ABOUT US
WHAT WE DO
We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Madison, Wisconsin and serving the Midwest region. Our mission is to support and connect farmers and eaters through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). We envision a future where CSA is the backbone of a strong local food system and where all families have access to locally-produced, organic food from small-scale farms.
CORE PROGRAM AREAS
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Support in finding local, organic CSA farms in your community.
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Financial assistance for low-income households in purchasing CSA shares through the Partner Shares Program.
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Educational workshops and resources for farmers on topics ranging from crop-specific growing techniques to social media marketing, as part of our network of farmer-to-farmer support.
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Supporting the next generation of farmers by connecting aspiring and experienced producers through the Organic Vegetable Farm Manager Apprenticeship Program.
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Strengthening farmers’ confidence and skills as employers through peer-to-peer labor management training.
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Along with key partners, developing a national CSA network to provide robust resource-sharing, trainings and discussions for CSA practitioners and advocates.
WHO WE ARE
Executive Director
Carrie delights in eating fresh, local & organic produce throughout the year via CSA. She has an extensive background in food systems, from working on statewide farm-to-school initiatives at the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems to working as a farmhand at Crossroads Community Farm to teaching sustainable agriculture to undergraduate students in Thailand. She enjoys applying her Masters degrees in Public Health and Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to her daily work at FairShare.
Organic Vegetable Educator
Claire Strader is the Organic Vegetable Educator for FairShare and Dane County UW-Extension. In this shared position, Claire works with organic vegetable farmers serving direct markets. Her previous experience is as a certified organic vegetable farmer, beginning farmer educator, and retail produce buyer. She has worked in the Wisconsin local food system since 1993 and joined FairShare in 2013. Her key projects include on-farm research on cover crops and reduced tillage techniques for organic vegetables, the Organic Vegetable Farm Manager registered apprenticeship, and the annual Organic Vegetable Production Conference serving farmers in Wisconsin and surrounding states.
Program Manager
Liv’s journey with food has followed her around the country (and beyond); from exploring the farmers market as a child in San Francisco, working on an organic farm in Germany, reviewing her college’s food waste system in Massachusetts, to working on an urban farm and assisting with farm classes for Tilth Alliance, in Seattle. She enjoys cooking new food, and has always looked to her CSA shares and ever-expanding home garden for inspiration. She sees an equitable and sustainable food system as a central component to our environmental and social well being, and is excited to promote that work with FairShare.
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Communications Coordinator
Tess is thrilled to bring her passion for local food systems to FairShare as Communications Coordinator. Her previous experiences- from an urban farm in Iowa to a permaculture acreage in India- have helped shape her belief that access to sustainably grown, culturally appropriate foods are crucial to creating a just and equitable food system. She loves growing and cooking her own food, and is excited to call Madison home again after receiving her Master’s of Food & Agriculture Law and Policy from Vermont Law School.
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Apprenticeship Manager
While her early years were spent figuring out how to avoid working in her family's half-acre garden, since then Sarah has developed a deep appreciation for the power and potential of local food systems. She sees her work supporting the Organic Vegetable Farm Manager Apprenticeship program as building resilience and equity within and across the industry. As a PhD candidate, Sarah talks with farm owners and farm employees about the factors and conditions that create positive labor experiences on the farm - and she applies that learning to her work at FairShare.
Administrative Coordinator
For the past decade, Jill has worked as a food and sustainability professional across the Midwest, motivated by a desire to steward our natural environments and enhance the health and happiness of our communities. Jill’s wide-ranging work in food and agriculture included designing and implementing statewide farm to early care and education strategy in Wisconsin and working as the Assistant Market Manager for the beloved Dane County Farmers’ Market. Throughout these roles, Jill developed a passion for records management, accounting, and how a strong administrative foundation can support mission-driven organizations. Jill is thrilled to bring her administrative skills to FairShare’s amazing team and programs.
Network Coordinator
Sara “Sadie” Willis sought out courses in ecology, environmental science, botany, natural resources, land preservation and ethics in her Biology program, before working in the health-tech industry. After honing coordination and networking skills in the corporate world, making a career shift to FairShare felt like returning to her roots. An avid gardener who makes homegrown produce into preserves for local farmers' markets, Sadie savors time spent in nature and making connections with people who love food. She is an enthusiastic home chef who adores seasonal, sustainable eating. Sadie is excited to nurture FairShare’s relationships with CSA producers doing innovative work in creating accessible, equitable, and resilient food systems.
Ohio Program Manager
Beth is the Ohio Program Manager, and brings experience from multiple segments of the food system: organic CSA farmer, farmers’ market manager, food business owner, and food systems advocate and network coordinator. She has a passion for making good food accessible to people of all income levels, backgrounds, and life experiences while supporting farm viability. Throughout her career she has implemented programs simultaneously achieving these goals, and has actively advocated for policies that support these efforts at the local, state, and national level. Her downtime is often spent hiking in the woods, cooking heirloom beans, or making pie with seasonal fruit.
Vegetable Educator
Sam will be providing farmer education and support to Milwaukee-area vegetable growers in this shared position between FairShare and UW-Madison Extension. Sam has worked in many roles on vegetable farms in Wisconsin – as a field hand, running his own CSA, and managing an educational farm in Sheboygan. He has a Master’s degree in Horticulture from Michigan State, where he researched organic weed control. And for three years, he was an instructor of Sustainable Landscape Horticulture at Lakeshore Technical College. Sam especially appreciates sharing his love of plants with children in his community.
INTERNS
Aggregation Coordinator
The son of HMoob (Hmong) immigrants, Chiang Rai grew up around small-scale farming and selling his family’s produce at farmers’ markets around Northeast Wisconsin. Having experienced the challenges of being a grower from an underserved population, he is excited and proud to be part of FairShare’s work in providing support to underserved growers, especially HMoob growers, through the Aggregation Coordinator position. In his free time, he loves to go outdoors and enjoy nature by playing disc golf!
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
LIZ GROSS
Board President
CEO of Campus Sonar
Liz is the CEO of Campus Sonar, a specialized social listening agency that partners with colleges and universities. She’s previously served as the Market Insights Manager and Social Media Strategist at Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation. Prior to joining Great Lakes, she was the Director of Marketing and Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha and Program Outreach Coordinator in University Housing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
SARAH LARSON
Board Treasurer
Acting Director, Food Finance Institute
Sarah is the Acting Director of the Food Finance Institute (FFI), part of UW System's Institute for Business & Entrepreneurship. FFI provides finance-focused training and technical assistance to growing food, farm and food systems enterprises. Prior to FFI, she spent time helping launch and grow food brands including Wisconsin Specialty Protein (WSP) and the tera’swhey® brand, Death’s Door Spirits and Tribe 9 Foods. Additionally, Sarah managed the Wisconsin statewide AmeriCorps Farm to School Program at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection and served as the Farm to Business Program Director at nonprofit REAP Food Group.
CAROL RIDDERBUSCH
Board Secretary
Senior Customer Success Manager, Advarra
Carol is a Senior Customer Success Manager at Advarra, a leader in clinical trial research management systems for research sites and academic medical centers. Before this role, Carol spent the previous 12 years at Healthgrades in data analytics and marketing strategy and execution for hospitals and health systems. In her free time, Carol loves to spend time outdoors, travel and explore local restaurants both in Madison and abroad.
MEGAN COSTELLO
Senior Content Strategist, Morgridge Institute for Research
Megan has +10 years’ experience directing multi-channel communications to inspire and engage audiences. She started in legislative affairs and cut her teeth as the Assistant Dean for Communications in the College of Letters & Science, the largest college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Megan is content strategist turned content marketer—in her current role at the Morgridge Institute for Research in Madison, Wisconsin, she manages integrated communications and directs fundraising campaigns to cultivate donors and inspire a culture of philanthropy.
BILL HERMAN
Former Director of Human Resources, Aprilaire, a Division of Research Products Corporation
Now retired, Bill was the Corporate Director of Human Resources for Research Products Corporation, the manufacturer of Aprilaire indoor air quality products with over 600 employees.
Bill began with Arthur Andersen, an international consulting and audit firm, followed by a move to Madison, WI for the opportunity to be the VP of HR for the Highsmith Company. Of particular note is Bill’s background in managing health care costs. He has been at the forefront of employee health care initiatives and is continuing his efforts at Aprilaire.
RICK KLEMME
Executive Director, Cooperative Extension Services
Rick currently works as the Executive Director of the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP works on behalf of Cooperative Extension Services across the country). He is a retired Director of Cooperative Extension at the University of Wisconsin-Extension. He was a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the UW-Madison and director of the UW-Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.
SCOTT LAESER
Farmer, Plowshares & Prairie Farm and Water Program Director, Clean Wisconsin
Scott owns and manages Plowshares & Prairie Farm with his wife Chelsea in Argyle, Wisconsin. Their produce farm, now in its fifth season, is focused on growing a diverse array of vegetables for their community supported agriculture program and a local farmer’s market, while minimizing runoff and nutrient loss from fields through use of cover crops, grass waterways, and restored wetlands and prairies.
Off the farm, Scott has worked for Clean Wisconsin, a Madison based environmental non profit organization, since 2015 and is primarily focused on water quality issues pertaining to agriculture. Scott has worked on water quality and environmental issues for over ten years, including stints with the Driftless Area Land Conservancy in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in Washington, DC.
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AMBER MIDDLETON
Humane Educator, Dane County Humane Society
Amber is the Humane Educator at Dane County Humane Society, leading community education and outreach programming. Before this role, Amber spent most of her career working in the local food realm with the San Luis Local Foods Coalition, a nonprofit working to foster an equitable local food system in southern Colorado. She has experience in development, grant management, and supporting statewide coalitions. Amber has a Master's Degree in Public Administration and spends her free time exploring with her rescue dogs, Taffy and Roux, trying her hand at gardening, and volunteering with SoL Criations Farm Sanctuary.
LAURA MORTIMORE
Farmer, Orange Cat Community Farm
Laura Mortimore runs Orange Cat Community Farm in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. She grows 3 acres of certified organic vegetables, primarily marketed through a 150 member CSA. The farm has been in operation since 2010 and a member of FairShare CSA Coalition since 2011. Laura is grateful to be spending her days bringing awesome food to her community, and her favorite job on the farm is digging giant sweet potatoes.
KAY SCHWICHTENBERG
Former Executive Vice President, Animal & Public Health - Central Garden & Pet
Kay is the recently retired CEO of Central Life Sciences, where her expertise has centered on the blending of technology and marketing to deliver products to both consumers and business markets. She is a member of the Committee of 200, a professional organization of America’s pre-emininent women business leaders. Kay brings her experience on consumer trends, business leadership, and advising startups and small businesses.
In addition to being on FairShare’s Board of Directors, she also sits on the board of advisors for Springboard Enterprises, a global business accelerator for women entrepreneurs, and the board of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Board Advisors
CHERI KING
Former Board Treasurer
Manager, RSM
Cheri is a CPA with 10+ years experience as a tax accountant, and is a Tax Manager in the Madison office for RSM US LLP. She started her tax career at a small CPA office in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Prior to her move to RSM US LLP (a.k.a. McGladrey), she worked as a Senior Tax Consultant for Badgerland Financial (now part of Compeer Financial).
KRISTEN KORDET
Farmer, Blue Moon Community Farm
Kristen Kordet owns Blue Moon Community Farm, a CSA and Market farm in the Town of Dunn on Madison’s southern edge. Started in 2004, Blue Moon has been a FairShare endorsed farm for over 16 years, and Kristen has been active in the organization through Board membership, farmer endorsement work, on-farm research and training, and outreach. She lives on the farm with her husband, an ecological consultant, and son, Cyrus.
Interested in Joining the FairShare Board of Directors?
Directors serve 3-year terms and provide strategic leadership and oversight for the organization. Directors attend board meetings (6 per year), serve on a committee (monthly), participate in organizational decision-making, volunteer at 1-2 events per year, and provide financial support as able. Our Directors are passionate about providing our communities with fresh, local, organic produce through farmer relationships by putting their skills to use in supporting FairShare staff and organizational growth.
FairShare is committed to equity through practice, policy, and programming, and we are actively seeking to diversify the membership of our Board to represent more of the communities we serve. We specifically encourage BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as people from low-income households, to explore opportunities to serve on the board of directors.
Sponsorship-Focused Director Opportunity
We have a need for a Director with a strong background in B2B marketing or sales. You will serve on our Communications and Development Committee, and provide guidance and assistance in securing corporate and organizational sponsorships for major events and annual support. You may be a great fit for this role if you’ve led a marketing team, sold advertising or services to mid-size businesses, or made sponsorship decisions for your own company.
If you are interested in serving FairShare in this capacity, please submit a brief statement of interest and summary of your relevant experience to Liz Gross, FairShare Board President, at board@csacoalition.org.
Fundraising-Focused Director Opportunity
We have a need for a Director with a background in fundraising; particularly in leadership-level annual giving and stewardship. You will serve on our Communications and Development Committee, and provide guidance and assistance in stewarding our major donors and cultivating additional leadership-level gifts. FairShare is a largely grant-funded organization, and over the last few years we’ve significantly increased the number of donors and dollars raised from individuals. You will help us continue that progress by cultivating leadership-level annual donors. You may be a great fit for this role if you’ve led annual giving for a non-profit, worked as a gift officer or development director, or chaired a fundraising campaign.
If you are interested in serving FairShare in this capacity, please submit a brief statement of interest and summary of your relevant experience to Carrie Sedlak, Executive Director, at carrie@csacoalition.org.