ABSTRACT: I carry a unique perspective – one necessary in the representation of our company and its Board of Directors – of an African American female worker owner with over ten years’ experience within the co-op.
For the video with English subtitles, click here.
- Describe your occupation and community involvement:
Occupation: Data Coordinator for FoodHouse location of Weaver Street Market.
The responsibilities of this position allow me to be a supportive structure for production managers by facilitating tasks such as sourcing packaging, purchasing raw materials, and completing product ingredient labels. This position also includes many tasks involving administrative management, including, but not limited to, inputting database information, coordinating promotional calendars, and sales trend tracking. In addition to these day to day functions I have also been allowed opportunities to be a productive member of numerous miscellaneous projects, including evaluation and implementation of new production software, developing food waste systems that work within our current assets, expediting vendor purchasing, and the streamlining of production processes.
Community Involvement within Weaver Street:
I stepped up to become one of the founding members of the Weaver Street Market E.Q.U.I.T.Y. Alliance that was formed to initiate steps towards a more inclusive environment throughout all aspects of the co-op. As this group expands one of my main responsibilities, which coincides with my personal passion, will be to extend the outreach of our co-op by working alongside community partners throughout the state to promote healthy individuals. I see this executed as an ever-present project of the co-op, given its ability to exist as an example of restructuring an international economy based largely on the oppression of marginalized populations. I am working to combine my passion of reducing food insecurities worldwide with the co-op’s essential position within the food supply chain, to contribute to thriving communities – as we share the recognition that healthful food and access are the foundation to better preparedness in life. I am also working with the co-op to create an environment where our employees and community members transform their purchasing habits by making the Weaver Choice (a concept proposed by Ruffin Slater) – one which supports equality and inclusion in our employment, purchasing, and shared spaces.
Community Involvement outside of Weaver Street:
I am a current member and have held the position of Vice President of my housing
Homeowner’s Association for five years and counting. On this board, I am active in financial decisions, taking into consideration feedback from our business partners and community owners, as well as maintaining a safe and thriving living environment for myself and my neighbors.
- Why do you want to serve on the Board of Directors?
I would like to serve on the Board to be a more active and influential member of the Weaver Street Market community. As a worker-owner, it is imperative that the Board represents the communities in which its members shop, work, and gather. I would like to be a part of the progressive brainstorming and decision-making as the co-op moves forward. I hold a vested interest in ensuring the co-op maintains the values and integrity on which it was formed, and as it continues to grow and transform under constantly changing conditions. I hope that my unique perspective as a long-time employee combined with my work ethic will prove beneficial to the existing board initiatives moving forward as well as to the community.
- What experience do you have with Weaver Street Market, cooperatives, or small community-minded businesses?
As a current employee over the last ten years at Weaver Street Market I have worked two-thirds of my career in the prepared foods department in Carrboro prior to my current position as the Data Coordinator. During my time I have cross-trained in several Weaver Street stores allowing me the privilege of the customer facing aspects of retail, many times including receiving input on how and why our co-op could improve. In my current position, I have increased interactions with vendors, growers, and suppliers as I continue to bridge the gap between the co-op production departments and our stores all while continuing to communicate with customers in fulfilling their more informational requests, such as those concerning ingredients, packaging, and nutritional information.
- What experience, skills, or perspective will you bring to the Board?
In my work, I have been privy to the inner mechanics of the co-op. As a member of the Board, I will bring the unique perspective of an employee that has had the opportunity to work directly with customers, vendors, managers, and administration daily. This has allowed me to view the company through various lenses. In thistime both inside the company as well as in life, I feel that some of the most important skills I will bring to the Board include teamwork, openness, and stamina. In my service on my community HOA, I have found these characteristics to be essential in promoting constructive change, successful brainstorming, and completing difficult, yet necessary, tasks. In a work setting and throughout life, the ability to come to a workspace with an open mind and willingness to form a team that will work together towards a common goal is what promotes success. I hope to contribute to a space where others including those serving on the Board, those directly affected by the Board, and those living in the communities where our stores stand, feel that they are being heard and served by my actions.
- Include anything else about yourself that you may like others to
If given the honor, I look forward to extending my service with Weaver Street Market to act as a governing Board member. Throughout my life, I have been pursuing my passion of helping people given my resources and personal experience. Anyone that knows me knows I love people. On weekends before the pandemic, you could find my house by the raucous laughter coming from my back porch as my college girlfriends and I were grilling and decompressing from our work weeks. When I wasn’t reconnecting with family and friends, my time alone was spent experimenting on new recipes in the kitchen with fresh flowers in the backgroundand musical soundtracks in the air. Daily, I continue to look for opportunities to expand my comprehension of the Spanish language, so I do not lose the ability to serve as a bridge of access to resources as I pursue my passion of equality and justice by eliminating food insecurity to promote better health in marginalizedcommunities.
Contact information: allanah.h@weaverstreetmarket.coop or message me on Teams.