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Gloria Randall-Hewitt, President, Finance Chair, gloria@wildrootmarket.com
Serving on the Finance Committee for Wild Root Market allows Gloria to use her professional skills and financial expertise for a cause that is very important to her. She is presently employed as the Vice President of Finance/CFO at Active USA and Active Canada, transportation companies headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, WI. Gloria is looking forward to Wild Root Market’s partnerships within our community to empower people to live healthier lives. She and her husband, also an active volunteer with the co-op, have been residents of Racine for nearly twenty years and are excited at the prospect of having a food co-op in Racine providing healthy and local foods, while supporting the community with good jobs. Gloria has a BA in Business and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago.
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Doug Stansil, Treasurer, doug@wildrootmarket.com
Until his retirement in 2012, Doug was Finance Director for Racine County for 30 years and he brings his connections to local, county and state governments to the project. Prior to that, he worked in Public Accounting in Madison, Wisconsin where he specialized in governmental audits. Since 1995, Doug has served on the SE WI Professional Baseball Park District Board, during which time he has chaired the Finance Committee. He received a BS in Accountancy at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1974 and CPA licenses for Wisconsin and Illinois in 1977. Doug and his wife Becky of 39 years have two daughters and five grandchildren, all of who are passionate about local food and building community.
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Lois Braun, Vice President, Marketing & Communications Chair, lois@wildrootmarket.com
Lois is a Racine native, born and raised. After spending time in Kenosha for college and an internship, Lois was eager to reinvest time in Racine. To that end, Lois is currently working as Marketing Director for the Downtown Racine Corporation. Lois was motivated to join the Wild Root Market Board because she feels strongly that Racine needs a resource to provide food that is responsibly grown and education on healthy eating. With a B.S. in Marketing and an Associates in Graphic Design, Lois is excited to get the word out about Wild Root Market and help it grow.
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Mark Gesner, Director, Board Development Chair, mark@wildrootmarket.com
Mark is excited to use his professional experience in education, hospitality management, and nonprofit leadership to help bring the co-op dream to life in Racine. He currently serves as Cardinal Stritch University's Executive Director of The Stritch Hub for Innovation and Community Engaged Learning. Mark is also a faculty member at Stritch, and previously was the Director of Community Development at UW-Parkside. Before his career in higher education, Mark oversaw programs and operations on the local, regional, and national level for Hostelling International -- USA, a nonprofit organization supporting cross-cultural understanding and educational travel. Mark, who moved to Racine in 2004 with his wife and daughter, claims to have the co-op spirit in his genes with a co-op lineage going back generations, including a great uncle who was a food co-op manager in New York City over 50 years ago.
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Anita Cruise, Director, Outreach & Inclusion Chair, Registered Agent, anita@wildrootmarket.com
Having lived in the Racine area for 25 years, Anita has grown to love the community and believe in the benefit of having a cooperative market that offers healthy, locally-sourced food to friends and neighbors. An estate planning attorney and financial advisor, Anita has served on several nonprofit boards in the past and is currently on the board of the Gateway Technical College Foundation and Professional Women’s Network for Service. She is a volunteer tutor for the United Way of Racine County Schools of Hope and a volunteer tax preparer with the VITA program. She has served as a staff attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc., Kids Matter, Inc. and Women’s Resource Center. Anita has been married for 32 years and has three children. Both Anita and her husband Keith are active in their church where they work to strengthen couples and young families.
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Betsy Falk, Director, betsy@wildrootmarket.com
Betsy Falk has had a sort of “What do you want to do when you grow up” career. After an Associate Degree in Accounting from Gateway Technical College, she went on to earn her Bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin Platteville, and an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University. During her career she has worked in education teaching accounting, economics and various software programs at Gateway Technical College, MATC, UW Milwaukee, and as a Corporate Trainer for several companies. Betsy is currently teaching accounting and economics at Cardinal Stritch University. The majority of her career was spent in the accounting area which included working as an Accounting Manager for a software company, as a partner in a business serving small and medium sized firms providing their accounting, tax and pension plans management. Saving the best for last, Betsy worked as an economist for the State of Wisconsin providing demographic, employment, and educational information for businesses and governments in the seven counties of southeastern Wisconsin. These various industries have given her a diverse understanding of people and industries, and the issues they face.
Betsy believes that the Wild Root Market is a great opportunity for the Racine area. She is excited about having a place to shop for natural local foods every day, a place to learn about where your food comes from, a place that decreases our carbon footprint, and a place to help our local producers will only add to our community.
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Paul Sloth, Director, paul@wildrootmarket.com
Paul is eagerly awaiting the opening of Wild Root Market and is excited to share his knowledge of natural foods and cooperatives as a member of the board. Paul is director of marketing and communications for United Way of Racine County. Before that he was the multimedia manager for Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee. Paul’s first co-op job was managing the deli at Bluff Country Co-op in Winona, Minn. He’s also worked for Whole Foods Market in Chicago. A native of the Chicago suburbs, Paul and his family moved to Racine County in 2005 and have lived on Racine’s north side since 2009. While he doesn’t believe co-ops can solve all of the world’s problems, Paul knows that Wild Root Market has the unique ability to bring a vibrant business to Racine that will create jobs and improve the community, promote local growers and producers, and engage people in discussions about healthy food.
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Stephen Smiley, Director, stephen@wildrootmarket.com
Stephen has a passion for helping Racine become a great place to live. As a business consultant for Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP), Stephen has helped a variety of businesses grow in southeast WI. With 25 years experience in manufacturing organizations ranging from large corporations to start-up entities, he has served as a leader in operations, engineering and administration. Stephen’s volunteerism included serving as Co-Chair for the Kids Cove Playground, and on the YMCA, Big Brother Big Sisters, Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church boards of directors. Stephen is excited to use his business skills and volunteer experience to help Wild Root Market become an important part of the Racine community, providing an alternative market experience for local people who value fresh, locally grown and organic food as well as attracting other like-minded people to live here.
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Jeff Wilkins, Secretary, Ownership Chair, jeff@wildrootmarket.com
As a long-term resident and dedicated educator, Jeff Wilkins is committed to Wild Root’s mission to improve the quality of life in the greater Racine community. He brings to the board over 25 years of experience as a Racine Unified school counselor focusing on improving the lives of his students and their families. As a former governing board member of the Wisconsin School Counselor Association, Jeff brought innovative ideas to improve the school counseling profession. He also served on the Leadership Racine Alumni Board, and as a Quality Advisor and Computer Systems Manager in the Air National Guard. With an entrepreneurial spirit with a growth mindset, Jeff is passionate about urban gardening and community development through building partnerships with local businesses and non-profit organizations. A self-described foodie, one of his favorite childhood memories was picking fresh tomatoes from his family’s garden. He remembers helping his parents can them for home-made soups and juices. Today, Jeff enjoys cooking and grilling for his wife and two sons. His hope is that current and future Wild Root owners experience the quality of fresh, nutritious food in a welcoming, community-building environment.
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Rose Nelson, Past Board President, rose@wildrootmarket.com
Rose is a former corporate professional with expertise in operations and administration. Before joining the Board in 2013, she volunteered for Wild Root Market in a variety of capacities and developed several programs designed to increase awareness and membership. Rose completed her term as Board President and chair of the Ownership & Growth Committee in May 2019. During her tenure on the Board, Rose attended many food co-op development programs to enhance her knowledge and leadership capacity, including the Up & Coming Food Co-op Conference and CCMA. She is also the former manager at Seebecks, a gallery and gift store on Main Street in Racine. Rose and her husband, John, have lived in the Racine area since 1994. She studied Communications at Kent State University.
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Margie Michicich, Former Board Secretary, margie@wildrootmarket.com
Margie is a Founding Owner of Wild Root Market and has been a co-op volunteer for many years, formerly serving as Volunteer Coordinator, Vice President, President, and completing her board service as Secretary in May 2019. She brings experience from a career in sensory evaluation and consumer research, along with freelance work as recipe developer for corporate clients. Margie has an MS in Food Science & Nutrition from the University of Minnesota and professional certification as a Registered Dietitian. Margie moved to Racine in 1995 along with her husband Mark. She is inspired by the idea that co-ops bring people together in a common pursuit of good food and healthy community.
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