Allison Searson

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Why would you like to serve on the City Market Board? What excites you about becoming a Board member? 

As I finish my first term on the City Market Board, I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve. This is a time of growth and change and it is a privilege to be a part of it all. 

I believe good quality, local, and sustainable food should be available to everyone. I continue to be passionate about food and being a part of an organization that helps bring, as our Global Ends state, “access to progressive, social, environmental and healthful choices” and that ensures “the local food system is strengthened.” City Market’s support for our community and access to food can be seen in many ways such as the food for all program, their participation in WIC, and “Rally for Change”.  

Lastly, City Market and my fellow board members have spent the last three years helping me learn about policy governance and our future of governing in a multi-store format. Should I be reelected, I can take all of that knowledge with me into my second term. 

Phenomenal things are happening for our coop and our community, and I would be thrilled to continue to be a part of it as a board member, serving our members.  

Please describe any professional skills you have that will help you to be an effective Board Member. How would you help the Board to balance the business needs of a $42 million business with the need to meet our Global Ends as a community-owned cooperative?

As a current board member, I understand our role is to monitor the performance of the coop against our ends policies and executive limitations. As such, it is important to be able to interpret the general manager’s reports, particularly the financial reports, so that we can report back to our members on the health and wellbeing of our organization. We have spent the last several years as a board, learning about the financials of a $42 million dollar business and, additionally, how we will view and interpret the finances of a $42 million dollar plus, multi-store business. 

That experience paired with my many years of work in communications will enable me to understand, digest, and report back out to our members what they need to know about our community-owned business. 

I feel confident in my ability to continue to serve our members.

Describe your prior involvement with community organizations and/or cooperatives. What did you learn from these experiences?

I have been a member owner of City Market for over seven years - it was one of the first things I did when I moved to Burlington. For many years, I was involved with the coop through member work and learned a lot about our community and the ways the coop serves it. 

For the last three years, I have had the privilege and honor of serving as a member of the Board of Directors of City Market. As I mentioned in an earlier question, I have learned a tremendous amount about policy governance, the inner workings of our member owned business, and have gotten an even closer look at the amazing work our coop does for our community - both our member owners and the larger community that surrounds us. I can think of no better preparation to serve on the board than having already served. You, the coop, and my fellow board members have all invested in me over the last three years. It is my hope that you will see the value in that investment and reelect me for a second term.

What opportunities and challenges do you see in the future of City Market?

City Market has taken on the opportunity and challenge of opening a second store. I think expansion and serving a larger swath of our community is City Market’s current greatest opportunity and simultaneously their biggest challenge. As a current board member, I have seen this exciting initiative come to fruition and I understand both the potential to serve our community and the hurdles we must overcome to do so. 

I also want to commend City Market for their continued efforts to think of new ways to serve our food insecure community and seizing an amazing opportunity through their Rally for Change program. This program is both a testament to City Market’s commitment to our community and to our fellow community members’ commitment to help those who need help accessing healthy food. I’m confident that City Market will continue to find new ways and seize opportunities to not only serve our food insecure community members, but all of our community members.

Click here to view Allison's resume!