Jody Landon
Meet Candidate Jody Landon
1) Why would you like to serve on the City Market Board? What excites you about becoming a Board Member?
I am completing my first term on the Board. It has been a surprisingly challenging time, the pandemic setting in after my first two months. Along with the usual Board functions, supporting staff and management, collaborating on decisions that impacted the health of shoppers, staff and the Co-op itself brought our focus to unexpected areas of concentration. When I ran for the Board I did so with the desire to see the makeup of this Board become more broadly representative of the membership. It felt right that once again there might be a senior Board member. But I am most proud of the attention the full Board has given to the equity and diversity work that has resulted in fuller representation of our membership. I want to continue this valuable work which enriches us all and fulfills the values of the Co-op.
2) 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 $50 million business with the need to meet our Global Ends as a community-owned cooperative?
I currently sit on two other Boards. I have been on the Board of The Converse Home for 11 years, three of which I served as president. My last year as President was during the first year of the pandemic, so I have worked with the financial twists and turns of usual and unusual times. I am also on the Board of my HOA, again two years as President, and I see many similarities between a cooperative and a community of owners/residents working together to facilitate living that meets the expectations and needs of all.
In my 2.5 years on this Board I have taken advantage of the opportunities for training that are provided by the Co-op and Columinate, the facilitation and training cooperative that supports the Onion River Co-op. I want to continue to use my experience and training in the position of Treasurer which I now hold.
3) Describe your prior involvement with community organizations and/or cooperatives. What did you learn from these experiences?
If you want to go back, and I can go way back, my first association with a community organization was shortly after I moved to Vermont in 1976. I joined the Co-op as a member of a buying group in Essex Junction as a way to meet my new neighbors and to facilitate healthy food choices for my family. Not so much has changed in that regard. In addition to The Converse Home Board mentioned above, I was a Cemetery Commissioner in Essex for a number of years, working with budgets, the Town Select Board and the community at large. I feel that most of us are well intentioned but often with differing paths of action or points of view. Working in collaboration we can achieve so much, and that has proven true in the last three years on this Board. My experience with generational differences in working styles has taught me a lot, and I want to use that experience to continue the strong influence and support the Coop brings to members and the community at large.
4) City Market, Onion River Co-op is a learning organization committed to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) work. What opportunities do you see as a Board member to support these initiatives at City Market and how would you ensure that the Board's work is grounded in these principles? Describe any prior involvement in JEDI work either personally or professionally.
Over the past 18 months I have been a founding member of the newly formed Board Perpetuation Committee created to expand the utilization of the Co-op membership for Board positions and related work. Having a strong pool of active members creates a dynamic ability to see work continue from election to election. Recruitment of and actions by members gives us the assurance that the Co- op will remain strong and active far beyond the service of any one of us.
I worked in the early years of the Refugee Resettlement Program as the Coordinator of placement and employment. The last 34 years of my career were spent as Deputy Director and then Training Team Leader of a cultural exchange/study program which brought young women from every continent in the world to the US on a legal Au Pair program. In those 34 years I met 80,000 participants and learned much more about the world I hope to live in than I ever imparted about American culture.
5) What opportunities and challenges do you see in the future of City Market?
The opportunities are limitless for us to create the kind of community that taps the resources of our varied life experiences. The challenges are financial, restoring profitability to the Co-op after the impact of opening a second store almost 5 years ago, followed by the the pandemic. Equally challenging, but so well on track as evidenced by the recent union contract settled collaboratively by workers and management, is creating a work place that honors our employees with fair wages and benefits and creates opportunities for development and growth in an industry designated as “essential” during the pandemic. It is time we recognize the work that is done by those in the food industry is truly essential for us all, pandemic or not.