Breakout Session Speakers

Dr. Newby holds a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration. She served as the Operations Manager for Auburn University’s Hunger Solutions Institute prior to obtaining her doctoral degree. Dr. Newby has spent most of her professional time coordinating programs with Cooperative Extension Systems and non-profits. She currently serves as Project Administrator for Hunger Solutions Institute’s Double Up Food Bucks Alabama, a United States Department of Agriculture Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program grant, and Add Milk, a United States Department of Agriculture Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives (2022 and 2023) cooperative agreement.

Andrew O’Connor has worked for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for approaching eight years, with most of that time spent on retailer related initiatives. He currently works in the Issuance and Innovation Branch focusing primarily on the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot along with EBT Modernization projects including EBT Chip Capabilities and Mobile Payments. Prior to joining the public service, Andrew worked for nearly a decade in IT related fields. Originally from Arlington, VA he still lives nearby with his wife and two gremlin-cats Kima and Lark.

Elliott has been conducting and supervising retail site location world wide for 52 years. Clients have included the largest chains to start up small co-ops.

Rita Ouimet (she/her) is a Project Coordinator at The Food Trust, where she facilitates financing for independent food retailers in underserved areas through Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) programs like the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PA FFFI). With 11 years of experience in the food industry and expertise in quantitative and qualitative data analysis, Rita is dedicated to community-centered development and promoting access to healthy food through public policy solutions. She holds a BA in Sociology and Sustainability from SUNY University at Albany.

Zachary Paige has been supporting rural grocery stores and the sustainable food systems for the past five years. He is the board president of his local food co-op grocery store and operator of a certified organic vegetable farm called North Circle Seeds. Zachary is passionate about regional food systems and healthy food access.

Mr. Park is a Professor in Community and Economic Development, a former small business consultant, and the owner/operator of a rural grocery store for a decade. He holds a Masters in Economics and is currently working on his Doctoral Dissertation in Public Administration, focusing on the issue of food access and retail operations in low income communities.

Rick Pate grew up working his family’s cattle and poultry farm in Lowndes County. Because of his roots in agriculture, he studied ornamental horticulture and received his bachelor’s degree in 1978 from Auburn University’s College of Agriculture.

Rick Pate was elected Commissioner of Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries in 2018 out of four in the Republican primary. He was re-elected in 2022 without Republican or Democratic Party opposition.

Pate started Pate Landscape Co., Inc. in 1982. Under Pate’s leadership, the company has been profitable and award winning.

Even though Pate has spent most of his time operating Pate Landscape, he never let go of his love for and connection to the farm in Lowndes County. He owned a purebred Charolais herd, after the death of his father in 2012, he also took over the family cattle operation, Pate Charolais Ranch.

In 1996, he joined Lowndesboro’s Town Council and served as Mayor in 2004. While serving as mayor, a new well and water tank were added, the water system was expanded, and sidewalks were installed through town. He resigned in 2018 after being elected Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries.

Growing up on a farm, running a business and cattle operation, and serving as the mayor of a small rural town has given Pate a genuine concern for the future of agriculture and the people of Alabama.

Pate has been a member of the Montgomery Rotary Club since 1987 and served as president in 2011-2012. He also served as President of the Alabama Associated General Contractors (AGC) in 2015 and was appointed “Life Governor” of AGC of America. In 2022, Commissioner Pate was inducted in the Alabama Construction Hall of Fame and in 2023 into the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame. He served as president of the Montgomery Auburn Alumni Club and is a lifetime member of the Auburn Alumni Association. He endowed a scholarship at Auburn University for Lowndes County Residents.

Pate has been married to the former Julie Dismukes since 1989, and they have two grown sons, Richard and James.

During Commissioner Pate’s term as Agriculture Commissioner, he has brought Alabama numerous programs and funding, such as the Cares Act Money, Local Food Purchasing Agreement, A Healthy You Healthy Farm, Sweet Grown Alabama, Alabama Farm to School Program and more.

Since coming from an executive background in the for-profit workplace and joining StarkFresh as an AmeriCorps VISTA in 2014, Tom has been dedicated to improving the lives of ALL who live in Stark County, regardless of their background, circumstances, or status, and this dedication is matched by the creative enthusiasm he brings to the StarkFresh team.

Dr. Quarcoo is the Assistant Director for the Carver Integrative Sustainability Center at Tuskegee University.

Stuart’s co-op trajectory launched in 1976, when he volunteered work time at the Northeast Food Co-op in Minneapolis. Stuart began providing startup co-op support as the first staff person of Food Co-op 500, a pilot project organized by visionary co-op leaders in 2005. The project incorporated in 2010, as Food Co-op Initiative where he served as Executive Director until his retirement in 2022. He is now offering his expertise to food co-ops as The Co-op Consultant.

Codie joined the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty in July 2023 and has been a part of both the Meals-to-You and Add Milk! project teams. As Project Director of the Innovation Hub, she enjoys working to create scalable solutions to help end hunger. Codie received her Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from Abilene Christian University and has previously worked in Spiritual Life at Baylor, as well as a local non-profit in Waco, TX.

Gabrielle Rumney came to NGAF from the Food Trust where she managed a network of SNAP EBT farmers markets across Philadelphia for several years. Her primary role on the SEMTAC project is to provide organization and coordinate SNAP Online Technical Assistance requests. She has extensive experience working with SNAP recipients and retailers, along with nutrition incentive programs such as FMNP/SFMNP and Food Bucks. She brings strong relationship-building skills and a passion for food equity.

Michelle Schmitt is a senior policy analyst at Reinvestment Fund where she works with communities around the country to create more equitable access to housing, healthy food access, and early childhood education. She has a bachelor’s degree from McGill University and a master’s degree from Temple University.

John Shadowens joins University of Illinois Extension as a visiting community and economic development educator to work on food access in the southernmost 11 counties as part of the SNAP-Education HEAT (Health Equity Achieved Together) project. John was the CEO of Spero Family Services in Mount Vernon IL since 2015. John brings to Extension over 20 years of community engagement and development in coalition work, grassroots education, and organizing. John hopes to help others thrive by building skills and awareness to develop their lives and strengthen their communities through education, partnerships, and planning. He holds a Master of Public Administration from SIU-Carbondale and a Bachelor of Psychology from Southeast Missouri State University. John is the author of “Legacy Lost: Cultural Erosion, Social Isolation and the Effect on Children and Families at Risk”.

Dr. Shange is the Director for the Carver Integrative Sustainability Center at Tuskegee University.

Ms. Shore is the Founder and Principal of Upstream Strategies, providing strategic planning, organizational development, mentoring, and technical assistance services for grocery, nutrition, food systems, and healthcare organizations and initiatives in rural, frontier, tribal, and urban communities across the U.S. She has over 20 years of experience serving as both a program implementer as well as a consultant, and currently serves as the lead food is medicine SME for 84 state and local recipients of CDC’s SPAN, HOP, and REACH funds. On a volunteer level, she is a farmer’s market manager, runs SNAP/WIC/incentives at market, launched a local food policy council, started and runs a medically tailored meal delivery program, and served two terms as a food co-op board member.

Ellie Taylor has served as association President/CEO of the Alabama Grocers Association since 2007 and has served the members of the association in various roles for over 28 years. She is responsible for the overall management of the association and plays a key role in representing AGA membership and the grocery industry before elected officials and regulatory agencies in the state of Alabama.

Audrey Thomas is a rising Ph.D. student at The Ohio State University, having recently received her MSPH from the Health Education and Health Communication program at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research concentrates on agrifood system policy and practice, with a primary focus on community and state governance of food systems and the role of social movements in advancing civic agriculture.

Rebecca Torpie is the Director of Marketing at BriarPatch Food Co-op and has worked in the food co-op world for over a decade. Prior to that she was a restaurant and bakery owner and pastry chef, and psychologist-in-training. She also moonlights as a marketing and communications consultant with Columinate, helping independent grocers and nonprofits assess and organize their marketing resources and tell their stories effectively, efficiently and creatively. She lives in Grass Valley, CA with her husband Chris and senior rescue pugs.

Brielle is the Project Director for the National Grocers Association. After many years working with the Food Trust in the farmers market space she now runs NGA's technical assistance for SNAP Online.

Courtney Watson joins us from the SC Office of Rural Health as the Program Manager of Coalition Development. In this role, she supports community leaders through a participatory design of community-based population health programs and the social determinants of health. Courtney has a decade of experience in direct service non-profit work, spanning from a culinary job training program, to a bike repair organization, and most recently with FoodShare South Carolina. Her work in the state’s food system spurred an interest to support the leaders across the state who are cultivating health in their community through coalitions and grassroots efforts.

Jeanie has been in the independent grocery sector since 1996. She served for more than 10 years as the GM/CEO of Community Mercantile Co-op, growing the store from $3 million to more than $13 million in sales. She left that position to become a national grocery store specialist and consultant in 2009. She works with stores across the US and Canada on business strategies, store improvement and leadership development. In 2022, she launched Mighty Community Markets, an on-line grocery store training school for grocers.

Vanessa Wielenga leads the development and philanthropic activities at No More Empty Pots with an emphasis on mission alignment, integrity, and intention. Vanessa works to support comprehensive organizational advancement including strategic donor engagement, major gifts, fundraising, grants, and campaigns while maintaining accountability and compliance standards for donors and funding sources. She comes to No More Empty Pots from Nebraska Extension where she spent almost a decade building and coordinating programs to increase food access and support the local food system. As a registered dietitian, she is well versed in Social Determinants of Health and the importance of a systems approach to improve self-sufficiency, regional food security and economic resilience of urban and rural communities.

In March 2021, Dr. Woods joined the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (SDFR) Policy Research Center (The Policy Center) as the Research Analyst. In this role, Dr. Woods has a national focus and manages six research priorities to create equity for SDFRs by data-driven research that forms policy recommendations for the Farm Bill. Her objective as a professional is to use her skills to foster community development, establish interpersonal relations, and advocate for social policy change.

Dr. Kristin Woods is the Sustainable Food Systems Specialist for the Carver Integrative Sustainability Center at Tuskegee University.

Jimmy Wright began his grocery career in 1973 at age 12 as a bagger at the Opelika store that his father managed. In 1997, Wright bought the store from William Ennis and rebranded it as Wright’s Market in 2003. His 22,000-square-foot independent grocery, known for its fresh meat and produce, employs more than 30 people. Wright also serves as project consultant for retail and wholesale for GusNIP through his work with the National Grocers Association Foundation. Wright serves on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Grocers Association, Alabama Retail Association, and National Grocers Association. He has presented to Congress on multiple occasions and has been awarded numerous local, state, and national awards.

At The Food Trust, Marisol (she/her) leads Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) programs across four states, focusing on the development of grocery stores and other healthy food retail in underserved communities. In a prior role at The Food Trust, Marisol was deeply engaged in healthy food retail programming in Santa Clara County, CA for six years. Marisol is committed to improving community health and well-being through innovative, impactful, and data-driven initiatives.