Emmy AnderssonEmmy Andersson

Emmy is the Network Coordinator for the Cooperative Maine Business Alliance and a former Cooperative Business Developer with the Cooperative Development Institute. She has many years of food retail management experience, most recently as the General Manager for a Maine Food Cooperative. She currently serves on the Androscoggin Land Trust’s Board of Directors. Emmy has an MBA degree with a focus on sustainable business practices and a BA degree in Environmental Studies. She loves playing soccer and growing food for her family.

 

Katherine Bessey

Katherine Bessey is the Director of Cooperative Business Services. She has over 6 years of experience developing cooperative enterprises with a special focus in cooperative food systems and childcare. She is passionate about problem solving, research, and people, positioning her well as a technical support for complex cooperative start-up and transformation projects at CDI. She holds a MA in Sustainable Development and a BA in Mathematics and brings over 10 years of prior experience as a Data and Research Analyst in international development consulting to CDI. Outside of her work with CDI, Katherine loves the outdoors and spending time farming and gardening with her family in Sumner, Maine.

 

Jason BradyJason Brady

Jason Brady began working for CDI in September 2015. For over eight years he was a Housing Cooperative Specialist for the New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) program. During this time he supported residents of manufactured home communities through the acquisition process, and advised and trained ROC members on owning and operating their community. In 2024 he assumed a new role as the NEROC Regional Manager for Connecticut, Massacshuetts and Rhode Island.

Before joining CDI, Jason’s professional experience has included community organizing, canvassing, event planning, directing outreach campaigns, and training for issue advocacy organizations supporting environmental and working family initiatives. He is also one of the founders of the Nickel City Housing Cooperative (Buffalo, NY).

Jason is a graduate of the University at Buffalo, SUNY with a BA in Environmental Studies.

 

Rob Brown

Rob Brown is the Director of Business Ownership Solutions (BOS) at CDI. He is a nationally recognized expert in the field of employee ownership transitions, and has assisted dozens of businesses explore, assess, structure and execute transitions to worker-owned cooperatives. Rob participates in several national networks promoting the strategy of employee ownership conversions and best practices in the field, including as a 2015 DAWI Cooperative Developer Fellow and as a member of the Workers to Owners Collaborative. Rob joined CDI in 2012 as the Maine Housing Program Manager in CDI’s NEROC program, working to convert investor-owned parks into resident-owned cooperatives. He has a diverse background in non-profit and for-profit business development, community organizing, and policy development, communications and advocacy. Rob studied economics and public policy at the University of Maine and College of the Atlantic, specializing in rural and community economic development. Prior to joining CDI, Rob was the founding Executive Director of Opportunity Maine, a statewide organizing, research, and advocacy nonprofit focused on education and economic and workforce development. Rob lives with his wife and son in Northport, Maine.

 

Terri BruceTerri Bruce

Terri Bruce is the Program Project Coordinator for the Northeast Transition Initiative (NETI) within CDI’s BOS program. She has over twenty years of experience in the non-profit and government sectors, primarily in community, economic, and workforce development, with a combination of high-level policy development and direct service experience. She specializes in program evaluation, strategic planning, and organizational development, delighting in helping programs and organizations measure their impact and gain the evidence-based tools they need to tell the story of the work they do. Prior to joining CDI, she worked providing training and technical assistance to nonprofits across the country on a variety of organizational development and strategic planning topics including data management, data analysis, and evaluation.

 

Chris Cervantes

Chris Cervantes is a Cooperative Development Specialist in CDI’s NEROC Program. Having worked in a variety of fields he has developed a deep appreciation for the power of collaboration. From instrument restoration to food trucks to custom carpentry, he has direct experience working alongside others; refining his approach to and understanding of cooperation to achieve greater goals. Now he is excited to utilize his experience to participate in the development of a cooperative economy. Outside of work Chris enjoys cycling, reading history, crafting and restoring furniture for himself.

 

Thomas Choate

Thomas Choate is a Cooperative Development Specialist in CDI’s NEROC Program. Thomas’s background includes time as a research analyst, natural builder, carpenter, and a developer. This has included work with the Reinvestment Fund Development Partners, Dr. Susan Wachter, co-director of Penn Institute for Urban Research and Professor of Real Estate at Wharton, QBL Real Estate, a national consultancy for municipal and cultural development partnerships, and Carolina Common Enterprise. Most recently, he provided business planning, investor relations, project management, and “deep green” land planning as a consultant for community-minded real estate developments, large and small, and similar projects in Asheville, NC. Originally from Austin, Texas, Thomas studied Latin American Politics at Southwestern University and received a masters in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys time with his family, cooking, fermenting, dancing, gardening, and music.

 

David Court

David is CDI’s Grants Manager. He brings a wide range of experience in grant and project management to his work at CDI—as a grant writer, post-secondary educator, and visual artist and exhibition organizer. These experiences have shaped his commitment to social and economic justice, and his recognition of cooperative development as a powerful tool for building a just economy and society. David sustains a creative practice alongside his work with CDI. He lives in the Hudson Valley in New York, where his investment in his work is complemented by his enthusiasm for ongoing study and learning, and for spending time outside hiking, running, and foraging.

 

Julia CurryJulia Curry

Julia Curry is Co-Director of CDI’s NEROC program focusing on Vermont. Before joining CDI, Julia worked for over a decade as a cooperative specialist with multi-family affordable housing cooperatives in Burlington, VT. She came to the realm of cooperatives with a background as an organizer in union, interfaith, and community organizing contexts. She has also served on the board of City Market/Onion River Cooperative since 2011, including two years as board president, leading the board through the co-op’s process of building a second store. Julia earned an M.A. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University with a focus on social movements. She loves helping people grow and connect by working together.

 

Cristian FelicianoRyan Demers

Ryan Demers is a Cooperative Development Specialist with CDI’s Business Ownership Solutions (BOS) . Prior to joining CDI, Ryan was the General Manager at the North Country Food Co-op, the only full service grocery store in downtown Plattsburgh, NY. During his time there, he grew the co-op to 16 employees and nearly $2MM in sales and successfully stewarded the business through the Covid pandemic. He brings great skills and experience in cooperative management and board development, conflict resolution, human resources, and financial analysis and education. Ryan has a deep appreciation for excellent customer service and its vital importance to business success, and made extensive customer service training central to his staff management. Ryan’s formal education was in Atmospheric Science, but after graduate school he decided to take a different path when he discovered a passion for the cooperative business model. In his free time, Ryan enjoys cycling, running, hiking, gardening and spending time with his young daughter.

 

Heather Foran

Heather Foran is a Cooperative Development Specialist in CDI’s Business Ownership Solutions (BOS) program. For nearly a decade prior to coming to CDI, Heather worked with Coverdale O.D., a U.K.-based organization providing experiential training programs for business leaders that build skills in collaboration, shared leadership, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and systems transformation. Heather is a member organizer and board treasurer of the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, and is involved in running a hotline and free legal clinic for workers. She spent many years as an organizer and board member for the Resilience Hub, coordinating permaculture and resilience-building initiatives in and around Portland, Maine, and most recently co-organized a statewide, mutual aid land share project. In 2010, Heather co-founded the Field Academy, a traveling high school program that brings together youth from across the US in partnership with community hosts to learn about critical social and environmental issues. Previous to that, she was a Program Director for the Traveling School, where she led students on international semesters, partnering with local community members to design and facilitate experiential, place-based classes in global economics and natural sciences. Heather has a Master’s in Transformative Leadership and Organizational Development from Prescott College, and her academic work focused on building decolonizing curriculum and practices in experiential education programs. Heather is also part of a global collaborative of facilitators with YES!, an organization that works at the intersection of personal, interpersonal, and systemic change. Heather lives in Gray, ME and has been spending a lot of time exploring the trails behind her house with her two dogs.

 

Alyson Frederick

Alyson Frederick is the Finance Director at CDI. Alyson has earned her Master of Accountancy degree from Saint Joseph’s College of Maine and her bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in Family, Consumer, Human Development with a focus on families and community services. She has over 15 years of combined experience working in finance departments and as a social worker in the human services nonprofit sector. She is driven by finding solutions and bringing people together. Alyson currently resides in southern Maine. She enjoys hiking, skiing, and exploring nature.

 

Vanessa Gonzalez

Vanessa Gonzalez is a Cooperative Development Specialist at CDI’s NEROC Program. With a wealth of professional experience in community engagement, Vanessa has passionately collaborated with diverse communities, including teen parents, the LGBTQ+ community, individuals living with HIV, and survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Driven by a commitment to reproductive justice, public health, and advocacy, Vanessa is thrilled to channel their expertise toward fostering collaborations within communities, particularly in the realm of cooperative housing. Their passion for equitable, community-based solutions encourages them to create sustainable, inclusive living environments.Vanessa loves spending time with her dog Piña and taking long hikes in their spare time.

 

Nora Gosselin

Nora Gosselin is a Market Development and Acquisitions Specialist in CDI’s NEROC Program. Nora Gosselin joined CDI in 2019 as a Cooperative Housing Specialist, and moved into the Market Development and Acquisitions role in 2021. Prior to joining CDI, Nora lived in a co-op for four years. During her time there, she worked as the treasurer, housing coordinator, and as an intern with the North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO). Nora has a BA in Urban Studies, and wrote a thesis focused on the regulatory and cultural barriers that face housing cooperatives in small cities. Nora has also worked as a waitress, barista, bookstore clerk, volunteer radio DJ, and coordinator/counselor for a music education program. She lives in Providence, RI.

 

David Gowler

David Gowler is CDI’s virtual administrative director. They have experience with buying clubs and retail food co-ops going back to the 1970s. David was a founding member and original Board member of River Valley Market in Northampton, Massachusetts and worked for 7 years as their database administrator. At River Valley Market, David was also one of the primary Union organizers and served as Union steward, representing fellow workers with UFCW local 1459. Other community work includes helping to found WXOJ-LP, Valley Free Radio in Northampton and for 15 years working as a program producer for community and student run radio station WMUA in Amherst, Massachusetts. David currently resides in Tennessee, serves on the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Knoxville and produces a radio program for WOZO-LP.

 

Omar Hassan, Cooperative Development Institute Marketing Specialist

Omar Hassan

Omar Hassan works as the Cooperative Marketing and Development Assistant with the Cooperative Development Institute in the Cooperative Food Systems program. Born in Somalia and raised in Kenya, Omar speaks Maay Maay, Af Maha, and English. He provides translation and interpretation support to Somali farmers throughout New England. He works with farmers and community members to develop democratic businesses, assisting them in developing cooperatives, and supporting them as they access local markets. He works closely with New Roots Cooperative Farm, an operation owned by Somali Bantu farmers in Lewiston, Maine, the first New American-owned cooperative farm in Maine. He is currently enrolled at the University of Southern Maine where he is pursuing a degree in Social and Behavioral Science with a minor in Sustainable Food Systems. He lives with his wife and two children, Isra and Fithi in Lewiston, Maine.

 

Heather Holland, Communications Manager

Heather Holland

Heather Holland is the communications manager at CDI. Previously, she was director of communications at a healthcare technology company based in Silicon Valley. She led their communications and messaging strategy, successfully helping to fundraise and fuel their expansion in the US, Canada, and Europe. Before she began her career in communications, Heather was a news editor and journalist leading local news teams in New York City, overseeing daily news strategy and editing and packaging enterprise stories with powerful headlines. Heather graduated from New York University with a double major in Journalism and History. She studied abroad in Florence, Italy for her first year of college. She grew up in many different states across the U.S. before settling in Maine. She lives there with her husband and their cat.

 

Chris Lepre, Assistant Project ManagerChris Lepre

Chris Lepre joined CDI in June 2022 as an Assistant Project Manager for the CBS, CFS, and BOS programs. Having worked as both a full-time software engineer and in various part-time roles in the service industry, Chris has formulated a sharp critique of capitalism and its role in deepening systemic inequities along racial and socioeconomic lines. In 2016 he joined the Bushwick Food Cooperative in Brooklyn, NY, where he now serves on the board. Through his work with the food co-op and the broader solidarity economy of NYC, he has come to view cooperative economics as an instrumental tool in the work of abolition and social justice, and a beacon of hope for marginalized communities around the world. Outside of his work with co-ops, Chris enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking vegan food, traveling, and reading nonfiction.

 

Melissa MullineauxMelissa Mullineaux

Melissa Mullineaux is a Cooperative Development Specialist for CDI’s NEROC Program in Maine. Melissa received her Associates degree studying behavioral sciences through Granite State College and her BA in social work through the University of Southern Maine. Melissa has worked in Portland, Maine as a social worker for the past 8 years, where she has been working with communities and individuals struggling in homelessness, poverty, mental health issues and substance abuse. She earned her Master degree in Policy Planning and Management with a track in Sustainable Development and Geospatial Technologies and a graduate certificate in Community Planning and Development in May of 2016. While earning her graduate degree, Melissa remained working as a Cumberland County mental health emergency response crisis worker and did various work for the Association of State Wetland Managers in Windham, Maine and the Center for Business and Economic Development in Portland, Maine. Melissa has lived in Maine on and off for most of her life. She has a passion for equity for all and environmental issues. Melissa enjoys the outdoors and nature and spends much of her spare time with her friends and family.

 

Libby O'FlahertyLibby O’Flaherty

Libby O’Flaherty is a Cooperative Development Specialist under CDI’s NEROC program. Prior to joining CDI, Libby worked with the Prison Birth Project and Community Action’s Family Center, providing wrap-around care to high needs families in Franklin and Hampden counties, as well as the first point of contact for evacuees to Franklin County following Hurricane Maria in 2017. Libby has developed a workshop on compensatory options for rural survivors of Intimate Partner Violence which has been presented to the Department of Health, among others. Libby is a graduate of Tufts and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and resides in Franklin County, MA.

 

Annik PaulAnnik Paul

Annik Paul is a Program Associate with the Water Infrastructure Support Program (WISP) at the Cooperative Development Institute. She holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development from SIT Graduate Institute and a Bachelor’s in Accounting and Finance from Worcester State University. Prior to joining WISP, she held many roles while working in the manufactured housing sector including advocating for residents rights, providing pre- and post-purchase technical assistance to resident owned communities, and supportive roles such as team manager. Prior to joining CDI, Annik worked as a Relationship Manager for ROC USA. She is passionate about preserving affordable housing. Annik lives in Jeffersonville, Vermont with her dog Fluffernutter. In her free time she enjoys gardening, seeing live music, and spending time on/in/near water.

 

Grace Pfeil

Grace Pfeil is a Cooperative Housing Specialist in CDI’s NEROC Program. Grace comes to CDI with a background in tenant organizing and nonprofit communications and community engagement, as well as experience working on local and state level progressive policy. Through these experiences, she has had the opportunity to witness the power of collective community action, and what we can achieve when we work together. Grace is excited to apply her experience to support resident-owned communities. In her free time she enjoys gardening, swimming in the Huntington river and taking walks in her neighborhood in Winooski, Vermont.

 

Emily PortmanEmily Portman

Emily Portman is a Cooperative Housing Specialist within CDI’s NEROC program. She brings a range of experience to the role, including community planning, stakeholder engagement, campaign development. Prior to joining CDI, Emliy worked in the food world in a number of different capacities, including food service, sustainable sourcing for institutions, and running a small business. Most recently, she helped to found a real estate coop in Burlington, VT, with a focus on small food business support and incubation. She is excited to transition these skills to work on housing security in Vermont. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, gardening, and exploring trails with her dog.

 

Pat SchweblerPat Schwebler

Pat is Co-Director of CDI’s NEROC Program. Her background is in real estate, finance, nonprofits, and business management. Working as a realtor in an urban setting, she recognized that the local real estate community ignored new immigrants. So she developed an educational first-time homebuyer program and helped over 50 new Americans secure their first home. After relocating to Maine, 27 years ago, she served as co-chair of a nonprofit that provided emergency shelter to victims of domestic violence. Through vision work with staff and the board, she helped create a strategic plan that provided transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence. Before joining CDI she was executive director of a senior center and worked to improve community conditions for the elderly. She helped create Kennebunk’s free medical equipment loan closet and served on Kennebunk’s Committee on Aging. Pat obtained her B.A. in Communications and graduate certificate in grant writing from the University of Southern Maine. She believes that homeownership provides security, builds personal wealth, and creates connections and community; improving the quality of life.

 

Analise SesayAnalise Sesay

As a cooperative developer and filmmaker, Analise seeks to make contributions towards an interconnected web of sustenance through direct technical assistance to cooperative visions and inspiring the broader international movement through storytelling. She began her work at CDI as an Assistant Project Manager in 2020 before promotion to Cooperative Developer and then Cooperative Connections Specialist in 2021. Analise has a Master’s in Social Entrepreneurship from Goldsmiths, University of London and a Bachelor’s in Communication & Rhetorical Studies from Syracuse University where she also minored in Ideas, Design, and Startups. In 2019, she founded Common Healing which began as a popup healing center in South London and has since transformed into a participatory world-building studio producing immersive and inspiring experiences that raise cooperative consciousness globally. Analise is based in the Hudson Valley of New York.

 

Shana Siegel and catShana Siegel

Shana Siegel is the HOPE Program Manager at CDI. Shana began her community-based nonprofit work as an undergraduate student in New York City. At that time, her organizing work focused on ending prison expansion, reforming mandatory minimum sentencing drug laws, and identifying and reporting violations of the rights of Workfare workers. As she became more involved in doing policy work around those issues, she entered graduate school and eventually earned her PhD in Sociology. Throughout graduate school, Shana continued to do policy-related research and community-based nonprofit work, as well as academic teaching and research. Post-graduation, Shana spent a few years teaching Sociology in New York City and Rochester, NY, before she left academia to return to nonprofit work. She has experience doing fundraising, including grant research and writing, and experience with program coordination, event organizing, project management. She also has experience working with Boards of Directors to revise bylaws, draft policies and procedures, undertake strategic planning processes, and create, fund, and manage-to-completion various projects –including a project that brought clean drinking water to one community for the first time in over 25 years, and another project that renovated/ rehabilitated the leach fields of that same community. In her free time, Shana likes to hang out with her cat (pictured) or go hiking, camping, biking or other outdoor things.

 

Ariaun Stewart

Ariaun is a Cooperative Business Development Specialist with Business Ownership Solutions (BOS) at CDI. She possesses a wealth of HR expertise cultivated from her career in large corporations and small businesses, and as the founder of her own HR consulting business, C.HR Services (Community Human Resources). She brings to CDI an entrepreneurial drive, expertise in developing and managing people, and an ability to cultivate strategic partnerships and connect with diverse communities.
Ariaun serves on the Springfield Creative City Collective Executive Board, where she initiated the Creative Industries Hiring Event, a platform that united diverse creative businesses and professionals to share opportunities and expertise with the Springfield community. She also played a pivotal role in planning Springfield’s inaugural Fashion Week, bringing together business owners, creatives, and the community, igniting empowerment and activation in the Mason Square area of Springfield, MA.
Ariaun also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Black Business and Professionals, and is a graduate of the New Leadership Council Boston Cohort. She is committed to fostering growth, inclusivity, and collaboration to create a more equitable and sustainable future for all.

 

Pável UrangaPável Uranga

Pável Uranga is the Coordinating Director of Immigrant Services at CDI. Pável is a radio producer, community journalist, and community organizer with more than 20 years of experience working with unions, students, campesinos, and human rights organizations in several Latin American countries and the United States. His experience has allowed him to carry out individual and collective social justice initiatives, including immigrants’ rights, community radio, qualitative/participatory research processes, case studies, training for leadership development and collaborative union efforts, labor, and grassroots movements. In addition, he is passionate about spending time with his family and enjoys living by the sea. Pável has a master’s degree in forensic anthropology.

 

Jeremiah Ward

Jeremiah Ward

Jeremiah Ward is the Water Infrastructure Support Program (WISP) Director at CDI. Before taking the lead on WISP, Jeremiah served as a Cooperative Development Specialist under CDI’s NEROC Program for 12 years. He has managed several resident owned community (ROC) acquisitions and is skilled at both managing the highly technical real estate development work that is required to raise millions in acquisition financing and funding and adept at resident organizing, which requires building trust and clearly communicating complex information so residents can be successful owners of their newly formed business. Jeremiah has also served as project manager for a number of infrastructure replacement projects at various ROCs and he specializes in manufactured home infill and replacement.  Prior to working with CDI, Jeremiah earned an M.A. in Community Development and Planning from Clark University with a focus on cooperative development.

 

Pam Zagorski

Pam Zagorski is CDI’s Executive Director, with over thirty years of experience in the healthcare and human services nonprofit sector. She has extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, managing growing organizations and leading diverse and participatory teams. Prior to joining CDI, she was Chief Financial Officer with a multi-state human service organization serving people with disabilities based in Northampton, MA and Executive Director of a nonprofit agency serving older Vermonters. She is driven by helping people to achieve their best quality of life through self-determination.

Pam earned her MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts and her Juris Doctorate from Western New England University School of Law. A longtime New England resident, Pam currently resides in southern Maine. Pam enjoys exploring and treasure hunting throughout New England, gardening, and history. She is an avid patron of visual and performing arts and serves on the Board of Directors of Mayo Street Arts.