We invite all members to participate in our elections! The ballot to submit your votes is at the bottom of this page. Each member can vote for up to three candidates. Members can also use paper ballots at either store, or at the Annual Meeting on November 14th. The election will end on November 15th at 9:00 PM.

You can read about each candidate below. There will also be an opportunity for Co-op members to meet and greet the candidates in person at our Annual Membership Meeting, on Saturday, November 14th, from 11 AM – 2 PM at the ASHHO Cultural Community Center.

William “Riley” Bell

Why do you want to join the Board?
I am a food lover and I believe the co-op is the best place to get local, high quality, and affordable food. I have lived in Olympia my whole life, but only became a member recently; I wish I had joined sooner. Where you spend your money matters, and I seek out stores that align with my own values. This is why I want to be more directly involved in continuing the work and service the co-op provides for the Olympia community.

What skills would you bring?
I am a small business owner so I have logistic and organizational skills.
I also work with a computer a lot, so I can quickly learn any new program required for Board of Director duties.

What vision do you have for the Co-op?
My vision is for more people, especially younger people to get involved with the food co-op and community service. The food co-op is a pillar of Olympia, and is built on the work of community members. These essential services are easy to take for granted. It is important for younger generations to get involved, or they run the risk of disappearing.

What is your personal and/or professional experience with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work?
I went to the University of Washington under the Educational Opportunity Program. I was able to attend a college I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to attend as a low-income, first generation student. I am grateful for that opportunity, and believe that people’s different life experiences and identities are beneficial to an organization being representative and equitable to the people it serves.

What else would you like to share?
My neighbor is Ruth Brownstein, who is a current member of the Board. I would like to thank her for recommending me to apply, and would like to thank you for considering my application.

Lynx Artemis

Why do you want to join the Board?
I have been active for many years as a volunteer with the free store and love the myriad ways that the coop serves the community. I also am looking for more (consistent) volunteer hours and this opportunity presented itself.

What skills would you bring?
I am a writer and have strong editorial skills. I have lived in the community for many years and would love to learn more about the ways the coop is serving the community and explore more ways it can.

What vision do you have for the Co-op?
I spend the most time at the westside and love it. My main vision is creating more covered space so the free store can function through the rainy months and we can have a third space for enjoying our snacks as a community who loves to come get snacks at the coop!

What is your personal and/or professional experience with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work?
I know what it means, and most of my experience has been trying to accommodate alternately abled people in the free store. Would love to consider access to people in wheelchairs, for example, in talks to remodel/rework the free store.


What else would you like to share?
I love the coop. I rave about it being the best I have ever loved and it’s part of what has kept me in Olympia. I would love to support it and help it transform.

Lorri Tracy

Why do you want to join the Board?
My friend Ruby Brown told me that the co op was looking for board members and said I might be a good fit. I have often said that I have put down roots in Olympia, but I want to do more than just live here. I want to contribute. There are a lot of divisive issues out there, but food is one thing that brings us together.

What skills would you bring?
I have good listening skills and people skills. I am good at bouncing ideas off of people. Ive done customer service work, as well, so volunteering at the register when needed is something j could contribute.

What vision do you have for the Co-op?
I want to maintain its quality and help continue to make it a thriving and vibrant place that the community can be proud of.

What is your personal and/or professional experience with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work?
I have always worked in a diverse workforce, not just gender and race, but age as well. The co op should be a mirror for our entire multicultural community. Diversity is what strengthens us.

What else would you like to share?
I don’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore. A community only happens when members show up. Thank you for considering as a board member. 

Jennifern Falknor

Why do you want to join the Board?
There’s still more for me to do.

What skills would you bring?
Board 3 years, member 9 years, sat on other non-profit boards.

What vision do you have for the Co-op?
1. I want every business to be run as a co-op
2. I want to see our expansion process through

What is your personal and/or professional experience with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work?
I have practiced it all my life to the best of my ability.

What else would you like to share?
I have found it very rewarding to be a board member, and would highly recommend it to others!

James O’Barr

My experience with food cooperatives dates back to the 1970s, when I was an active member of the Berkeley Coop. When I moved here in early 2017, one of the first things I did was join the Olympia Coop. For a period of time I was a working member, but my almost daily interaction with the Coop, both eastside and westside, has been as a shopper. My role in the Coop “food chain” has mostly been as a beneficiary of the almost 50 years of the Coop’s active presence in the Olympia community, and of the policies and practices that the Coop’s staff and board have established and refined over that half-century. I see board membership as a positive and productive way of expressing my gratitude for the many good things the Coop has done and continues to do for the Olympia community, and for my family, friends, and neighbors.

Over the course of my life I have been and done many things. A Vietnam veteran, I taught elementary school and at university, ran a children’s performing arts center, worked in medical care, and as a jounalist. After earning a Social Work degree, I was for 30 years the director of a Community Health Center program for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the Hudson Valley region of New York. As a result of my contacts with growers in the region, I helped establish the Cold Spring Farmers Market. When I retired and moved to Olympia to be closer to family living here, I brought with me a heart full of compassionate caring, a wealth of experience working productively across many lines of difference—education levels, skill sets, language, gender, ethnicity. Having been raised in a family of Italian immigrants, I have a life-long interest in and love of eating and growing food, made even more interesting by a mid-life diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes.

My vision for the Coop starts with getting an inside, close-up look at the Coop’s ways and means, then working to shore up and build upon that well-established structure, while collaborating with staff and Board on necessary or desired changes. One of those changes, already in the works and sure to be a major undertaking for Board, staff, and membership in the next few years, is expansion. For my part, I would hope to see the Coop become an ever-stronger community, a more deeply-rooted community institution, and an ever more powerful voice for a food justice movement that includes, producers, vendors, consumers, and, of course, the planet.

Ike Nwankwo

Why do you want to join the Board?
After retiring from the Washington State Department of Commerce a few years ago, I realised I had time for volunteer work; so I decided to give back to the community by joining the Board in 2023. Now that my first term on the Board is ending and the job (Eastside Expansion) we started is not done, I would like to ask for your support to serve another term.

What skills would you bring?
I retired from the Department of Commerce as a Deputy Managing Director, I was responsible for technical and financial assistance for the development and adoption of the comprehensive plans and development regulations for all cities and counties in Western Washington. This includes public participation, land use/zoning decisions that guide both residential and commercial developments. Comprehensive plans delineate policies and regulations for the development of housing, commercial businesses, transportation, population growth, economic development among others.

I managed a group of professionals that worked with city and county staff and elected officials along with citizen involvement to develop plans, policies and regulations that fit their community. I personally worked with city council members, mayors, county executives to address issues facing the community. We also provided them with grants.

I served on the City of Olympia Planning Commission for two terms. I currently serve on the Community Youth Services of Olympia Finance Committee. I am also currently on the University of Washington College of Urban Design and Planning Professionals Council. We mentor students and help the college to develop curriculum for architecture and planning.

What vision do you have for the Co-op?
I love CO-OPs and take every opportunity I get to check them out in every city I visit. Based on all I have seen, the Olympia Coop needs an upgrade. A bigger building with modern amenities and more parking would attract more membership and bring in more revenue. I was impressed by the Skagit Valley Coop. It has more products in stock, more shelf space, a good sized lunch space, ample parking and other amenities. It was the place to have a healthy organic lunch. It was teeming with people of all ages. My vision is for the Oly Co-op to adopt a similar model, expand and upgrade the current Eastside location.

What is your personal and/or professional experience with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work?
I worked for the State of Washington for almost 30 years and took tons and tons of DEI training and exercise including retreats. We were required to take those training every year and as a Manager, I had to evaluate and ensure that my unit complied with all DEI requirements especially in contract awards.

What else would you like to share?
I have lived in Olympia for more than 30 years and love this city. I moved here from Philadelphia where I was working on my Ph.D at the University of Pennsylvania. I have degrees in architecture and urban planning. A major reason why I joined the Board is to work with fellow Board members and staff to expand the Eastside location, give it a new look, more parking and more products on the shelf.

About the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is elected by the membership to serve a three year term for the Olympia Food Co-op. The  Board establishes policies, oversees the operating and capital budgets, approves plans and recommendations, and sets general guidelines for staff and working members. They hold ultimate legal responsibility for the operations and actions of the Co-op.

Board members also serve on various committees, such as finance, member relations, and expansion. Other responsibilities are listed in the bylaws, which the Board is responsible to uphold.

Board members receive working member credit for their time spent in Board and committee meetings. The monthly commitment ranges between 10 to 20 hours.

Elections are typically held from October 15 – November 15.