• Ames, IA

Lisa Bates leads two issue-focused groups including the Local Government and Housing Team and the Data Team where she works to hone the multidisciplinary and diverse backgrounds of her team members to tackle some of Iowa’s most pressing issues through research, engagement, and outreach. As an interior designer, with experience in marketing and logistics, Lisa utilizes her distinct background to focus on enhancing collaborations with design processes and creative engagement methods. Her current work includes collaborative research of the impacts of independent grocery stores on their local community, food system, and overall well-being.

• Denver, CO

Jack Becker is the Founder of Grounded Solutions, LLC an independent constancy that works across sectors to deliver change management strategy, community engagement, and capacity building across public sectors. He has supported the development of ground breaking programs that lead to systemic changes in education, health and food security.

• Des Moines, IA

Jazzmine leads Double Up Food Bucks Iowa, expanding access to fresh food across the state. She supports 172 locations in 79 counties, partnering with grocers,  farmers markets, farm stands, and CSAs to serve rural and urban communities. Her work centers equity, collaboration, and sustainable food access for families.

• White Bear Lake, MN

Phillip Brooks is a leadership coach and advisor who works with business families, leadership teams, and organizations to build alignment, strengthen leadership capability, and navigate succession across generations. With decades of experience in the fresh food and grocery industry, Phillip brings a practical understanding of how supply chains, customer expectations, and business models have evolved—and how independent and rural grocers can adapt to stay relevant and thrive.

Throughout his career, Phillip has worked closely with growers, distributors, retailers, and food service organizations, gaining a unique perspective on the full flow of the food system—from production to the consumer experience. He was recognized as Vendor of the Year by both the Minnesota Grocers Association and the Wisconsin Grocers Association, and was named one of the Top 25 Leaders in the Produce Industry by The Packer.

Phillip is the developer of the Pollinator Protocol™, a leadership framework inspired by nature that helps leaders create receptivity, align decisions, and enable ideas, leadership, and opportunity to flow across teams, families, and organizations. His work focuses on helping businesses move from hesitation to aligned action, particularly in complex, changing environments.

Today, Phillip works with business owners and family enterprises to design practical strategies for growth, strengthen customer connections, and support successful leadership transitions. His approach blends real-world business experience, behavioral insight, and lessons from nature to help organizations and communities create sustainable, future-ready systems.

• Pittsboro, NC

Melanie Canales is the Challenging Corporate Power Project Manager at RAFI, an organization that challenges the root causes of unjust food systems and advocates for economically, racially, and ecologically just farm communities. Her portfolio includes issue areas on corporate consolidation and market fairness in poultry, cattle, and now grocery. Her work at RAFI is informed by her previous years as an educational, market, and hospital farmer, as well as her agricultural reporting experience for publications such as Wired, Whetstone, A Growing Culture, and others.

• Johnson City, TN

A proud East Tennessee native-born, Ashley Cavender has dedicated her career to strengthening local food systems and expanding dignified access to healthy, locally grown food. With more than a decade of nonprofit leadership and local food systems advocacy — she builds partnerships that connect grassroots agriculture, education, and conservation efforts to low-income communities. Now rooted in Jonesborough, she feels most at home outdoors — especially along the Nolichucky River — where her love for Appalachia continues to inspire her work.

• Badger, MN

Corey Christianson has two family-owned, community-minded grocery stores striving to make a positive change in rural and community development. Through a deep commitment to service, these stores provide essential access to fresh food while supporting local families, farmers, and organizations. Corey is passionate about strengthening small-town economies and preserving the vital role independent grocery stores play in keeping communities connected and thriving.

• Fort Lauderdale, FL

Jon Cline started his working career in high school, working for Safeway as a checker/stocker and then 7-11 as an assistant manager while attending the University of Oklahoma.
Following graduation (BBA in Accounting from OU), Jon worked as an auditor for Arthur Andersen & Co. He joined one of his clients, Scrivner, Inc. ($4B grocery wholesaler), and began a professional career in the grocery industry. He worked for Fleming, Tree of Life / Gourmet Award, Bradford Soap, Supervalu, and FMS.
His many professional roles have included accounting, finance, merchandising, operations, sales, corporate management in wholesale, retail, and CPG environments, and now FMS’s Chief Relationship Officer.

• Chicago, IL

Ertharin Cousin is the CEO of Food Systems for the Future (FSF), where she leads efforts to build sustainable food systems for a malnutrition-free world. She previously served as Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme and as U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture. A former retail executive and nonprofit leader, she has been globally recognized for her leadership in food security.

• Broomfield, CO

Mickey Davis, MPH, RD, has worked across the food system - on farms, at farmers market, in small grocery stores, in education kitchens, and beyond. With degrees in nutrition from UC Berkeley and public health from UNC Chapel Hill, she's passionate about collaboration and resilience in her food systems career.

• Minneapolis, MN

Chris Dilley has been working in and with cooperative grocery retail over 25 years. With experience ranging from board service to 20+ years of general management, Chris is now the Director of Startup Support at Food Co-op Initiative. In this role he brings his experience with expansion/relocation, startup, board service and daily operations to the support of community-based efforts to develop startup food cooperatives through programming and direct technical assistance. He is passionate about the cooperative model, great grocery experiences, local food systems development, and equitable access for all.

• Grand Rapids, MI

Mark Fleming joined Natural Choice Foods in 2025 as CEO and President. He is focused on positioning the company as the food industry’s premier wholesaler of excess inventory. His responsibilities include setting the company’s strategy and driving its execution so that NCF helps branded, private label, and foodservice manufacturers recover value from excess inventory through a select network of independent grocers, distributors, foodservice establishments, correctional facilities, schools, and the company’s own chain of five Daily Deals Food Outlet retail stores.
 
Prior to NCF, Mark spent nearly 30 years in executive roles at leading food manufacturers including Urban Farmer, Treehouse Foods, ConAgra, Heinz, and Kraft Foods. Over the course of his career, he has managed branded, private label, foodservice, and contract-manufactured products across more than 30 food categories. His responsibilities have spanned strategy, innovation, productivity, pricing, and M&A for portfolios up to $3 billion in annual sales. He has also overseen marketing for some of the food industry’s most iconic brands, including Heinz Ketchup, Smart Ones frozen meals, A.1. Steak Sauce, and Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. Mark holds an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree from Franklin & Marshall College.

• St. Paul, MN

Dr. Gold is a health and nutrition Extension specialist at the University of Minnesota Extension within the Department of Food Science and Nutrition. She is actively involved in community-based public health program assessment and developing access to healthy foods at a state and local level through the work of the Leadership, Education and Training Program in Maternal & Child Nutrition, WIC Workforce Initiatives, and a GusNIP produce prescription program evaluation.

• Austin, TX

Shaniaya Griffin, MLS—Miss All World Beauties Plus U.S.—is a Houston-based educator and nonprofit leader working at the intersection of food systems, sustainable agriculture, and energy equity. As Founder/ED of Nourish the Future Foundation, she convenes youth cohorts, community partners, and local producers to design what transforms communities—additive-aware school meal scorecards, dignity-first lunch toolkits, vendor onboarding guides, and ready-to-run campaigns. Her throughline is simple: turn research and lived experience into templates, trainings, and partnerships that deliver measurable wins.

• Park River, ND

Diana Hahn is a second-generation grocer who owns Jim's Super Valu in Park River, ND along with her husband, Randy. Diana has worked in the grocery business for 35 years. Diana was a board member of her local school district for 19 years and is currently vice president of the North Dakota Grocers Association and the RAD Coop board. In 2012, Jim's Super Valu was North Dakota Grocer of the year and in 2024, Jim's Super Valu was recognized as Central Region Innovative Retailer of the Year by UNFI and UNFI's national customer of the year.

• Chicago, IL

Dylan Halpern is the Technical Lead for the Open Spatial Lab at the Data Science Institute. He builds tools with social impact partner organizations focused on low-code and no-code geospatial data science and visualization. Previous work includes engineering and visualization roles with the Center for Spatial Data Science and Healthy Regions and Policies Lab (UChicago), Senseable City Lab (MIT), and research as a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil.

• St. Paul, MN

Joel has worked with communities across Minnesota since 2004 to help identify and implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. He believes rural grocery stores are often the backbone of a community, and they often hold unique challenges and opportunities with their refrigeration, lighting and heating and cooling needs.

• Roanoke, VA

Sam Hedges has worked to grow Virginia's nutrition incentive network since 2018. A native Arkansan, he got his hands dirty farming in New Mexico before resettling in Roanoke where he swapped the field for a desk. He led Virginia Fresh Match's pilot entry into grocery programs and has seen great success finding rural retailers who maximize the incentive with minimal infrastructure.

• Missoula, MT

Kiki Hubbard is a co-founder of Seedhead Strategies, a consulting group based in Missoula, Montana. She has worked in agricultural policy for more than 20 years, leading advocacy and communications campaigns and contributing as a researcher, community organizer, and fundraiser on projects involving antitrust, biotechnology, intellectual property, and organic regulation. She is currently collaborating with Center Market Strategies and the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives on a study examining market dynamics in the grocery retail chain.

• Menahga, MN

Owner of A Clean Plate Local & Organic Grocery established in 2012 in Menahga MN a town of 1300. Elected to the Independent Natural Foods Retailer Association Board of Directors in 2025. Selected as 2026 Outstanding Independent by Progressive Grocer.

• Missoula, MT

Paulina Jenney is a co-founder of Seedhead Strategies. She co-authored USDA’s More and Better Choices for Farmers: Promoting Innovation and Fair Competition in Seed and Other Agricultural Inputs, a report based on stakeholder input that examines the intersection of intellectual property and antitrust issues in the seed industry. She earned her M.S. in environmental studies from the University of Montana.

• Fargo, ND

Nikki Johnson is a Community Health and Nutrition Specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension and North Dakota State University Extension. Ms. Johnson works with communities across Minnesota and North Dakota to advance health and wellness through nutrition education, community engagement, and chronic disease prevention. Her work focuses on creating equitable opportunities for all people to access nutritious food and live healthier lives.

• Velva, ND

Lelsey has worked as a county agent for both ND and Alaska. She is able to provide county-level perspective on rural needs, including Extension resources, congregation space opportunities, and support for grocery sustainability.

• Carrington, ND

Mary Keena has been with NDSU Extension for 13 years, working in manure and animal mortality management. Part of that work includes engaging small-scale farms and ranches and co-leading the Small Farm Initiative at NDSU Extension. This work includes advocating that resources are made available to all sizes of agricultural enterprises.

• Minneapolis, MN

Claire Kelloway is an award-winning journalist and the primary writer for Food & Power, a website providing original reporting and resources on monopoly power in food and agriculture. Kelloway has written for outlets such as TIME, Mother Jones, The Intercept, and ProPublica. She also oversees food policy research at the Open Markets Institute.

• Kansas City, MO

Ron Knox is a Senior Researcher & Policy Advocate for ILSR’s Independent Business Initiative. A combined storyteller and antitrust expert, Ron’s work explores the ways extreme corporate concentration has come to dominate and damage industries throughout the economy. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Wired, The American Prospect and elsewhere. He is based in Kansas City.

• Ames, IA

Courtney has worked in food systems since 2010 and leads a dynamic food systems team with programming, research and projects across the nation. Primary curiosities and engagement include assessing the intersection of agriculture, food, health, and resilience for individuals, families and communities. To achieve this, areas of work include research and projects ranging from scenario planning for preparedness for future disasters, resilient food systems assessments and strategic planning, and place-making through food system development.

• Minot, ND

Gillian is a general surgeon and local surgical center owner in nearby Minot, ND. She will share how her church connection to the owners builds support for both her business and the rural grocery store.

• Minneapolis, MN

David Ly serves as Senior Manager, Business Initiatives at ReFED, where he collaborates with businesses to accelerate their efforts to reduce food waste. He leads the design and delivery of Business Services offerings, providing custom analytics, capacity building, and strategic advisory support to help organizations prioritize and adopt solutions. David began his career in management consulting at Deloitte, then spent five years with General Mills and Hormel Foods in innovation, brand management, and consumer insights.

• Topeka, KS

Kelli Mark oversees the Sunflower Foundation's program work in food and nutrition security, improving access to public trails and outdoor spaces and the foundation’s Food is Medicine initiative. Before joining the foundation, she spent five years working in a variety of roles for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Bureau of Family Health, most recently as the bureau chief and director of administration and policy. Before assuming those positions, she served as a section chief, unit director and grants manager, where she played an integral role in developing and administering grants to improve the health of infants, children, pregnant women, and families across Kansas. Kelli also previously spent a decade working for St. Francis Health Center, including five years as document control administrator and quality analyst, where she helped develop and worked in database tracking systems. A native of Topeka, she has an Associate of Science in Liberal Studies from Barton Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition/Public Health from Kansas State University, and a Master of Public Administration from Wichita State University.

• Ann Arbor, MI

Laura Matney, General Manager at Argus Farm Stop, has been an integral part of the company's growth since 2014. Starting as the initial stores manager, she organically transitioned into her current leadership role as General Manager, overseeing both markets, cafes, online operations, and training.  Her diverse background in financial management, teambuilding, non-profit, and retail operations fuels her passion for localizing the food system and supporting the local economy.

• Washington, DC

Chelsea Matzen serves as the VP of the NGA Foundation. Matzen brings experience from her time at National Farmers Union (NFU) where she managed all aspects of the Local Food Safety Collaborative (LFSC), a $4.5 million cooperative agreement between NFU and FDA. The goal of LFSC was to provide education, outreach, and training on produce safety to farmers serving their local markets. Prior to employment with NFU, Matzen was an Associate Consultant at Corner Alliance where she supported two grants at the Department of Commerce related to public safety broadband.

• Velva, ND

Brenda started as a meat cutter and purchased the store in 2020 with them help of her husband, Matt. They will share operational strategies, successes, and challenges.

• Velva, ND

Brenda started as a meat cutter and purchased the store in 2020 with them help of her husband, Matt. They will share operational strategies, successes, and challenges.

• Great Falls, MT

Tracy McIntyre has spent over 25 years supporting rural communities and the cooperative model in Montana. As Executive Director of the Montana Cooperative Development Center and Administrator of the Montana Council of Cooperatives since 2019, she leads efforts to grow the cooperative ecosystem, helping new cooperatives learn and collaborate with established ones. Under her guidance, the MCDC has produced key resources like the Montana Cooperative Housing Study and toolkits for Succession Planning, Worker Ownership, and Opportunity Development Cooperatives. With extensive experience in rural leadership, McIntyre empowers communities to create local solutions for economic growth across areas like housing, childcare, agriculture, and worker ownership. Her national and state service, including roles with the National Cooperative Business Association and initiatives like the Montana Early Child Care Initiative, highlights her dedication to building a vibrant, inclusive cooperative future.

• Madison, WI

Michelle Miller is a practicing economic anthropologist working at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems since 1996. In her research, she works closely with rural communities and farmers to identify ways to improve rural quality of life.

• Ann Arbor, MI

Casey Miller has worked with Argus Farm Stop in various capacities since 2014. After spending almost 20 years working in human resources in higher ed, non-profits, and private industry, Casey is happy to have made a home with Argus where she can meld her people and organizational skills with her love of vegetables. In her current role as External Training Manager, she does her best to stoke the fires of the farm stop movement nationally and, sometimes, internationally.

• Binghamton, NY

Kate Miller-Corcoran is the Food as Medicine Coordinator for the Rural Health Network of South Central New York, where she collaborates with healthcare providers, community partners, and program participants to connect patients living with diet-related chronic disease to fresh produce through local farmers markets, farm stands and grocers. She is also a Rural Health Scholar and Master of Public Health candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, concentrating in Food, Nutrition, and Population Health.

• Bayfield, CO

Anne Misak (she/her) is Managing Director for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative at Reinvestment Fund, where she leads HFFI and other local food funding programs. She has worked in economic development and food systems for over a decade, including prior roles as Principal at Growing Impact Solutions and Healthy Food Program Manager at Colorado Enterprise Fund. Anne holds a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the board of the Food Co-op Initiative.

• Springfield, IL

John O'Conner manages the Illinois Grocery Initiative for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.  He has an M.S. in Economics from Illinois State University and has worked for the state of Illinois since 1991.

• Ashby, MN

I grew up in rural Minnesota, Country boy at heart, experienced the better days of rural grocery as a kid, but seen the downturn and struggles of rural grocery today. I'm a problem solver by nature - Diesel Technician turned Rural Grocer turned Software Developer. I enjoy a good challenge.

• Evansville, MN

Caileen grew up in a rural community in MN and have a touch on community engagement. She runs our Main Street Market and has continued to grow it year after year. She has joined our EDA group to help promote the town, assisted in organizing our 1st farmers market Evansville has seen in years.

• Detroit Lakes, MN

Zachary Paige is Board President of Manna Food Co-op in Detroit Lakes, MN, where he is helping lead an expansion to include a shared-use commercial kitchen for local producers. He is also the founder of North Circle Seeds and works with the University of Minnesota Extension’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships on rural grocery resilience and local food systems.

• Philadelphia, PA

Bridget Palombo is a food-access leader and Director of Healthy Food Access at The Food Trust, where she oversees Healthy Food Financing Initiatives and Farmers Market programming. She brings over 15 years of experience building partnerships that support independent grocers, local farmers, and communities in improving access to healthy, affordable food.

• Macomb, IL

Sean Park is the director for the Value-Added Sustainable Development Center at Western Illinois University. He is a former rural grocery store owner and currently provides technical assistance to the State of Illinois' Grocery Initiative.

• Detroit Lakes, MN

Ryan Pesch is a community development specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension, where he focuses on rural grocery sustainability, regional food systems, and economic resilience. He also serves as the General Manager of Manna Food Co-op in Detroit Lakes, MN, bringing his research and on-the-ground experience together to strengthen local food access and support cooperative business models in rural communities.

• Detroit, MI

As Senior Director of Nutrition Incentives, Erica leads Fair Food Network’s nutrition incentive work, including the nonprofit’s Double Up Food Bucks program in Michigan as well as the development and delivery of training and technical assistance services for nutrition incentive practitioners across the country.

• Meriden, NH

Allan Reetz worked on local and regional food marketing and agriculture policy for Hanover Co-op Food Stores from 1995 to 2025. He continues to serve on the Vermont Milk Commission, New Hampshire Ag Advisory Board, Sodexo's Vermont First, and NH Food Alliance. Through his business, Local Food Factors, he documents farm and food stories, and facilitates cross-sector partnerships.

• Brackney, PA

Allison is a second generation member of the Russell Farms family, who is tasked with running all the financial and analytical aspects of the company as well as managing their Vestal, NY farm stand location. She graduated from Penn State University and had several years working on the corporate side before joining the family business to help bring fresh local produce and other goods to the surrounding areas.

• Wellington, CO

Laurel Smith (she/her) owns and operates a diversified vegetable farm in Colorado called Here & Now Farm (which stands for Healthy Ecologically-Responsible Economy, North of Wellington.) Soon she'll be opening Here & Now Food Shed, a farm store stocked with food grown by numerous area producers selling in cooperation.  Laurel also works as a Value Chain Coordinator for Nourish Colorado—where she supports Colorado farms with sales of fruits, vegetables, fungi, dry beans, and plant starts to brick and mortar stores who offer Double Up Food Bucks. She is part of the Community Food Consortium—a network of small food retailers and Colorado owned and operated farms working to address distribution and cost challenges in low income, low access areas of the state. Laurel believes in the power of community to grow more equitable localized food systems.

• Bismarck, ND

Jan is able to provide context on unique local food sourcing strategies, partnerships with producers, and hub-and-spoke distribution opportunities that connect to retail stores. She also knows SNAP programs with farmer's markets and many starting local producers turned retail sellers.

• St. Paul, MN

Justin serves as the Antimonopoly Director for the Minnesota Farmers Union. He was previously the Deputy Research Director at BlueGreen Alliance where he oversaw work on industrial and manufacturing issues. He also spent time in a research role at the lobbying firm Flaherty & Hood, held a legislative role at the Minnesota Department of Revenue and prior to moving to Minnesota for graduate school worked for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon in a variety of roles.

• Austin, TX

Hannah Thornton, MS, RD is the Senior Director of Food Access and Education at the Sustainable Food Center, where she leads programs and partnerships that expand equitable food access and nutrition education across Texas. With a background as a registered dietitian and former Clinical Assistant Professor at Texas State University, she has deep experience in food security, program design, and federal funding. Her work bridges community-centered leadership with evidence-based strategies to transform food systems and support under-resourced populations.

• Del Norte, CO

Ian Walker is the owner of Simple Foods Market in Del Norte, Colorado, where he brings years of experience in grocery retail to serve his rural community. Passionate about expanding access to healthy, nutritious food, Ian partners with local farmers to source fresh, regional products while supporting local economic growth. His leadership reflects a deep commitment to building a more sustainable and connected local food system.

• Eagan, MN

Leslie is the executive director of CDS, a regional co-op development center that has provided comprehensive support to co-ops in MN, WI, and IA for 40 years.  Prior to stepping into the ED role, Leslie spent over a decade with Columinate, a consulting cooperative with a nationwide practice focused on supporting co-ops and other organizations that exist to serve the common good. She managed Columinate’s governance service program and provided governance, organizational development, and capital campaign support to co-ops during all phases of their maturation, from startup to stabilized and expanding, with a primary focus on retail food co-ops.

• Lawrence, KS

Jeanie led The Merc Co-op in Lawrence, Kansas through a decade of exponential growth before leaving to become a national consultant in 2009. Jeanie has directly supported hundreds of community grocers across the US and Canada, working directly at their stores, at workshops and through her online retail training programs. 

Jeanie is an adviser, collaborator and presenter to national industry leaders and associations, and serves on the board of Food Co-op Initiative, a national non-profit dedicated to the support of start-up cooperatively owned grocery stores. In 2022, she founded the new grocery store leadership program, Mighty Community Markets, https://columinate.coop/events/mighty-community-markets/, which is designed to teach critical skills to managing locally controlled independent grocery stores of all kinds, locations and sizes. Jeanie has been a featured speaker in many events, podcasts and presentations and continues to expand programming for Mighty Community Markets, all with the goal of preserving and strengthening the vital role locally controlled grocery stores play in our communities. 

Jeanie is a native Kansan and has lived in rural Kansas communities for the past 25 years

• St. Paul, MN

Kate Welshons is an educator at the University of Minnesota Extension Department of Family, Health, and Wellbeing. Ms. Welshons’ areas of focus include nutrition education, community engagement, chronic disease prevention, and policy, systems and environmental change work in relation to nutrition security and food access

• Opelika, AL

Jimmy Wright began his grocery career in 1973 at age 12 as a bagger at the Opelika store that his father managed. In 1997, Wright bought the store and rebranded it as Wright’s Market in 2003. His 22,000-square-foot independent grocery store, known for its fresh meat and produce, employs more than 30 people. Wright also serves as a project consultant for retail and wholesale for GusNIP through his work with the National Grocers Association Foundation and also is a consultant providing technical assistance for IGA and Auburn University. In 2024, he was recognized as Grocery Champion of the Year by the Rural Grocery Initiative. He has presented to Congress on multiple occasions and has been awarded numerous local, state, and national awards.

• Philadelphia, PA

At The Food Trust, Marisol (she/her) leads Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) programs across multiple states and supports national efforts to expand equitable food retail investment. She manages the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative and oversees evaluation and program support for HFFI efforts in Kansas and Massachusetts. As a Community Connector with Reinvestment Fund’s FARE Fund, she also helps link rural and underserved retailers to funding and technical assistance opportunities nationwide.

• Bismarck, ND

Food Systems NDSU Extension Specialist helping consumers understand food production and processing, and the challenges of rural food distribution.

• Bismarck, ND

Nicole Benson, Executive Director for Blue Zones Project Grand Forks, is a Grand Forks native dedicated to cultivating a community where all individuals can flourish socially, emotionally, and physically. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and a B.S. in Social Work and Paralegal Studies from Minnesota State University Moorhead. An engaged community leader, Nicole serves as Chair of the Multi-Partner Health Collaborative (MPHC) Cultivating Wellness Goal Group and the MPHC Steering Committee, along with other local boards and coalitions focused on public health and wellness.

• Overland Park, KS

Jenny Doty is a Food Business Resource Navigator for the Rural Grocery Initiative and Food Business Team at K-State Extension. Jenny attended Kansas State University earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Horticultural Therapy. After graduation she worked as a horticultural therapist with dementia patients at a long-term care facility. She transitioned to being a Recreation Supervisor with the City of Lenexa. In her time there she started many programs including the farmers market, managed multiple community gardens and served on the Johnson County Food Policy Council. During her spare time she teaches sustainable ag classes including Value Added Food Production. Jenny has a passion for connecting food businesses to the right resources and especially enjoys making introductions for mentoring to take place between producers.

• Oklahoma City, OK

Christi Erwin, MS, is an Evaluation Research Project Manager in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma Health Campus. She is a member of the University Partnership for Applied Evaluation and Research (UPAER) team and serves as an evaluator for TSET-funded programs and initiatives.

• Fargo, ND

Julie Garden-Robinson is a professor and Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist at North Dakota State University Extension. She works in the area of nutrition, food safety and health, and is a member of the NDSU Small Farms Team. She develops resources for a wide range of audiences, including entrepreneurs and small businesses.

• Salt Lake City, UT

JoDell has 5 years experience working as the Utah WIC Vendor Manager. During that time she has partnered with Utah authorized grocery stores to complete two major technology implementation to move Utah form paper checks, to Smartcards, to online eWIC. She has driven to every grocery in the state of Utah at least twice and loves to bring WIC into rural communities.

• Boulder, CO

Bridget cultivates connections throughout organic & regenerative organic value chains. She has gathered food system experiences in different parts of the world with small scale farmers, a CPG company, and a national distributor. She is propelled by her passions for regenerative organic agriculture and food sovereignty. Bridget joined the team in February 2022. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

• Providence, RI

Eliana Hornbuckle (she/her/hers) is a Research Assistant with the Community Noise Lab at Brown University’s School of Public Health. She conducts mixed-methods research on food, water, and waste systems with a particular interest in system sustainability, resilience and equity. Growing up in small-town Iowa along with coursework in urban studies and environmental engineering at Brown has led her to be interested in how systems and lived experience changes from urban to rural environments, resulting in an undergraduate thesis examining Dollar General and food access in Iowa.

• Birmingham, AL

Dr. Ingram is Professor Emeritus of Marketing at Auburn University and the President of Southeast Research, Inc. He received his doctoral degree in Marketing from the University of Arkansas. His professional interests include research activities in areas such as economic impact analyses, public opinion research, political polling, and marketing program assessments.

• Souris, ND

Megan Langley is the Founder and Executive Director of Strengthen ND. Ms. Langley is a 2014 Bush Foundation Fellow, 2020 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Social Impact Strategy, and an alumnus of the Harvard-Kennedy School of Government’s Leadership in the 21st Century Program (2016), Women & Power Program (2023), and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana State University. Ms. Langley currently holds several state-based positions related to rural placemaking and economic and community development, including positions on the Multi-Partner Health Collaborative leadership team, North Dakota Economic Development Foundation Board of Directors and North Dakota Rural Development Council.

• Providence, RI

Rebecca (Becca) Mitchell is a project coordinator at Brown University's School of Public Health. She works with Dr. Meredith Niles and partners across New England to support research related to food security, food access, and sustainable food systems. 

• Burlington, VT

Meredith Niles is an interdisciplinary food systems scientist in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of Vermont. Her research focus is in advancing efforts to achieve food security and improve health, environmental, and rural livelihood outcomes in food systems.

• Oklahoma City, OK

Jade Owen is a Program Manager for community programs at the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET). She holds a Master of Public Health in Health Promotion Sciences from the University of Oklahoma Hudson College of Public Health and is both a Certified Health Education Specialist and Certified in Public Health.

• Austin, TX

I work with the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, Texas, as the Grocery Retail Specialist. I started my career working in grocery stores, and now I use that experience to help communities access healthy, affordable food through our programs.

• Walsh, CO

Meta Jo Riseling manages the community-owned grocery in Walsh, Colorado, where she oversees daily operations, builds relationships with local producers, and provides jobs and essential connections for her community. Her leadership has been instrumental in restoring local grocery access, strengthening ties between Walsh residents and Colorado farmers, and transforming the store into a trusted hub for local procurement and community support.

• Arvada, CO

Caitlin Stuart leads statewide implementation, outreach, and strategic partnership efforts for Double Up Food Bucks Colorado. She specializes in building cross-sector collaborations that bridge public health and agriculture, with a focus on community-driven approaches to food access, supply chains, and producer viability across Colorado. Caitlin comes from a multi-generational farming and ranching background and grew up in rural Columbia County, Arkansas.

• Oklahoma City, OK

Lisa Yadon, BA, is Research Project Coordinator in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma Health Campus. She is a member of the University Partnership for Applied Evaluation and Research (UPAER) team and serves as an evaluator for TSET-funded programs and initiatives.