October is Co-op Month! And one of the things that makes co-ops so special is that they’re democratically operated. The Board thought it would be helpful to share a bit about how your democratically elected Board of Trustees is organized.

Brad Claypool, Board President

While 2024 brought no changes to the faces at the table of our monthly board meetings, there have been some significant shifts in our roles and responsibilities, that we as a Board, voted on. The biggest change is that, after 18 years of captaining the ship, Tom Theisen has passed the torch to Brad Claypool as Board President. We can’t thank Tom enough for his many years of dedication in an important and often time-consuming role. It’s impossible not to feel Tom’s passion for our Co-op while working alongside him on this board.

Laura Bady, Board Treasurer

We have two things working in our favor to ease the transition: Tom remains a valuable member of the board, and longtime Co-op board member Brad Claypool is more than capable for the job. As Board President, Brad also becomes chair of the Executive Committee which acts as the Board’s oversight body in matters relating to the General Manager.

Laura Bady has taken over the role of Board Treasurer. Laura has a strong business finance background, as well experience developing business finance software. As treasurer, Laura also becomes chair of the board’s Finance Committee. The Finance Committee oversees the economic resilience of the Co-op with a focus on prudent long-term financial management. Responsibilities include monitoring financial statements, reviewing budgets, and making sure that the financial position of the Co-op is communicated to the Board and member-owners.

Casey Schoenberger is also taking on a new role, stepping in as Board Secretary. As secretary, Casey will also chair the Board Development Committee which oversees the fundamental systems and activities necessary for governance. If that sounds boring, well, it sometimes is! But not always! It is true that much time is spent reviewing and proposing policy changes to assure consistency and accuracy, sometimes getting stuck on a single word. But the committee also has the much more exciting tasks of coordinating board candidate recruitment, identifying and coordinating board training opportunities, and collaborating with the Strategic Planning committee on planning board retreats.

Kristen Ekstran will continue as Board Vice President. Kristen also chairs the Strategic Planning Committee, which drives the visioning process and coordinates and maintains the strategic planning process. This helps to ensure that the Co-op’s long-term trajectory meets the goals expressed in the vision.

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Board of Trustees for the Skagit Valley Food Co-op. As we wrap up 2024, the Board will meet for a day-long retreat where we will be discussing more committee matters in a deeper way. We look forward to sharing our developments with you in a future edition of the Enquirer.

From the Board: Roles & Responsibilities