Simon Bird
Meet Candidate Simon Bird
Why would you like to serve on the City Market Board? What excites you about becoming a Board Member?
I first joined the Onion River co-op in 1999 as a student at UVM, and rejoined years later when I returned to Burlington. I loved being a member of the co-op community and participating in the store doing worker hours. I avidly followed and supported the process of developing the City Market store and see it as a great asset to the community of Burlington. While living in another city I shopped at a worker-owned co-op grocery store, and it made me reflect on the strengths and greater community inclusion that a member-owned co-op model provides. City Market’s model allows for the active participation of a greater number of people from the community it serves and helps to ensure that the store continues to serve that community effectively. As I raise my family in Burlington, I am looking for opportunities to contribute to our community and apply my skills to help the organizations on which we rely. Having a strong and active board is key to the continued success of City Market, and I am excited to be an active part of the store.
The Board seeks candidates who are dedicated, cooperative, committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and willing to participate in group discussions ranging from financial oversight to support of management, staff and Members. Please describe the skills and experiences you have that will help you be an effective board member in these regards. How would you use your skills and experiences to help the Board understand and use data as part of the decision-making process of our community-owned cooperative?
I have worked in mission driven business for over 15 years, ensuring that we stay true to our goals and principles while continuing to run a successful business. Like City Market, our forest conservation company considers creating positive social and environmental impacts to be as essential as making financial profit. We work with a diverse set of stakeholders, and believe that to be successful we must work in a collaborative manner: listening, communicating and reaching consensus-based decisions. I am adept at ensuring that all voices are heard and valued equally, and that decisions are made within a reasonable timeframe as businesses require. I work as a scientist and I am experienced in using data to gain understanding and to drive the decision-making process.
Describe your prior involvement with community organizations and/or cooperatives. What did you learn from these experiences?
When in-store work was part of the co-op member hours, I enjoyed working alongside store employees in the produce section and bagging groceries. There I saw first-hand the dedication of the employees and the value of community relationships in the co-op model. In my professional career I frequently work with many community-based organizations in the Global South. In this work I often see the power that community organizations have to enact change and work towards the collective improvement of their community. I have learned two important lessons in this work. The first is that community-based organizations have valuable collective knowledge and expertise about the unique and specific problems facing their communities. This often makes them best suited to design and implement community-based solutions. The second is that good governance is key to the success of such organizations. Roles and responsibilities must be clearly understood and all members and leaders must be held accountable.
The Board collaborates with the General Manager to support inclusion, diversity, equity, access, and social justice (IDEAS) at City Market. How would you ensure that the Board’s work is grounded in these principles? How would you help point City Market in the right direction when it comes to IDEAS? Please describe any prior involvement in IDEAS work either personally or professionally.
The role of the City Market Board is to support the general manager, represent the member-owners and to ensure a strong and effective board. The Board must work with the general manager to ensure that they have the resources needed to support this work within the co-op and to provide the staff with education and training as needed. The Board must ensure that they are supporting the IDEAS principles themselves as they engage and communicate with the member-owners. But most importantly the Board should utilize these principles to include a diverse set of people and viewpoints in the make-up of both the member-owners and the Board itself. As the Board works to promote the co-op within our community we must ensure that we using equitable communication. Culturally congruent communication considers the different methods of communication and trust centers that are present within our diverse community. While I have not worked formally in IDEAS, in my professional capacity we are committed to these principles and are required to demonstrate compliance with them in all the projects that we do. This has provided me with extensive practice ensuring that everyone’s voice is being heard and considered in an equitable manner.
What opportunities and challenges do you see in the future of City Market?
As a community-based institution in Burlington, City Market means many things to many people. But it is essential that the Board keeps City Market focused on its core goals as stated in the Global Ends while also continuing to be a thriving business. The hybrid co-op model has been a key element for the co-op since the development of City Market. City Market must continue to provide food at a wide range of price points, making sure that all members of the Burlington community can shop and feel welcome. As we seek to ensure that the co-op is inclusive and welcoming to a diverse clientele the commitment to this hybrid model is essential. Having product offerings, programs and prices that meet people’s differing needs and tastes is vital. With the recent disruptions brought to our food supply chains with local farms facing repeated flooding, COVID, inflation and other economic pressures, the importance of our local food systems has been strongly demonstrated. City Market has been an important leader in providing access to local foods. But we must find new ways to support local farmers and the Vermont farm economy to help ensure its future and seek ways to make sure local food and products are available to all shoppers, regardless of their budgets.