The Board of Directors is responsible for leading the Co-op and guiding the organization. They have been elected by the member-owners to act on their behalf. The Board is committed to absorbing the membership’s needs and wants, with a goal of making the best possible decisions for the organization as a whole.
Elections for the Board of Directors take place at our spring general membership meeting each year. Each member is elected to serve a two-year term, which commences at the July Board meeting following elections. The Board is composed of anywhere from 9 to 11 positions.
The Board of Directors is responsible for governing the Co-op. They are elected by member-owners to act on their behalf, with the goal of making decisions in the best interest of the collective organization and community. Board of Directors elections take place at our annual spring General Membership Meeting. Each Director serves a two-year term, starting the summer following elections.
Board meetings are always open to the public. To learn more about attending a Board meeting, please email [email protected].
Click here to learn more about the board of directors summary of responsibilities and core competencies.
Board of Directors
Zaire DuRant-Young, Board President | term ends June 2025
To Zaire, South Philly is synonymous with community. Food is one of the many things that connects us, yet many neighbors lack access to quality, affordable, healthy food options.
For the first twelve years of his life, Zaire lived in a food desert in inner city Baltimore. His family shopped for food every other week, and it was stressful. It required lots of planning, and they only bought processed, shelf-stable foods to eliminate waste. Local produce was not available or fresh enough to last. There was no time or money to explore new cuisines or products from local farms and businesses. Reflecting on his experience, Zaire sees how much it impacted his relationship with the food he eats, the nutrition it gives him, new flavors as a gateway to celebrating different cultures, and his overall sense of connection to his community, near and far.
Zaire sees parallels between the neighborhood he grew up in and some neighborhoods in South Philadelphia. Zaire has experienced firsthand that access to quality, local foods, and products makes a big difference in not just health, but overall quality of life. As a member of the Board of Directors Zaire looks forward to helping others understand, appreciate, engage with, and invest in the Co-op as a driver of both individual and collective health, equity, and prosperity. As our health and food systems experience unprecedented stress, Zaire believes community-driven organizations like our co-op are imperative to building resilience for our future.
Molly Devlin, Board Vice President | term ends June 2026
Coming to Philly by way of Annapolis, Molly has been a Philadelphia resident for seven years, although her grandmother grew up right on Bustleton Ave! She lives in a home just a few blocks from the Co-op, which she joined after moving from Queen Village last summer. She believes the Co-op is a vital part of our community and offers much more than fresh, local foods, it's a place where neighbors can come together. She hopes during her tenure on the Board, she can be a sounding board for customers and employees alike to ensure we are serving our community here in South Philly.
Molly works here in the city doing media relations for healthcare, pharma, and biotech clients, which has given her skills to navigate sticky situations and solve problems effectively and efficiently. She has a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology. Outside of work, she enjoys baking, cooking elaborate meals, and hunting down vintage clothing. She shares her home with her husband, Matthew, and scruffy dog, Ernie (if you see them, please say hello!).
Sharon Ulak, Treasurer | term ends June 2025
Sharon moved to Philadelphia in 2010 to attend Temple Law School. She instantly fell in love with the city and made it her home. Throughout her legal career she has focused on local public service by working for both the City and the School District of Philadelphia. Sharon bought a home in South Philadelphia in 2019 with her husband, Josh, and joined the Co-Op in 2020 because she loves grocery shopping and wanted to further her investment in the local community. She is passionate about community building and making wellness accessible and equitable to all.
When Sharon is not in a courtroom or cooking, she can be found going for irresponsibly long runs, racing triathlons, or petting strangers’ dogs on the street. She is also a new mother to a human child while continuing to dote on her perfect cat child, Carrie.
Beckett Woodworth, Secretary | term ends June 2026
After growing up in northern New Jersey, Beckett moved to Philadelphia in 2013 and never looked back. Beckett graduated La Salle University with a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and later earned his J.D. part-time at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Beckett works as a tax professional helping companies with their tax credits and incentives. Beckett is also a committeeperson for the 39th Ward and interested in making his neighborhood safer, cleaner, and more politically engaged.
Beckett likes to spend his free time around food, music, and plants. Beckett is an advocate for sustainable lifestyle -- he has been a pescatarian since 2013 and a food composter since 2020. His father, a grocery worker in New Jersey, runs a vegan food blog under the alias “GenXVegan.” Beckett also enjoys attending concerts of local musicians in Philadelphia and playing music himself. His guitar tabulations of songs by artists like the Black Keys, the Rolling Stones, and Neil Young have garnered more than 1.7M views worldwide. After all this, Beckett tries not to forget to water his plants on his South Philly front porch.
Brad Hoover, Director at Large | term ends June 2025
After hopping between Florida, California, Colorado, and Vermont, Brad landed in South Philadelphia in 2022, just a few blocks from the co-op, where he is settling down with his Pennsylvania-native fiancée and their three pets. Brad received a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Central Florida and later an M.S. in Engineering Management from Purdue. He has worked in the space industry for nearly a decade, first at a major corporation supporting missions such as communication satellite constellations and more recently at a Vermont-based startup company promoting the use of non-toxic chemical propulsion systems (a rarity in this industry).
Brad decided to join the SPFC board as a way to volunteer and get more involved in his community. He has a passion for wellness and nutrition and is excited to apply his leadership and corporate governance experience to the co-op. Outside of work he likes to exercise, play basketball, explore the Philadelphia food scene, and enjoys traveling every chance he gets.
Tracy Kroop, Director at Large | term ends June 2025
Tracy grew up in central New Jersey, and after years of living in cities across several regions in the U.S., she's found her sense of place in Philadelphia and has been living in South Philly with partner Brian since 2012. She’s been a member-owner of SPFC since 2016.
In addition to the shared belief that fresh and healthy food should be affordable and accessible to everyone, Tracy also believes food is a celebration of life and a powerful way to unite people. As a commitment to championing and furthering the mission-driven work of the co-op, Tracy loves working alongside and in service to her neighbors as a Director at Large.
Professionally, Tracy is a Design executive with experience building, scaling, and leading diverse, equitable, multi-disciplinary teams dedicated to making software easier to use. Recognized as a collaborative partner, she’s driven transformational change in how teams work together by breaking down operational silos and establishing the vision, strategies, paths and support systems that enable teams to thrive.
Tracy graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University with design degrees. She’s an avid traveler and continual learner who enjoys photography, street art, hiking, community service, and cooking. Certified as an Intermediate Sommelier through the Wine School of Philadelphia (and currently working towards her Advanced certification), Tracy enjoys expanding her understanding of geography, cultures, technology, and artistic expression through wine.
Chuck Booth, Director at Large | term ends June 2026
With a background in tech and journalism, I want to do my best to help get the Co-op’s message out. One of the hardest things can be making people aware of the Co-op's offerings, and through clear messaging and being involved with programs throughout South Philly, everyone can find out about our little gem.
Growing up in a food-insecure area has made me very aware of the lack of healthy, sustainable options in certain areas and has given me the drive to do what I can to help change that. While South Philly has different programs like the community fridges, which serve their purpose well, the South Philly Food Co-op is something that can have a deeper impact. From having Co-op basics to ensure that household staples are accessible to accepting EBT and WIC, there is already a lot that the co-op is doing right in this aspect, but I'd like to help take that to the next level, which is why I'm running for a place on the board.
Everyone should have access to fresh food and be aware of the options available to them, and if elected, I'll do what I can to ensure that happens.
Maddy Homer, Director at Large | term ends June 2026
April 2023, I was a month away from graduating college and moving in with my boyfriend when we decided to tour a house on Juniper Street. We fell in love with the house, but one thing made this home special: The house is across the street from SPFC. I remember going with my boyfriend after that tour and I met Ash, someone who I consider a friend now. I expressed how excited I was to move forward on this house and Ash wished us luck. Excited at the prospect of living across the street from such a great place, we moved forward on the lease. Later, we moved in and Ash remembered us. It felt full circle going from being in college with no idea what I was doing, to living with my partner, shopping at the store we were excited about, and cooking the food in our home across the street.
Since then, I frequent SPFC almost daily and am reminded of why I love it. I am greeted with kind, familiar faces and as a novice home chef, I can cook with the best quality ingredients I have worked with. As a member of the board, I want to be able to contribute the same sense of community and belonging that SPFC has given me. I want to continue to keep SPFC a place for community members to thrive and explore options on how to improve to best serve the South Philly community!
Chase Gillam, Director at Large | term ends June 2026
I grew up on a farm and have always been interested in food. Years ago, while living in Baltimore I got to see the negative effects of urban food deserts up close and know how valuable it is to have a good grocery store within walking distance in a city. Shortly after moving to South Philly my wife and I joined the coop and it has been a great way to not only do our weekly grocery shopping but to try and eat seasonal produce, support local producers, and be more involved with the neighborhood and community. Like a lot of people I have really grown to love going to the coop, running into neighbors, finding new and interesting produce, or just saying hello to whoever happens to be working that day. Because the coop has become such an important part of my life here in South Philly I want to pitch in, and do what I can to help it succeed so that other people in the community can hopefully enjoy it as much as I do for years to come.
Sarah Munroe, Director at Large | term ends June 2026
I love South Philly for many reasons, top among them are the coffee shops and bakeries, and now SPFC!
Food is something I have always thought a lot about. Although I grew up in Lancaster County (as a pre-teen I even worked for a few weeks picking strawberries and blueberries), my family primarily ate processed and packaged food from discount grocery stores. When I moved to Philly for college, my grocery and cuisine options significantly expanded, and in my late 20s, I began to discover how food can impact the functioning of every body differently.
I’ve called East Passyunk home since 2011, when I met my partner. Work as an editor took us to West Virginia for four years, where our grocery options were very limited and foods for specialized diets had to be ordered online. However, the local farmers’ market was robust, and I began to appreciate its role in the community in new ways. Raising my own backyard chickens (tiny dinosaurs) also gave me a new perspective on food production systems.
When I returned to South Philly in December 2023 to work for a nonprofit, I made my first visit to SPFC and it was glorious: the foods I hadn’t had easy access to in West Virginia are now only a couple blocks away, along with items from local businesses (and bakeries!). As a new board member, I'm excited to connect with and contribute to the neighborhood through something I care a lot about, and I’m interested in exploring ways to make good food accessible and affordable.