Board Candidates

Jack Stanton, Incumbent

During my time on the board we've:

• Hired a general manager who's helped take the Wedge to higher levels of customer and community service and sales;
• Overseen growth of Co-op Partners, our wholesale unit, now serving co-ops regionally;
• Furthered commitments to local producers and fair trade with programs like Sow The Seeds;
• Made significant contributions to our educational and community missions through WedgeShare; and
• Launched research initiatives to understand member needs/values at a deeper level.

I'm proud of my small part in that work and want to do more.

Because it thrives and innovates, the Wedge is critical to the entire co-op⁄natural foods community. To stay out front, we need to expand our commitment to local organic agriculture, deepen our education and community service efforts, and continue to innovate in every aspect of our mission, and then share our expertise and best practices with other co-ops.

Finally, board positions should never become permanent entitlements. We need fresh ideas and experience relevant to the organization's evolving opportunities. I've served a two-year term; if elected again it would be my last, and I'd work to establish term limits and succession planning to build an even better Wedge.

Current Occupation: Marketing, advertising, and public relations Group director of brand planning at Carmichael Lynch; develop marketing and communications strategy for agency's major clients.

Education: B.A., University of Minnesota, speech and journalism.

Special Interests: The arts, sports and public affairs with special emphasis on peace and justice issues.

Emily Williams

I will do my best to ensure Wedge members are well-served. I see the success of the Wedge as directly related to member satisfaction. One of my top priorities as a Board member is to ensure the Wedge continues to meet members' needs on a consistent basis. Additional priorities include provision of the highest-quality foods and product, creating new member incentives, and making sure the shopping environment continues to be friendly, informative, and rewarding. I am drawn to a Board position because I wholeheartedly support the values and mission of the Wedge. I am enthusiastic about the extent to which a position on the Board would enable me the opportunity to ensure the democratic principals upon which the organization was founded are upheld. I am committed to fostering the growth of the Wedge, but also to making sure it is a healthy, sustainable growth that does not have a negative impact on the community, employees, or members. Professionally and personally, I am experienced in rising to the challenge of serving the common good and will do my absolute best to seek solutions that are of benefit to the majority and exemplary of the unique, community-based mission that is the Wedge.

Current Occupation: International Research Coordinator at the Center for Victims of Torture

Education: B.A., University of California-Berkeley, developmental psychology; Master of Public Health, Tulane University — School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, specialization in research and health policy

Special Interests: Healthy, nutritious food; sustainable living; being active outdoors; protecting the environment; exploring unknown places; taking on new challenges; meditation; literary and cultural events; promoting social justice; expanding horizons; making the world a more loving place; and helping others discover their potential to do the same.

Gregory M. Johnson

All those that come into meaningful contact with the Wedge, and vice versa, are stakeholders. Stakeholders are members, nonmembers, the community, the environment, etc. I want to represent these stakeholders because I have the understanding and ability to take their ideas and distill them into a vision and, ultimately, actions that will help the Wedge to increase its capability for those that depend on it. I will do this by looking at the Wedge from a systems-thinking perspective. The purpose of the Wedge, its interactions, and its interdependencies will guide me in making decisions that will improve the system that has taken the Wedge to where it is today. In the next five years, the Wedge's board will face such issues as store capacity⁄size, the demand or need for another store, increased membership, the commoditization of the organic label or term (i.e., more of a marketing term than a meaningful one) and the managing of suppliers that start small but grow to be powerful partners with the Wedge, or are acquired by a food industry conglomerate that seeks growth but does not have the same principles or goals as the co-op. When the system is tended to, we all benefit.

Current Occupation: Office Manager for J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Banking

Education: A.A., Harper College (Illinois), liberal arts; B.A., University of North Carolina, art; B.B.A., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, marketing

Special Interests: Art, philosophy, systems thinking, people, the environment, food, health, business topics, Italy