This year, there are six (6) positions up for election to the Prairie Food Co-op Board and six (6) candidates. With so many new faces added to our candidate pool, we are impressed by the breadth of qualifications and diversity of experience they all bring to the table. Please check out each candidate and cast your vote!

Voting will begin at 6:00 a.m. Monday, June 9th and will close at the conclusion of the PFC Annual Owners Meeting on June 19th. 

All PFC Owners will receive an email with their ballot and simple instructions on how to cast their vote by June 9. Make sure you check your spam folder if you don't see it in your regular email. If you don't receive an email ballot, please email our PFC Board Secretary, Gerry Haptas. 

Click each name to learn more about each candidate. 

• Owner: 698

Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors?

I have been serving the Glen Ellyn Friends of the Library for the last 13 years and am looking for my next opportunity to serve my community. I love the idea of bringing community members together with local farmers. My hope is that PFC serves as a catalyst for our constituency to focus on education, inclusivity and allow greater access to fresh food and locally made products. I would like to see this effort focused on all age groups and there should be programming for seniors, adults and children.

Employment: Please tell us about your Past or Present Employment 

I have been with Morgan Stanley for just about 20 years. I started my career at the firm in a hiring, training and development role. I have been a financial advisor for the last 15 years

Volunteer: Membership/Affiliations past and present

Friends of the Library of Glen Ellyn Board Member last 13 years. I am a founding member of the Morgan Stanley Chicago Area HerWay chapter which is dedicated to providing financial education for women and supporting fellow female financial advisors.

Which of the following areas do you have expertise?

Management, Fundraising, Marketing/Public Relations, Event Planning, Finance, Communications

What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director? 

I have spent the last 15 years marketing my business and mentoring up and coming advisors. I have experience planning corporate events and planning programming for educational purposes. At one time I held a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) however, based on career path change, have let the designation lapse.

What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?

Creating multigenerational education programming while partnering with other businesses or vendors as appropriate. An example of this would be to partner with Ace Hardware and hold a seminar on how to grill and PFC would talk about how meat is sourced.

What experiences have you had with food co-ops in the past?

Other than as a shopper at Pioneer Co-Op in Iowa City, none.

• Owner: 108

Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors?

Now that our children are grown and on their own, I now have the capacity to give back to community and be more involved. With the 25+ years of consulting leadership experience coupled with my passion for small business and responsible food supply I feel compelled to serve. I have been an HOA board president and understand the commitment and the challenges which come with serving on a board of directors. 

It is important that the PFC board reflects the community it serves. As a family with diverse backgrounds, ethnically, religiously, politically and professionally, I feel I would effectively represent a voice for a market segment which may be somewhat underrepresented. Additionally, my professional experience as a DEI lead in corporate America is powered by my firm beliefs that inclusion and representation are paramount to any organization's success.

Employment: Please tell us about your Past or Present Employment 

I'm currently a Practice Lead for Data & AI at Avanade, Inc, which is a child company of Microsoft and Accenture. I lead over 300 people across the US with varying backgrounds, experiences and belief systems and am known as the Chief Inspiration Officer. I've built a personal brand within the company and my industry which represents strong and fair people leadership and empowerment.

On the more technical side, I do have over 25+ years of technology experience in the Data & AI space, which covers everything from hands on development to solution architecture to program management. I manage a portfolio yielding over $220M in revenue/year.

Volunteer: Membership/Affiliations past and present

Westfield Square Homeowners Association - Board President, Board Member

Natya Dance Theatre - Parent Lead for events and performances

Chicago Public Schools - Several career fairs on behalf of Avanade, Inc.

Junior Achievement - College Fair representative for Avanade, Inc.

Which of the following areas do you have expertise?

Management, Event Planning, Communications, Technology

What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director? 

I've been a business leader for over 10 years and come from an entreprenuerial family. I was raised in my parents' retail business in Chicago. I have extensive retail experience throughout my life...and it's a part of my DNA. Intuitive business acumen, accounting best practices, project management, technology management.

What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?

My personal goal for PFC is to create a community around the food supply in our local area and promote healthy eating and responsible food sourcing. Raising awareness through education of the issues our food supply faces in this country today and what we can do as a local community to protect ourselves. Eventually, develop an expansion plan for both physical footprint of the business but also product offerings.

What experiences have you had with food co-ops in the past?

I'm a home chef who focuses on organic cooking. A lot of research goes into how I nourish my family. I have helped my cousin grow her restaurant in Massachusetts through process improvement, recipe and menu development, ingredient sourcing and supply chain. I also implemented an automated PoS system for them to streamline order taking and the kitchen operations.

• Owner: 1670 

Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors?

I have volunteered all of my adult life and am passionate about nutrition. Working as part of a collaborative group to achieve a common goal appeals to me. Seeing the first coop in DuPage County open fills a much-needed gap which I'm excited to be part of. My Spanish skills can be useful in outreach.

Employment: Please tell us about your Past or Present Employment 

I've worked as a hospital, school, and public health nurse in Minneapolis and Northern Virginia, before moving to DuPage County almost ten years ago. Those jobs involoved managing people, delegating nursing tasks, and advocating for special needs students and families. I paid for college by waitressing, followed by over three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay.

Volunteer: Membership/Affiliations past and present

Inreach Support Service Volunteer Coordinator for Science of Spirituality, selected to be Health Coordinator for Peace Corps Paraguay, President PTA Seward Montessorri School Minneapolis, National Certified School Nurse

Which of the following areas do you have expertise?

Event Planning, Communications, Effective meeting management experience

What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director? 

I've lived on four continents so have interacted with people from all walks of life and many different cultures. I speak Spanish. I'm very interested in health and nutrition and give public presentations on vegetarianism at a meditation center. I've managed school health aides in challenging environments where health was not a core value and resources were limited.

What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?

Seeing the coop through its historic first years of operation. Helping ensure that the coop stocks high quality produce and high quality vegan products. Educating patrons and owners as to the benefit of a plant-based diet.

What experiences have you had with food co-ops in the past?

Since joining Mifflin Street Coop almost five decades ago, I've belonged to Williamson Street, North Country, Seward, and the Wedge Coops. Since becoming a lacto-vegetarian over four decades ago, I've researched health and nutrition because they are key determinants of health.

Join Us for the 2025 Annual Owner Meeting - the last one before we open!

Thank you for investing in Prairie Food Co-op!

Your participation will help us open the doors to our bright beautiful store!

You will not be asked to fulfill your pledge until you have carefully read the Confidential Offering Memorandum, have received answers to your questions, and have signed all the legally required documents.

This is not an offer to sell securities which is made only by the Confidential Offering Memorandum and only members who are IL residents are eligible to invest in Owner Loans and only IL residents are eligible to invest in Preferred Shares.

Hometown: Lombard

Owner #: 941

Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors?
I have enjoyed working with an excellent team of dedicated and passionate individuals since 2019 to open Prairie Food Co-op. We are so close to opening our store! It is important to me to bring a grocery store like PFC to our community where we can shop local products and support local farmers.

Employment: Please tell us about your Past or Present Employment 
I own Culinary Confidante (est. 2017) a plant-based culinary education business that provides culinary coaching, cooking parties and workshops. I am currently taking time away from clients to enjoy my fourth baby, who we welcomed last September. Prior to Culinary Confidante, I worked at Northern Illinois Food Bank as the Child Nutrition Programs Manager and then as the Nutrition Center Manager. I have also worked in various roles within the restaurant and hospitality industry for over 20 years.

Volunteer: Membership/Affiliations past and present
PFC Ownership & Outreach Committee: 2019-present
PFC Store Design Committee: 2023-present

Volunteer: Leadership positions held past and present
PFC Board of Directors: 2022-2024

The Co-op Preschool Board of Directors: 2022-present

Which of the following areas do you have expertise?
Management;Event Planning;Nutrition, Hospitality & Culinary Arts

What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director? 
During my time on the Ownership & Outreach Committee I have proven my ability to effectively organize events, network within the community and work well with the PFC team. Examples of this include the knife skills workshop, a reusable produce bag sewing workshop, the Ask a Chef series on Facebook live and the virtual Eat Well Be Well workshop. I have also held several management level positions which all required extensive critical thinking, problem solving, and strong interpersonal skills. I hold a Bachelors in Nutrition, Dietetics & Hospitality Administration as well as a Personal Chef Certificate from Kendall College

What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?
I can't wait for Prairie Food to bring local and sustainable foods to our community. Not only will it be a great place to shop but to meet friends as well. My goal is to continue to bring fun and informative culinary workshops to our community through PFC.

What experiences have you had with food co-ops in the past?
In college I frequented the Duck Soup Co-op in DeKalb. I definitely loved the bulk bins. Carob covered almonds and glad corn were my favorites! My three older children have attended the Co-op Preschool in Lombard and my fourth will go there as well when she's old enough. I love how involved the parents and the teachers are. It really feels like a community.

Back to Candidate Page

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Another significant milestone has been reached, and that is PFC’s Federal HUD grant has been fully executed! We’ve also heard very encouraging news that our state grant is very close to being fully executed. The funds for both of those grants, with a combined total of $1.55M, will be applied towards the buildout phase and cover a large portion of the costs associated with the buildout. Dust off your hardhats!

In addition to the funding news, we are very close to signing off on our construction contract, which will then open the door to the bidding process. Once we have construction bids approved we will then begin the store buildout phase. 

A hot topic right now is what product vendors we will be working with once we open. The short answer is many, and my goal is to have at least one hundred local vendors on board before we open. This topic is near and dear to my heart, as I truly believe that farmers and producers should be rewarded for their tireless efforts to bring quality products and food into our lives. Having an established retail setting allows those farmers and producers to benefit from all their hard work. In addition to speaking to many super-local producers (within and just outside of the Lombard vicinity) I have visited at least one farm in Central Illinois, one Central IL distributor of Central and Southern Illinois products and produce, and will be visiting a few more Central Illinois farms later this March. I will also be focusing my efforts in securing primary beef, pork and chicken vendors in the next few weeks.

The great thing about a co-op is that customers will have exposure to many local producers and farmers that they may have not known even existed. Though PFC’s definition of ‘local’ is within a 200 mile radius of the store (which will include neighboring states like Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa), what excites me is that all of Illinois is considered local. This gives us the opportunity to work with many additional partners downstate and allows us to spread our economic impact to all of Illinois, not just within the aforementioned 200-mile radius. Did you know that there is a Non-GMO rice-growing region in Southern Illinois? Did you know that high quality peaches are being grown in Central Illinois? Did you know that a large percentage  of the produce utilized in Chicago’s finest restaurants is grown right here in Illinois? Stay tuned to learn more!

I hope you’ve had a chance to stop by the site and take a peek the past couple weeks, as some much needed color has been added to the site in the form of large posters and additional marketing. Thank you to our Ownership and Outreach Committee for putting these together! They certainly add a little more excitement to the site and have been garnering a lot of extra attention. Stay on top of our owner count by checking out the main entrance, which displays our current owner count and is updated with each additional new owner.

Speaking of owner count (which currently sits at 1817), we want to ramp up our Ownership numbers over the next following months so if you're not a PFC Owner yet, now is the time to become one! Though you don’t have to be a member to shop at PFC, membership benefits include the ability to vote for the PFC board, reap additional member discounts and attend members-only events. Membership is a one-time fee of $200!

Heads up! PFC is planning its annual Owner’s Meeting, which should take place in April. Information will be coming your way soon! 

Prairie Food Co-op is a community-owned and democratically operated grocery store dedicated to strengthening our economy and creating a marketplace for transparently labeled, local, organic and sustainable food. 

Thank you for taking the time to stay up-to-date on all things PFC. 

See you in the aisles!

Jason Krapausky
General Manager
Prairie Food Co-op

A huge milestone has been reached as PFC took possession of the site in January! With this step now behind us, we have shifted our focus to our buildout phase. This work entails working closely with our General Contractor, W.B. Olson. First step is finalizing our contract, which should be wrapped up shortly. After that, W.B. Olson will start the contract bidding process for the trades (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc). This process can potentially take up to eight weeks. This step is critical because  our federal and state grants having strict requirements in place by which those trades need to abide. It is imperative that we hire the right people, as a misstep here could jeopardize a timely opening!

On the grant front, both the federal and state grants are awaiting final approval. We hope to have the grant funds very soon!. 

Hopefully you had a chance to attend our Site Tour Event that took place on Saturday, February 3rd at our location in Eastgate. If you did, thank you for attending! I want to give a big thank you to the Village of Lombard for allowing Prairie Food Co-op to stage this event on-site.  

MY VISIT TO LITTLETON FOOD CO-OP

In mid-January, I was given the opportunity to visit Littleton Food Co-op (LFC) in Littleton, New Hampshire, to shadow their General Manager, Ed King for a week. LFC is a well-established co-op, having opened in 2009. It is also a well-respected and accomplished co-op, having won the prestigious Cooperative Excellence Award in 2023.

During my time there I had the chance to soak in Ed’s wisdom and advice on running a successful co-op. It was a very inspiring experience that included spending time with quite a few of the co-op’s employees, many of whom opened the co-op in 2009 and have worked there since. The employees are engaged, provide great customer service, love what they do, and are all participants in creating an energetic and satisfying shopping experience. You can feel the positive culture and vibe as soon as you walk in the door!  Co-ops exist to serve their communities, and Littleton is no exception as they are intrinsically involved in just about anything and everything in the small community of 6,000 people. Thank you to Ed and his team at  LFC for being so hospitable and allowing me to visit!

Additional Thank Yous

I want to take this opportunity to also thank a couple people who have been extremely helpful in this pre-opening journey - John Lawrence and Dean Albright. John is a Project Manager of Oakwood Contractors in McHenry,  and he and his team stored PFC equipment, namely our three checkstands, in his warehouse until we took possession of our site. Once we got possession John had the checkstands delivered from his warehouse in McHenry. Those checkstands come courtesy of Dean, a PFC owner, who was able to source them from another grocer at no cost to PFC. Thank you John and Dean, PFC appreciates your help!

Thank you for taking the time to stay up-to-date on all things PFC. 

See you in the aisles!

Jason Krapausky
General Manager
Prairie Food Co-op

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Owner Number 789

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Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors?

I want to help PFC push over the line to become a real store as soon as possible!

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Employment: Please tell us about your past or present employment

I am the owner of Damen Jackson, a branding agency. I started the agency in 1998 and have recently moved our headquarters to Glen Ellyn.

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Volunteer: Membership/Affiliation/Leadership Past and Present:

I have primarily been leading my team over the past 24 years, so I haven't had much time for volunteer work. During my career, I have also closely collaborated with a non-profit fundraising consulting organization to brand major capital campaigns.

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Which of the following areas do you have expertise?

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What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director?

I have gained significant skills in collaboration, active listening and leading teams.

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What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?

I would really like to help realize the dream of opening the PFC at 100% of its original plan; to help the organization and store come to life without compromise.

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What experience (if any) have you had with cooperatives, food or otherwise?

My experience is simply from visiting coops and buying groceries there. I've been an early advocate for PFC because I enjoyed that experience so much.

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"I am a PFC owner and investor committed to furthering the success of PFC’s mission."

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Owner Number 560

Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors?

This is a very exciting time for PFC. I have been a member since moving to Elmhurst in 2015. I am in awe of the commitment that the PFC community has made to bring this vision to reality and I believe it is time for me to get more involved. I am interested in joining the board to really help with the transition from a working board to an oversight board and joining the board when it is still a working board will help me to get a sense of where I can best help. I serve or have served on a couple boards for non-profits that were more in the oversight capacity. This transition excites me. I am very committed to the PFC mission and I also believe that I can be of help as it relates to finances and audit.

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Employment: Please tell us about your past or present employment

I work for DBRS Morningstar, a credit rating agency. I lead the North American Commercial Real Estate team. I have been in this field for more than 25 years.

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Which of the following areas do you have expertise?

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What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director?

I have served on non-profit boards in the past. I think that gives me insights on how boards can work. I am a good listener as well and can translate ideas into actionable items.

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What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?

I would like to see continue on its mission to offer the community a place for locally sourced product and educational outreach. Wellness is so important and I believe that PFC is already rooted in this philosophy and I would just like to be a steward to continue to execute on that mission.

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What experience (if any) have you had with cooperatives, food or otherwise?

I have experience in finance relating to multi family cooperative housing loans.

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Owner Number 1519

• Hometown: Lombard
• Owner #: 941
• Term: Elected in 2024

"Plant-based chef driven to enhance our community through food via education, accessibility, & awareness."

Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors? 

Employment: Please tell us about your past or present employment

Prior to Culinary Confidante I worked at Northern Illinois Food Bank as the Child Nutrition Programs Manager and then as the Nutrition Center Manager. I have also worked in various roles within the restaurant and hospitality industry for over 20 years.

Volunteer: Membership/Affiliation/Leadership Past and Present:

Which of the following areas do you have expertise?

What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director?

Additionally, I hold a Bachelors in Nutrition, Dietetics & Hospitality Administration as well as a Personal Chef Certificate from Kendall College.

What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?

I can’t wait for Prairie Food to bring local and sustainable foods to our community. Not only will it be a great place to shop but to meet friends as well. I would love to continue to be involved in bringing workshops to our community through PFC.

What experience (if any) have you had with cooperatives, food or otherwise?

• Hometown: Lombard
• Owner #: 1613
• Term: Elected 2022

"Natural foods industry professional with 25 years of experience in retail & sales. My journey began at a natural food co-op which sprouted my love of local & organic. Hoping to share this with PFC."

Why are you interested in serving on the Prairie Food Board of Directors?

I love Natural Food Co-ops! My first job in the natural food industry was stocking vitamins at The Outpost co-op in Milwaukee nearly 25 year ago. Supporting a thriving community market would be a wonderful way to give back to the community and to future generations of healthy eaters.

Employment: Please tell us about your past or present employment 

I currently work for Impact NS Sales, a natural food brokerage as a business manager. Prior to that I was a founding member of Fresh Thyme Markets and served as the Senior Category Manager over the Vitamin, Body Care and General Merchandise department.

Outside of my day to day career and raising my kids I have not had the opportunity to volunteer. Now that my children are older I now have the time to serve my community.

Which of the following areas do you have expertise?

What experience, education, and skills do you have that you feel will contribute to your effectiveness as a Prairie Food Director?

I have held many different positions in my career with a focus on retail from merchandising, procurement, assisting in over 130 new store set ups, day to day operational management, as well as contract and promotional negotiations. I have also worked for UNFI and currently work closely with KeHE and understand distributor agreements and relationships.

What are your personal goals for Prairie Food Co-op?

What experience (if any) have you had with cooperatives, food or otherwise?

• Hometown: Lombard
• Owner Number 1197
• Term: Elected 2022 

"A marketer, communicator, food-lover and wellness enthusiast with a soft spot for community engagement and bringing locally- and sustainably-made products to her neighbors."

• Website Management
• Social Media Management
• Corporate Event Planning
• Design of Promotional Materials
• Media Outreach
• Public Relations
• Advertorial Decision-Making
• Fundraising
• Management of Administrative Staff
• Sales Support and Contract management
• Leasing Staff Marketing On-boarding
• Developing Creative, Tailor-Made Marketing Strategies for 200+ Client Portfolio

• Website Management & SEO: Management of company website since rebrand in October of 2017, including overseeing a phased SEO project that utilized several departments outside of marketing. Efforts yielded a 27% increase in new users from organic search, a 36% increase in pages per session, a 51% increase in average session duration and an 11% decrease in bounce rate.
• Content Creation & Content Marketing: Management of company blog and resource library, which included the creation and management of content calendars, blog post authorship, copy and content editing of contractor-created materials, and overseeing the design and development of resource pages by other departments.
• Email Marketing: Planned, implemented and managed sales and marketing email campaigns on Autopilot and Hubspot platforms, including the creation of over 200 unique emails and a long-term lead nurturing strategy.
• Social Media Management: Management of company Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts, yielding a 104% increase in referral traffic from LinkedIn and a 100% increase in referral traffic from Facebook.
• M&A Strategic Planning and Transitional Execution: Participated in organizational planning summit with executive leadership team to plan and implement the corporate strategy following two acquisitions.

• Managed a team of three VPO/NHM specialists as they onboarded new VPs of Mortgage Lending and Market Growth
• Work with SVPs and VPs of Mortgage Lending and Market Growth to develop custom, hyper-local recruiting campaigns, and developed the first departmental content calendars for recruit- and agent-facing content
• Work with marketing team leads, SVPs/EVPs and C-suite to plan and implement large-scale, corporate-driven integrated marketing campaigns for recruitment/acquisition/referral partner channels
• Oversee multi-channel marketing projects from conception to execution, including those utilizing the social media, paid media, PR, print/direct mail and email mediums - Support the EVP of Marketing in the creation of presentation materials that serve as department-wide marketing updates to Sales leadership and the C-suite, as well as host one-to-one calls with recruits to discuss how our Marketing platform supports their business
• Provide regular enablement training to hiring managers to go over new marketing content and campaigns, as well as cover best practices for communicating the marketing value proposition and platform benefits for potential new hires

Show your Owner pride with a yard sign and pique the curiosity of your neighbors.

You can be one short conversation away from recruiting another Owner!

We would like to see a sign in every yard, so we are gladly giving yard signs to every willing Owner. Each sign costs us about $10 to produce, so please consider making a donation on the next screen to help alleviate the cost to the co-op. However, if you can't pitch in right now, that's OK too. The important thing is helping us spread the Prairie Food word. 

Enter your address below and we will get a sign to your yard usually within a week!