owners and customers by taking a position on hot-button political issues and risk alienating other owners by not taking a position on hot-button political issues.  How does a cooperative balance the sometimes competing goals of increased sales and political advocacy?  Is a decision to take a political position a task for the board or the general manager?  If consumer cooperatives promote themselves as welcoming to all, does taking a political position that may make some feel unwelcome cut against fundamental principles of consumer cooperatives?  Must political advocacy align with the mission of the cooperative?  Does the board’s fiduciary role provide authority for the board to reject political advocacy or is political advocacy purely a marketing decision?

In this panel discussion, we will take two case studies: People’s Food Cooperative in Portland, Oregon and The Portland Food Cooperative in Portland, Maine.  Both cooperatives have struggled with these questions in recent years.  Additionally, we will facilitate small group discussion to foster cross-pollination among participants for directors and managers to learn from each other.

People’s Food Cooperative opened its doors in 1970 and has retained the feel of a place of revolutionary ideals. Most recently, People’s board decided to adopt a resolution in support of our immigrant community with little controversy but at the same time has struggled with a resolution in support of Gaza.

The Portland Food Cooperative in Maine recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its brick-and-mortar store. What began as a small buying club focused on supporting local and accessible food has grown alongside Maine’s vibrant agricultural community. Since those early days, Portland, like many communities, has experienced significant change. In response, The PFC has continued to evolve and strengthen its efforts in pursuit of our Ends Statement: to be a thriving, member-owned marketplace that strengthens the local food economy while building and nourishing community. In these uncertain times, The Board of Directors and General Manager work together to find resolutions that support its Members and the store, and to determine where we can make the most impact within our focus on local food. Recently, we have had to navigate difficult decisions about how to best support and advocate for our community while maintaining a safe and welcoming shopping experience.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

1. Examine whether supporting a political position through advocacy and purchasing choices is a decision for the Board of Directors or the General Manager or a collaborative decision.
2. Analyze the balance between supporting political causes and maintaining a profitable store.
3. Explore the paradox between supporting a political cause and creating an environment that may feel unwelcoming to some members.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Presentation

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Research in Action: Leveraging Field Insights to Advance Cooperative Collaboration

Anthony Goodwin, CEO, NCG Development Cooperative
Edea Bailey, Board Chair, Community Co-op Market

Food co-op start-ups continue to emerge nationwide, particularly in low-income, low-access (LILA) communities seeking democratic ownership and local wealth retention. Yet many organizing groups encounter predictable barriers: fragmented technical assistance, inconsistent governance preparation, unclear transitions between support providers, limited early-stage capital, and insufficient operational readiness. At the same time, many established co-ops express a desire to “pay it forward” but lack structured pathways to effectively support emerging organizers.

This interactive session introduces an innovative, applied field research model embedded within CCMA. Rather than a traditional presentation, participants will engage in a structured focus group designed to generate candid feedback and actionable sector-wide insights. Facilitated by the National Co-op Grocers Development Cooperative (NCG DC), attendees will examine four main leverage points in the start-up pipeline: governance development, business planning, capital access, and inter-organizational coordination.

The session will center on three guiding principles:

1. What are the most significant gaps in today’s start-up support ecosystem?
2. What relationship breakdowns or duplications limit efficiency and impact?
3. How can start-ups, established co-ops, and support organizations join forces to accelerate viable, community-rooted co-op development?

What distinguishes this workshop is a commitment to applied outcomes. Findings will not remain in the room – insights will be synthesized into key themes and translated into a prioritized set of recommendations for strengthening upstream coordination and improving start-up viability.

Following CCMA, The NCG DC welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives to co-author and publish a practitioner-oriented report for the cooperative sector. Participants will directly contribute to a resource designed to inform funders, technical assistance providers, boards, and emerging co-ops.

Aligned with the 2026 theme, A Cascade of Cooperation, this workshop models cooperation in action – demonstrating how stronger collaboration among co-ops and support organizations can create ripple effects that increase start-up success and strengthen the broader cooperative ecosystem.

Three Learning Outcomes for your breakout session

Participants will be able to:

1. Diagnose at least three systemic gaps limiting start-up success.
2. Develop practical coordination strategies to strengthen handoffs between support providers as organizers progress on the development pathway.
3. Identify concrete actions within their co-op or organization to improve ecosystem collaboration and start-up readiness.

Who Should Attend: Board of Directors, General Managers or Department Managers

Format: Workshop

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