Kaitlyn Burns:
Candidate Statement
Since 2011, I have represented Oryana’s owners. In that time, my passion has strengthened with each year served as an elected board representative. I believe that Oryana embodies a socially conscience culture that is so often the best version of what our Northern Michigan community can be. The co-op is a true democracy where I intentionally go to vote with my dollar. In return, Oryana invests in our community, environment and local economy—all at the intersection of food and health!
With 14 years of Oryana board experience, including 9 as an Executive Committee member, I am well up to speed on what cooperative board leadership looks like as well as the roles and responsibilities of such. During my tenure on the board, I was a part of the process in preparing for expansion – both with the rescinded Acme location, and then the acquisition of Oryana West during a global pandemic – in addition to the successful selection and hiring of a new general manager.
The future can be difficult to predict and there will be a number of challenges that arise. In preparation, it’s the board’s responsibility to govern – to steer the organization towards success and ensure accountability that Oryana is indeed achieving the Ends in which we have defined and committed to. Healthy board leadership perpetuation is essential in this work.
Looking ahead, I am excited to continue the work the board has been doing to evaluate our performance in relation to policy, as well as ensuring that the policies still reflect our values and priorities. As the board begins to revisit Oryana’s Ends policies, we will look to find meaningful ways to reengage with these guiding principles and strengthen our connection with fellow owners. I look forward to continuing to contribute to this foundational work. Thank you for your consideration and continued cooperation.
Pam Darling:
Candidate Statement
My name is Pam Darling and I would be honored to have your vote for the Oryana board of directors. When I moved to the area, joining the coop was one of the first things I did. When I reflect on the things that I’m grateful for in this community, Oryana is one of them. Its growth has been thoughtful and sustainable while staying true to its values of supporting the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. I’m at a point in my life that I have the time to commit to being an engaged board member. It’s always a positive experience when I shop at Oryana. I appreciate that products on the shelves have been vetted for harmful ingredients and are responsibly sourced. Knowing that Oryana provides a living wage and health insurance benefits to its employees, makes me want to spend the majority of my grocery dollars there. Also the fact that Oryana supports so many local nonprofits that contribute to the quality of live in our community makes me a proud owner/member of the co-op. Early on, I had the notion that purchasing organic products was expensive but then I came to the realization that you can’t afford NOT to purchase organic products because of the benefits to the environment, animals, and human well-being. I learned from working in the nonprofit sector the valuable role board members have in providing oversight and leadership for an organization. I would be honored to serve on the board of directors ensuring that the co-op continues to be a cornerstone of this community. Thank you for your consideration.
Brian Michael Raetz:
Candidate Statement
Oryana is one of my favorite places in the world. I’ve been shopping here since I was 16 and I’m so grateful for its existence in our community. I’m in the store almost every day and sometimes two or three times a day. I consider it my watering hole, where I know I can always run into a friend while getting something tasty and nourishing to eat.
Being such a frequent flyer over the years has naturally allowed me to witness the ebbs and flows of the store from employee well-being to changes in product selection and price. As a board member, I’d be able to call on my experience as a regular shopper to help preserve what’s working well for us as a Co-Op and to help ensure that our Ends Policies are being met.
Given that the store is owned by its members, I’ve long felt that Oryana’s three chief responsibilities are to maintain a rigorous product selection (prioritizing local and organic), to keep prices as low as possible, and to care for the people who work and shop here. I see these three ideals embedded in each of Oryana’s Ends Policies, especially Economy, Localism, Wellness, and Community. These Policies clearly reflect Oryana’s role in the community as a steward of good health and as a beacon for accessing nutritious food at prices we can all afford.
Localism, Economy, and Wellness especially resonate with me as Ends Policies at Oryana because Traverse City can be an expensive place to live for young professionals like myself. To serve on the board and see to it that we continue to offer affordable, local, nutritious food to our community while caring for employees and shoppers alike would be a real honor and is my chief goal in pursuing this board seat.
Kevin Summers:
Candidate Statement
While the co-op does so much good, there’s a widening gap between the co-op’s public image and some hard truths. I want to draw attention to and help repair that gap.
Management and the board have lost touch with hourly workers: the people who keep Oryana running and who best understand the day-to-day realities of the co-op.
I made a deliberate choice to return to wage labor after years of working in the professional class that Oryana’s leadership largely represents. At Oryana I see good work and radical possibilities. But I also see a disconnect between Board members, management, workers, and members.
Let’s bring the co-op back into alignment with its principles. If we’re going to call cooperation radical, we need to make sure our bodies, the community, people, employees, and members alike can really feel that.
I’ve worked and shopped at Oryana. I’ve also served on boards, managed teams, and led collaborative projects in the arts, education, and sustainability. I understand both governance and everyday work at the co-op. That combination of perspectives, hands-on and strategic, will help me focus on real action, not just policy prescriptions.
While Oryana’s Ends Policies are well written, they are only aspirational. They describe what Oryana wants to be, not what it currently is. They lack accountability, measurable outcomes, and hide the complexity of labor relations at the co-op.
The policies I’m most drawn to, Localism, Education, and the Model Workplace, are where the co-op’s mission and its reality diverge most sharply. We need to close that gap. We do that through radical transparency, worker participation, and grounded cooperative practice. We do that with a stalwart social responsibility that upsets rather than soothes corporate interests and polite society.
Jen Vasquez:
Candidate Statement
I believe that grocery cooperatives are critical pieces of the local food economy. In my late teens, I volunteered 8 hours a month as a member-owner of the Chequamegon Food Co-op in northern Wisconsin. I cherished that opportunity, my first, to plug into the entrepreneurial food and farming world, while gaining access to healthy food and great people. I went on to own a farm and have worked in community food systems for most of my career. I want to serve on the Board because I believe in the power of local businesses, I know the importance of food access, and I understand the role that stable markets provide small farms and food businesses. Contributing my energy and expertise to continue strengthening the Co-op in meeting these outcomes would be a joy. I’m also a single parent and want to show my kids what service looks like and how working together with people leads to positive things.
I’m a strategic thinker with the skills needed to connect the big picture to the brass tacks of the day-to-day. I have years of experience serving on non-profit boards, including service as the Board Co-Chair of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN), where I supported that organization through the pandemic and an ED hire. Reviewing the Ends Policies, I see that a strong Board engaged with the community can best reflect its priorities, and then translate those into actionable goals for the GM to lead on. I’m most drawn to understanding what matters to Oryana’s members and am comfortable with outreach and engagement, from formal surveys to fun meet and greets.
Lastly, I am excited to bring my commitment to equity and justice; it’s an amazing opportunity for cornerstone businesses like the Co-op to help our community flourish with cooperative values.
Adam Ziegler:
Candidate Statement
Oryana has been part of my life from multiple vantage points: as a community member who grew up here, as former staff in a leadership role, and as someone whose family makes intentional choices about the food we consume and the systems we support. Serving on the Board feels like a natural extension of that long-standing relationship. I’m drawn to the opportunity to steward an organization that balances cooperative values with operational excellence. I hope to contribute grounded, practical insight shaped by lived experience inside the organization while continuing to learn how Oryana navigates long-term strategy, governance, and community impact in a rapidly changing food system.
My vast experience in leadership roles has engrained in me a deep respect for frontline operations, staff culture, and the realities of implementing board-level decisions. I bring an abundance mindset that values clarity, accountability, and alignment between mission and execution. Growing up in this region has also shaped my understanding of local producers, seasonal realities, and the importance of economic resilience in Northern Michigan. I believe this perspective helps bridge governance with operations in a way that supports strong leadership, thoughtful decision-making, and long-term sustainability.
The Ends Policies strongly reflect Oryana’s role as more than a grocery store, they articulate a commitment to community well-being, food access, environmental stewardship, and local economic vitality. What resonates most with me is the emphasis on access to high-quality, ethically sourced food and the cooperative’s responsibility to educate and empower the community. These Ends align closely with my family’s values and my belief that food systems are foundational to both personal health and a thriving, connected community.
