Rachel Dakarian

Statement of Candidacy

Why do you want to serve on the Wheatsfield Board of Directors?

As a former director and past president (2012-2017), it is my honor to run again for election to the Wheatsfield Board. I feel motivated to return to the board due to the continuing impact of the pandemic on our co-op, as well as the fact that two long-serving directors will leave the board this year. My decade-long career in development provides a foundation in strategic thinking and financial literacy that I believe is a benefit to our co-op. Wheatsfield is special and I want to work to ensure its future.

Please describe any skills or experience (such as financial literacy, legal, strategic planning, communications, etc.) that you would bring to the Wheatsfield Board of Directors.

Previously, I was elected to the board for two consecutive terms, serving from January 2012 until July 2017. I appreciate the significance and responsibility of board service and I would bring almost six years of previous board experience and institutional knowledge with me into another term. I served as president during the co-op’s 2014 expansion project, which required member financing, including loans and the offering of preferred shares to the membership. In my early days as a board member, I helped to craft Wheatsfield’s Core Values and Visions Statements.

In my professional career, I offer strategic donor research support to the leadership gifts team at the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation. I have been a member of the development department at the ACLU since the fall of 2018 and I bring more than a decade of expertise in fundraising. I’ve been a member of Wheatsfield for nearly as long as I’ve been a fundraiser! After I joined the ISU Foundation in 2010 at the start of my career, one of my first steps into the Ames community was becoming a member of Wheatsfield.

What are your hopes for the future of Wheatsfield and its role in the community?

I hope to see Wheatfield continue to successfully serve the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The benefits of the 2014 expansion project are more apparent now than ever before. Also, I would like to leverage my professional experience with internal equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives at the ACLU to help update Wheatsfield’s core value and visions statements reflect a strong commitment to EDI.

Please share anything about yourself including hobbies, passions, family members, etc.

I am a proud Iowan and a devoted member of Wheatsfield. An alum of Drake University, my career in fundraising is rooted in my experience working political campaigns in Iowa and Minnesota. I currently reside in Des Moines with my partner, Jerrod Jordahl, and our two chonky cats, Cosmo and Noodle. Together, we enjoy spending time with our family and friends, supporting the arts, and traveling.

Sarah S. Davis

Statement of Candidacy

Why do you want to serve on the Wheatsfield Board of Directors?

My desire to serve stems from my life-long commitment to contributing to my community. As a Co-op member for over 15 years, I have benefitted from the board members who have served in the past who have ensured that we run our co-op with integrity and fidelity to our mission and members. I feel it is my turn to take on that responsibility. I am ready to invest the time and energy to make sure that the voice of each member is heard, valued, and considered and that new ideas are entered into the mix. I have never felt that my concerns or criticisms were disregarded by the board, and I want to contribute my time toward extending that same experience to my fellow members.

Please describe any skills or experience (such as financial literacy, legal, strategic planning, communications, etc.) that you would bring to the Wheatsfield Board of Directors.

I am a collaborator. I can work with others in group settings to help coalesce multiple ideas and the input of many and help generate the internal documentation and external communications that will effectively communicate the Board’s efforts.

What are your hopes for the future of Wheatsfield and its role in the community?

I want us to be the go-to stop for anything from a quick bite to a weekly shopping list. I believe we should aspire to be even more inviting, accessible, and non-exclusive than we are already. While our “Everyone can shop” motto and the Coop Basics products are examples of efforts in this direction, I would like to see us grow our non-member loyalty along with our membership. I’d like more of my friends and colleagues to not feel that the Coop is a place to shop only for specialty items. I hope we will expand our appeal – possibly though adjustments in our design and/or branding, or other ways of being more adaptive to the whole city.

Please share anything about yourself including hobbies, passions, family members, etc.

I am a life-long daily bike commuter and avid outdoorsperson. I grew up in Berkeley, California where two of my sisters still live and are jealous of the high quality of life in the Ames community (especially My Co-op). I love slow-foods cooking, especially foods that call for spicy hot peppers, like Indian, Thai, Chinese, and Latin American cuisines. I garden, read, write, bike, run, dance, play disc golf, and love a good game of cribbage. While I competed for decades in Ultimate Frisbee, I now only coach the sport or play in the Great Grand Masters division upon occasion.

Ron Eichmeier

Statement of Candidacy

Why do you want to serve on the Wheatsfield Board of Directors?

I grew up on a farm in north central Iowa, and have spent my entire career in the field of agriculture.  Very early in my life I realized that our family was not raising corn, soybeans, oats, hogs, cattle, and lamb; but rather we were in food production.  I understand and appreciate the difference between the commodity products sold in many food stores, as compared to the fresh, locally grown products like those sold in Wheatsfield.  I personally continue to raise fruit, berries, and vegetables on a small scale for family use.  This is not to suggest that there is not a place for food products raised in different systems or business models.  In fact, I believe with the current world population, and projected increase, it will be necessary to leverage all methods of food production; and explore new ideas for efficiency.

Finally, I for the last 35 years I have work for Farm Credit Services of America, which is a financial/lending cooperative owned by the customer that do business with us. I understand the cooperative structure, and appreciate the advantages of being a member of a coop.

Please describe any skills or experience (such as financial literacy, legal, strategic planning, communications, etc.) that you would bring to the Wheatsfield Board of Directors.

I have been in a leadership role with Farm Credit Services of America for over 10 years, and prior to that was a Financial Officer for 20 years.  In the Leader role, I am actively involved in strategic planning for our company, specifically the Northeast Iowa Region that I lead.  This role requires a high level of communication with the 60+ team members in our Region (Mason City, Cedar Falls, and Decorah), and the entire 1700 people in our company.  With support from our Human Resource Team, I am actively involved in performance evaluations and the selection of Team members.  My past role as a Financial Officer and current role as a Regional Vice President requires that I have a high level of financial acumen/literacy; and I consider this an area of strength.  While not an attorney, I do have a strong working knowledge of many legal aspects, especially in the areas of commercial and real estate lending.

What are your hopes for the future of Wheatsfield and its role in the community?

My main goal for Wheatsfield is that it remain a viable and growing cooperative.  The expansion created some logistical and financial challenges, and to be clear I believe it was a necessary step in meeting the viability and growth objectives.  I believe the expansion helped facilitate quality growth, which includes growing the number of owner/members we have, as well as increasing gross sales.  Continuing to increase the variety of fresh wholesome fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish can be an integral part in the goal of increasing both member numbers and gross sales.

Please share anything about yourself including hobbies, passions, family members, etc.

I grew up on a farm and graduated from Iowa State University with an Agriculture Education degree.  I was a Vocational Agriculture Instructor for 10 years prior to joining the Farm Credit System.  My wife Jean is a retired Physician’s Assistant.  We have two adult children (April in Edina, Mn & Zach in Ankeny) and three grandchildren.  Besides spending time with the grandkids, my passions are gardening, golfing, and following the Cyclones

Becky Matten Pratt

Statement of Candidacy

Why do you want to serve on the Wheatsfield Board of Directors?

I am passionate about sustainability, gardening and cooking. This board position would allow me to share knowledge and skills related to these passions. I am also excited about creating opportunities for communities and families to develop and sustain healthy lifestyles. I know I feel better when I cook my meals with organic ingredients and would like to share this experience as well as help expand the availability of healthy, local food.

Please describe any skills or experience (such as financial literacy, legal, strategic planning, communications, etc.) that you would bring to the Wheatsfield Board of Directors.

I am a qualified financial expert and a nationally recognized governance, risk and compliance professional with broad experience in banking. I regularly advise financial services clients in both strategy and operations. I adapt quickly to change and have held leadership roles in both small and large organizations. I have a history of successfully leading through crisis, as well as overseeing change management and large projects.

What are your hopes for the future of Wheatsfield and its role in the community?

Continue on the path of sustainable, ethical growth according to mission, core values and principles. Areas of interest regarding future are strengthening education, training and information; participation with local growers; enhancing cooperation among cooperatives; maintaining democratic control and commitment to diversity.

Please share anything about yourself including hobbies, passions, family members, etc.

My family is from Illinois, yet I have lived in Iowa most of my life. My grandfather was a dairy and row crop farmer and was committed to sustainability. He and my grandmother passed their beliefs and practices down through subsequent generations. I still draw on what I learned from them in my cooking and gardening today. I graduated from ISU with an Accounting degree and remained in Ames until I married. I currently reside in Boone with my husband, Jim and our two pups, Siku and Denali. We are avid bicyclists and participate in the Ames Velo cycling club.