Lee Herman
Treasure
Term expires 2028
I believe in the cooperative business model, and I’ve done my primary grocery shopping at cooperative groceries whenever I can. I care about eating well, so I’m invested in having good places to buy healthy food. I want to serve on the PFC Board to help the Co-op prosper and deliver on that cooperative mission.
I spent five years on the Board of the Chicago Market startup food co-op, serving in every officer capacity other than President. As Treasurer, I hired the Co-op’s first professional accountants and achieved a clean audit review in the first year. I was one of the principal authors of the complete rewrite of the Chicago Market Policy Governance documents to reflect the Co-op’s evolution. I’ve also served as President of the Courtlands Civic Association in Arlington, VA—working with neighbors, the County Board, and the Planning Commission to revise the County and Neighborhood Master Plans to preserve a single-family neighborhood two blocks from a Metro stop—and as President and Board Member of the 40-unit Avondale Coop Apartments in Washington, D.C.
This board experience rests on a long career in business and IT leadership. Over nearly 50 years, half of it in leadership roles at multiple corporations, I’ve carried responsibility for an $80M software budget and its related contracts, delivered a 10-year Application Technology Strategic Plan to the CEO and senior leadership at GEICO, and guided multiple engineering teams as a consulting Technical Director on a successful global network implementation spanning 57 countries. As a second-line leader, I restructured an organization of 400+ support staff to double the staff-to-manager ratio without losing function, reducing staff, or reducing support to our people. Much of my work has focused on big-picture organizational and futures planning.
People’s Food Co-op is among the few grocery stores in the downtown vicinity, and it’s important to sustain that service as downtown’s population density grows. It’s equally important for the Co-op to keep offering a range of options for food accessibility across different economic groups. As operations continue to improve, I’d welcome efforts to foster community and awareness around food, diet, and health through events and educational activities.
The Co-op’s operations and finances are stronger thanks to the new General Manager. Continued financial discipline—to increase profitability and build financial reserves—is key. Marketing and social media efforts are needed to raise the Co-op’s profile as a grocery option and to attract new members. As the Co-op enters its second half-century, the Board should engage in visioning work to support that outreach—honoring the Co-op’s history while looking ahead.