Marcel Malekebu
Why do you want to serve on the Eastside Food Co-op Board of Directors?
For one, I really enjoy shopping at the coop and eating the turkey sandwiches with a cup of vegetarian soup from the deli. But I think it's good as a POC to participate in my community and in a place I frequently shop, eat and bring my children. It seems like a productive endeavor for me and a great investment of my time.
Share any skills, interests, and experience you would bring to the board. Examples may be drawn from any personal, educational, professional, or volunteer experiences.
Professionally, I have managed a housing program in the nonprofit world, run teen programming for Parks and Recreation in a suburb of Minneapolis and I have collaborated with, trained and led various teams on podcast projects both big and small in my career as a producer. Personally, I think I'm pretty good at synthesizing ideas into something that fits the situation pretty well. And I can ask good questions.
Eastside is founded on the 7 Cooperative Principles (https://www.eastsidefood.coop/about-co-ops). Choose one of the principles and describe how you think the board can encourage and foster this in our cooperative.
Concern for Community.
I think one tangible way is to offer some pay-what-you-can options in the deli and cafe parts of the co-op. I think also perhaps partnering with local organizations that work in harm reduction or homelessness for some help with outreach could be really great as well. I think increasing community engagement with outreach initiatives could be good as well ("Free Fruit Basket" popups in the parks, e.g.).
One of the board’s main responsibilities is to plan for the cooperative’s future. Please describe any experience with long-term strategic planning and/or collaborative decision making.
I have worked on audio projects spanning over two years long in the pre-production through production phase. This requires a lot of reporting and research and outlining. I also ideated and helped plan the first community garden project for the municipality I worked for back in 2021.
Eastside Food Co-op is “Here for Good.” What does that mean to you?
Being a staple in the community and not looking to leave anytime soon. But also, here to be a positive impact on the community and not drain resources from it.