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Stephen Smiley, President, 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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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. 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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Natalie Chulew, Director, natalie@wildrootmarket.com
Natalie Chulew is passionate about issues relating to healthy communities and a livable, sustainable planet. She believes that food co-ops are an excellent way to bring people together around healthy food, support local farmers/producers, educate about delicious natural foods, and build our local economy. She hopes that the Wild Root Market could help make Racine a more vibrant, resilient community.
In her 20's, Natalie worked at the Mifflin St. Co-op in Madison where she was actively involved in all aspects of running the store. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later earned a masters degree in education. For thirty years she taught elementary school and is currently retired. She volunteers at River Bend Nature Center leading field trips for school groups and tutors students with Schools of Hope at Julian Thomas School. She’s involved with the Sierra Club, the Clean Power Coalition, Big Sisters of Greater Racine, and the Racine Urban Garden Network.
Natalie is a founding member of the Wild Root Market and worked on the Owner Loan Campaign. She’s grateful for the efforts of the many volunteers who have worked hard to try to make the Wild Root Market dream a reality in Racine.
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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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Gloria Randall-Hewitt, Past President, Past 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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