Meeting fairshare's new Executive Director

I joined the FairShare team as the Executive Director at the beginning of April, and I am so excited to be part of this amazing organization!

Developing stronger, more robust food systems has been my area of interest since I graduated from high school. I started out with an internship on an organic vegetable farm, and that experience inspired me to come to Madison to get involved in sustainable agriculture work. At UW Madison, I studied biology, with focus areas in plant sciences and ecology. Following graduation I had the chance to sit on the Board of Directors of Mifflin Street Community Co-op, where I started to develop relationships within the local food system. The bulk of my time in food comes from my experience founding and scaling the Quince & Apple Company, a small-batch food company making preserves, pickles, syrups and candied nuts.

Recently, my husband and I decided to sell the business, and the position at FairShare opened up before I had even started thinking about job searching - it was my dream job and I had to apply! FairShare is a truly special organization that I’ve known about since my first year in college, when I bought the second-edition spiral bound Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook to learn how to cook for my 21-person housing co-op.

The FairShare Board of Directors has identified a few key priorities for the organization, which will be my main goals as I get started in my new role. First, the organization has grown a lot over the last few years, and we are working on developing new systems and processes to support the updated organizational size. Second, as we settle back into a more normal post-pandemic time, we are ready to clarify our mission & vision and update our strategic plan, with a focus on continuing to weave equity throughout our organizational goals. Finally, we are thinking about FairShare’s long-term financial sustainability and how our organizational structure can best support fundraising.

My kids, making pickles at Quince & Apple

I look forward to diving into these topics, and to being part of the awesome community that is promoting and supporting sustainable agriculture throughout the Midwest. My main joy in life is cooking and eating fun local food with my family (I really felt I’d scored big the other day when my 9 year old excitedly asked if I’d made nettle potato pancakes again for dinner!). I am so glad that I get to come to work every day and help build our amazing local CSA resources for now and future generations!