Alice Wiand
Grocery Stocker, they/them
I am running for the Board of Directors because it is important to me to be involved in my community, especially with an organization whose values so closely align with my own. Seward Co-op’s model of governance shows a commitment to transparency and listening to member perspectives that makes it clear that the whole community is important at every level of operation.
I have experience giving input on behalf of my community as part of my high school’s Student Advisory Council, where I worked alongside other students to share our responses and ideas about potential decisions from the administration. I am also on the Co-op’s Labor Management Committee, where employees and management work together to solve problems outside of contract bargaining.
To me, working collaboratively involves actively listening to others, asking questions, and making connections across different experiences and perspectives to create a new, more widely informed idea together.
I strive to see perspectives other than my own, and across my life I try not to make decisions lightly without considering the impact on others. The best way to understand what an equitable outcome might look like is to engage with each group of stakeholders to understand their wants and needs.
I believe that the Co-op’s direction needs to continue to be community led. I would like for the Co-op to go beyond grocery offerings and support access to resources that may not be traditional for a co-op; what those resources might be depends on what members would be interested in seeing. An example could be partnering with an organization that assists with access to healthcare, to offer community members a point of contact with them if they are interested.
A healthy community has complex needs; I aim for the Co-op to take opportunities to support needs beyond food when possible, to truly invest in a community that can thrive.