Wendy Messerli (Incumbent)

I am River Valley Co-op’s Assistant Finance Manager. Over the past thirteen years, the Co-op has given me the opportunity to use my detail and systems oriented skills to work directly with our local food system. I work behind the scenes to initiate, implement, and streamline many of the systems that support our co-operative vision for a just marketplace that nourishes the community. I oversee and supervise many day to day operations that involve the Co-op’s financial well-being, ensuring accurate data, clear communication and interpretations of reporting that drive decision-making.

From my time working as a shared living provider and volunteering with a reproductive justice organization, I took with me the crucial goal to meet people where they are. I believe that making space for feedback, listening to all aspects of a reasoning - can lead to deeper and well informed decisions. I bring to the Board a unique perspective and a deep institutional knowledge of the co-op and its stakeholders.

Serving on the Board the past six years has broadened and deepened my commitment to our local food system and cooperative economy. I am grateful for the opportunity to explore the bigger-picture thinking and governance work that supports an alternative business model that is cooperative, community oriented and sustainable.

Dorian Gregory (Incumbent)

Margaret Christie

I am a long-time co-op shopper, beginning in college as a worker-owner at the Olympia Food Co-op. Since 1995, I’ve worked at CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture), where we run the Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown® campaign and provide support and training to farms and local food businesses. At CISA, we share River Valley Coop’s commitment to making locally grown food available to all members of our community, and a vision of a food system that is both just and resilient. As Special Projects Director, I work with staff teams on program planning and evaluation, particularly in new areas of work, such as support for climate change adaptation. Working at CISA also means that I’ve been hearing directly from farmers about the positive impacts of River Valley Coop since the Northampton store opened. I was honored to be named an Austin Miller Co-op Hero in 2018.

I have experience in other cooperative food businesses, as a board member at the Pioneer Valley Growers Association, a producer-owned aggregator and distributor serving vegetable growers, and a member of the board of advisors at Real Pickles, a worker-owned producer of naturally-fermented pickles. Other volunteer positions include current service on Kestrel Land Trust’s Lands Committee, and past membership on the Whately Agricultural Commission and the Board of Directors at the Franklin County Community Development Corporation. In all of these settings, I bring a willingness to listen, attention to nuance and complexity, and deep knowledge of agriculture in the Valley.

Moe Belliveau

In May 2025 I retired as the Executive Director of the Chamber of Greater Easthampton. As a former Chamber Executive, I needed to manage a wide range of personalities, including a 13 member Board of Directors as well as the organization membership. Listening and allowing my constituency the opportunity to be heard was a vital strategy in the formation of overall vision and operations. In my former role at The Chamber I was charged with ongoing organizational introspection, being tuned into membership needs, to develop and carry out strategic plans to increase member value.

Currently I grow vegetables with my husband on our farm, Hendrick Harvest here in Easthampton, which we offer for sale at our vegetable stand. River Valley Co-Op has been important to me since the inception of the Northampton location when we became members prior to construction. As a local farmer, I feel that the Co-Op's values are in alignment with my own, which makes a seat on the Board an exciting, meaningful way to serve my community. As farmers and vegetable growers, launching our vegetable stand has given us insight into running a natural foods business from the ground up. It has been a long time goal and effort to be able to provide high quality, accessible, nutritious, locally grown food for ourselves and our community. Hendrick Harvest provides this opportunity as a way of life. In addition to our vegetable stand, we will be seeking to become a vendor within the Co-op's Buy Local family. 

2025 Annual Meeting and Celebration Dinner

River Valley Co-op Owners are invited to the Annual Co-op Ownership Meeting and Celebration Dinner on October 22, 2025, 5:30-9:00 PM  at The Garden House Look Park. This is an important annual gathering for co-op owners to hear about the results of our business operations over the last year from our Board of Directors and to learn more from a keynote presentation. 

Seeking Board Members: Call for Nominations Now Open!

River Valley Co-op is now seeking applications for nomination to run for election to serve on our volunteer Board of Directors. If you are a co-op owner from the communities we serve, if you care about our success, and if you are passionate about helping us achieve our mission of creating a just marketplace that nourishes the community, you are invited to apply!

Board members work as a team, relying on each other’ listening skills, leadership, and desire to learn and collaborate. In partnership with the operations team, we've grown our business through a steady increase in sales, local purchases, customers, employees, and co-op owners. River Valley Co-op has been a source of inspiration among other food co-ops and start-up food co-ops due to its high level of community impact. We’re also credited as a model for our ongoing co-op owner engagement in growing our cooperative. 

River Valley Co-op has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; we strive to be anti-racist, and we strongly encourage nominations of people who reflect the BIPOC, LGBTQ, gender, age, ability, and socio-economic diversity of our community. 

The Board of Directors consists of nine owners, elected from the full body of co-op owners. Directors meet monthly, with an annual retreat, and take advantage of many opportunities for learning and connecting with other co-ops, regionally and nationally. Elections are held annually. The three candidates who receive the most votes will be elected for 3-year terms, starting December 2025. 
 

What does a Director do?

A Director empowers and ensures the cooperative's financial health and sustainability while meeting the cooperative's mission of nourishing positive economic growth, fostering environmental awareness, and promoting social justice in our community. The Directors do this by practicing our governance system and by partnering with our general manager. Engaging our community in new owner drives and capital campaigns to build our financial resources is a large part of this process.

The Directors build on the collective aspirations of owners by ensuring the co-op:

• serves our community food needs with excellence, 
• builds a thriving local food economy, 
• provides excellent co-op employment opportunities,  
• supports social justice, environmental, and other community-building goals of importance to our ownership. 

New Directors receive training and education to learn about the leadership role of the Board, about our cooperative business, governance system, strategic goals, and how the Board works with, directs, and holds the General Manager accountable. Throughout the Board's work, there is also ongoing discussion and learning about the larger cooperative, local food, and sustainability movements of which we are part.  While enjoying a sense of camaraderie, new Directors receive support on topics like building social justice in the food system, best practices in governing a multi-faceted business, trends in national grocery retail. 

Every year we seek co-op owners to be candidates to run for the co-op's Board of Directors in the annual election. Would you like to step up and contribute to this important work? We are accepting applications now!
 

Self-nominations: Accepted and encouraged.

River Valley Co-op welcomes nominations by and of co-op owners who are committed to the River Valley Co-op's success and development. Co-op board candidates are not required to have prior experience with board service and/or nomination and application processes. We are happy to provide support for the application and nomination process upon request. 

Upon being elected, orientation and training is offered to support co-op directors in key aspects of our co-op governance system as well as financial and fiduciary responsibilities. Once elected for board service, each new board member is paired with a current board member who will provide guidance about the role and responsibilities of a River Valley Co-op board member and will introduce them to materials about the organization, the Board, important activities, and current policies.
 

Board Candidate General Interest Form

Interested in becoming a candidate in our upcoming River Valley Co-op Board Elections? Please fill out and submit the following form and let us know! This section will be used to verify your co-op membership and contact you. Owners must be current in their membership to run for the Board or be appointed to a vacant seat.

IMPORTANT READING FOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS CANDIDATES

If you're considering becoming a candidate for the River Valley Co-op Board of Directors, please read the following important background documents:

• 2025 Board Elections Application Packet (fill out & submit)
   
• About River Valley Co-op Board Governance (description of how our Board operates)
   
• Board Policies (complete version, PDF)
   
• Give and Get
   
• Bylaws
   
• Annual Reports (link to PDF report downloads page)
   
• For more information, contact Board Elections Committee at elections@rivervalley.coop