CDF Welcomes New Board Leadership

The Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) welcomes two new members to its Board: Michelle Schry and Holly Jo Sparks. Both are long-term, committed cooperators with decades of experience and success in the cooperative sector. 

“We are honored to have Michelle and Holly Jo join the CDF Board,” said John Holdsclaw IV, chair of the CDF Board. “They bring to CDF and the broader co-op community more perspective and representation from the food and housing cooperative sectors and represent the best in cooperation – commitment to cooperatives and commitment to the communities in which they live and work.”

Michelle Schry works with the National Co+op Grocers (NCG) as the Director of Strategic Development for the Central U.S. Region. NCG is a Minnesota-based purchasing and development cooperative of 165 food co-ops operating 240 stores in 39 states with combined annual sales of over $2.8 billion and serving over 1.3 million consumer-owners. Before joining NCG in 2015, Michelle spent 20 years in cooperative retail management in CEO-level positions. She has served the larger co-op community as a board member of Cooperative Development Services, Ralph K. Morris Foundation, National Co+op Grocers, and the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA).

As Executive Director of Spartan Housing Cooperative, a nonprofit organization providing

affordable cooperative housing to 250 residents, Holly Jo Sparks has strengthened and expanded low-income housing options in Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan since 2014. Holly Jo brings over 30 years of experience in cooperative leadership, spanning grassroots organizing and national governance. Previously, she served as Executive Director for NASCO and has held positions on the boards of the NCBA CLUSA and Shared Capital Cooperative, as well as serving as a trustee for the Kagawa Fund, a revolving loan fund for startup group-equity housing co-ops in the U.S. and Canada. Holly Jo is the co-founder of Collective Seeds Consulting Cooperative, where she has provided technical assistance to cooperatives across multiple sectors. Her master’s thesis at MIT focused on shared equity housing strategies for neighborhood stabilization in post-industrial gateway cities.

The Board appointed John Holdsclaw IV as Chair of the CDF Board beginning in October 2024. CDF recognizes and honors Richard Larochelle for his nearly ten-year service as Chair and looks forward to continuing to incubate, replicate, and elevate co-op successes under Holdsclaw’s leadership.

Also serving on the CDF Board are:

·       John Holdsclaw IV, Rochdale Capital, Chair of CDF Board

·       Larry Blanchard, TruStage

·       Devin Fuhrman, Nationwide Insurance

·       Christina Jennings, Shared Capital Cooperative

·       Richard Larochelle, NRUCFC, retired

·       Adria Powell, Cooperative Home Care Associates

·       Deb Trocha, Indiana Cooperative Development Center