The 2011-2012 Tacoma Food Co-op Board of Directors was elected by co-op member-owners in the October 2011 annual elections. Board members are elected to serve up to a 3 year term. All year long we are in the process of soliciting new Board Members for the next term. Are you interested? Please contact us.
Mandy Landa, President
Mandy moved to Tacoma in 2010 and looked around for a local co-op. What she found was a dedicated group of individuals working to start a co-op. Mandy joined the Board in 2010 as they worked tirelessly raising money and community support for a store. Prior to serving on the Board of the Tacoma Food Co-op, Mandy has served on the board of the Sno-Isle co-op in Everett, WA where she cultivated respect for the value of co-ops and their principles.
Her interests on the Board are governance, leadership, and helping our co-op relate to the larger world of co-ops. During her time as President, Mandy hopes to facilitate the co-op as it becomes a vital, integral, and indispensable part of the greater Tacoma community. Professionally, Mandy works with ecommerce businesses to create and implement their online strategies…she is a born marketer. Personally, Mandy enjoys Tacoma and its surrounding water and nearby hiking areas.
David Foster, Vice-President
David joined the board in 2011. Although currently a Seattle resident, David has close ties to Tacoma, and as a longtime CSA member local food enthusiast, he enjoys working to promote healthy, local, sustainable food systems.
David has been a practicing architect with his own award-winning design and real estate development firm for twenty years, and brings his experience in business, planning, and creative thinking to the co-op. Previous board and community experience includes serving on the Design Review Board for the City of Seattle, and as chair of his neighborhood association.
Molly Archer, Treasurer
Molly Archer moved to Tacoma in 2006. After looking for a co-op, she instead became a regular at the farmer’s market and then found out about this effort. She volunteered on the finance committee and was elected to the board at the 2009 annual meeting. After WSU, she joined a regional CPA firm in Yakima where she became a partner specializing in taxes and retirement plans.
In 2000, she and her family decided to simplify and moved to Holden Village where she became much more aware of the health, environmental and social issues surrounding our food. Molly currently works in Tacoma as the Director of Finance for the nonprofit Associated Ministries. She enjoys getting to know the Tacoma community through volunteering and shopping at the new Co-op.
Jennie Agard, Secretary
Jennie Agard moved to Tacoma in 2006. She has worked in Accounting and IT for over 30 years, and has served on the PCC-Kirkland members advisory committee and as Treasurer for Washington State NOW. She is currently business processes analyst at Ballard Hardware in Seattle, and lives 2 blocks from her 2 daughters, their partners and her 2 grandsons.
Jennie is an organic gardener, raises chickens for eggs, and is a CSA member (Filbert Acres in Puyallup). She has been gluten and dairy-free since 2004 and soy-free since 2006. She is enthusiastic about the alternatives the co-op offers us for different dietary needs and the co-op’s emphasis on local and organic foods.
Casandra Gorell
Casandra Gorell has lived in Tacoma for about a year and has been involved in the Food Co-op for about that long. Local sustainable foods have been a very important part of her entire life. Casandra grew up eating out of her backyard or porch gardens, working on community-sponsored agriculture farms and in food co-ops. She currently works at Tacoma General Hospital and in her free time enjoys cooking, reading, and any activity that keeps her outside. Casandra is really excited about the progress the TFC has been making and is really happy to be part of such a great adventure.
Robert More
Rob was recruited to the Tacoma Food Co-op board in July 2010, and has since enjoyed the collaboration that takes place among its members. Being on the board has given him the opportunity to help move the food co-op forward.
Rob has a Masters in Architecture from Montana State University. He is skilled in the development of construction documents and presentation graphics, as well as having worked in the construction trades. Rob was a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Bolivia from 2004-2006 working in community development, which taught him about the challenges and methods of accomplishing things with very limited resources. Since returning to the states, he has been working with a local architecture firm helping to bring multi-million dollar projects to completion by working with clients to general contractors.
Philip Cowan
Philip is the Executive Director of the non-profit Grand Cinema, a position he has held since December 2006. He originally came to Tacoma in 1998 to take a position with the Tacoma Rainiers baseball club. At various times during his eight years with the Rainiers, he held the positions of Director of Ticket Operations, Assistant General Manager, and Director of Finance. Prior to his ten total years in baseball, he worked as a financial analyst in his native Texas. He holds an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Masters in International Management from Thunderbird in Arizona. Philip enjoys (somewhat obviously) movies and baseball, but also loves to hike, run, travel, eat good food and play with his daughter.
Liz Kaster
Liz Kaster was elected to the Tacoma Food Co-op board in 2011. She is the Commute Trip Reduction Coordinator and a long-range urban planner for the City of Tacoma and is working to make Tacoma more bikeable and walkable. She hopes to use her background in community engagement and marketing to help grow the Tacoma Food Co-op community.
Liz moved to Tacoma from Minnesota in 2005 to attend the University of Puget Sound. She now lives with her husband a few blocks from the Co-op and loves being able to pick up fresh and local dinner ingredients on her way home each evening.
Dawn Quinn
Dawn Quinn was elected to the Tacoma Food Co-op board in 2011. She moved to Tacoma in 2007, and as soon as she learned that a group of individuals were planning to start a co-op, she knew she had to get involved. As a vegan who strives to eat local, sustainable foods and who cares about the accessibility of quality food, she’s happy to be a part of the Tacoma Food Co-op and the community it creates.
Dawn works at the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and runs the South Sound-based vegan food/lifestyle blog, VeganMoxie.com. In her free time, Dawn enjoys reading, more writing, cooking, running and supporting local arts events. She’s excited to be a part of the Tacoma Food Co-op and to see it grow into a cultural, educational and community hub.
To contact the TFC Board of Directors, please email: tacomafoodcoop@gmail.com
