Sarita Parikh is Board President for the Twin Cities Co-Op Partnership.

Although she grew up eating mostly Doritos and Dr. Pepper, as a young adult, she discovered the joys of healthy foods and the quest to support sustainable food systems. When moving to Minneapolis almost 20 years ago, she found the co-ops to be flourishing examples of businesses that do good and do well. They embody the principles of democracy and sustainability.

Sarita earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Electrical Engineering, with a second major in Economics from Rice University. She has filled a variety of engineering and business roles in education, healthcare, retail, finance, and technology. She brings her analytic background and deep leadership experience to the goal of helping Twin Cities Cooperative Partners thrive in the competitive natural food market.

Sarita enjoys yoga, reading, music, dance, and keeping up with her active family.

Lisa has been on the TCCP Board since 2019 and is the Board Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.  She has been a TCCP member for over 25 years.  She earned a BA from Miami University in Ohio, a JD from Case Western Reserve University (Ohio), and an MBA from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania.  Lisa has worked in both the food and health care industries holding leadership positions in product development and marketing.

Lisa is passionate about TCCP believing that we raise the bar for all Minnesota grocers by supporting local farmers & businesses that use sustainable practices, help keep our environment clean, reduce global warming and provide valuable tax dollars to the state.  She’s proud to be part of this inclusive co-op community that is a catalyst for the change needed in the world.

Mark joined the TCCP Board in 2022.  He and his wife Penelope are long-time Lake of the Isles residents and dedicated Wedge members.

Mark earned a BA from Amherst College and Ph.D in econometrics from University of Michigan. He recently retired from a distinguished financial services career, including CEO roles at credit score leader FICO and risk management software vendor OpenLink. He now serves on several Boards, including non-profit work at the Walker Art Center, East Isles Neighborhood Association, and Minneapolis Rowing Club. He is an aspiring triathlete, rower, and SUP enthusiast.

Mark looks forward to bringing his business expertise to the important work of TCCP. He hopes to engage in a careful assessment of expanding TCCP’s reach into under-resourced Twin Cities “food deserts” which lack inclusive access to fresh, nutritious food.

Yoshi is a husband, dog dad, long-time Minnesota transplant, part-time voice over artist, and a proud community member of TCCP.

Yoshi’s motto in life is to “make more and give more.” He has always been driven professionally to gain the knowledge, skills, and resources to make a greater impact in his community. He has a warm heart and cool head that are needed to balance the needs of customers, community members, and other stakeholders with fiscal, operational, and moral excellence.

With over 15 years of experience spanning corporate strategy, management consulting, digital marketing, and academia, Yoshi’s expertise is in helping companies and organizations grow by being valuable to their customers through solving human needs and pain points. He applies human-centered design principles, frameworks, and tools to identify areas where customers experience hiccups, frictions, and hardships, carefully select the problems a company or organization has the permission to solve, and solve them in the most profitable and impactful ways.

His educational background includes B.A. in Economics and Psychology from Gustavus Adolphus College, and M.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota.

Christine Page is a collaborative social impact leader with robust experience in program management, marketing and volunteer recruitment. Christine has a heart for working with people, encouraging inclusivity and inspiring action to strengthen our community. Christine spent 15 years as a corporate social responsibility leader at Faegre Drinker, a top 100 law firm. In this role, Christine worked with 21 offices across the country to engage firm personnel in activities to support local communities while fostering partnerships with nonprofit organizations. Christine has served on various boards and committees and is currently the Vice-President of the HandsOn Twin Cities Board. Through these experiences, Christine is aware of the role food security and nutrition has in creating a strong, vibrant and equitable community.  Christine enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and two kids.

 

Emily Anderson joined the Wedge Co-op board in 2013, and continues to serve on the Twin Cities Co-op Partners board since it was formed through merger in 2017.

Emily’s introduction to cooperative enterprise began in 1974 as a volunteer at Seward Grocery Co-op. Soon she was recruited as a purchaser/sales manager at Cheese Rustlers, then Roots & Fruits Cooperative Produce worker-owned co-op wholesale distributors to the many rapidly growing retail grocery co-ops in the Twin Cities and region. In 1988 she launched Northcountry Cooperative Development Services, leading a team that provided operational and governance consulting for expanding retail grocery co-ops. Returning to Roots and Fruits in 1995 she led her sales and marketing team to achieve consistent growth from 1998 through 2001, Emily worked with the Cooperativa Mercado Central development team and continues to provide development support for the Mercado and other local co-ops.

From 2000 through 2012, as a nonprofit development officer, Emily obtained grant funding from corporations and foundations for MacPhail Center for Music, Tree Trust and Courage Center. At Eureka recycling, she developed and led a commercial compost pilot project with a cohort of Minneapolis restaurants, including bilingual staff training. Her educational background includes a B.A. from St. Olaf College. She studied small business and nonprofit management at the University of St. Thomas, and American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. Currently, Emily works as a writer and editor, and studies Dakota Language at the U of M.

Sophia has over nine years of experience working as a strategy and management consultant, advising clients on sales and customer service strategy, organization, process and technology transformations. She has worked across multiple industries, including for profit and public sector clients. She grew up in the Midwest, but completed her education in several countries, including: the U.S., Switzerland, Spain and Italy. She earned an M.B.A. at SDA Bocconi School of Management and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in International Business and Spanish at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Beyond her consulting role, she works on promoting inclusion and diversity efforts to increase employee experiences, building connections and relationships across community groups. She lives with her husband and two dogs in downtown Minneapolis and enjoys spending time outdoors, cycling, yoga, kayaking and trying new foods.

Steve has served on the TCCP Board since 2019.  He is a former board member of Prairie Foods Co-op in Northfield, MN and five-year resident and board member of Park Cooperative Apartments in Minneapolis, a self-managed, limited-equity cooperative. Since 2003, Steve has worked as the editor of the Minneapolis Labor Review, a union newspaper.

Steve and his family spend nearly 100 percent of their grocery budget at Linden Hills or Wedge, and are deeply invested in and committed to the co-op ideal.  With more choices in the natural foods’ marketplace, Steve believes it is important to use his food dollars to support a local, member-owned business which promotes sustainable food systems and which also provides good jobs.

As a member of the Board’s Ownership Committee, Steve works on spreading word to the community about how our stores are not just a place to buy food, but where you know the dollars spent are building a better future for our community and our planet.

 

Tom has served cooperatives for 20 years, in a variety of capacities.
Starting out at the Hard Times Cafe and Seward Cafe, he was
instrumental in founding the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. He
served as Executive Director of NASCO for 5 years, a bi-national trade
association of housing cooperatives. Tom coordinated federal public
policy efforts for co-op development for 5 years on behalf of
CooperationWorks, and served for 6 years on the Board of Shared
Capital Cooperative – a national lender for co-ops. Pierson currently
serves on the Board of Riverton Community Housing, a non-profit
developer of student housing co-ops. His love for trees and climbing
led him to work in arboriculture, in which he operates a small
business. His free time is spent dancing, playing chess, reading, and
enjoying the company of his family and friends.