Growing up as the daughter of a chef who had been raised in the abundant farmlands of the midwest, I’ve always had an appreciation for a good meal. Good meals are made with good ingredients and these days, it seems like those ingredients are becoming harder and harder to find without trekking all over town to specialty stores and racking up a hefty bill. When I heard that a group of people had begun working to build a Co-op on the north side of Chicago, I jumped at the chance to be involved.

My career path has taken me into the nonprofit world, which I genuinely love, because it allows me to interact with wonderful people on a daily basis who sincerely want our community and society to improve and will help in any way that they can in working toward that goal. I found the same passion and drive in my fellow Steering Committee members, which has been truly inspiring. To borrow a phrase from Captain Planet, “our powers combined” can - and have done - produce some amazing results.

We are building a store and community that will provide a great variety of carefully-sourced products and will be accessible in every sense of the word. I envision this place to be a warm, welcoming environment, not just to shop in, but to converse, connect, and create change.